Seriously, fucking Japan

秘密, originally uploaded by apocalypsefictions.

This blog isn't meant to be a blog about Japan, but rather a photography project which at the moment takes place while I am in Japan. If I am still doing this when I leave Japan, I hope it will continue long after that. Admittedly, when broken down, this is ultimately a rather tedious self absorbed project, as it is simply me assuming my life is worthy of documenting, but I forgive myself such indulgences as ultimately my main motivation for doing this is to refine my photographic technique.

Despite all this, as these photos inevitably have stories attached, and the photos are taken in Japan, I cannot help but at times write about the country itself. Given that I may even have gone as far as breaking the law by posting this photo, the cultural commentary here is pretty important.

The most unnerving thing i've observed over this past week is the fact that people are entirely unwilling to ever break any rule, regardless of its logic. People will wait for traffic lights to turn green late at night on a quiet empty road, for example. Most of the time this is either amusing or mildly frustrating. Tonight however, having been pulled out of a crowd for daring to take photos without being a member of the press, I find this unquestioning devotion to rules and laws alarming.

When the venue staff approached me, eyeing my camera, I guessed immediately what they were going to say, but I played dumb: Loud music, I can't hear what you're saying. The man directed me out of the hall into a quiet area, where he called over his friend, who asked me in English whether I spoke Japanese. I replied that I spoke a little, which is true, however I maintained a dumb look to suggest I could say little more than 'Konnichiwa'. In an odd combination of English and Japanese he asked me to 'erase' the photos. I asked why, and he told me photography was not allowed. I asked why again and he simply motioned to a sign on the wall, offering no further explanation. Again, he repeated his request for me to 'erase'.

I adjusted the white balance settings and told him it was done. He bought it.

Thus I managed to preserve a few photos of Zazen Boys, one of which you see here.

Why does this bother me so? Aside from the disappointment aspect, I feel essentially i've been criminalised for practicing a hobby which could POSSIBLY be a marketable skill. As best I can tell, the rule is in place to ensure that the press gain special permission and presumably pay a fee in order to work the scene. In other words, a country which is notoriously pro buisness has made a restriction to prevent the outside chance that I might make some money.

I'm not a capitalist. I'm pretty left wing. But at the same time, as much as I hate the word, i'm essentially liberal, and I believe that true left wing systems should also be as liberal as possible. The best way to sum up my feelings is that Japan's society and government are China, disguised as the US. But if the Olympics made anything clear, it's not that people don't ask questions in China, it's that they can't. In Japan, as best I can tell, people simply fall in no matter what they're faced with.