Discipline (Pt. 3)

Something that I noticed at the beginning of my club experience, but wasn't able to verbalize until recently is the strong division between work and fun in Japanese society and how quickly my Japanese friends can switch between these modes of being as the situation dictates. My first experience with this was at my first sub-committee meeting. For four hours everyone was working to make decorations for the show and they seemed unusually unfriendly compared to when I met them at the first club meeting. Then, when work time was over at 8, suddenly everyone was extremely friendly and i ended up having a great time eating and drinking with some members at a local ramen shop.

The experience that really clarified my understanding of this topic was the reflection meeting held the day after the concert. The meeting was held in a traditional Japanese room with tatami floor mats and wooden shutter doors. For two hours, we sat in a circle and members of the club listed off all the things that had been done poorly during the concert. These mistakes were enumerated with a very stern tone, and those responsible apologized very formally. The tone of this meeting seemed very strange to me and I was worried that everyone was somehow displeased with how the concert went despite the fact that it was certainly smoother than any concert I had attended in the US.

The real surprise came at the end of the 2 hours when the leaders said we will break for 15 minutes before returning to the meeting. Suddenly everyone became extremely silly and began joking around like good friends. Several members practiced doing the moonwalk on the tatami and many dirty jokes were exchanged between people who only minutes ago seemed to be harshly scolding each other. As quickly as the fun started, it stopped when the leaders returned to the room and the second half of the meeting began. This time everyone listed off how the concert could have gone better in a similarly somber tone. After the meeting was over, the entire club went to an all you can eat restaurant for a wild party.

At the party, everyone ate and drank to their hearts content and again everyone seemed to be extremely close. Towards the middle of the evening, several members who were leaving the club stood up and gave speeches, thanking the club for many good times. Most of these speeches resulted in the speaker breaking down crying causing many other members to cry. At some points the whole club appeared to be crying happy tears as they said goodbye to their club-mates. Even male members who had appeared extremely tough and somber during the concert were crying uncontrollably. After these speeches, the party returned to normal and got progressively wilder as the night went on. Everyone had pitched in and bought women's lingerie for the 3 male leaders of the club and towards the end of the evening, they were all wearing the revealing garments. At the beginning of the evening I was told not to take any pictures as most of the club members were underage and in general, what happens at the party should stay within the club. It seems that eating establishments are not terribly concerned about serving alcohol to minors.

In the end, this experience showed me a facet of Japanese society that is likely not often observed by foreigners. I imagine that many of the stern individuals I see in public act drastically different when among close friends outside the gaze of society at large.