Kaihin Makuhari

It has been a beautiful day here in Chiba. Lovely blue skies with a fresh autumnal wind blowing. I ambled to a cheap restaurant for lunch and was impressed once again at the great value for money my lunch represented. Perhaps I should have taken a picture......

Despite my contentment, feelings of unease regarding Kaihin Makuhari are always close to the surface. I have come to 2 recent conclusions why I dislike the place so much:

1. The place is so contrived, I feel like a character in SimCity. Nothing has been left to chance with the result being an almost perfect reproduction of a town planner's brain fart. No charm, no excitement, no beauty. Although I have never been much a fan of the Japanese built environment, at least some of the older areas of Tokyo display some form of character or variery. Kaihin Makuhari reminds me of a long road in the Australian outback........constant monotony.2. Permanence. Simply put, there is none. One excuse for the parcity of visible history is the fact that many parts of Japan were levelled by American bombers during the closing stages of WWII. This is an excuse that doesn't sit well with me. In most parts of Japan, I have rarely seen buildings in excess of 30 years old. Another excuse is the number of destructive earthquakes in Japan, the world's most tectonically active country. However, if some wooden buildings in Kyoto or Nara can survive hundreds of years, their is no excuse not to have other architectural relics or treasures. There is good reason why Kaihin Makuhari does not possess old buildings - the area is on land mostly reclaimed from the sea. However, I do not believe any of the houses or office buildings will be here in 50 years time. Japan is a land of disposable buildings which are intentionally built with limited life-spans.

The lack of permanence or continuity doesn't sit well with me (or I suspect other people, even perhaps the Japanese). In Britain or other countries, I find it reassuring to know that not all things in life change at breakneck speed or immediately disappear. It is good to have a connection with the past and to know that the buildings you use and see today were once used by scores of previous generations. By the same degree, it is comforting to know that when we are all gone, many of the places we know today will survive unchanged.

That's one of the problems with Japan - the past is lost and the future will show no trace of your existence. Generations go their way with history confined to the life-spans of living people. The country is all the poorer for it.

Work and Life

Sorry for the delay in making a posting. As you might have guessed, things have been a bit busy recently. I started my new job at Weathernews on the 14th of July. It's been pretty hard going for a number of reasons. Firstly, there are a lot of new things to learn and it is really tiring trying to focus constantly for 10 hours each day. Secondly, travelling 4 hours each day has left me a jibbering wreck. Thirdly, we are now approaching the peak of the Japanese summer where the temperatures and humidity make sleep, life, and work hard.

Anyway, some aspects of my life will soon improve. I have found a small apartment that is only 5 minutes cycle from my new job. That will mean I can get up at 7.30am and easily make it to work for 8.30am. That also means when I get home, I will have time to relax or do something constructive. I will try and take my camera to Kaihim Makuhari next week to get some pictures of the area and my new pied a terre.

The area seems to be a good place to stay. I will be in a quiet neighbourhood area which is close to some great shops and restaurants. The only drawback is that I won't see Clara and Yuki for 3 or 4 days each week. More information to follow soon.

Weathernews

Big news! I have been lucky enough to have secured a job with a Japanese company called Weathernews. Full details available if you click on the link. The company has a finger in a lot of interesting pies such as shipping, aviation, and disaster mitigation. I will be working in the shipping area and my main role will be to present voyage data to shipping businesses so that they can decide whether to enter into an arbitration process to resolve disputes.

It has been nearly 3 months since I made the initial application. Thankfully this long and drawn-out process has borne fruit and I am scheduled to begin on the 14th of July.

Despite enjoying English teaching and having a great quality of life over the last 5 years, the job has provided little long term security or opportunities for advancement. It is time to join the real world and knuckle down. Knuckling down will mean that I will have to get up at 5.30am every day and will probably not return home till 10 or 11pm each night. Four (4) hours of my day will now be spent commuting on one of the busiest rail networks in the world. Ouch!! If things go well, we will probably all move home early next year to make my life a bit easier.
My new office will be in a place called Makuhari. Makuhari is an area of reclaimed land which sits next to the Pacific. I will be based on the top floor (24th) of a building called Technogarden B. I am not really worried about the job - I'm sure that I will pick it up over time. I am really worried about my long and punishing days. I will have to manage.

I will be in the building on the left of the photo, on the top floor. The area reminds me of the London Docklands, with all the new buildings, spacious pavements, and relatively few cars. I am really excited to start and I think that talking about ships (and planes) all day should suit me down to the ground.

Until I start, I am taking advantage of my evenings and trying to make the most of them. Soon the only free time I will have will be on weekends. I am hopeful that it will be a sacrifice worth making.