Sons of Loki

Following the conclusion of my mid-term exam, I decided to hit Tokyo again. Of course, all too soon, going to Tokyo will be a lot more difficult than hopping on the Keio Line from Tobitakyu station, and words like “Semi-Special Express” and “Keio West Entrance” will be distant memories – like a dream, even.

I hit my usual places in Shinjuku – a few rounds of Beatmania IIDX and Drummania (the latter I’m getting better at, the former I fail hugely at), the game store where I never buy anything (I only go back because I saw Drummania for sale there once, but didn’t buy it, and now I regret it) – then thought I’d check out this exhibition at the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art in Chiyoda, something about architecture that I’d read an article about in Metropolis.

Regrettably, it turned out to be closed on Mondays, but no worries: instead I enjoyed a relaxing stroll around the perimeter of the Imperial Palace, which is closed to plebs like me.
After a quick burger and a bit of kanji study in a Ginza Lotteria (about the least classy meal you can have in ultra-classy Ginza) I came to Tokyo Station (probably my favourite station in all of Tokyo; an important hub like Shinjuku, but not as inhuman and impersonal) and wound up, like I so often do, back on the streets of New York City, a dope fiend, a slave, then prison; then the madhouse; then the grave Akihabara.

Ah, I’ll miss that fucking place (I imagine in decades to come, travel guides to Tokyo will open the section on Akihabara with a quote from me along those lines). The hobby stores. The bizarre proliferation of home security stalls. The game shops, of course; the myriad electronics meccas, the maid cafes, the KFC, the Coco Curryhouse; the corner which valiantly tries to ignore the rest of the place by having trendy cafes and a Muji and a pâtisserie but lets the side down by including a (ridiculously popular) Gundam Cafe; the streets and alleys which I shamefully know like the back of my hand.

In Yodobashi Camera I listened to their hi-fi equipment, because I’ve got it into my head that, as a music-loving nerd, my room next year will not be complete without some big-ass floorstanding speakers and the cheapest best-sounding amplifier I can buy (probably the Q Acoustics 1030is and an amp from the Cambridge Audio Topaz range at the moment, he says, pretending he knows something about hi-fi systems). I thought I spied a bargain on a Marantz amp, but it turns out I can get it cheaper in the UK and it’s a bit pants anyway, so that saves me posting a 7kg amplifier back home.

So. 東京、また逢う日まで (until we meet again, Tokyo)…

Here’s your linguistic paper of the day – an analysis of English-Japanese code-switching.

Code-switching is what happens when speakers who share two or more languages switch between them, like if I was to say to you “It has a certain je ne sais quoi“, that would be English-French code-switching. It gets more complex than that, but those of us doing Japanese here kind of find ourselves doing it as a joke, or to better explain something that can’t be done in one language, or even unconsciously at times.
For example, one thing that crops up in the academic literature is the way bilingual speakers will express sums of money in Japanese even when speaking English, and I’ve realised I do that all the time without even realising it: “How much does it cost?” “A return ticket is 五千円。” [Five thousand yen.] As another example, I sent Rob a message the other day saying ”多摩から [I'm coming from Tama], meeting at 吉祥寺中央口 [Kichijoji station Central Exit] at 2130 if that’s cool.” I mean, there you have one benefit of code-switching – it’s easier to type “多摩から” than “I’m coming from Tama”.

With bilingual children, as evidenced in the paper, things get interesting:

Kye (a young boy confident in both English and Japanese, doing origami): エミリ、これ持っといてstick-onするから。[Emily, hold this, because I want to stick on something.)
Emily (his sister, less confident in Japanese): はい。[Yes.] Two more.
Kye: No, that’s enough.
Emily: (realising) かぶと！[A samurai helmet!]

This stuff’s weird, isn’t it? I was thinking about perhaps doing a dissertation in my second or third year of English, if I can do one in joint honours (from the website I think I could, but I’ve heard otherwise). Code-switching is more a linguistics thing, though, and not much to do with English. Still, I might be able to work it into a topic.

Today was really good, in that quiet, unassuming way that days can be. I got my article published in Metropolis (tried tracking down a paper copy, but I think they haven’t hit the racks yet) and finished my second one (fingers crossed it goes in). To celebrate sort of becoming more of a writer, I bought myself a new watch for a disturbingly low price (it’s either a knock-off or stolen, except no one has ever been mugged in Japan). I finished off my homework for once, had a wander around Kinokuniya bookstore, posted off my registration for proxy voting (I’m a good citizen, me) and paid my health insurance bills (apparently despite being three months late there are no ill consequences) at the post office, bought some sandalwood incense from the panhandlers outside Shinjuku west exit, and strolled down the street listening to King Tubby’s prime dub cuts and trying hard not to think about this Onion article.