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It often gets me how un-Japanese the Japanese can be. For all their perceived notions of traditionality they seem to be woeful at being Japanese. When I went to the Sumo tournament in March I told my Japanese friends and acquaintances and apart from being surprised I went there for nine hours, they admitted they had never been. “What do you mean you`ve never been? You`re Japanese!”

Sumo may be a sport low on the hierarchical ladder after baseball and football but I went to the Tenjin Matsuri and talked about it in an adult English class I teach and they all asked me what it was like. This is one of the bigger festivals in Japan. It`s like Fireworks Day. I even admitted that I like going public nude bathing in onsen and one Japanese admitted she doesnt like it as she doesn`t like being naked in public. This really threw me back as I thought a love of public bathing was ingrained in the Japanese psyche from early childhood.

On the other hand whilst I refrain from wearing a bowler hat at anytime whatsoever, the Japanese will glady jump into a traditional yukata in the summer festival season.

I`d like to call this a contradiction but it isn`t. It`s more of a selective cultural choice, a voting with your feet and refusing to conform to Western ideas of Japanese life. It`s very unnerving though.

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