Working Hard in Japan

When you start learning about Japan and reading stories from Japan, you start to realize something about how they work. Many of them are very focused on perfection.
Two of the manga that come to mind that demonstrate this are "Bakuman" and "Bartender." Maybe also "The Wind Rises" and "Whisper of the Heart" (And then there are all the anime where people are obsessed with being the best of the best).

In Bakuman, the two boys throw everything they have at becoming successful manga writers (well, being the best manga writers in the magazine, of course). They give up a lot of holiday and social stuff, and sometimes even their own health.


In Bartender there is a bartender who is pretty marvelous at his job. He knows everything about what he makes, including its origin, mythology, and purpose. And he can analyze what people need. Plus he makes great drinks, though I don't drink.

And if you know anything about Hayao Miyazaki, you may have heard some of the drama about his family life. His son accused him of never being there for his family. He spent all of his time at the studio. He made works of genius (Some of my favorite movies-he's one of my biggest creative inspirations, if not the biggest), but his family never seemed to see much of him until he finished a project. Then he'd take the kids and their friends on a cool vacation.


A little bit of this has rubbed off on me. I refuse to neglect my family and friends, and I manage to give some time to many of my hobbies. But I want to make sure I know about my job. Now there are a couple hundred species of animals where I work. Not to mention a few hundred plant species (and I do run the garden tours). So it's not really logical for me to know everything about everything. But I make sure I know what all of the animals are, most of the plants, and that I can say at least something about them. For all of the popular animals, I can say a good deal about them, and there a few animals that I could talk about forever (figuratively).
Plus I have to know where everything is (fountains, bathrooms, each animal), what any of the current events are or anything that might be an inconvenience for guests, what the ticket and membership and event prices might be, all of the details about parking, rides, food, what groups have reservations, what private events there are, etc. So yeah. It's a lot.
Plus I'm always reading up on animals and plants a few times a week.

So when I go to a store and the people working there don't know anything, it makes me really mad.
Plus you find people that expect to get paid for sitting around doing nothing.
Do your freaking job!

On a slightly different note.
When I went down south to visit Shy Boy, we stopped at a restaurant where we could watch the sunset over the ocean. I've been reading Bartender, so I went to the bar to see what non-alcoholic stuff there was. And I ordered a coconut/mint/lime drink. It was amazing.
Almost every other time I've ordered drinks at a bar, they've been disappointing. I wish I could visit the bar in the manga XD