Analyzing Social Settings Activity and Reading

Simon Wu (吳泰羽Wu Tai-Yu)

Observation location : The Bar named Jam, which located in Koenji, Tokyo.

The reason I choose this bar where I stay frequently is because I feel familiar and comfortable here, also I think a bar is a place letting people do interaction initiatively, no matter have they met before or not. 

I would say that this bar has two sections, which are, table sections and counter section. The table sections has two small tables with two seats each, and a big table with four seats. The counter section is a long bar counter with approximately ten seats, which can let people face to bar tenders. I think this layout is with certain function to provide customers for different needs. (I will explain this assumption later. )

I visited the bar around 7:40pm and would leave at 8:15pm. At the moment I walked into the bar, who I saw are two staffs behind the counter, a man and a woman sitting side by side ,who I would sit next to later, three men sitting separately, and three women sitting at the big table. Everyone has a glass of alcohol in front of them, and most of who sitting at the counter has an ashtray, except the man and the woman sharing one. I ordered a drink as usual, and started the following observation. 

In general, from time to time, All of them pick up their smart phones, sliding them, sometimes with a sip of drink. They smoke and drink, and they do talk but not continuously. Sometimes they are just being quiet, staring at nowhere like they are pondering. The senior staff is the one who usually breaks the silence with a random topic like "how's your work?", "how's your girlfriend?" or maybe introducing whisky to customers. Why I tell that he is senior is because the other bar tender always talks to him with Keigo(けいご), which is a more official way of talking or writing to your superior. 

Although sometimes they are silent, it doesn't mean the vibe is awkward or embarrassing. On the contrary, they also seem being at ease while they are quiet. People also ask Bar tenders advice for which base of wine to drink. Here is a fun observation, after ordering their own drink, some people might buy drinks for the bar tenders. Bar tenders would accept joyfully, starting making drink for the customer and for themselves, and then, toast (かんぱい)to everyone, including me, sitting at the counter. I consider it a ritual at this bar, which really boosts atmosphere. According to my observation, none replies toasts with a serious face, not to mention with rejection. I am not sure whether some people reply it reluctantly. But at least, it can be called a interaction.

Then, let me focus on the man and the woman I sit next to. They had been chatting, smoking, drinking until foods they ordered came. The set of hamburger the man ordered came earlier than the pasta the woman did. They exchange or feed food to each other. The man always talk to the woman gently and intimately. Thus, I would assume they are couple.

Due to the distance from where I sit to the big table, I less observed those three women sitting at it. But there were no pause between their conversation and I can hear laughs from them all the time. So I think they are probably friends. 

This entire observation is at a comfortable mood. People sitting at the big table seemed enjoy themselves, while people sitting at the counter also did the same by different way. They can talk easily to whoever. I think this is a good place to find someone to talk, meanwhile, be struck up. The layout of this bar do divide customers who came for different purpose. If people come with few friends, they might choose a table. If people come alone, they would sit at the counter. Both of these types can easily make social interactions in this setting. However, this also means that it's hard for me to not get involved in during the entire observation. I would definitely feel bad if I had rejected toasts. I am not saying that a person cannot enjoy him/herself here, but it is really hard to completely isolate him/herself from this circumstance. I think this is also a topic or a challenge for social observation to not get involved in the social setting. Or even I should say that sometimes we are not allowed to do observation with zero involvement or interaction.