Sayonara, Japan: some reflections on my time there

Though it was a last-minute addition to the itinerary, Japan turned out to be a splendid place for the start of this journey. Here are a couple of things I'll remember from the place:

The uniform and ubiquitous courtesy: Everywhere I went, I was always greeted with a smile. The shopkeeper's greeting - Irashimasse! - echoed from every store I saw. And, I truly mean every: I cannot think of a time when this did not happen. A couple of folks even went above and beyond this, helping a foreign stranger with no grasp of the language to find his way. There was the 7-11 cashier who, upon being asked where a local restaurant was, proceeded to escort me to the establishment more than two blocks away, asking for nothing more than a arigato-gozai-mas at the end. There was the baseball ticket taker at the Carp game who, when he saw my look of confusion as to where my seat was, proceeded to walk me up two ramps, halfway around the stadium, into my section, down to my row, and to point out my single seat. Wow.

The smart use of limited space: In such a small (physically) country, with a bunch of people, they have come up with some ingenious ways to use space well. There is of course the capsule hotel, which got its justice in a previous post. Even traditional Japanese architecture and culture seem designed to make fabulous use of the limited space. Japanese rooms with tatami mats are sparse, all doors are sliding doors, and no-one wears shoes. These all cause the space to expand. Perhaps most importantly, as explained by Yasuko, Japanese interior culture and design is defined by looking at a space while sitting on the floor. This brings all the furnishings into focus and really opens up the overhead space. Even better, some tables look like coffee tables, very low to the ground, but when you sit on the ground you discover a pit underneath the table where your (shoe-less) feet go. Ingenious!

The precision of the food: The dedication put into food design and eating in this culture! It was like a match made in heaven for me. I even coined my favorite word for describing it, sometimes meaning it seriously and sometimes when things were a bit over-done: precious. But it's true! When a department store food court creates so much food that look like works of art, well, it's precious. When to-go bought dishes come with ice packs, mini bottles of soy sauce, and the like, well, it's precious. And, when you behold some of the plating and originality of some of the dishes I and my friends sampled, well, that is certainly precious. I do not think I will have so many meals that were worth remembering in such a short time for a long time to come (and, yes, that is a challenge, future countries...).

1 country down, 7+ to go! Selamat datang, Indonesia!