Beginner's Guide to Japan..

The Golden Temple in Kyoto - truly spectacular! 

It's taken me a full year to write about Japan but it's such an interesting place. I had to at least publish something! 

Other travel blogs: Guide to travelling Gili Islands (Indonesia)
                                  Dealing with police in China

Japan Japan Japan

So much has been written about it already.

My visit there was very brief at just 12 days so I'm not able to provide any deep anthropological insights into its culture and ways. However, I hope this intro to some aspects of its society is helpful for people who wish to travel there or are curious to know what it's like. 

I came to Japan with a few typical preconceptions:

* Holy shit their TV shows are crazy

* They're hard workers and very polite

* They don't wear shoes inside

* They are big lovers of anime

* Samurais, suicide, their role in WW2 etc

Mind-blowing stuff huh?

Getting a complete understanding of the way Japan operates is like trying to grasp an egg yolk between your fingers. It's really unlike any other place I've been. Talk about culture shock!

Here's some major features about Japan that struck me as I ventured round its shores

GETTING AROUND: 

SUPER FAST TRAINS (JR PASS)

I could not have been more impressed by the bullet trains (Shinkansen) if they had came to life, jumped up off the tracks and started walking around and giving people high-fives. They are fast, comfortable and always on time. I would say travelling by train in Japan beats travelling by plane like a highly skilled ninja would tear apart a karate white-belt in a fight (there's really no contest).

At Japanese railway stations you can turn up on the platform one minute before your train is due to leave. There's no fucking around going through security gates, reciting your life history or forgoing your incredibly dangerous 100+ ml of fluid as at airports - you just hop right on. The trains are ridiculously punctual to the extent that people can apparently get notes from the train company to take to work if they are late by more than a couple of minutes.

You don't ride a Shinkansen - you glide in it. They are practically silent and although you will notice the scenery whizzing by, you only become aware of the speed you're traveling when another Shinkansen passes in the opposite direction. There's a brief thud sound, a blur and the other train is on the horizon. The trains we traveled on were cruising along at around 350 kph (although there are much faster versions) and you can get from one side of Japan to the other fairly easily.

If you are travelling to Japan, get the JR pass. You buy them as a foreigner before you arrive. It allows you to travel anywhere in the country on a bullet train within a given period of time. From the point we activated ours, we had seven days in which to use it. http://www.japanrailpass.net/

YOU CALL THAT A TOILET? THIS IS A TOILET

It's like a magical amusement park ride for your arse

You may have heard of Japanese toilets, better yet - your ass may have liaised with one.

Having used them, I can say: they are excellent.

There's many varieties of these beasts ranging from your basic heated seat model with a bidet (bottom squirt) all the way through to a deluxe throne which plays relaxing music as you do your business. You can even control the strength of the blast of the water to your ass. They thought of everything.

A lady who worked at the first hostel we stayed at said she had exported a few toilets to the United States. The idea of toilets using power was a bit of a novelty and given the way they're going, it's conceivable that soon Japanese toilets would have A.I and could provide a bit of light banter as you (insert euphemism for "shit" here). After I wrote this sentence I searched on YouTube and you guessed it: Talking Toilet 

THE PEOPLE

Myself in the middle of the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, Shibuya, Tokyo

I can't really summarise a whole race (well, I could but reducing people to simplified stereotypes is problematic territory). Here were some of my general impressions.

Ridiculously polite - Japanese people are lovers of respect and protocol. They bow a lot and have incredible customer service that would genuinely put a lot of New Zealand businesses to shame. New Zealander's are friendly alright but I've had plenty of "couldn't give less of a shit about you" interactions with staff in NZ. In contrast every single one of my customer service interactions in Japan was good. Was that just because I'm a foreigner (it's hard to know?) but I got the impression, that's part of their life. Being considered a hard worker is one of the best things you can achieve in Japanese society so they'll go the extra mile to help you. As an example of a Japanese guy who totally pursues perfection, check out the excellent documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Make-up and plucking: If there was a young woman in Japan without makeup - I didn't see her. The standards of grooming were pretty high. My girlfriend at the time told me that inside the women's public bathrooms, she would regularly see dedicated make-up tables with lights. We were also frequently at temples with young Japanese women struggling up stairs balanced on precariously high heels - so looking good comes at a price. I also noted quite a few young Japanese guy liked to pluck their brows.

