Land of the Rising Sun

Harajuku, Tokyo.

Approaching my two week stay in Japan, I must say that, like nearly all places I've been so far, I have had an incredible time.  I'm particularly happy because I have had the opportunity to see a couple different friends in Japan since being here.  So far, I've spent the majority of my time in Tokyo.  I'm not going to write a whole lot at the moment, but I will mention a couple things that have stuck out so far.

1.  To generalize, Japanese people are extremely polite and friendly.  I'm amazed time and time again by how helpful everyone is.  One of my first times riding around on the trains in Tokyo I realized that I was on the wrong line.  Using the 3-4 pages of Japanese phrases in the back of my travel book I was able to fumble the words "excuse me" and "where is X?" out of my mouth.  Almost instantaneously after asking one person on the train, a group of people descended upon me, each offering up their assistance with their varied levels of English proficiency. 



My first Bento box.  Delicious

 2.  Japanese toilets are amazing.  You've probably seen pictures, or even heard about the toilets that come with all the bells and whistles, BUT until you get to use one, you have no idea what you are missing out on!  Heated seats (useful during winter), built in air fresheners, and a water facet like device on top of the tank.  I've even encountered a toilet where the lid automatically goes up once it detects motion.  Somehow, I need to figure out how to get one of these toilets back home.

3.  To generalize (again), Japanese people are dedicated in anything and everything that they do.  I went to the grocery store one day and I observed a man "directing" traffic near the entrance to the parking lot.  I say "directing" because in reality, he didn't need to be there.  Clearly, people could have figured out how to avoid pedestrians and other cars without him.  Despite the pointlessness of his position and the fact that he was wearing a long sleeved uniform in 33 degrees C heat, he did his job with a seriousness and dedication that I'm not sure I can quite describe.  What I can describe is the lack of a look of frustration, tiredness, and just over all feeling of dismay in disliking his job.  Upon watching him, every movement he made, every expression made it seem as if this job was the most important thing and that it was his duty to serve the people as best as he could.  I was stunned.  For a job like this, I would expect most people to do it with no enthusiasm, no care, and a huge sense of apathy.  This is just one of a million examples I could run through.  My favorite thing in relation to this subject is walking into stores.  When you walk into a 7-eleven for example, one worker will shout out "welcome" to you, and a milisecond after that all the other workers will shout out "welcome" as well, even if they are hidden behind a row of goods stocking the bottom level of a shelf.  If one didn't know better, you might think that they were sounding off an alarm that a white-redheaded foreigner had entered the place.  Haha, as you leave, the alarm goes off again, only this time they are saying "goodbye."

A scene from Nikko and the burial
site of Tokugawa Ieyasu
(important historical ruler of Japan)

4.  Japan is a mixture of the old and the new.  I got a real sense of this when I went from walking around the electronic district (akihabara) in Tokyo where I got to play with all of Sony's newest toys and inventions, to hopping on the train next to some sumo wrestlers.  Ok, so maybe this isn't the greatest example of "old vs. new", but I suppose I'm trying to portray the idea that for all of Japan's modernity and seemingly "western" style, there is still a very distinct element that makes Japan, Japan.  No where else have I viewed people bow to each other with such respect and normality.  It is a part of Japan.  Something you don't really see anywhere else. 

I have much more to write about Japan and what I've been up to, but I need to keep this one short for the time being.  My actual main goal of this post was to make sure and pin up September's Speedo Picture before the month ended!  If you've seen my photos on facebook, you've already seen this one.  It is an oldie, but goodie. 

September:  Great Wall of China