I’ve already got the whole trip to Japan typed up and ready to go, but in the interest of spacing it out and not overwhelming anyone, I’m going to break it up into about 3-4 sections and post them every day or two apart. This means I will be posting some from China, so hopefully I can find internet there, or I might just email the whole thing to Mom and have her post them for me.
Alright before I get into the things that I did, I want to start off with some reflections and things that I noticed about Japan in general. It is obviously very
20 people, some very different than the US, and that was interesting to observe.
First, Japan is ridiculously expensive. The exchange rate is like 90 Yen = 1 US dollar, and there was pretty much nothing to do, see, or ride for less than 300-500 yen. That might not sound like much, but when you are paying more than 3 dollars US to ride a train 5 stops, it adds up. I didn’t get many souvenirs from Japan because all of my money was spent on moving, sleeping, and eating. Fortunately food was in general affordable. Most meals cost around 800 yen, which is about 9 dollars in the US. While for some that might seem expensive, especially for breakfast or lunch, the prices were the same for dinner. So averaging about $30 a day in meals was way lower than I expected.
Second, in Japan there are two things that can prove very difficult to find: Trashcans and Benches. Walking through a city of 30 million people such as Tokyo, there was hardly ever either to be found. Even in the smaller cities we visited, you would be lucky to find a trashcan every mile, and don’t count on any benches on the sidewalks to rest. Even in malls, there were no trashcans and no areas to sit and take a break.
Third, the bathrooms are different in Japan. In both Male and Female bathrooms they have the squatter style toilets, which is basically a ceramic hole in the ground. They are not easy to use and I am not a fan. As one girl I was traveling with so elegantly put it “I’m not used to having to aim”. They also have the toilets with a full 20 button remote next to them. They do everything from heating the toilet seat, playing sounds so that no one has to hear you pass gas, and cleansing your rear. Finally, it was a rarity to find a bathroom with paper towels or a trashcan. You were expected to wash your hands and I guess let them drip dry or dry them on your clothes.
Fourth, the people in Japan are on the whole very quiet. We were warned about this, but it was very true on the streets and subways. When we stopped talking on the subways, and looked around, everyone was totally silent. The cars were electric, so they didn’t even make a noise, it was eerie. On the streets, rarely did you hear them speaking to each other. Even in Tokyo, the streets were fairly quiet. Drivers rarely gun it, half of the cars were hybrids, and it was a rare occasion to hear a honk. When they did have to honk, for example when we started to walk into traffic, they just tap the horn.
Fifth, the language barrier is gigantic, but the people as a whole were very welcoming. We rarely were able to communicate in sentences, but always managed to get on the right train, bus, etc, order food that looked decent, and get directions. Quite a few times people just look at you and start talking in very fast Japanese while you stand there with a bewildered look on your face. Eventually you just smile, say “Arigato” (Thank you) and walk away.
Sixth, the work hours seem ridiculous. Every time we rode the subway, we were entirely surrounded by men in suits and ties. Walking down the street, at least 75% of the people wore suits and ties. They apparently go to work at about 7-8 am, get off at roughly 8 pm, hit the bars until 10-11, then go home and sleep and do it again. Rarely if ever did we see these people smiling, they looked like emotionless drones for lack of a better word.
Lastly, Japan is home to about a trillion “Hole in the wall” types of places. There were probably a dozen restaurants on every block, and every one of them held a maximum of probably as few as 6-7. This made traveling with a group very challenging at times, but at the same time the restaurants were delicious and very charming. An example of how unequipped they are to handle groups: One time we were in a group of 8, with 3 of us at one table and 5 at the table right next to us. We slid the tables together, and we all were clearly American, so we were obviously in a group. They come, take the order of the three of us on the right side, and just walk away. About 5 minutes later (They are insanely fast at preparing orders), our food comes, and only then do they take the orders of the rest of our group. Many times they brought the orders to the table one at a time as well instead of altogether. It is just different than in the US when if someone gets their food before the rest of the group, there is a frenzy of apologies from the waiter. On the bright side though, tipping is considered extremely rude in Japan, so I didn’t have to worry about that!
Oh and a bonus one that I thought of halfway through the whole blog: Japan is home to all sorts of smokers, and nothing is non-smoking. By the end of the trip, pretty much everything I brought wreaked of smoke, and now I find out that my hall isn’t getting laundry done until after Vietnam.
