First Impressions: Five things I Noticed about Japan in the First Few Days

A longer more in-depth post is coming, but I thought I would write down my stream of consciousness while it is still fresh in my mind. I will dig into Tokyo and Kyoto individually deeper in future posts. I planned on writing this sooner, but Jetlag is real. I have been knocked out for three days, but now time is back to normal…

Japan was a different world, well many different worlds. The food, people, culture, were like nothing I have ever experienced, which I loved. I was almost over stimulated in a Vegas sort of way while in Tokyo. I didn’t want to sleep, I feared I would miss something…

It Is Very Different

I have been to twenty different countries before going to Japan. Japan stands out as the most unique of all of them. Everything appeared to be random and yet on purpose, and I loved it…

First, the TV…I was fascinated by it. Even the news has a cute little cartoon character that would tell you the stories, no matter how grim. The shows could keep me entertained for hours, and I don’t even speak Japanese. Speaking of cartoon characters, they are obsessed with them, they are all over the city.

Then there are the bars and restaurants where no one talks. I am not saying they spoke softly; I am saying you could hear a pin drop. So many small things had the most intricate nuances, the toilets for example required you to have a master’s Degree to use, most didn’t simply have a flusher, there was a remote control..

Then there was the food… Don’t get me wrong I loved the food; it is just that some of it was bizarre. Take a look at the menu above…what stands out? They not only have horse on the menu, but horse hearts…and what the hell, let’s make it raw. Let us also defy all logic and put chicken sashimi on the menu. Yes. Raw. Chicken. Our first meal was just basically giant fish chunks. Yes, they were good fish chunks, but fish chunks all the same…and yeah, it was awesome.

The Rail System Is Everything Promised

So in full disclosure, I did take the first class cars, but still the rail systems is amazing. We travelled on both the Narita Express from/to the airport and the Shinkansen to/from Kyoto. The cars were so comfortable I did not want these rides to end. After being in an uncomfortable, overheated, visibly disgusting United Airlines Economy Plus seat for 13 hours, the clean roomy train was a Godsend. The bathroom was also cleaner than some hotel rooms I have been in, it was immaculate… Not to mention they sell Bento boxes that you can eat on the train that are INCREDIBLE!

I was also surprised at how easy it was to navigate the transit system. Of course, I did some research beforehand, but it was still simple. We basically had 7 minutes to find our train after leaving customs and we did this with ease. All the signs were in English and everyone was extremely helpful. The impeccable level of customer service was a theme I noticed throughout the trip.

Respect is Important

Respect is something we have forgotten in America. I received the best service of my life in Japan and it was widespread. People go out of their way to make sure your experience is a good one. No matter if you are at a 5-star restaurant or a 7-11. I believe they feel poor service is a reflection on them. In one instance, I tried to hail a cab outside my hotel room in Kyoto and the guy behind the desk ran 200 yards down the street ducked onto a side street and came back with a taxi. This kind of service was a theme throughout the trip.

Self-Respect is just as important. Contrary to what the Huffington Post and Slate Magazines would like you to believe, shaming has a purpose, and we ought to be ashamed with how we present ourselves. In Japan, with some of the best food in the world, people dress nicely and stayed fit. Here we kill ourselves with Taco Bell and KFC.

Very few people had tattoos, and they dressed with class. Men dressed like men (GASP) and women like women, both EQUALLY in a respectable fashion. People take care of themselves and others, as opposed to here where people try to be “different” (while looking exactly the same).

Respect and attention to detail could be seen everywhere. Parks were immaculate, art was beautiful, and everything ran smoothly. Tourists were by far the more disrespectful people on the streets.

The Country was Immaculately Clean

I didn’t expect it to be dirty by any means, but Tokyo and Kyoto were almost spotless. There was no litter on the ground in Tokyo. This made even more surprising by the fact that there were so few garbage cans. I walked for over a mile without seeing a trash can or trash on the street. Most people don’t eat and walk so that helps, but also no one would dream of throwing things on the road.

There was very little graffiti as well. This is why respect is so important, when you respect your surroundings, things are kept nice. I compare this to Penn Station where there is trash and graffiti everywhere, or San Francisco people literally shit in the street. Outside our country things aren’t much better. Athens for example is full of graffiti and overflowing trash. I have seen churches that are hundreds of years old covered with markings. People in Japan keep things clean which heightens the experience for all.

They Know How to Eat

Tokyo especially, I never saw such a high concentration of restaurants as I did in Japan. Food was everywhere at all hours of the night. I personally had a 3:30 am ramen on a night I couldn’t sleep. There was steak, Sushi, horse, everything you could ever want. Every two steps there was another place to eat. Memory lane had store after store of unique places to eat, albeit a bit overpriced.

Add to this that their convenient stores actually served good food. I am a food snob, yet I found myself downing two or three Lawsons/Seven Eleven egg sandwiches nightly. Even the airport was a cut above the rest. On the way out we ordered hot Soba noodles that had me regretting I didn’t eat more of them throughout the trip. I don’t know how people with such great food at their fingertips stay in such great shape.

Conclusion

Japan has a lot of layers. The more you were exposed to it, the more foreign it felt, the more comforted by and the more starving you were left by the complexity… It was everything, I never knew, I always wanted…