A MULTICOLOURED TAPESTRY :: Impressions of Japan

There is something wonderfully whimsical about Japan. Having recently returned from a 3-week trip to the land of the rising sun, I cannot claim to be an expert on things Japanese. It requires a much longer time-frame to properly explore the 377,000 square kilometers that make up its territory, the 6,752 islands flying its flag and get acquainted with some of the 126 million people who inhabit its cities, towns and villages. More like 3 years, or perhaps 30.... But what I can do is outline some of my impressions, and those of my wife Suzanne with whom I shared this brief encounter with this amazing country and its remarkable people.

Our Itinerary started and ended in Tokyo, the bustling capital with its skyscrapers, neon signs, Buddhist shrines and unceasing traffic. In between, we visited other vibrant cities such as Osaka, Kanazawa, Nagano and Kyoto, picturesque locations like Kawaguchiko, Yudanaka and Takayama, smaller towns like Matsumoto, Obuse, Shirakawago and Nara. All were chosen for some touristic reason or another – be it their being the ultimate in modernity, or possessing a historic character, a rare natural beauty or traditional, rustic charm, or for a chance to get up close and personal with snow monkeys or wild deer. Whatever the reason was for their inclusion on the itinerary, they delivered in heaps, often surpassing expectations. (The only minor exception was Kawaguchiko which failed to provide the much-anticipated spectacular views of Mt Fuji for which the lakeside resort is most famous. The landmark volcano remained shrouded in cloud for the two days we were there, fleetingly revealing a sliver of grey rock when the breeze blew a ‘hole’ in the cloud, only to close it again after a few minutes.)

I am not going to describe in detail all the tourist sights and must-visit places which we went to during the 20 day trip. A pair of blistered feet and a set of crumpled maps are testament to the fact that if it was worth seeing and within reach, we went there. (Japan may be good for the soul, but hard on the soles, especially for someone more accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle, like myself). Instead, I shall just focus on some of the aspects that I found most striking: facts that are fun, funny or downright fantastic.

Courtesy

We knew before getting here that the Japanese are renowned for their bowing. But it’s not until you arrive that you realise just how pervasive this practice is. From the housekeeper you meet in the hotel corridor on your way down for breakfast, to the waiter, the receptionist, the concierge and the bellboy, the porter and the taxi driver... and this is still 8 am in the morning. Throughout the day, whether you are buying mints at the local 7-Eleven (there’s one at every corner) or showing your rail pass at the train station, entering a restaurant, a shop, a museum or just walking in the street, you are greeted with a bow. And these are not barely perceptible nodding of the head, or some other subtle gesture. No, these are fully-fledged bows, pivoting forward at the waist, to an angle that varies in degree depending on various factors. Pretty soon you find that you are reciprocating in kind, bowing left and right, from morning till night. Good exercise, I thought.

If the bowing were not enough to show just how courteous the Japanese people are, a journey by train will provide some additional insight. Printed signs all over the train cars and elsewhere in the station (and frequent announcements on the train’s PA system) remind passengers that, out of courtesy to fellow travellers, they are to keep their mobile phones on silent mode and refrain from taking or making calls whilst on the train. If you just can’t help it, or have some extremely urgent business to deal with, some trains have special cubicles (located next to the toilets) where you can use your phone. Quite extraordinary! Here is one of the most electronically wired societies on the planet giving priority to human courtesy over technological invasiveness. A small step for man, a giant leap for mutual respect among human beings.

Crossing

This display of courtesy doesn’t end on the train or in the station. In Tokyo’s streets (and elsewhere) signs proclaim that it is illegal to smoke outdoors. Not inside the buildings, but outside, on the street. For a pair of non-smokers like myself and my wife, this was approaching pedestrian heaven. And speaking of pedestrians, one would think that in a metropolis like Tokyo, traffic would be king, and for the most part it is (though not to the extent of a Los Angeles or a Bangkok). But even here, the Japanese play a courtesy card.

On what became my favourite patch of asphalt in the capital, a busy intersection close to Shinjuku Train Station was painted entirely in black and white stripes, turning it into a giant size zebra crossing. At reasonably frequent intervals, all the lights on every street corner simultaneously turn red for the traffic and green for pedestrians.

