Impressions from Our Japan Trip

If you read some of the preceding posts I wrote about our tour of Japan, I hope you got the sense of what a great trip it was from beginning to end. Japan was a country I had longed to visit for years as Steven had already been lucky enough to tour many moons ago. The temples, the shrines, many of the museums, the traditional crafts, and the small cities, in particular, were an absolute delight. It was fascinating to learn about the Japanese way of life and to be exposed to what in some circumstances were quirks to us, as we explored the country almost from one end to another. After spending three weeks in Japan many things struck Steven and me - some fantastic, some off-putting, and others that were simply unusual to us. You can decide from the list below what category each observation may fall into!

1. It might seem unbelievable but we saw no litter in the streets and very few trash cans. We did notice signs not to leave trash in bathroom garbage cans, and not empty Coke cans in sinks. 

2. There was NO graffiti anywhere, period, that we observed.

3. The roads were superbly maintained with nary a pothole or bump. There was excellent signage on roads and highways.

4. In the same vein, however, we found the omnipresent signage in museums, metro stations, parks, etc to be off-putting as it directed us to walk left, go down the stairs on the left, to not stand in front of the trains at the metro, etc.

5. Unlike so many countries we've traveled to, the sidewalks were even so we didn't have to worry about taking our eyes off them and tripping up.

6. On the flip side, however, it was tough walking on sidewalks because bicycles and scooters wove in and around pedestrians, strollers, and wheelchairs. 

7. No one seemed to think of jaywalking or even contemplate crossing the street if the light was red even if no vehicles were visible and it meant waiting a couple of minutes for the light to change to green. It took our utmost patience to follow those "rules!"

8. Japan would be an ideal country for travelers with special needs with curb cuts at every intersection, and elevator buttons at wheelchair height as well as "normal" height. 

9. Sadly, however, Priority Seating signs on public transportation were almost universally ignored by people of all ages.

10. Special needs or not, it was incredibly easy to travel around Japan as long as you were conversant in English as all transportation signs were also in English. As I've written several times, however, rarely was information available in English at temples, shrines, and museums.

11. Most people in service industries had enough knowledge of English to communicate with tourists. 

12. Public transportation was very inexpensive which made it extremely easy to get around anywhere. The ticket machines were easy to navigate once we understood the price was normally dependent on the distance traveled. You could count on buses and subway cars leaving every ten minutes or so, so there was never a long wait to get where we wanted to go. We just had to remember to hold onto our metro tickets to insert them into a machine before being able to leave the station.

13. We felt like we might have been in the Netherlands as bicycles reigned supreme in Japan. Mopeds and motorcycles were few and far between by comparison. 

14. Back-in parking was the norm (the law?) although we detected no signs indicating that was required unless they were in Japanese of course! It was common to see parking attendants walking around the parking lots gesturing where drivers should park. They also appeared to record license plates and the time when drivers entered on a clipboard.

15. Steven and I had never been anywhere where we'd seen so many brand-spanking clean cars seemingly in such pristine condition. NONE we saw were clunkers!

16. It took us a tad too long to get used to the shape of stop signs in Japan as they were in the shape of Yield signs in the US. Google Map directions kept advising us to stop ahead but we only saw what we thought were yield signs until I realized Google Maps really did mean for us to stop - oops!

17. There were free public toilets everywhere unlike in US cities and towns where their absence causes huge problems for residents and travelers alike. As you might imagine, each restroom, regardless of whether it was private or public, was sparking clean. 

18. I sure could get used to the heated toilet seats, and the front and back sprays at the push of a button. The sounds of a waterfall in the toilet stall to mute other sounds was a bit much, however!

19. I wasn't a big fan of the wafer-thin toilet paper either.

20. All over Japan, there was a plethora of McDonald's, a few Denny's, KFCs, and Burger Kings but no Subway restaurants.

21. Japanese women, in particular, were impeccably dressed with nary a hair out of place and looking like they had just stepped off a Paris runway. 

Their dress style was noticeably different than what we see in the States with long flowing dresses, often multi-tiered, with lots of gauze and chiffon being the norm. Children were also dressed like little fashion plates. 

22. Businessmen seemed to have a dress code, almost uniformly wearing black suits, white dress shirts, and brown pointy shoes. I found the sea of uniformity difficult.

23. I bet you I could almost count the number of men with facial hair on two hands. Shaving cream must be a top seller!

24. The professional appearance of both taxi and bus drivers was very noticeable as all except one we encountered wore black suits, dress shirts, and white gloves. 

25. Apart from a couple of murals in Osaka, there were no murals or street art anywhere. It was sad seeing no free expression of art. 

26. There was consistently fast internet throughout the country which made keeping in touch with family and friends and updating the blog a breeze.

27. I generally found Japan to be a nation of "no" with rules posted absolutely everywhere: No talking on phones in public, no smoking on streets, no eating while walking, no bike parking, and even no holding hands in a restaurant in Hiroshima.

28. We observed people kept to themselves while walking with little interaction, and no engagement or eye contact. Conversely, people were very friendly when asked a question, etc.

29. Ice cream fans are in hog heaven in Japan as ice cream cones are available for a couple of bucks every hop, skip, and jump. I sure didn't object to that!

30. The artistry with the presentation of food in stores was a delight to feast our eyes on every time.

31. There seemed to be an extremely limited selection of fresh fruit and vegetables in the grocery stores and in the food halls of department stores. 

32. We saw an inordinate number of bakeries and boulangeries all over the country which surprised me and also delighted us both.

33. Japanese must have a HUGE fascination with cookies as, despite their stick-thin figures, never have I seen so many boxes and boxes of small cookies delightfully arranged and wrapped. 

34. Almost on every block, there was a 7-11, a Lawson's, or a Family Mart convenience store selling prepackaged food, drugstore items, drinks, etc.

35. Unlike the US and my native Canada, there was no tipping.

36. Trust in the goodness of human nature was apparent in many stores, even very large ones, with cashiers regularly located at the back of stores. It's sad but I can't see such trust or the honor system being rewarded in the US or Canada.

37. The ratio of workers to shoppers in the food halls of department stores was striking - we've certainly never seen anything like that anyplace else. 

38. Very few police officers were present in the streets or observed in shops - again a striking contrast to other countries we're familiar with. 

39. Being a huge fan of hot tea, I was delighted there was a kettle in every hotel room or Airbnb we rented. Before we downsized our bags, we always brought a mini electric kettle with us so having one at our ready disposal was a relief. 

40. Paper napkins seemed to be unheard of in Japan - instead packaged wet wipes were handed out every time. What a sad story for the environment in my opinion. 

41. Flowers and gardens, both public and private were immaculately maintained.

 

Next post: Culture shock as we headed to Shanghai, China!

Posted on August 7th, 2024, from our home in the suburbs west of Denver. Fortunately, the Quarry Fire is no longer a threat to homeowners just a few miles from us. Please take care of yourself and your loved ones.