DK Where to Go podcast interview

 

  Photo by Philipp Meuser, DOM Publishers

Last December I was interviewed for the DK Where to Go podcast. Unfortunately the recording had several glitches due to internet connection problems and couldn’t be used, so I decided to type the whole thing instead, and here it is. I hope you will enjoy it.

Many thanks to DK’s James Atkinson and Lucy Richards for the nice chat.  

 

When did you first move to Japan?

I moved here about 28 years ago, in the summer of 1992, and I’ve been in Japan since.

 

Why Japan?

I’m a Japanese history major. While I was in college, I even had a chance to study the language but I wanted to improve my Japanese skills, so I came to Tokyo.

 

So your move was planned, wasn’t it?

Yes, actually I had been planning my escape from Italy for a while. I wanted to try something different and live in a big city, and eventually I had a chance to move here with the help of my university professor and a few other kind people.  

 

Okay, but what made you stay for good?

First of all, I really love Tokyo. The very first time I visited in 1989, it was love at first sight. So living here have been a dream come true. Even now, after all these years, I still find it one of the most exciting cities on Earth.

Of course, when you move somewhere, and especially abroad, you need the money, the logistics, and maybe even a few connections. Tokyo, in this respect, poses a few difficulties because it’s definitely not a cheap place. But I was lucky enough to find a job as an Italian teacher, and then about six months later I met my future wife. That, in a sense, sealed my fate so to speak. Having my job and family here, I didn’t really feel like moving somewhere else or even back to Italy. In any case, I like this place so much that I actually never even considered the possibility of returning to my country.

 

What, in your opinion, makes Tokyo so special?

Tokyo is big and small at the same time because it is arranged like several smaller towns put together. Instead of having a proper city center, you have many sub-centers – Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, etc. On one hand, they are similar to each other but on the other hand, each one of them is a little bit different. I would say that Tokyo offers something for anyone, depending on your interests and what you like to do. However, the most important thing to me is that it’s a very safe place live – probably the safest metropolis in the world. You can walk anywhere, even late at night, and you would be very unlucky to have a bad experience. This, of course, is not only true about Tokyo but Japan in general. It’s also a very clean city, considering its size and population. This has a lot to do with the local culture and customs, and the way people take care of their surroundings. On a daily basis, these are the little things that make living in Japan, and Tokyo in particular, a very nice, rewarding experience.

 

What are your favorite parts of Tokyo or Japan? Where do you tell potential visitors to go first?

That’s a difficult question and, as I said, it all depends on your interests. Outside Tokyo, the ancient capital of Kyoto is obviously a must-see place, especially for first-time visitors, even though in the last few years it has become impossibly crowded with tourists.

If we move away from the more famous tourist spots, however, you can discover many other beautiful places. Last summer, for instance, I traveled around Japan a little bit, and among the places I visited, one that made a strong impression on me was the Inland Sea, which is the body of water separating the archipelago’s main island, Honshu, from Kyushu and Shikoku. Osaka and Kobe, for instance, face the Inland Sea, but what really makes it a special place are the nearly 3,000 tiny islands that are scattered all over the place. You can move around by boat and ferry, and probably because I live in the Tokyo/Yokohama area that is a pretty hectic, fast-paced, at times even stressful environment, I was instantly won over by this quiet and peaceful place where people live at a much slower pace. It was a truly special experience.

Tohoku, which is the Northeast region, just north of Tokyo, is also very worth checking out. Unfortunately, as you remember, it was massively damaged by the triple disaster in March 2011, but it’s actually one of the most beautiful parts of Japan. There’s a lot of nature, and several historical cities, but it’s still off the tourist beaten path. I was there on assignment just a couple of months ago [October 2020] during the start of the koyo season when the autumn leaves turn yellow and bright red, and I definitely plan to go again.

Tell us about one of your favorite travel stories in Japan?

Every time I travel around Japan, I try to include some hitchhiking because it’s a good way to meet people… and travel for free. It also offers a chance to go places that would be hard to reach without a car. Hitchhiking in Japan is relatively easy. Maybe it’s because very few Japanese do it, but drivers seem to be curious about those “crazy foreigners” who have the chutzpah to stick out their thumb and stop cars. Anyway, for me it’s always been a fun experience.

Last summer I went to the island of Shikoku for the first time. I reached Tokushima by ferry at 5:30 a.m. with the intention of going to the station and catch the 6:00 train for Takamatsu. However, when I checked the map, I realized that the station was farther than I thought. The buses were not running yet, and if I had walked to the station I would have missed my train. I was pondering the situation when a lone car arrived. I instinctively stuck out my finger and the car stopped. That guy really made my day.  

