Things at the construction site were settling down by late afternoon, when this picture was taken from our 'first floor room with a garden view'. lol.
Autumnal equinox time again in Olde Nagoyaland, as another summer passes and the winter cycle of shorter days begins. In these parts we're ostensibly 'treated' to a national holiday on every seasonal solstice and equinox day. That passed uneventfully...a windy and humid day in these precincts, as another typhoon whipped up chaos and destruction in other less fortunate parts of the country. Rest assured, Nagoya's turn will come. Stat. holiday aside, my wife had to work, so I was up before dawn getting things in order, as usual - then off on the last stinky canal run of summer 2019. Not many people out plying the trails yesterday morning. A few dog walkers and a couple of other runners heading in the opposite direction, so no complaints. As of today, we're on to the official start of fall/winter 2019.
According to the old Japanese seasonal calendar, autumn actually started on August 8th, but as far as I'm concerned, the Obon holiday period (ostensibly August 12th-15th) is the real seasonal delineating point over here. After all the so-inclined J-natives get back from praying for the souls of their deceased ancestors in their hometowns, or splashing out the balance of their summer bonuses on some kind of hurried, 'obligatory' global jaunt, it's all about the youngsters finishing their ubiquitous summer homework (yes, this really is a thing here) and getting ready for the first Monday of September, and the start of the fall/winter term. As far as summers go, ye Olde Nagoyaland wasn't quite as melting furnace of Hades hot as last year, when it seemed to run around 41C for almost three weeks straight. Hell of a rainy season, though. About two weeks longer than usual, from the second week of June until almost the bitter end of July, then a few nice days and we segued right into an early typhoon season, which usually saves itself for the end of August/beginning of September. This seems to be the way of the world with the weather, these days. Unpredictable and off-kilter.
On a positive note, we were lucky that our annual early summer detour out to the Yaeyama Islands wasn't a rain drenched slosh around like our trip to Miyakojima last year. Still smarting from that costly debacle, we decided to cast our line just a wee bit further afield, and try Ishigakijima again. We'd had a good time there a couple of years ago, and thought it would be a safe choice. As availability is limited, and options disappear months in advance, we got the ball rolling on making reservations and arrangements in late February/early March. Even at that early date, openings for the summer season seemed to be filling up fast. In the spirit of making a 'safe choice' (this year's theme) our first idea was to return to Fusaki Beach Resort, where we had stayed before...but, while they were indeed open for business and taking reservations, their brochure announced that there would be some ongoing construction throughout the summer season; that potential guests should be forewarned of this, and "sorry for the inconvenience", etc, etc...
Duly noted, we decided that shelling out to contend with said 'ongoing construction' wasn't what we wanted to sign up for, and kept looking. After going through a half dozen options, we finally settled on what we perceived as another 'safe choice'. A wee bit more than we had initially wanted to pay; but in my wife's opinion, 'safe'. No fucking around. Well situated, some 'brand recognition' (all important to the Japanese), and no issues with 'ongoing construction'. With just a precious few days to decompress and relax (weather permitting), we wouldn't need to stress out. At least there would be no early morning wake up calls to the clanging of rebar and rattle of jackhammers, or the need to dodge unsightly piles of building materials, clouds of dust and leering construction workers. The ANA Intercontinental Ishigakijima. A reputable resort hotel. A few bucks more...but worth it. The brochure hit all of the right notes.
What they strategically failed to mention online, or in their pitch literature, was that the ANA Intercontinental Ishigakijima site was also undergoing some pretty major construction. Like it wouldn't matter...or something.
A word of advice to those booking trips over here - though it might appear that the details regarding your booked accommodations are obvious, ask questions anyways. Assume nothing - unless you don't mind surprises. Like finding that your pricey hotel room overlooks a parking lot, garbage dumpsters, or an active construction site, as opposed to the fragrant tropical gardens, or sweeping seaside panorama you were promised.
