Japan
The country is very mountainous and almost every level area
is either given over to towns, cities or farming and there are still rice
paddies on the lower hills. It is
unusual to see animals on the farms – they are normally kept in barns. The beef raised in many areas is of the
premium wagyu type and some areas such as Hida and Kobe are famous for their
beautiful succulent meat. The bigger
cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto are extremely busy and there seems to be a
Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple in almost every street, many of them very
beautiful. Fishing, of course, is an
important industry as fish and rice are the staple foods.
The People
If I could use one word to describe the people of Japan, it
would be respectful. Respect for self,
other people, their environment, their heritage and the rule of law seems to be
paramount. They won’t cross the street
against a red light even if there is no traffic at all. Mobile phone use on the trains, buses and
subway is discouraged out of respect for those around you, even though people
seem to always have a smartphone in their hands, texting or game-playing. They
are a gentle, polite and respectful people but the contrasts of their history
and the frantic pace of their lives also allows them the opportunity to dress
in traditional costume when the mood strikes, whilst texting on the latest
electronic devices. Many times in the
streets, whilst trying to figure out our tourist map and our position, people
would stop and help where they could – they are extremely friendly. Every time we entered a restaurant or store,
or passed staff in the market or passed by a stall in one of the food
departments in the basement of a shopping centre, all the staff would shout – irasshaimase! – “welcome” and when
leaving they would all thank us for coming – arigato gozaimasu!
Cleanliness
The whole country is spotless. The streets are clean, nobody
drops rubbish- they take it with them and it seems to be a mark of the respect that
they feel for others, themselves and the way they live, that they prefer it
that way. The buses, trains, the
underground passages, the public areas as a whole, have few bins, but where
they are installed, they are used assiduously.
There is not even a Mars Bar wrapper dropped in the street! We have not encountered, wherever we’ve been,
a cigarette butt or sweet wrapper, a McDonald’s bag or an icecream stick,
anywhere, anytime! Cigarette butts are
almost never seen on the street (except in Osaka) and they even have designated
smoking areas cordoned off on the busy city streets.
Getting Around
Driving? Why would
you? The public transport system is so
efficient, so punctual, so clean and cheap that you shouldn’t need to venture
onto the roads unless it was absolutely necessary. A Japan Rail Pass purchased here prior to
leaving, gives you access to all Japan Rail transport, including the
Shinkansen, most above ground rail, some buses and some subway lines. These passes last for 14 days and there is no
extra charge. However, if you use other
subway lines or trains which are privately run, then a Suica Card loaded with a
minimum 1000yen allows trips all over the cities. An incredibly efficient and fast way to get
around and most of the signs are sub-titled in English.
Food & Drink
People in Japan love their food and no wonder, since the
variety of Japanese cuisine is incredible.
The most popular Japanese dishes are, of course, sushi, yakitori,
tempura, soba, ramen, gyoza, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu and okonomiyaki. I’m sure there is a restaurant for every
person, be they on the street, in a convenient basement, in the top couple of
floors of every shopping centre or in the concourses and basements of every
railway station. We ate almost every
variety of food and the variations within categories are just as interesting as
the types. One evening we discovered a
tiny restaurant not far from our hotel in Tokyo – no signs or clues as to what
we were ordering, but it turned out to be a 10 course degustation of chicken,
from the neck to the leg, including skin, liver, thigh, breast, gizzard and
wing, all done yakitori style and absolutely delicious. In a tiny restaurant, with only a dozen or so
seats and virtually no English spoken, we had an absolute ball. And
everywhere we went, beer was the common drink and we enjoyed several different
brands – sometimes it’s also available in the vending machines, yet we did not
at any time, see anybody who was drunk.
Wine is available in the better restaurants and isn’t expensive but the
local brew we tried wasn’t what we would choose to drink.
