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My room for the night at
an Internet Cafe |
Tonight's posting is being brought to you from none other than McDonald's! I'm not ashamed to say that I am never above a cheap, crappy meal. Besides that, however, there is an additional reason I am here, and that is to kill time. You see, tonight I am going to stay at an Internet cafe. Sounds weird, I know. But in Japan, sleeping at Internet cafes is quite common and very much accepted. Most Internet cafes offer a range of overnight package deals depending on the number of hours you intend to stay/sleep and the kind of accommodation you prefer. The cheapest rate gets you a computer and a chair. Very basic, and very difficult to fall asleep in. The next class up, you often get a number of different choices. Essentially you get a cubicle with a computer. You can decide on getting a reclining chair at a desk, or a lower desk that you sit on the floor to use and the floor is usually padded and/or has some type of tiny seat that folds flat. I always opt for the floor like computer desk because as some of you may know, I am very much ok with sleeping on the floor and in certain situations, actually prefer it. Now, this isn't all that the Internet cafe has to offer. In addition to being one of the cheaper options for places to sleep (besides the train station), you also get free drinks the entire night (coffee, pop, tea, hot chocolate, etc.) and in most places you also have a shower! Hot diggity dog! What else do you need? Not much.
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| Capsule Hotel - very cozy |
Of course, if the Internet cafe isn't your thing, there's always the classy Capsule Hotel, although these tend to be a little more expensive without the benefits of unlimited drinks and Internet. I stayed at a Capsule Hotel for one night, just so I could say I did it, and after the experience I told myself I would never abandon the Internet cafe for a Capsule Hotel ever again. The Capsule Hotel reminded me of submarine bunks, although I'm fairly sure submarine bunks are very different. Forget the submarine. Let's imagine the morgue instead. Imagine sliding into your proper slot, only this one is a little larger allowing you to sit up without hitting your head. Oh, and you have a small T.V., so this morgue is quite lively. When it boiled down to it, both experiences were fine. However, when taking the Yen into consideration, the advantage goes to the Internet cafe in my humble opinion. Don't take my word for it though, because it is not like I have stayed at every Internet cafe and Capsule Hotel in Japan. In fact, I have had a couple crummy experiences at Internet cafes where they played music until 1 am and then turned it back on at 7. Very frustrating.
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| Shower and Spa |
Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that the showers at Capsule Hotels are often locker room style. If this is something you are uncomfortable with, you better get used to it if you come to Japan. Showering while sitting on a small stool is the typically shower here. A wall will be lined with shower heads located at waste height. Below them, the stools you sit on. Wash yourself sometime while sitting on a stool and let me know what you think. I found it to be...difficult isn't the right word....let's go with...unnatural. I just wasn't used to it. As different as the locker room shower may be, one thing I could get used to is the spa, or "onsen." Many bathrooms also have a hot spa with refreshingly hot water that you can soak in after a long day of riding trains and running around with a 18 Kilo bag on your back.
Ok, enough bathroom talk. I suppose I should tell you a bit about my adventures of late. I arrived in Japan about a month ago (Sept. 14). The first two weeks were spent seeing Tokyo and the surrounding area - the next two weeks (or, past two weeks), I activated my Japanese rail pass and began the whirlwind tour of my life around Japan. If you come to Japan and intend/hope to see several different places, the rail pass is the way to go. In my two week tazmanian devil act, I managed to go to the following places...
Osaka
Kyoto
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Festival in Sendai. Dancing
and singing in a
parade like fashion. |
Hiroshima
Miyajima
Takayama
Shirakawago
Furugawa
Tsumago
Magome
Nagano
Matsumoto
Sendai
Matsushima
Yamadera
Akita
Kakunodate
Hakodate
Sapporo
Granted, some of the above places I only spent an afternoon in, but if you map it out, you will see that I covered a lot of ground. And yes, there is a train that connects the main island, Honshu, to the northern island, Hokkaido. They literally tunneled under the ocean. Pretty incredible.
I couldn't tell you my favorite place. Hakodate had some incredible squid. Matsushima was beautiful. Hiking from Tsumago to Magome (7-8 km) was a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of city life. Sendai was unique for a festival I happened to stumble upon - really, I could go on forever.
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Shirakawago and
thatched roof houses |
Between all the things I saw and did, the Japanese people are still the part of this place that has made the greatest impression on me. Almost without fail, anytime I rode a train and had someone sit next to me, they would try and strike up a conversation. They would try and practice their English, they would insist on giving me whatever candy or food they were carrying with them (which was commonly some type of seaweed candy - not my favorite, but tolerable), and they would always thank ME, as if I had done something for them! It is crazy.
I'm at a loss of words right now to tell you more about Japan. After being here just over a month, a lot of things have become 2nd nature to me. It is a little hard to reflect on some of things that astounded me at first. Litter and trash is a perfect example. There is very little of it anywhere. At face value I suppose this doesn't seem all that special. BUT, when you are here and you see how few garbage cans they have, it will suddenly seem out of this world. I am not exaggerating in saying that garbage cans are really only located in 2 places. Near convenient stores and train station stops. It is possible to seem them elsewhere, but they are extremely rare. How the heck do they do it? Keep the place looking like Disneyland with so few garbage cans?! It's because they are Japanese and they actually follow the rules and do what society asks them to. No one crosses the street unless the walk signal is showing, even if no cars are coming. You'll occasionally see a person cross "illegally" if they are in a hurry, but again, very rare. Since everyone follows the rules, you actually feel guilty yourself for breaking them. I didn't litter anywhere, but I admit, there were a couple times that I crossed the street when I didn't have the right away. Another thing that left an impression on me (related to work, dedication, and customer service), while riding the trains, there are women who come through the different cars with a food and beverage cart. Every time they go through the door to a different car, they bow to everyone. When I say every time, this means they do it when they enter, and when they leave. They actually bother to turn around, face the car of people, and give a small bow and smile before they exit. It took me a while to notice that they did this - but once I did, I couldn't help but watch every single time. The women must have thought I was extremely strange because no one else even cared to look at them or give them any notice, whereas I watched them with some stupefied grin on my face, amazed by their dedication to do such a thing even when no one else was watching. It was even easier for me to watch if she was cute. : )
Lastly, I feel I should touch on one last subject before I close the book on Japan. There are a million and one things I could write about, especially as it concerns people and their genuine sense of kindness. What I want to bring up is Hiroshima. I'm only going to make one comment, and then I'm going to let my pictures do the talking (as I took several at the museum). I believe everyone can learn a lesson from the Japanese. For as devastating and terrible as the A-bomb was on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I never once received any sort of animosity from anyone in Japan. I was always regarded with kindness and acceptance. "America?! You are from America!? I love America." Time and time again. For all that happened in the past, it would seem the people of Japan have moved on. Of course, I had no involvement in the A-bomb and wasn't even alive for it. But, being an American, you can't help but feel a sense of guilt for being American. Despite the fact that I am related to this event and that our countries were once at war, the people did not hold any of it against me. They treated me as an individual and loved me all the more. To me, it seems some of us never forgive or forget the ones that do wrong unto us. Sometimes we become so wrapped up in the "wrong" that was committed that we end up reciprocating the same wrongs. Eventually, it becomes a vicious cycle with no end. If Hiroshima taught me anything, it is that despite the wrong, there is power in forgiveness and love. We must learn from the mistakes of the past, and we must build upon them. I believe this message can be applied on both the large scale (such as never using nuclear weapons again) and more importantly, on the small, daily scale, where we often have the most influence upon those around us. Alright, enough philosophy - I hope you get a small sense of what I experienced through some of the photos below.