Many hotels and resorts in these parts seem to grant themselves a great deal of latitude when it comes to what they consider 'acceptable' disparities between the facilities and services they advertise and sell, and the realities of what they actually provide. I'm sure that this is done on the assumption that the J-folk (who account for the bulk of their guests) are not at all big on complaining, and when faced with any sort of dilemma or point of contention, are most likely to simply groan, "shoganai" (it can't be helped), heave their shoulders, and take their lumps. To pretend that the 'problem' doesn't exist. This is a key characteristic of Japanese behaviour in almost every situation; they will go to the greatest lengths to avoid confrontation, or having to say, "no". The long suffering Japanese. Forever holding their piece, looking away, or burying their heads in the sand, hoping that their problems simply evaporate.
"Shoganai".
Actually, it can be helped...particularly when the room booked four months earlier was described as 'first floor, garden view'; yet the room we are taken to is 4th floor, and directly facing a noisy, chaotic construction site. So much for the tropical beach paradise promised in the brochure. When one's summer vacation consists of four days in a year (narrowed down to two, excluding arrival and departure days), do you really want to spend it faced with the sights, smells and sounds of ongoing construction from dusk to dawn? Listening to jackhammers and the metallic crashing of steel girders being set in place first thing in the morning, as opposed to the distant crashing of waves, or singing of tropical birds, etc.? Not me. Not us. In our over 12 years of marriage, my lovely wife has learned that it's actually okay to complain when something ordered or delivered does not fit the description of what was promised. So, she complains...and holds her position like a pro.
She is what her countrymen refer to as a 'claimer'. The Japanese love to adopt simplified English terms, and liberally pepper their daily conversations with them. These lifted 'loan words' are referred to as 'gairaigo', or 'Japanese words originating from or based on a foreign language', or even wasei-eigo (Japanese pseudo Anglicisms). Of course, English is not the only language to be lifted, adapted or borrowed from - but a native speaker can't help but notice its obvious (and sometimes puzzling) presence in the daily Japanese vernacular. Which brings us back to 'claimer'... what we might call a 'malcontent' or 'complainer' (among other things) in English. Given the similarity and proximity to 'complainer', a natural and correct term, it baffles me as to why the J-natives would obstinately gravitate toward an awkward and grammatically unsound term like 'claimer'. Does it just roll off the Japanese tongue easier?
Anyways, 'claim' she did. What she got was five hours of telephone tag, and an unacceptable and infuriating run around. Excuses, outright lies, denials of responsibility, gaslighting, the 'passing of the buck' - you name it. Did they think it was alright to promise us one thing, and deliver something wildly different? Apparently, so.
It seems that, unlike the resort that we had initially wanted to stay at, ANA didn't think that it was worth mentioning the ongoing construction and expansion situation, instead deeming that it 'wouldn't interfere with guests' (or more precisely - the hotel's ability to fully book the less than desirable rooms directly facing said area). Never mind about announcing the situation (as Fusaki Beach Resort had), and letting potential guests make their own informed choices before booking. After all, ANA knows best...and everyone knows that the J-folk will just take whatever they're given without complaining, anyways.
Interesting thing about the Japanese...they are absolutely NOT big on taking responsibility, or apologizing - even if it's painfully obvious that they are at fault. They will always shirk, and rush to defer to whoever is a step higher in the group pecking order. Nothing can be resolved quickly. Ever. After five hours of the back-and-forth, waiting on return phone calls, and negotiating with obstinate hotel and travel agency representatives, an 'acceptable' settlement was finally brokered. We were moved to a second floor room that more closely fit the description of the one we had booked, and dealt out vouchers for a 'set' dinner at one of the hotel's marginal restaurants. Hardly an exceptional meal by any standards; but better than nothing. Definitely not worth the half day of vacation time that was wasted fighting for it, tooth and nail. The room we were led to was clean, but had that 'crypty' stale air smell of a place that hadn't been used in a very long time. It took hours to air it out. Upon opening the bay window curtains, no construction sight. Instead, lush green hedges, and a wee bit of ocean. Better. Why did this need to be such a struggle? Obviously this room had been sitting vacant for quite some time. Were they saving it for some potentially more desirable guests? (believe it or not, this is also actually a thing here - but more on that later). The ANA representatives feigned surprise, and actually tried to tell my wife that we were the only ones to have complained. A quick check of the Japanese language Trip Advisor website revealed that this was complete bullshit. There had been identical complaints to ours, and recently. Why lie?
