Japan, Epilogue

As we are sorting out our impressions of Japan – and they are plentiful – few things will definitely stick with us.

This is an amazing place. It is definitely very special and different. It has its own culture and set of values that are so different to what we are used to. Only regret we have is to have traveled to Taiwan before Japan. Some things, that would have been absolutely special and unique now were not (we caught ourselves few times saying how similar something was to Taipei). But then, not sure why we are surprised, Japan and Taiwan have been sharing a lot of (intertwined) history and Taiwan was actually under Japanese rule until after WW2.

Connection with past and traditional values. It feels very alive in Japan. Seems as thou there is some way traditions are still influencing modern life more than they do in west. From clothes to attitude, from manners to music, fashion to makeup, seems they are still very aware of their past.

Food

Japan has amazing cuisine that is so much more than sushi. Not that we don’t like sushi – we adore it! But it was nice to have been able to see and try other things as well. What surprised us thou, were prices for fruit and veggies. We thought we were blind first time we saw a melon for a €100 (well, there were specials for two for €170). Cherries retail at about €3-5 a pop. As do strawberries. Mangos are sold wrapped with ribbons at about €100 a package of one, albeit a very handsome package. We dare you to be vegetarian here!

Toilets

I know, sounds bizarre, but it took quite a time to figure out all the functions: from different types of washing to drying. Not to mention heated toilet seats. If anyone ever decides to start selling this in Europe, you have a buyer.

Safety

It is absolutely ridiculous how safe Japan is, like a Vatican vault. Just to make a point let us share our experience. When we crossed Japan Alps we sent our luggage with currier service. And when we were arranging this at the train station (yup, train station – synonym for all bad that can happen to you everywhere else in the world), the luggage guy went to get a new pen and left money unattended for about five minutes. Seriously! We were in total shock. We just felt for all those Japanese tourists who find their way to Johannesburg. They probably get mugged on Day 1 and just head back to airport to go home.

Queues

Seems Japanese are waiting for everything. To eat. To have coffee. To buy things. To enter museums, shops… anything really. To cross the street. To go on bus, train, metro… But it is not the waiting that mesmerized us, it is the orderly queues they do it in! Seemed so natural. Well, possibly not to the two of us. Instant gratification is really not a thing here.

Traffic jams

There are none. But there are considerable people jams. Especially on the metro! Everyone is neatly waiting in the queue for their turn to get on already full trains. Not to worry that you won’t get on – they actually employ people who push passengers in! Seriously, we have seen places where cattle was treated better. And RyanAir seems like a first class service.

Stairs

There is something in Japan about the escalators – there are few and rare. So, we went up and down, and down and up. Over and over again. One would think its fine as long as you can find a nice place and rest on a bench. Yeah, in theory! These are non-existent in Japan. As are bins (we kept carrying our garbage back to the room!). It is probably government policy to discourage loitering and resting. Really hard on our Mediterranean souls…

Order

There is order and effectiveness in everything. Even the roads are built in 3D, so traffic can go on and on with minimal interruptions. Trains, busses and every other way of transport are on time here. For real – we do not mean the Irish way where plus/minus five minutes counts on time. Taxi cars are all same and they have doors that automatically open and close. It is almost as the whole country has an OCD!

Road Safety

So many people are doing menial jobs trying to keep everyone safe: directing traffic and people. You would think you are in a third world place where government is just coming up with schemes to fight unemployment, not in one of the G7 countries. It takes two people with jedi sticks doing the dance to get a car from the garage! On the other hand, they cycle without helmets and let you get so close to moving trains (and they move pretty fast here!) you can feel the wind in your underpants. Bizarre!
Space. It definitely is a commodity. Hotel rooms are beyond small. IKEA is prospering here, only the furniture probably is not compact enough. They actually sell 120cm beds as a double. We booked twin rooms quite a few times to avoid midnight bed fights.

But most of all, Japan will stay with us as a magical, special place. One that you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. And then come back. Again and again.