My First Enkai

The person next to me alternated between suddenly bouts of liveliness and hilarity and slumping unsteadily in his seat. People at my table poured beer into my half-full glass, and those of the people around me, telling me to "drink up" and "enjoy it". Teachers around me were clapping eachother on the back, elbowing eachother jokingly, crying and stumbling. Chaos abounded.


So this was the famed ENKAI.


Enkai means party, or banquet, and the term is usually used to mean a work party. These are all-you-can-drink work parties inwhich the famously reserved Japanese people let down their well-styled hair and get crazy.


The night started with everyone being poured a beer ("would you like a beer" was not asked). We toasted the start of the night, and from then on, everyone drank steadily. Waiters and waitresses continually brought large bottloes of beer to each table, and refilled glasses of wine if they were nearly empty. If drinking beer, the people at your table were expected to refill it whenever they could, and people would go to visit people who had helped them throughout the year, and refill their drink as an expression of and gratitude and respect.


Within half an hour, with the Japanese tolerance for alcohol (or lack thereof) the effect of endless beers had already become visible.


Soon after the first course had been served, speeches started. New teachers and treachers who had changed schools or retired gave speeches to thank people (mostly) for their time at the school. As the night became later, speeches became messier. There was shouting. There was crying. A lot of crying.


The enkai ended suddenly, as soon as the last speeches were given. I was shocked to see my full glass of wine (my 10th, but hey, who's counting) being taken away from my table by a waitress. I was outraged at the lack of warning. I quickly grabbed someone else's abandoned beer from the table in front of me and downed it, thinking that this was the sudden end of the drinking (you've got to get value, am I right?).


Everyone poured out of the fancy venue. I asked what was going on. It seemed the night had not finished, just the venue. So, with little idea of where people were going, or what was happening, I followed the crowd of people to the closest trainstation, got on a train with them, and went to the next place, a Japanese izakaya (traditional bar) with an upstairs room.


During the train ride, we had a drunk and rowdy sports teacher tell us he loved to do bongs, and how he wanted to use a bong again. He then spent the rest of the trip switching between calling us "dudes" in an American accents and pretending to be our tour guides, in his politest Japanese English accents ("This way please! Follow me!").


At the next bar, we sat upstairs in a private area with 2 long low tables. We were brought drinks and small dishes of food. Apparently we had another hour of all-you-can-drink at this establishment. "So drink up!"


By 11 o clock, we realised that the last train home wasn't far off (curse you, Japanese train system!) and so everyone had to leave and catch their seperate trains. The next work day, nothing was spoken of the Enkai or anything said or done.


What happens at enkai stays at Enkai.