To finish off this post, I will talk about what we did the very first day in Japan.
We arrived in Yokohama at 9 am, and were cleared to get off by 9:30. There was a group of Japanese students playing traditional drums for us when we pulled in, and it was really cool to see. Everyone gave them a loud round of applause, and I think we all appreciated the hospitality. They began to let us off the ship by “Seas” (halls), and it took probably a half hour for each one to finish. Mine, the Baltic Sea, was let off near the end. We had to go through immigration and customs, where we presented them with forms we had filled out, had our picture taken, fingerprints documented, and bags searched. After that we were let off into a large terminal, in my case at about 12:30. The first thing we noticed was the vending machines. They had all sorts of flashing lights and were filled with drinks and snacks that we had no idea what they were. The five of us (My three roommates, myself, and one of their girlfriends traveling with the group), set off looking for the train station. We wandered through Yokohama for about 10 minutes, the most notable site being a rental car lot that worked by vending machine (I guess you swipe your driver’s license and put in money or something), and an intersection that had your standard four cross walks on each side, but also crosswalks going diagonally too. We made our way to the train station, paid our 300 yen (3.30 US or so) fare, and set off for Tokyo!
The train ride was about 75 minutes, and went through neighborhoods filled with small old houses. Nearly all buildings were multi-family dwellings, and none had an inch of a yard. The only place we saw grass in Japan was parks. After arriving in Tokyo, we found our way to the subway and headed toward Asukasa (pronounced Asaksa), the district that our hostel was in. We made our way to the hostel, passing by a huge outdoor market with probably a thousand stalls. Just a quick note about that market, it was nearly identical to one that we visited in Honolulu, except with obviously more Japanese goods. The one in Hawaii, I considered overpriced and a headache and this one I considered awesome. It is weird how being a totally foreign place puts you in a mindset to enjoy things that at home you wouldn’t normally care for. We made it to the hostel in the corner of the district, and dropped off our bags. The room was pretty much a concrete room with four sets of bunk beds. Not exactly 5 star, but none of us had high standards and we only paid 3000 yen a piece. At that point we headed out to see what we could find. We went to a Shinto shrine that was right next to the market, and saw that. To go inside you are supposed to smell some burning incense, cleans your hands and mouth from a flowing stream right next to it, and take off your shoes. We went in to find a very ornate shrine with people silently praying and giving offerings. It seems that in Japan with Buddhism and Shintoism that there is not a certain day to go to a service, link Sunday for Christians, instead they consider going to the temple to make an offering and pray a part of everyday life. As someone put it for us, religion for them is not a part of life, it is a way of life.
After that we found the train again and headed to Shibuya, which is the district like Times Square in New York. In the center of Shibuya is a giant intersection, I believe the busiest in the world. Every 3-4 minutes, all of the lights go red, the crosswalks light up, and the intersection is flooded by people. It is organized chaos, and was quite a site to see. We made our way to one side of the intersection where there was a kind of courtyard, in the center of which was the Statue of Hachiko, which was a dog representing some sort of deity. There we met Mai, a friend of Tolan’s, my roommates, sister. She was half Japanese, fluent in the language, and was there to meet up with us and take us out to dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant which I believe was a chain, but looked authentic to me. There we tried so much food, very little of which I would actually order in the US if given the chance, but mostly delicious. Included was whole Sardines or Anchovies which we ate head, bones, tail and all. They were terrible. Oysters, which I do not like, but they were alright there. Raw Salmon which was awesome, and fried pork chop covered in Cod Roe. Some sort of Tofu dish, delicious dumplings, and so much more. After eating and talking to Mai for about an hour, we left and made our way down the street. She wanted to take us to a local pub that she enjoyed, so we went there and sat and talked for a while more. Eventually some random Japanese businessmen who were off work came and invited us to sit with them and we of course said yes. They spoke broken English but were incredibly friendly. We got to know a bit about them and their country and one of them offered us his business card. In Japan business cards are seen entirely differently than in the US. When someone gives you one, you are to take it with two hands, carefully read the entire thing, and while they are looking place it in your wallet, or purse. In the US we normally receive a business card, stuff it in our pocket and throw it away at first opportunity. Apparently receiving a card means that he trusted us too, so that was appreciated. We then left, said goodbye to Mai, and made our way back to the hostel and crashed.
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