For those few instances, human beings cross freely in every direction - left, right, diagonal, up, down and sideways, across this amazing extra-large striped carpet. For those brief instances, humans own the street, and the Toyotas, Mazdas, and Hondas just have to wait.

Communal Bathing

As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of hot springs scattered all over the territory. These springs feed the Japanese ‘onsen’ or public baths which are part of life in Japan and are also an important component of its tourism product. “If you visit Japan, you have to try the onsen experience,” we were advised by our travel agent. As it turned out, we did and liked it so much that we did it again and again at different places throughout our travels. There is a ritual involved.... and a code of practice that should be followed, or else you risk attracting a scornful look by the locals. First of all, you don’t go to the onsen to take a bath, at least not in the Western sense of cleaning your body of the sweat and dirt accumulated during the day. That is something you do before entering the bath.... It may sound complicated, but it’s really quite simple. When you arrive at the onsen, preferably wearing the traditional yukata gown, you take off your slippers at the doorstep and enter the appropriate side - male or female (strict gender segregation applies). In the first room, you remove all your clothing, before entering the second room or the main bath chamber (depending on how large the facility is) where you proceed to thoroughly scrub your entire body, head to toe, sitting on plastic stools in front of low shower units. After you rinse yourself of any residual soap, you proceed to immerse yourself in the hot (near boiling) waters of the onsen. It is advisable to do this in stages, getting adjusted to the temperature and the fumes that can be quite intense. Once you are fully immersed in hot, bubbling water, you can stay for as long as you like (or are able to endure). Many onsen have an indoor and outdoor option, and smaller jacuzzi-style tubs, and you can move from one to another for a change of scene. Remember, you will not be alone, and it is impolite to stare.

Communal Bathing (Part 2)

On the occasions when I visited the ‘onsen’, I noticed that there was not much going on in the way of conversation. These are not the thermae of ancient Rome (or at least, their Hollywood renditions) in which Cassius and Lucius discussed Caesar’s campaign in Gaul or the latest goings on at the Senate. Patrons usually keep to themselves and enjoy their hot spring experience in silent meditation. On one such occasion, as I lay immersed up to my chin in bubbling water, I found myself engaging in some meditation of my own. Who could the gentleman across from me be? A banker? A politician? A teacher? An airline pilot? Or a shoe salesman? Who knows? Devoid of all the social markers on which we base our initial assessment of fellow human beings (attire, footwear, gadgets and accessories, even speech and tone of voice) we are left with a basic human form which may vary in terms of proportions (height, waistline, amount of hair, or lack thereof) but is essentially the same. So master and slave, prince and pauper, all shed their respective identity and rank, and for an hour or so, become one in the hot, bubbling cauldron of shared bathing. Onsen – what a great equaliser!

Cleanliness

Tokyo is uncharacteristically clean. Unusual, that is, for a big metropolis, with its frenetic rhythms and masses of people traversing its streets all the time. We were told that every single day, 3.5 million commuters pass through the Shinjuku Train Station (the one close to the giant pedestrian crossing that I mentioned earlier). That amounts to the combined population of Malta, Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg and Estonia passing through one station on a daily basis. You would expect to see a fair amount of rubbish in the streets, right? A discarded plastic bottle or two, perhaps? Cigarette butts on the pavement? (Oh wait, they can’t smoke outside...so no butts!) But a few candy wrappers fluttering in the wind, or the occasional empty beer can, maybe? No? How is this possible? A river of people of this magnitude must be generating tons of waste and somehow getting rid of it. Their public dustbins must be overflowing, I thought. But where are the dustbins? Then I read the signs, advising people not to litter and to take their rubbish with them. The message is intended more to visitors like us (in fact it’s in English) than to the locals who don’t need to be reminded of this practice, because they already do it. That’s why you hardly see a rubbish bin in the street, in parks and at stations. People tend not to eat on the go (considered rude) and so they consume food at the place of purchase (a kiosk, a vending machine or a shop) or take it home or to their workplace and dispose of their litter there. That’s a novel idea that Malta might consider. Increase cleanliness by removing the bins. But I doubt if this would work with us. It’s a culture thing. Perhaps a better idea would be to keep the bins, and dispose of the people? Not all of them, just the littering few.

