My Japanese home stay family and my burqa?!

The day of my meeting with the home stay family came.　We decided to meet at the station. Then the mother would take me by car to her home. In order to be recognized, she told me that she would be wearing a red hat. I told her that I would be wearing a black coat. I thought that being a foreigner with my every day black coat can’t be missed in a small town! However, given I am Muslim, my Japanese mother imagined that “black coat” means “black burqa”, like she saw them on TV!

I was few minutes earlier. I saw her coming with her red hat. I waved to her with my hand but she seems to be so absorbed in her thought (or perhaps worries J) that she didn’t notice me! When I was close enough to her, I called her “いさん,　いさん ファドワですよ！！”. Finally she noticed my existence!!

We had a nice chat on our way. She is communicative woman. I immediately felt easiness to speak to her. Upon arriving, she introduced me to her husband and daughters. We talked a lot! Only after deeper acquaintance, my Japanese mother told me that I look normal. “Look normal”? I asked her surprised how she was expecting me to look like. That moment, I knew that my Japanese family had not been well informed that there are different Islamic branches, conservative ones as well as liberal ones. She laughed when I told her that I am sorry to disappoint her since she was expecting a more "exotic" visitor.

I discovered that my Japanese family had borrowed books about Tunisia. They seemed to be studying them. My Japanese mother showed me Bourguiba’s picture and told me: “The book says that he is your hero!” Surprise, surprise, this is exactly the person who is responsible of making me look "normal" to her! To be continued…

Things you need to bring when travelling to Japan

I thought may be it will be interesting for muslims who are coming to japan to know what things they should bring with them:

1. Medicines: bring with you all the medicines you need or may need (in case of flu, headache, ...). It is may be impossible here in Japan to find the same medicines that you use in your country. Medicines here are sold under doctor prescription. There are drug stores where you can buy drugs without doctor's prescription but when you are new and do not speak/read Japanese it is difficult to find what you are looking for. If you have a baby, it is better also to bring medicines against fever because doctors here refused to give drugs against fever for my baby .
2. Clothes: it is difficult for a Muslim woman to find suitable clothes for her (I mean long skirts, long jackets, scarves...). It is more difficult if you wear large sizes, most of clothes here are size S, M or L and sometimes LL. LL is considered a very large size here. The same thing goes for shoes.
3. Bring lace-less shoes or shoes you can easily slip on. You’ll be surprised to find how often you'll be taking them off.
4. If you have problem to speak English, bring with you a dictionary to translate from your language to English. But do not worry because Japaneses do not speak English well so you will need to talk in English occasionally.
5. It is difficult to find Halal vanilla and gelatin, so if you need them, bring them with you. Tahini and Nigella sativa (black seeds) are also difficult to find. I recommend also to bring dried herbs like Oregano, verbana, mint.
   
6. Bring some food with you if you do not know any muslim where you are going to live, it is difficult in the beginning to know which food is halal .
7. Bring with you your official papers (translated in English) like the driving license, original transcripts and degree, vaccination record for children....
8. Many institutes pay salaries at the end of the month, it’s important to bring quite a bit of cash.
   
9. Gifts: it is appreciated to give a gift for your professor.
   

Things you do not need to bring with you:

1. Electrical appliances like a hair dryer because you will face electrical compatibility problems. Japan operates on 100 volts. In addition, used appliances are very cheap here and can be found easily.

Once you are in Japan and realize that you need things for your new home like plates and spoons, batteries, pens..., you can buy them from 100yen shops, these shops sells things at 100 yen, very cheap when you are in Japan.

The suicide forest at Aokigahara on Mt Fuji

This is really a place to avoid, the forest of Aokigahara (青木ヶ原) , also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海, Jukai), is an old, dense and dark forest bordering Mount Fuji, so dense and thick that from just a few kilometers inside it no sounds can be heard other than those produced by the forest itself.

In 2002, 78 bodies were found within the forest, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. It is a popular place for suicides, due in some part to the novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Forest), which ends with the lovers of the novel committing suicide in the forest. The high rate of suicide has led officials to place signs within the forest, urging those who have gone there specifically with the purpose of suicide in mind to seek help and not kill themselves.

"The perfect place to die." That's how Aokigahara was described in Wataru Tsurumui's bestselling book The Complete Manual of Suicide. Aokigahara is famous throughout Japan as a popular spot for those taking their final journey. By May of 2006, at least 16 new suicides had already been found. More than a few of them were even carrying copies of Tsurumui's book. No one knows how many bodies go undiscovered.

Behind this, there is evidence to suggest that growing numbers of Japanese people are clinically depressed. Statistics from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry suggest that one in fifteen suffer from depression at some point in their lives.

Japanese society puts more pressure on individuals to show outward happiness and this may explain why depression is more likely to result in suicide in Japan; if depression is less acceptable, suicide might seem to be an easier option than seeking help.

There is also another factor helping the suicides, Internet. The Internet in Japan is a space where depression sufferers can find similar individuals and make arrangements to meet up and commit suicide as a group. The Aokigahara forest is one of the suicide hot spots.

I was really surprised to know this side of the japanese society, I was always thinking that they are the happiest people on earth, since they have almost everything to make them happy, peace, wealth and prosperity and not many crimes! Ok, it seems that I was wrong.