 

Last year you contributed to DK Travel’s Be More Japan, How was your experience working on that book?

It was a very rewarding experience. I was asked to write a few short pieces on otaku culture and… well, this may be a strange thing to say but I was surprised by how quickly you guys managed to wrap up the project. I remember I delivered my contribution around February or March and at the end of the year the book was already out which to me seemed like a miracle because especially when you work on books that feature lots of contributions from different people, you have to keep an eye on everything and make sure that everybody delivers on time – which usually doesn’t happen – so many accidents can happen along the way. But as I said, by the end of the year I already had my copy of the book.

 

As well as contributing to DK Travel’s Be More Japan, you’ve written the Tokyo Geek’s Guide - which looks at Tokyo's geeky underworld. What fascinates you about that scene?

I belong to what I believe was the first generation of anime fans, at least in Europe. The first anime series arrived in Italy in 1978, when I was in junior high school, and I was completely blown away. I had never seen anything like that before; it was radically different from American or European animation. From a creative or artistic point of view, both anime and manga have a particular approach to storytelling, and for someone like me who is into reading and watching movies, it was both a surprising and fascinating encounter. Up to that point I’d had a certain idea of what comics and cartoons were supposed to be, and how they were supposed to look, and suddenly I discovered stories that posed existential questions and were not aimed at little kids like most of the stuff that was produced in the West.   

Much later, when I had a chance to study otaku culture, I found out that it was about much more than anime and manga. You have games, toys and even cosplay that quite surprisingly has become a global sensation. It’s a world unto itself, so I started digging. I’m not an otaku myself – a real otaku has a much wider and deep knowledge of these things than me – but I like the way people get so involved. Actually it’s a very interactive community where fans are often both creators and consumers. There are people, for instance, who draw their own manga fanzines or create their own videos by putting together anime clips with original songs of their creation. It’s an extremely fascinating side of Japanese culture. 

 

Next, let’s talk about the year that is about to end. How has 2020 been for you and how have you found living in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic?

I’m a little ashamed to confess that 2020 was actually pretty good. I’m saying this because I know that many people have had and still have a very hard time, and have been badly impacted both psychologically and in practical terms. I have friends who have lost their job or have seen their earnings going down drastically. Even among authors and journalists, many have seen their writing opportunities dry up. But for me it was actually a pretty good year as I was lucky enough to be able to keep both writing and teaching (that’s my other job). Right now my main gig is Zoom Japon, a Paris-based European monthly that comes out in four different languages. I’m their main man in Japan, and until now we have been able to keep more or less our normal schedule, so I’ve been writing the whole year thanks to my editor who’s kept giving me assignments.

However, apart from my job, probably the best thing that happened to me this year was getting reacquainted with my surroundings. I live in the Yokohama suburbs, and my writing often takes me around Japan, so I don’t spend much time at home. My house sometimes feels like a hotel. But because of COVID-19, I did all my writing and teaching from home – I was able to do my lessons and interviews via Zoom – and because, starting from April 2020, I spent most of my time at home (so far, I’ve been to central Tokyo only three or four times), I had a chance to rediscover my area which actually looks more like the countryside, with lots of rice fields and a river flowing near my house. So I started doing a little bit of local exploration, going out for long walks, taking pictures and notes, and more generally observing the small things of life that all too often we tend to overlook.   

 

The government has tried to encourage domestic travel to combat some of the economic impact of COVID-19. Did that work?

I don’t have any numbers so it’s hard to say how much the Go to Travel and Go to Eat campaigns have helped the tourism and food service industries. One thing we can say for sure is that these campaigns have been followed by a spike in infections – in a few weeks we have passed from 5-6,000 active cases to 20,000. Even in this case, I can’t say how much these forms of subsidized tourism have affected recent developments, but many people say that they are connected. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to balance these two things – protecting people’s health on one side and supporting all the struggling businesses on the other. Of course, tourist infrastructures, restaurants, bars and cafes are among those that have been hit the hardest, so I can understand what the government is doing. I just wonder if there wasn’t a different, less risky way to sustain the economy.

The numbers in Japan are still relatively low compared to the West, but people are understandably worried about this third wave of infections, even because there are no signs it’s going to stop anytime soon. [UPDATE: it’s now January 2021 and the number of active cases has climbed to 69,000]

 

How have Japan’s otaku communities been impacted by COVID?

Of course, many of these communities have moved to the internet and organized online events, fairs, markets, etc. All the live festivals were obviously cancelled, so this has been a pretty sad year for all otaku fans. Cosplayers were not able to meet, and indie creators couldn’t sell their works at the many gatherings that are usually held around Japan.

