Games JETs Played

GAMES JET PLAYED

(Winter 2005 Issue)

Wasabi Shumai
Enkais are always filled with funny antics from your teachers and co-workers (or at least the ones I went to were). Therewas the time I got stuffed into a cooler and delivered to another office party in place of the beer- but I digress. My favoriteof all the games played by my coworkers during enkais was the one that the science teacher, Tomita-sensei, excelled at. Icall it “Wasabi Shumai” though it was occasionally Wasabi Gyoza or Wasabi Cucumber Roll, just to keep us guessing.Tomita-sensei had a particular talent for dissecting shumai and replacing the filling with a large wad of wasabi beforeplacing it back in the serving dish, seemingly untouched. Somehow he always managed to do this before we got to theparty, or at least before the food got set out on the table. So everyone knew that there would be a tainted piece of food on the table, but we never knew which one it was. The night was always filled with suspense as we munched our shumai andgyoza and tried to avoid getting a mouthful of wasabi. Inevitably, after enough alcohol, Kocho-sensei or sometimes thesweet young home ec teacher would forget about Tomita-sensei’s treat, and the tears (of joy?) in their eyes would betraythat they had found the winning piece! Next time you go to a big party, bring some wasabi and see what fun develops.
-Clara Solomon, New York

Wink, Wink
When in Japan some ALTs I worked with and I, perhaps out of mind blowing boredom, fell in love with this social gamecalled “assasin.” If you don’t know it, it’s basically a game built around guise and winking. Players get roles determined bydealt cards, and the assasin’s role is to kill – take out of the game – everyone; done by descretely winking at anotherplayer. The other major role is the detective, who is immune to winks but tries to determine who the assasin is beforeeveryone is dead. Anyway, fresh off a session with my ALT friends, I was hanging out with some Japanese friends andsuggested we play it. They said sure, “Let’s play.”  But it might as well have been a ‘hai,’ because after about five minutesof careful looking with nothing happening, I said, “Hey, what’s going on here?” My friend finally admitted she was theassasin but did not know how to wink, so did nothing. Fun game.
-Lance Lieberman, New York

Mortal Janken Kombat
This is a full-contact variation on the ubiquitous “Rock-Scissors-Paper” game: Two people sit facing each other. Betweenthem, placed next to each other, are a rolled-up newspaper or magazine and a hard, flat object, like a hardcover book or atray. The two opponents play RSP. In the case of a tie, they simply play again. The real fun starts when someone beatshis opponent. The winner of RSP grabs the rolled-up newspaper as fast as he can and attempts to bop the loser on thetop of the head with it. Meanwhile, the loser scrambles to grab the flat object and use it to cover his head before he getsbopped. This game is amusing sober, but the enjoyment increases exponentially in relation to number of drinks consumed
before and during play.
-Earth Bennett (Aomori ’00 – ’02)

Vietnamese Tic Tac Toe
Two friends and I stopped in Vietnam on our way back to the States from Japan. During one particularly luxurious day onthe beach at Nha Trang, my friend befriended some adorable Vietnamese kids. After exhausting their English knowledgeand tiring of janken, we turned to Tic Tac Toe. Melanie drew a grid in the sand, put her “x” on it and encouraged one of thekids to play with her. Next thing we knew, the kids had disappeared, and there was a ring of topless Vietnamese menstanding around us looking menacing. I guess Tic Tac Toe is some sort of gambling game in Vietnam because the guysstarted betting money on our game. They also have very different rules to Tic Tac Toe – whenever we thought we hadwon, they added another line onto the grid. Finally, we both gave up in frustration and admitted defeat. The “winners”demanded a kiss in lieu of payment for the bets we had apparently lost. With a firm “No” and a bunch of other fast-talkingEnglish, we turned them away and high-tailed it back to the hostel. We saw this gambling Tic Tac Toe game other times inHo Chi Min City and elsewhere, but were never enticed to play the game again!!
-Clara Solomon, New York

Jump Rope
In my top ten unforgettable images of my time in Japan, one of them has to be ‘group jump rope’ from Sports Day.  Tome, that event symbolizes Japan, the ability for 40 middle school students to coordinate their timing for jump rope, and beso good at it that they are competing against other classes. You couldn’t get 40 American middle school students to evenstand in a straight line, let alone jump rope together, and compete!!!
-Paul Bodner, San Francisco

“Exciting Shorinji”
I decided I was going to get involved with some sort of martial arts while I was in Japan.  I noticed at a small templebehind my apartment every other night there were a bunch of guys doing what I thought was karate, but they all hadswastikas.  I walked in and, using my extremely limited Japanese, asked if I could join.  They said sure and next thing Iknew I had my own gi with a swastika (which wasn’t really a swastika) and was learning the art of shorinji kempo threenights a week.  After doing it for a little while, my sensei entered me, along with Tsuyoshi, another guy in the group, in alocal tournament where we do a series of  choreographed moves together.  We practiced hard every time, and… did Imention that Tsuyoshi was a nice guy but had a few screws loose in his head?  Anyway, we watched everyone do theirroutines and they all looked a hell of a lot sharper than I knew I did.  Yet, when it was our turn, I was fighting for my lifebecause Tsuyoshi was going full force, throwing every punch and kick at me as if he wanted to kill me.  Fortunately I knew
when to block and duck and move, though I did take a kick to the head at one point.  In the end, though, the judges gaveus the award for first place citing our “true feeling” in performing our routine.  I don’t think they realized I was just fightingfor my life.  Still have the trophy though.
-Steven Horowitz, New York

Crazy Karuta
You know those stringent rows and groups the kids sat in? I hated them, and so invented a game called Crazy Karuta.Crazy Karuta maintained the slapping aspect of the traditional children’s game, but the rest was a vocabulary race. I drewa bullseye on the board and the class divided into two teams. With every correct answer, a team member would race tothe front to slap the bullseye. It was a very popular game; kids use to beg me to let them play, but of course we were atthe mercy of the JTE. Crazy Karuta’s reign came to an end with a class of very genkisan-nen-seis. I didn’t anticipate thecompetitive nature of physically mature 14-year-olds. Two boys on opposing teams got the right answer at the same timeand went barreling to the board. Since it was neck-and-neck, they both took flying leaps for their last steps. And then they crashed in midair, and Soji landed on his arm. We all heard the crack. The JTE took Soji to the hospital. The next day he
was back, proudly displaying his cast.
-Alexei Esikoff, New York

Gaijin Hockey
My JET friend Scott somehow ended up on a hockey team in Nagoya, and I used to go and watch him play from time to time.  It was usually fun, the skill level was pretty good, and Japanese teams don’t seem to really be into fighting so you get to actually see their skills.  Then again, most Japanese hockey teams hadn’t played against Jeff, another gaijin on the team.  So one night I go to see Scott play, but this time with this new woman he’s been dating who’s just getting to know him.  I’m sitting with her, trying to explain the game in broken Japanese and videotaping as much as I can.  Next thing I know, Scott is involved in some sort of collision or play or something, Jeff jumps in and starts punching, and just like that there’s a big pile-up right on top of Scott (who, for the record, never threw a punch.)  Still not sure if his woman friend was impressed or appalled.  I think I’ve still go the video somewhere.
-Steven Horowitz, New York