Culture (with a small c)

It’s a matter of culture. Not the one with the capital C, although Japan is extraordinarily rich in that department too. Culture with the small c. It’s a matter of culture that Japanese don’t litter. It’s a matter of culture that they form two orderly lines as they queue for their train. The lines are spaced out just enough to be aligned with the sides of the door for the train car which stops precisely where it should, every single time. It’s a matter of culture that none of the embarking passengers step on the train until the last disembarking passenger exits effortlessly and walks out in between the two rows of queuing passengers standing on the platform like an unofficial guard of honour. It is a matter of culture that nobody crosses the street when the light at the zebra crossing shows red, even at one o’clock in the morning with no cars in sight. Through Western eyes, we see these practices as excessively rigid and somewhat impractical. And yet... after a few days in this remarkable country, we start following them ourselves and we realise that it’s not that difficult to be considerate, courteous and a little more civilised.

Comic Book Characterisation

Many Japanese are obsessed with comic book characters. The visual style of Japanese manga (comics/graphic novels) and anime (animated cartoons) is unmistakable and is widely popular with people of all ages. It also has a wide international appeal, having been successfully exported (mostly on TV) over the years and garnered a huge following across the globe. But nowhere is the love affair with this genre of pop culture more evident than in Japan itself. In the streets of Tokyo, Osaka and all over the country, manga characters appear everywhere; on billboards, street signs, shop windows, buses, t-shirts, hats, schoolbags, and a hundred different items. Unsurprisingly, TV channels and cinemas run the animated versions of these comics all the time. But just in case you can’t wait, you can always download your favourite anime to your tablet and watch it on the train, as I have seen many doing, often standing up holding to the rail with one hand and the computer (equipped with earphones, of course) in the other. One of every two or three people you see holding a book on the subway is reading a manga comic. But there’s more. For many, especially young teens (but not only), manga becomes a dress style, with some of them emulating in minute detail, the outrageous costume, hair (including wigs), extravagant makeup, dangerously high platform shoes and colourful accessories to become the living embodiment of a particular character, or a mix of some. This isn’t Carnival, Halloween or some fancy dress party. It’s a normal day of the week. You can imagine what happens when there’s a special reason to dress up. Whilst in Tokyo, there happened to be the Japanese premiere of the new Spiderman movie. I counted more than 25 Spidermen queuing up outside the venue, together with half a dozen Batmen (and one Robin), one Ironman, one Thor, a Wonder Woman, and an assortment of other superheroes and villains. Who needs reality if life can be a game?

Cuisine

Japanese food is delicious and surprisingly healthy. Well, most of it is both delicious and healthy. Some of it is one but not the other. One thing is certain: unless your culinary preferences are particularly restricted, or you are absolutely averse to trying new things, then you are sure to enjoy sitting down to dinner in Japan. The latter may entail sitting down on cushions or legless chairs placed on a tatami-carpeted floor, to consume a multi-course meal spread on a low table using a pair of chopsticks. (Most restaurants offer forks and knives if you’re struggling with the sticks, but you miss half the fun). Fish, rice with miso soup, vegetables (pickled or cooked in broth) and seafood are staples, and are likely to be included in any Japanese-style meal of the day – breakfast, lunch or dinner. Noodles, such as soba and udon are also popular. Cooking methods vary according to the main ingredient used, but frequently include deep-frying in a light batter as tempura, serving raw as sashimi or in sushi, simmering as in oden (fish) or sukiyaki and nikujaga (beef). Grilling on a hot plate is also common and can be a true spectacle. Watching the chef at an okonomiyaki restaurant slice and mix the ingredients for your savoury pancake on the hot stainless-steel counter in front of you is a show of skill and precision. The display will be over in minutes, but it will probably change your definition of fast food forever. If you’re a meat lover, then Japanese wagyu beef (such as the world renowned Kobe) is a must - expensive, but worth it. And to wash it all down, Japanese beer, green tea, and a shot of Saké of course. Kanpai!

Continued...

There's so much more to say about Japan and its inhabitants. But I leave that for some other post. Meanwhile, you may wish to check out a selection of photos that I uploaded on Facebook .

#journeys #cities #Japan #fareast #Asia #food #people