So we're putting the word out on the ANA Intercontinental Hotel, on Ishigaki Island.
If you decide to roll the dice on this place, be warned that they mis-represent. You really need to double check what it is that you're getting into if you book with them, and be vigilant. Don't accept anything less than what was agreed upon. Be prepared for a bit of a battle to set things right if you feel shorted in any way...but stick to your guns, and be insistent, until things are set right. Be warned that they will waste a good chunk of your day without apologies, too. Oh - - and do mind that the in house Wi-Fi, which requires no password onsite, is not secure. They will lie about this, and tell you that it's perfectly safe as well. The reality is that no one there really knows what they're talking about, so they'll just make things up and hope that you believe whatever they tell you. We finally managed to corner one senior staff member who sheepishly admitted that it wasn't 'very secure', and that it was 'probably okay', and we could proceed to use it at our own risk. Nice.
This is another strange thing about Japan. In many places of business, staff will actually contradict and argue with customers who ask questions, or dare to complain. Back where I come from, even if the customer is wrong, the customer is 'right'. Never engage in a battle with a dis-satisfied customer. Smooth it over. Call in the manager. Defer. Give them coupons or vouchers for free stuff. Apologize. Make it right. 'Take one for the team'. A pissed off customer can really rain shit on your parade. They'll not only never come back - they'll tell all of their friends, and these days, immediately go online and do the slag on social media. The potential loss of face, revenue and reputation to a business can be far reaching, and pretty damaging. Here in Japan, I've been in disputes over disparities in services promised, or goods purchased that have been greeted with blank stares and obstinate responses, and invariably ended with us walking out, never to return. Good luck getting a half-arsed apology, let alone any vouchers or coupons. Forget about that 'free meal'. Maybe it's because they're just not accustomed to people complaining? That they take an absence of complaints to mean that everything is alright, when it actually means that the customers are too wishy-washy and lily livered to speak up. When someone like my wife or I does stand up, they immediately become extremely defensive. WE are the bullies. The troublemakers. They start sweating, making excuses, or passing the buck. No one will ever 'own' anything. My wife always says that her countrymen are "the biggest excuse makers of all time". Nothing pisses the Mrs. off like excuses. In the end, time and money are wasted, everyone feels shitty and pissed off, and nothing is resolved. No one will give an inch. Finally, there's another place to cross off the list, and never go back to. They really don't give a shit, either. A hell of a way to run a business.
Fortunately the remaining balance of our short time over there was pleasant, and passed without incident. The weather co-operated, and aside from spending the first day back in Nagoya with my head in the toilet (due to what we guess was a bad raw oyster our last night out), it could have gone worse. We both agreed that it actually would have been nice to have at least one extra day. Since the first half-day was essentially a bust, and the fourth half-day day was all about checking out on time, returning the rental car, and getting to the airport, it seemed like we barely had a chance to catch a breath before it was time to head back to the realities of cruddy Olde Nagoyaland, and almost two solid weeks of rain.
Funny sub-text here. No sooner were we back than the latest 'hot' news item on the local TV tabloid news programs was about a ramen shop in Ishigaki City that had banned Japanese customers for the balance of the summer season. I actually recall passing this very place while we were out and about looking for somewhere to have lunch, but didn't bother stopping to investigate, as we weren't in the market for noodles. This is undoubtably a stroke of good luck, as I don't think I would have taken kindly to my wife's patronage being refused by one of her own countrymen on the basis of her ethnicity. I've duly noted the surly nature of male Yaeyama Islanders before...but this seemed a stretch even for them. Curiously, a closer look at the details of the story reveals that the douchebag shop master in question isn't even a native islander...but hails from (of all places) NAGOYA. Suddenly it all starts making sense.
I've often gone on at length in this series of blogs about the deadbeats, douchebags and snitches that populate this here Olde Nagoyaland. I have to admit that it felt kind of good having all the things that I routinely say basically confirmed. I hope his crap noodle shop goes tits up, and that surly Yaeyama locals beat the shit out of him and run him of island on a rail. That being said, this type of attitude towards customers isn't all that unusual here in Nagoya. It's one of the big reasons that I just don't bother going out to eat that much anymore, as well.
