So Sorry, Johnny

Sometimes I forget how secluded Japan is. Nearly all their information about the outside world comes from the media, which, by the time it gets to them, has been filtered significantly. For example, they think Snoopy is the star of his own show, entitled, "Snoopy and Friends". Both Jack Skellington and Stitch are popular characters over here, but if you ask what movies they come from, you'll get a glazed look and a shrug. While children have never heard of Winnie the Pooh, they all love that adorable yellow stuffed bear, “Pooh-san.”
We tried an exercise today on how (A) is more famous/interesting/beautiful than (B). I decided it would be fun to pit an American movie star against a Japanese one. I asked them:
“In America, who is more famous, Johnny Depp, or Toshio Mifune?”
“who?” they asked.
“Johnny Depp,” I said again, thinking I had said it too fast, or maybe they just couldn't believe that I dared recite a pop culture reference in the holy sanctum that is English class.
“Who's Johnny Depp?"
I then try to explain to them who Johnny Depp was, using all the Japanese I can muster through the haze of disbelief that is engulfing me, threatening to dissipate what sanity I have left after six months of living here, when the teacher pipes up, “Oh, you mean that pirate guy?”
“Ooh, the pirate guy!” all the children squeal, “He's so cool!”
Just to make things clear, I used Johnny Depp because I'd seen “that pirate guy” on almost every piece of merchandise imaginable. People dress up as him for Halloween. He's on pencil cases, lunch boxes and backpacks. He's in your cereal. And yet these people don't know Johnny Depp?
“yes, the pirate guy,” I say, getting back to the lesson, “The pirate guy is more popular than Tohsio Mifune.”
“Who?”
Okay, Japan. You're on your own.

Belated

I know it's been a while since I last wrote. To tell the truth, it's been a while since I last felt like writing. I want this to resemble a traditional blog as little as possible, meaning that I don't want to tell you about my feelings, or what I had for breakfast, or how my breakfast made me feel. That's a part of the human drama that we all get enough of without having to hear it from someone else in a different country, thank you.
No, I want this to be entertaining. Now you might think that just by living in Japan, Japan, of all places, every minute of every day is just filled with mind-blowing intensity; that the English lessons begin with a resounding anime-esque battle-cry of “English, GO!!!” that there are ninjas and super saiyans, and every other week Godzilla comes up out of the sea and decimates a large city. While I can't say for sure about Godzilla(I'm in a land-locked prefecture, hours away from any big city), I can tell you that country life in Japan is pretty much the same as country life everywhere else. That is, boring and ultimately not worth writing about. Read any book by Thoreau if you don't believe me.
One thing I can say with surety about the area in which I live; there is little or no opportunity for theatre. I suppose that's something you can say with surety about a lot of places, like the north pole, or the inside of a McDonald's. But in Kamioka it's especially vexing, because there's no Santa Clause or supersize fries, so the lack of performing arts is more apparent, stands out just a little bit more. One can rise above this by heading north to the prefecture of Toyama, an area famous for its fish.
I recently made the trek up there. The Toyama ALTs were holding auditions for a Japanese version of Alice in Wonderland. I did my little song and dance and snagged the part of the Cheshire Cat. Now, in this version, Chesh is actually a pretty big role; the male lead, in fact. He tries to convince Alice, now a Toyama high school student, to leave Tokyo(wonderland) and return to Toyama with him. Think Jimmany Cricket, except it's a sexy dancing cat.