Our last day in Japan began with a nice sleep-in, then it was off to the train to head back to the airport. PD took us to the station, capping off an amazing job as our Japan tour guide. With all the advice and excellent suggestions he gave us, in addition to putting us up for 3 nights, we could only hope to provide guests to our place with the same treatment.
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One last photo opp before heading home |
While we don't have a lot to report from this day since most of it was spent in the airport, we thought that we would offer up a few reflections of our trip.
So here, in no particular order are the interesting and weird things that Japan showed us.
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The Bang Factor: Chris should have packed a helmet when we left because he must have knocked his head about 6 times in the first 2 days on the small doorways. We hadn't found the same building code in Korea so this was a bit of a shock. Here Chris stands beside the doorway in the apartment. |
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Love me tender, love me in private: Japanese people do not move out of the house until they are married which can often be well in to their 30s. Because living at home can really cramp your need for a little privacy, the Japanese have come up with a solution, The Love Hotel. This hotel offers rates from 3 hours to the whole night which are often reasonably priced. All you do is go in the discrete front door, walk up the the vending machine in the lobby that has a picture of your room, press the button and a key drops down. With this embarrassment free invention the Japanese have totally taken the shame out of pre-marital relations. |
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Cash strapped: Japan is a very expensive country with a currency about 100 times more devalued than our dollar. Nevertheless, we found just about everything to be more expensive in Japan than Canada, and definitely more expensive than Korea. |
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When the craving hits: In Korea you can find a myriad of snack foods to satisfy any appetite. Unfortunately Japan wasn't as accommodating in this area. Figure out for yourself it this is a good idea or a bad one... Jill did manage to discover Pocky imagine a bread stick dipped in any kind of flavor (most commonly chocolate or in the case of this picture strawberry) they were a nice refreshing treat, we even snuck some home with us to enjoy. |
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Bikes a plenty: Japan is definitely a bicycle culture. Everyone owns a bike to get around town. The only funny thing about this is that 95% of the bikes are circa 1945! No kidding, picture the basket in the front, the big fenders on the wheels, the moustache handle bars. You can also really sense the order and values of Japan's society by the looking at bikes. They are always kept in straight rows, and they are locked by a mechanism on the back break so it seems like they are never locked. This is never a problem because theft is so rare, and if it did happen, the punishment for stealing a bike is the same as that for stealing a car! |
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Parking option 1: Gone are the days of the parking lot with the gate in Japan, instead they have devised this clever system where you drive your car over this green box. Once it senses your car has passed over the yellow bar flips up preventing your car from driving away. Once you want to leave, all you have to do is put your coin into the box and the yellow bar drops. |
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More small stuff: Imagine a 6'4" boy taking a bath in that! The tubs in Japan left much to be desired. In this case it would have taken about a litre to fill the tub with all the space that Chris takes up. |
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Parking option 2: because space is at a premium in Japan even the cars are squished into tight places. This picture shows a 2 level parking lot. The cars are stored out of the way on a hydraulic lift creating space for double the cars. |
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When the dealin's done: You don't find many casinos in Japan, but every downtown block has one of these Pachinko parlors. A cross between pinball and slots, Pachinko is gambling, an based on the sheer number that we saw in our travels, it is very successful. |
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Fill 'er up: It may be difficult to see in this picture but the Japanese gas station looks a lot like one of those 50's texaco station. The gas hoses are hanging from the roof, no pumps on the ground the car just drives up and pulls down on the lever. I don't know if this is ingenious or labor saving, we just thought it was kind of neat. |
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Lost in Japanization: While you may have seen the fictional movie star played by Bill Murray advertising for whiskey adds in Japan in the film Lost in Translation. The modern day equivalent is Tommy Lee Jones, pictured on this vending machine advertising Boss Coffee products. Stars eager to make money at things considered to be embarrassing in North America are only too happy to come to Japan and humiliate themselves it seems. |
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A tale of two cultures: Japan is the only place where you can see traditional Japanese culture intersecting with westernization. It is the only place where you see women waiting for the subway in Kimonos, Geishas walking through traffic, and a 7-11 right beside a Shinto Shrine. |
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Lost love: It took a trip to Japan but we finally found two products that we have been missing for so long - sour cream and cottage cheese. Too bad we couldn't smuggle these home with us. |
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The land of vending machines: While the Japanese don't have the snack market figured out yet, they certainly do have drinks available in every foot of free space - in vending machines. With vending machines even available outside temples, Japan is definitely the vending machine capital of the world. This could be because the Japanese seem so intent on doing away with personal contact when money is exchanged. For example when paying for a good or service, you place your money on a tray, you do not hand the cash directly to the cashier. Also many restaurants have vending machines when you walk in which display the food choices that you can order. Before eating you put your cash in the vending machine and the meal is brought to you minutes later. |
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The land of incredible beauty: around every corner we were simply astounded at the amount of culture, things to see, the cleanliness of the cities, and of course garden upon garden, park upon park, all meticulously manicured in a kind of anal-retentive Japanese style that stresses an attention to detail, that many of us can only aspire to. Japan is culture that values honor above pride, the group before the individual and organization always ahead of chaos It is the only country where people form a straight line (often 20 people long) while waiting for the subway, or shush you if you are talking on the train. We were so delighted to see Japan, an amazing country steeped in tradition and beauty as far as the eye can see. |
Home sweet home...
We never thought we would hear ourselves say this, but after a week in Japan, we were only too happy to get back home to our apartment in Anyang (are we really calling it home???). We really enjoy it here, and I guess it took leaving to figure it out. We returned home refreshed and ready to start a new week of shaping young minds.
Flying back over Korea - almost home.
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