Case in point.
We walk into a restaurant at around 7:30 pm. Moderately busy to quiet. Plenty of empty tables. A yakitori shop, Chinese restaurant, ezikaya...it's happened numerous times. Anyways, we walk in and wait at the front for someone to seat us, and are led an undesirable location. A narrow bench at the counter, with nowhere to stow jackets or bags, and little clearance for customers to pass behind without bumping into us. A small pinchy table opposite the toilets...just close enough to get a nice whiff of whatever's been going on thereabouts every time the door swings open and closed. You get the picture. So, noticing that there are several tables free, without 'reserved' signs on them, we politely request alternate seating.
"Sorry, these tables are set aside for larger groups",
"They aren't reserved. We've been seated here before...",
"If a group of customers comes, we need to provide this seating...",
"The customers aren't here. The seats aren't reserved. We are here. We're customers. We've been seated here a few times before",
"These tables are for larger groups. Please have a seat at the counter/pinchy table across from the smelly toilet..."
At which point we turn to each other, and I say, "Let's go". And we leave. They make no attempt to stop us, or smooth things over, either. As we exit, a hollow "arrigato gozaimashita!" follows us out the door. Us and our money. And return patronage. The thing that baffles the shit out of me is that we were semi- regulars at a couple of these places. We like to eat and drink, and would drop some reasonable coin. Did this fact escape them? Were they really so intent on enforcing their dead-end policy of holding tables for 'imaginary customers' that might never come, that they would lose the business of actual customers with cash in hand, waiting to spend it?
This ramen shop douchebag complains that a couple on vacation from the mainland brings their toddler in, and the mother shares a bowl of noodles with the kid, who incidentally also has some cookies, or a bottle of jasmine tea. Little kids can't hack a whole bowl of ramen. Families on vacation. What are you gonna do? As a business owner, make allowances and serve the customers. Don't be a fucking uptight dickhead. Incidentally, the local yakitori shop that wouldn't seat us at an unreserved table, in favour of those potential 'imaginary customers' that likely never even came, went tits up less than a year later. It's a parking lot now. Fucking asshole. I hope he's drowning in debt. I wonder if this is a Nagoya thing? I can't seem to remember this kind of treatment when I lived in Osaka. That was almost 30 years ago, though. A different era.
No matter, I guess. With the crooked neo-fascist Abe government jacking up the consumption tax to 10% at the end of this month, I imagine that we (like a lot of other people) will be eating out even less. 8% tax on take-out orders or delivery. 10% if you eat in. It will be interesting to see how this debacle plays out. Maybe the local restauranteurs will be forced to reassess their seating policies and 'customer service'. I seriously doubt anything will change, though. Fucking Nagoya pricks.
I don't know what we'll do next summer. Give Miyakojima another try, and hope for better weather? It's all a roll of the dice with that business these days. We don't have the luxury of even a full week to really enjoy making a shot further abroad, so everything has to fit into a four or five day window. That severely limits our reach; barring some kind of 'family emergency' on my end, I just can't see us making any kind of trans-Pacific trek. Our presence really isn't needed in that direction, anyways.
So...autumn it is. The first Christmas commercial hit the air last week, right on schedule to flog those ubiquitous seasonal Christmas cakes, and the shops are rife with witches and jack-o-lanterns, meaning that in a scant three weeks, I'll be suited up, and making 150 kids alternately squeal with joy, or melt down and soil themselves at the kindergarten Halloween extravaganza. Then It will be annual health check time...and the dreaded 'ningen dock'. From there, it's a clear shot to the end of the year, Christmas, New Years, and my annual deep winter malaise and depression. The last one really kicked my arse, and took months to overcome. Of course, with any luck there will be more of this blather and ramble to come winter solstice time, so for now (as always), you'd do well to remember that, "No matter where you go, there you are".
There and nowhere else, indeed.
This is what five hours of 'claiming' got us. Basically, the room that we had been promised. Second floor, a lovely hedge and shrubbery, with a wee bit of ocean just squeaking through. A vast improvement, but a massive waste of time. Buyer beware with ANA.
