Oh Shit! It's light out. I've overslept. No...wait, it's 4 am.
Ah.... Life on 45 degrees North in wonderful Japan. Seeming how summer weather is such a rarity in this place, it would make sense that the locals would want to savour every bit of sunshine possible, wouldn't it? No. Not exactly.
A brief explanation is in order. For some reason in Japan, the time has been set so that daylight ceases much earlier in the day than in America. If one is in the lower latitudes of the country this isn't such a big deal, but if one finds themselves in Hokkaido then the sun will set around 7:00 pm in the summer but will have risen at a ghastly hour. If one happens to find themselves at the 45 degree north line, such as myself, one finds that the sun is up and shining vexedly and in all its glory on your face by 4:00 am. This can be exponentially painful when one has been up until 3:00 am the night before pounding cheap Japanese white liquor. But never me of course. In short, it can be painful and cause one to shake their head in disbelief. The people of Hokkaido sleep through some of the best sunlight hours of the day and hence get to enjoy little if none of it after work.
Let us go back to when I first arrived in this little town. After a warm greeting by my new coworkers and being treated to a lovely dinner of yakiniku followed by some homegrown Hokkaido brew, I bid them all adieu and went back to my new apartment for a long rest. Hell, I needed it, after that quagmire of intensity known as the Tokyo arrival orientation had zapped my soul of its life energy. I went back to what would be my new abode for the next two years, fell asleep on a bed of worn cotton linens, and dreamt of my exciting life to come in this new and exotic land. Then, I was of course shortly greeted by the penatrating rays of the sun followed by the squaking of crows at 4:oo am. I haven't had a good nights sleep since.
Once again, I would eventually realize, the northern outpost of this great land must suffer due to the Japanese obsession with sameness. The idea of creating different timezones within Japan must seem like treasonist thought to the government. "All Japan is the same. If we are not all the same, then we are not Japan. Further discussions about Hokkaido having its own timezone are treason, and further perpetraitors of such thoughts will be executed without trial."
Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but Dear Lord, 4:00 am. (The writer slowly shakes his head in disbelief as he stares at the early morning rays of the sun with baggy eyes.)
A brief explanation is in order. For some reason in Japan, the time has been set so that daylight ceases much earlier in the day than in America. If one is in the lower latitudes of the country this isn't such a big deal, but if one finds themselves in Hokkaido then the sun will set around 7:00 pm in the summer but will have risen at a ghastly hour. If one happens to find themselves at the 45 degree north line, such as myself, one finds that the sun is up and shining vexedly and in all its glory on your face by 4:00 am. This can be exponentially painful when one has been up until 3:00 am the night before pounding cheap Japanese white liquor. But never me of course. In short, it can be painful and cause one to shake their head in disbelief. The people of Hokkaido sleep through some of the best sunlight hours of the day and hence get to enjoy little if none of it after work.
Let us go back to when I first arrived in this little town. After a warm greeting by my new coworkers and being treated to a lovely dinner of yakiniku followed by some homegrown Hokkaido brew, I bid them all adieu and went back to my new apartment for a long rest. Hell, I needed it, after that quagmire of intensity known as the Tokyo arrival orientation had zapped my soul of its life energy. I went back to what would be my new abode for the next two years, fell asleep on a bed of worn cotton linens, and dreamt of my exciting life to come in this new and exotic land. Then, I was of course shortly greeted by the penatrating rays of the sun followed by the squaking of crows at 4:oo am. I haven't had a good nights sleep since.
Once again, I would eventually realize, the northern outpost of this great land must suffer due to the Japanese obsession with sameness. The idea of creating different timezones within Japan must seem like treasonist thought to the government. "All Japan is the same. If we are not all the same, then we are not Japan. Further discussions about Hokkaido having its own timezone are treason, and further perpetraitors of such thoughts will be executed without trial."
Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but Dear Lord, 4:00 am. (The writer slowly shakes his head in disbelief as he stares at the early morning rays of the sun with baggy eyes.)
posted by The Punisher: at 8:05 AM
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