-Bōnenkai-

-忘年会-
Literally, "forget the year meeting." 

Anyone who has the pleasure of socializing in Japan has probably noticed profound effects of alcohol on the average Japanese person. The red face, reduced space-bubble, increased boisterousness and "need to touch things." It's great really because it opens up people that are otherwise quiet and normally harder to talk to.

Japanese people, especially teachers, work extremely hard and need a chance to unwind every once in a while. One particular chance is called a Bōnenkai. It is a socializing event at the end of year, and is to forget the troubles of the past 365 days; there's no better method than the consumption of a lot of alcohol. 

I had the pleasure of attending one of these last year and it was quite the experience. 

These kinds of events are usually split into parts: the official meeting and the after party(ies). The first part is usually a standard, formal party. The one that I attended was at a fancy Japanese restaurant. After the opening ceremony, people usually walk around with adult beverages and fill each others glasses up. At these kinds of events it's a pretty big faux pas to fill your own drink. You either have to wait until someone comes around to you, or fill someone else's glass, then have him fill yours (no homo). However since these are often a race to see who can get the most wasted first, you won't be waiting long. 

There are often various games to go along with the festivities. Ranging from Bingo and how many 4 stroke kanji can you write, to rock paper scissors tournaments and guess which of these hands belongs to the opposite gender.

After closing the main event, many hold an after party. Now no longer under an official setting, the juice is let loose and all hell breaks out. The particular after party I went to was held at a karaoke establishment.

The most memorable part of the night was with a gentleman that was really getting into it. I had not talked to him much before but I could tell that he was having a pretty good time. I could tell because most Japanese adults (unlike my students) are usually not as straight forward with analyzing the tactile quality of my hair. However he was having no problems that night. 

Karaoke places usually have accessories and garments that you may equip to increase(?) your singing stats. The closest available one was the Cat Paw™. According to him, the appropriate way to using such an item is to hold your hand out like a stop sign, bend your fingers at approximately 45 degrees, and then say "nyaa" at no more than 55 decibels. The dynamics of this art are harder than one may estimate. He was very strict but I eventually gained his approval. 

After being forced gently encouraged to sing Baby by Justin Bieber by the other participants, I wondered as to where my Cat Paw™ master had gone. He shortly appeared in an AKB48 outfit and proceeded to entertain me with a lap dance during my performance. He, equipped with the miniskirt and Cat Paw™, could not be more than 2mm away from me for the rest of the night. 

The after party ended a couple more songs... and drinks. 
If you ever have chance to go to a Bōnenkai, I have several tips:

1. Do not pound drinks: Your (apparently) bottomless drinking hole will only encourage others to test your might.
2. Eat before going: There will be food... You will not get to eat it.
3. Take A LOT of money: You might run your wallet up around 10,000 to 15,000 yen.
4. Take this as a chance to really talk and socialize with your co-workers. There are few other chances to get them to loosen up.

Another faux pas is mentioning any potentially damaging event that occurred during drinking in public. Ever.