Apparently Alice was the center of curiosity. Children, as well as adults in the neighborhood, would spy on the Tanaka household to find out what they were eating or doing. Their curiosity knew no bounds. The occasional meal of beefsteak Alice prepared was commented on widely by the neighborhood housewives.
"Mrs. Tanaka buys 400 grams [a pound] of beef almost every other day at the butcher's around the corner," Mrs. Watanabe, the next-door neighbor, was telling another neighbor one day.
"Mr. Tanaka gets the same salary as my husband. How can they afford to do that, I wonder?" the other neighbor said.
"Well, Mrs. Tanaka is a foreigner and she must be wealthy," Mrs. Watanabe replied.
"But I hear Mrs. Tanaka was a typist or something in London, so she cannot be very rich," the other woman opined.
Alice shopped for daily necessities in a shopping center outside the compound. She made it a point to ask the price of each item and compare prices of various competing stores before making a purchase, which was quite a normal thing for an Occidental to do. Japanese housewives, on the other hand, often made purchases on the spur of the moment and seldom compared prices.
Kore ikura, meaning "How much is this?" was one of the first Japanese phrases Alice learned after arriving in Japan. Whenever she visited the shopping center she used the Japanese phrase. In no time, both among the shopkeepers and her neighbors, Alice was nicknamed "Madame Kore-ikura," the connotation being that she was a woman of somewhat mean and exacting character. One evening Alice asked her husband,
"Saburo, whenever I go shopping in the center salesgirls chuckle and mutter Madame Kore-something and whisper among themselves. I feel most uncomfortable. What does Madame Kore-something mean?"
"It must be your nickname. Since you say kore-ikura? or 'how much is this' they just make fun of you."
"Oh, they are so rude. And those kids in the neighborhood who come round and peep into our apartment, they are so ill-mannered! Can't they mind their own business?" Alice was furious.
"Well, in Japan people live so compactly that one cannot be unconcerned with what others do or say. Their interests are so closely interwoven. If, for instance, an individual occupies more than the normal space for a house, the other hundred million people would have that much less room. So they criticize the individual and try to dissuade him from occupying such a spacious lot.
"Also, because of the extreme congestion of the country, if anyone behaves a little bit differently from others he attracts too much attention and is the object of considerable criticism. Many unpleasant things in Japan stem from this very fact of too many people living in too small a space," Saburo observed.
Alice had heard of the Union Club of Yokohama as a meeting place for foreign residents in Japan. The club was located on the Bluff, a hillside section of the city overlooking the harbor. It was a club which was first founded by the British residents for their exclusive use but latterly, with the influx of American businessmen, it had become more international and was open to foreigners of all nationalities.
One afternoon Alice happened to be shopping in Motomachi in downtown Yokohama and, as she had some time left, decided to explore the Bluff area. There she spotted the Union Club, amid comfortable homes and bungalows whose spacious gardens reminded her of the southwestern suburbs of London. It was on the Bluff that most well-todo foreigners lived. What a difference, this Bluff area, from where she lived, Alice thought to herself.
The lobby had a Victorian air about it, and Alice entered with some diffidence, avoiding the usual stares reserved for strangers by members of such a club. In the main lounge she saw a middle-aged woman who looked British. She appeared haggard, however, and had a sallow complection. The two recognized each other as com-patriots and felt a certain kinship, so conversation ensued
"Mrs. Tanaka buys 400 grams [a pound] of beef almost every other day at the butcher's around the corner," Mrs. Watanabe, the next-door neighbor, was telling another neighbor one day.
"Mr. Tanaka gets the same salary as my husband. How can they afford to do that, I wonder?" the other neighbor said.
"Well, Mrs. Tanaka is a foreigner and she must be wealthy," Mrs. Watanabe replied.
"But I hear Mrs. Tanaka was a typist or something in London, so she cannot be very rich," the other woman opined.
Alice shopped for daily necessities in a shopping center outside the compound. She made it a point to ask the price of each item and compare prices of various competing stores before making a purchase, which was quite a normal thing for an Occidental to do. Japanese housewives, on the other hand, often made purchases on the spur of the moment and seldom compared prices.
Kore ikura, meaning "How much is this?" was one of the first Japanese phrases Alice learned after arriving in Japan. Whenever she visited the shopping center she used the Japanese phrase. In no time, both among the shopkeepers and her neighbors, Alice was nicknamed "Madame Kore-ikura," the connotation being that she was a woman of somewhat mean and exacting character. One evening Alice asked her husband,
"Saburo, whenever I go shopping in the center salesgirls chuckle and mutter Madame Kore-something and whisper among themselves. I feel most uncomfortable. What does Madame Kore-something mean?"
"It must be your nickname. Since you say kore-ikura? or 'how much is this' they just make fun of you."
"Oh, they are so rude. And those kids in the neighborhood who come round and peep into our apartment, they are so ill-mannered! Can't they mind their own business?" Alice was furious.
"Well, in Japan people live so compactly that one cannot be unconcerned with what others do or say. Their interests are so closely interwoven. If, for instance, an individual occupies more than the normal space for a house, the other hundred million people would have that much less room. So they criticize the individual and try to dissuade him from occupying such a spacious lot.
"Also, because of the extreme congestion of the country, if anyone behaves a little bit differently from others he attracts too much attention and is the object of considerable criticism. Many unpleasant things in Japan stem from this very fact of too many people living in too small a space," Saburo observed.
Alice had heard of the Union Club of Yokohama as a meeting place for foreign residents in Japan. The club was located on the Bluff, a hillside section of the city overlooking the harbor. It was a club which was first founded by the British residents for their exclusive use but latterly, with the influx of American businessmen, it had become more international and was open to foreigners of all nationalities.
One afternoon Alice happened to be shopping in Motomachi in downtown Yokohama and, as she had some time left, decided to explore the Bluff area. There she spotted the Union Club, amid comfortable homes and bungalows whose spacious gardens reminded her of the southwestern suburbs of London. It was on the Bluff that most well-todo foreigners lived. What a difference, this Bluff area, from where she lived, Alice thought to herself.
The lobby had a Victorian air about it, and Alice entered with some diffidence, avoiding the usual stares reserved for strangers by members of such a club. In the main lounge she saw a middle-aged woman who looked British. She appeared haggard, however, and had a sallow complection. The two recognized each other as com-patriots and felt a certain kinship, so conversation ensued
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