Communications
Everywhere we went throughout Honshu, we had phone signal,
but little WiFi. WiFi is rarely
available throughout a hotel, usually only in the lobby, but many rooms had lan
connections available. We’re yet to
receive a bill for phone use, but we didn’t call home at all and received a
couple of calls, but quite a few texts.
Wait and see!
Toilets
The old style Japanese squat toilet is a disappearing
species and mainly only seen at the older rail stations and public areas,
mostly replaced by modern western style toilets. However, many of these require a pilot’s
licence to drive them. With heated
seats, bum wash, bidet function, adjustable water pressure and temperature and
music or sound of rushing streams to cover other noises, it’s almost an
experience in itself to go to the loo.
All-in-all the public toilets are readily available everywhere,
scrupulously clean and well maintained.
Shopping
Whilst I tried to avoid this experience it was a source of
constant joy for the Princess, who relished her forays into department store
after department store. Wherever we
caught ourselves on the street, we seemed to be surrounded by multi-level
stores which needed to be explored and almost all of them had at least one
thing that was essential. The only
department store which attracted me was the Mitsukoshi store in Tokyo, which I
referred to in an earlier post. This was
a very high-end store akin to David Jones but several levels above in class and
the range of products was amazing, much of it produced in Japan. There was a whole floor devoted to kimonos
and the silks and embroideries used, including several artists at work on
individual pieces. Absolutely
amazing! In this store we bought
hand-made and –painted chopsticks and the artist there engraved our names on
each pair. In the Nishiki Market in
downtown Kyoto, we marvelled at the array of fresh foods and weird ingredients
used in the food. At the Eastern end of
the market we headed for the Master Knife maker Aritsugu, who’s been making knives since 1560, when the founder was
producing swords for the Imperial House of Japan. We’d read of this store and came away with a
couple of the most beautiful chef’s knives we’ve ever handled.
Money
Japan is certainly not the most expensive place we’ve been
and food is better quality and cheaper and more plentiful than anywhere. You can eat breakfast for less than $10 each,
lunch for less than $15 to $20 and have a very good meal at dinner, including
drinks, for $50 for 2. Most smaller
stores and restaurants don’t accept credit cards – Japan is essentially a
cash-society, so cash is accessed on a credit or debit card – perfectly safely
– via ATMs in 7Eleven stores and Post Offices and we found this the most
convenient and cheapest method. When
converting our dollars to Yen, there is invariably a fee and a commission, but
when drawing on the ATM, the bank here charges what appears to be 1% and you
get today’s rate of exchange.
Accomodation
JTB Australia (Japan Travel) booked all of our accommodation
except in KL where we treated ourselves to the Shangri-La Hotel and loved
it. Most of our hotels were with a few
hundred metres of a major railway station and most would be classified as
3-star and perfectly adequate. Only once
did we request a change of rooms when we were very restricted for space. There are a number of “business” hotel chains
in Japan which (from what we heard) are comfortable, clean and affordable.
Guides
A couple of times we managed to contact free guides who helped us get some perspective on some cities or areas which may have been more difficult to get to or understand without assistance. Google - "Free guides in ----- " & whichever city you choose, there will often be guides available. Our first, in Tokyo, was Sumiko, an English teacher who showed us areas of Tokyo which we probably wouldn't have found by ouselves and in Kyoto we found Senna, a university student studying English and Tourism. Senna took us to the beautiful Arashiyama and the bamboo groves which would have been very difficult to find otherwise.
Guides
A couple of times we managed to contact free guides who helped us get some perspective on some cities or areas which may have been more difficult to get to or understand without assistance. Google - "Free guides in ----- " & whichever city you choose, there will often be guides available. Our first, in Tokyo, was Sumiko, an English teacher who showed us areas of Tokyo which we probably wouldn't have found by ouselves and in Kyoto we found Senna, a university student studying English and Tourism. Senna took us to the beautiful Arashiyama and the bamboo groves which would have been very difficult to find otherwise.