Speaking of gatherings, just a few days ago I read that Comiket (Comic Market) is already working to have its next edition in 2021. Comiket is a grassroots market focusing on the sale of self-produced works, and is the biggest otaku gathering in the world – a biannual event attracting every year about half a million fans.

After cancelling this year’s edition, they are now planning to resume the market next year though they are going to admit “only” tens of thousands of people instead of the usual hundreds of thousands. To me it sounds crazy, considering the circumstances. Hopefully, by the time the next Comiket opens, things will be much better, but I mean, tens of thousands of people gathered under one roof sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.   

 

How have people in Tokyo behaved during these months? Are they staying at home?

Yes and no. If you go to Asakusa, for instance, it’s as crowded as usual. Also, a friend of mine told me that a few days ago she was passing through Chinatown and it was packed. Chinatown in Yokohama is a popular destination for foodies as it’s full of restaurants, and when it’s crowded – as it seems to be the case now – you can barely walk. So all in all, most people are practicing social distance and are staying home, but many others keep acting as if nothing has happened.

 

What has been the impact of the cancellation of Tokyo 2020?

Well, actually many people in Tokyo were not very happy with the city hosting the Olympics in the first place.. In 1964, for instance, the Games were seen as an opportunity to show the whole world what Japan had accomplished after the war. There was a real sense of pride. But the situation right now is very different, starting with the economy that’s not as strong as in the past, so a lot of people are not as enthusiastic as the government would like the world to believe. Let’s say many tend to see the cons more than the pros: the waste of money, the overcrowding, etc. This said, I think many people are actually happy about the Games coming to Japan, but I’m not sure how many of them would be actually sad if they were cancelled.

Personally, I may even not be in Tokyo during the Olympics. I may decide to leave the city to the tourists and sport fans and travel somewhere less crowded.

[21 January 2021 update]

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he was confident that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this summer, saying there is "no plan B" even as doubts grow amid a sharp resurgence of coronavirus cases in Tokyo and the rest of the country.

I find this statement quite surprising. It’s true that the Games are still six months away and Bach wants to make them as safe as possible, but I wonder how they will be able to reverse the current trend of mounting infections and stage such a big event. 

Besides, an opinion poll by Kyodo News earlier this month found that 80% of respondents want a cancellation or postponement of the games. Only 14% supported hosting them as scheduled, less than half of the percentage in the previous survey in December.

 

So you are planning to travel in the future?

Yes, I actually wanted to travel this summer, but then I ended up cancelling my trip because I thought it would be better to stay home, considering what was going on. But I definitely hope to resume my travels next year, probably along the west coast that is less developed and congested than the east coast yet has many places of interest.

 

What places are you planning to visit?

I’d like to go to Kanazawa and Tottori, just to name a couple. Kanazawa, in Ishikawa Prefecture, is arguably the most famous city on the Sea of Japan coast. It’s one of those lucky Japanese cities that were spared the American air raids, and today it’s a beautiful place with considerable architectural heritage. There’s also Kenrokuen that’s considered one of the best traditional gardens in Japan.

Then there’s Tottori Prefecture with its sand dunes – the only large dune system in Japan. The interesting thing about them is that they are very close to the coast, and the sea/dune combination makes for a very unusual, almost surreal atmosphere.

 

When travelers start to come back in 2021 (fingers crossed), what can they expect to be different about their experience?

What is not going to change is Japanese hospitality. Indeed, hotels and other tourism-related businesses have been hit so hard this year that they are looking forward to going back to the pre-Coronavirus levels of inbound tourism.

As for what is going to change, one good thing about the Olympics – whether they are taking place or not – is that many places outside the big cities are improving their English-language information and other services that can make visiting Japan a better experience even for people who don’t read Japanese.

In the last few years, the government and the local authorities have pushed to have more and more foreign tourists coming to Japan, but they have mainly focused on quantity without considering the strain on the existing tourist infrastructure. Hopefully, they are going to take care of the problems (overcrowding, lack of hotel rooms, etc.) that the huge growth in inbound tourism has caused.

Hopefully the tourists are going to discover other places besides the usual suspects (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka). When I was in Tohoku, for instance, they told me that they were hoping more people from Europe and America would visit. Chinese and Korean tourists already know the area, but it seems to be still pretty unknown in the West, which is a pity because, as I said, it’s really worth checking out.   

 

Last question: tell us about your future projects.

My second book, Otaku Japan, was supposed to come out this year but had to be postponed because of the pandemic. Hopefully, it should be published in 2021.