I started my Christmas hamper shopping this week. A box of Ritz crackers! Actually two boxes, but when they were on sale at ¥98 from their ¥138 how could I resist??? And this is what it’s going to be like from now on.
The current state and ever-increasing rise in prices and the lack of any rise in salaries in decades here means being more than just a consumer, but a consumer who can work miracles. Not wanting to lower the standard I am accustomed to, not wanting to compromise my lifestyle, not wanting to live in fear of being out of control, the tightening of the belt means making more of a conscious effort in the day to day decisions to stay afloat more than ever before.
I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I do enjoy a bit of luxury, the occasional splurge, the occasional glass of this, that and the other, fancy food, exquisite surroundings, travel and such, but other than a bit of spontaneity, most of what I do is calculated in the big picture. Quality over quantity. Function rather than fashion to a point. Long term ‘investment’ instead of just a lick of the lolly.
Coming to Japan during the economic bubble meant days upon days of licks of the lolly as a fresh off the plane university graduate. The evening invitations spent dining on sushi and sukiyaki and the like were so common that a treat was staying in with egg sandwiches made with the thick slices of bread of the day that almost required jaw surgery to get in your mouth. Anyone mentioning they were looking for a second-hand car or some electrical appliance, well those things somehow managed to quickly appear as friends, acquaintances and colleagues upgraded their own items. I wonder how those who arrived in 1989 with me and returned after a year or two on the JET programme remember Japan? Life was lucrative. Travel plentiful. Easy going days. Not a care in the world.
And then life happened. The bubble burst. We grew up. I grew up. Marriage. Children. Taxes. Day to day life became the chore than it is meant to be when you don’t have the silver spoon to help you on the way. So what do you do? You make adjustments. And work within the parameters you set yourself. And despite those being set, you can still have the luxury and exquisite surroundings. It just takes a bit more effort.
And this is where I find myself 33 years after I came to Japan. I’ve been in my current job 10 years now and I never take it and the fixed salary for granted. When I started here I was as close to rock bottom as I have ever been. Life had changed. And I needed to deal with those changes. Walls had to be climbed, and thankfully those walls were not literal walls as anyone who knows me will know, actually climbing of anything is not something I have ever been able to do. But climb I did, and the last 10 years have been me working the day to day on the tight budget I set myself, keeping afloat, and bringing to my table enough to at least be able to say metaphorically that I enjoy a daily feast with all the trimmings, fireworks and all.

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