Homogenous: Foreigners really stick out in Japan. From their most recent census data, only 1.5 percent of their total population was born abroad. Of the 1.5 percent, the biggest immigrant group are Chinese but there are less than a million living in Japan. In the big cities, you'll spot other foreigners around but tourists aside, it's not a particularly ethnically diverse place.This isn't necessarily a bad thing just something I noticed. As a foreigner you usually get referred to as a "Gaijin" which roughly translates as "outsider." This is telling because apparently it's pretty hard to assimilate to Japanese culture. 

Really really ridiculously polite: Picture this: A police car rushes to the scene of a crime, probably some dastardly crime by Samurai sword wielding maniac. People's lives are hanging in the balance, the criminal is on a rampage - ignoring protocols of politeness, tripping over elderly and threatening to murder sacks stuffed with cute kittens. The police car - sirens blaring approaches an intersection, but rather than drive through ignoring the cars, it stops and through a loud speaker says "sumimasen" ("excuse me") to get through.

We laughed very hard at that. Apparently in the past, Japanese public service had gotten a lot of complaints so the Government gives training to staff in all public sector jobs in how to be more polite (hint: if in doubt, bow like a boss).

Obama hadn't stretched before bowing so had to spend his whole time in Japan in this position

Sleeping in public - Japanese clearly don't get enough of shut-eye because people are falling asleep on public transport as if their food was laced with sleeping pills. Generally people don't sleep just for fun, they do it because they need it! They work so hard that I can't blame them for catching some winks when they can.

Organised - You can walk through super crowded streets in Tokyo and it's surprisingly.. Quiet! For a city of the size of Tokyo places like Beijing and Jakarta are comparable (in terms of size at least). Japanese are just orderly. In addition to that, everything just works pretty well.

DAT FOOD

Traditional BBQ

Oscillating sushi restaurant - pick your dish

Super delicious Okonomoyaki in a Hiroshima restaurant

  

Japan's incredible array of delicacies, meals and snacks is sure to be an adventure for your taste buds.

While not a cheap country we typically found lunch for around 1000yen ($8.50USD). We were budget travellers after all and it was often a lot higher than that. If you are going for more upmarket eats then expect to pay more like 2000-3000 yen.

As a food destination, there are many delicacies to try and also some uniquely Japanese oddities (crawling octopus tentacles anyone?). Some super delicious stuff that I tried were ramen noodles in a traditional restaurant, Okonomoyaki (like a layered omelette, pictured above) and we also went to a rotating sushi bar which was quite an experience. The main difference with Japanese cuisine as far as I could discern is the variety of sea creatures they both have and eat. Sea urchins, octopus tentacles and other deep sea delicacies are not big hits with Westerners but it seems the Japanese can't get enough (hence the plundering of the ocean).

ACCOMMODATION

Very cozy

You are likely to pay a minimum of 2500 yen per night to stay in hostels in Japan. We generally were impressed by the places we stayed (J-hoppers were a particularly good chain). You have to try a capsule hotel while you are there. I initially thought it would be like sleeping in a coffin but it was comfortable with excellent facilities (Sauna, TV rooms, social areas etc). My ex and I did a bit of Couchsurfing and it was nice to stay with Japanese hosts.

 HONOUR AND SUICIDE

Killing themselves - this is depressingly common. There is even a place near Mount Fuji where people go to take their own lives. You can watch a very interesting short documentary about that here.

Suicide is so common that the Govt took the extraordinary measure of making families pay for the cleanup if a father (it's more often men who takes their lives) jumps in front of a train. They describe these incidents on the train timetables as "human damage accidents." Such is the efficiency of the system that the trains are usually running again with only minor delays.

 ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JAPANESE PRETTY TYPICAL

Freakishly committed to their work - It seemed to me, that Japanese dedicate themselves to their work more than nearly anything else in their life. Jobs are social capital in Japan - if you don't have one, you're looked down upon. Their society respects someone who works hard and dedicates themselves to their work and I was told that this would be true whether someone sweeps streets or works in an office. There is a word for “death by overwork” in Japanese (“karoshi”) and you have a scarily common practice of workers gifting their vacations to their company and only taking a fraction of their holiday entitlements!

 Japanese show a level of commitment to their work and to their hobbies. When Japanese dedicate themselves to something, they become fuckin good at it. I visited Disney Sea in Tokyo and was staggered by how I was at the theme park for the whole day and did not see one grumpy Japanese worker's face. Even when one of the rides broke down midway through it's route, the staff who came to save us looked at us with such freakish enthusiasm that it was hard for a cynical guy like me to process.

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE STRANGE STUFF?

Note: This photo is from Google Image search, but nothing quite says sexy like bedside cock-lamps!

So I'd be surprised if you hadn't at least heard of some of the crazy stuff that goes on in Japan. Panty-vending machines for example? There are also Love Hotels scattered about the cities which are places to go with your special someone and fuck their brains out in a themed room. If you really think about it, why wouldn't you want to bone your loved one/significant other/some random person with a giant cartoon porn portrait on the wall?

My theory on some of the bizarre stuff we see coming from Japan is this: Japanese people live in an unforgiving, hierarchical and strict society. When they are given an opportunity to let their imaginations run wild, it sometimes veers into incredible (think Spirited Away) or subversive (Hentai porn) or weird (many of their game shows) expressions that what you are unlikely to find anywhere else. For example - I noticed a few Japanese guys on the trains unashamedly reading pornographic cartoon magazines called hentai. This is of course, not everyone. But there is a significant sector of society that blows of steam in Japan in ways you're unlikely to see in other countries. There are also these horrible things called pachinko, which are a gambling machine similar to vertical pinball. I went into a casino and the noise was deafening as hundreds of machines were fed coins at the same time. You can witness versions of escapism in any country but video game culture in it's many forms is particularly prevalent in Japan.

A pachinko bonanza

So a Maid cafe is basically a cafe full of ladies dressed like this serving ice creams etc

In Tokyo, my ex and I decided to go a Maid Cafe. That was something crazy.. Basically, you order overpriced food or drinks and girls dressed up in cartoonish costumes with very short skirts will speak in high-pitched voices, sing, dance etc. "So what were you doing there, aye pervert?" - I hear you  asking. Just curious was all. It was a bizarre experience and I did feel mildly like I had stepped into a different dimension. The whole district of Harajuku in Tokyo is quite costume orientated.

What I found particularly strange, was that there were a couple of middle-aged Japanese men in suits at these cafes who seemed to know all the songs and were very enthusiastically clapping along. For me, this would be like me going along to a Disney bar with some buddies (if there is such a thing) and belting out a Whole New World from my table.

AWESOME NATURE AND PLENTY OF INCREDIBLE SIGHTS

You will be spoiled for choice when it comes to beautiful stuff to see in Japan. This was a pleasant surprise. Japan is generally a very clean and green country. In Kyoto prefecture especially, there were many temples surrounded by meticulously manicured gardens. For a tourist, there's plenty of good stuff to see.

My top recommendations for stuff to check out in Japan (Based on stuff we did): 

* Temple wandering in Kyoto

* Visit the Hiroshima peace museum

* See the red gates and deer on Miyajima Island

* Explore Tokyo's diverse districts - particularly Harajuku.
* Try out a traditional Japanese public bath

Giant Buddha housed within the enormous Todaji temple in Nara

View from atop Miyajima Island, near Hiroshima

Up close and personal with a deer in Nara

A CONCERNING LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT JAPANESE ROLE IN WW2 AND RIVALRY WITH CHINA

In the New Zealand historical psyche, during the second world war Japan was a nation to be feared. They were fiercely nationalistic and expansionist and had a habit of taking over and enslaving small pacific nations. In China today, on some of their channels they still have daily dramas about the brutality that was enacted upon them by Japan including the "rape of Nanking."

When I asked some Japanese about what they learn about this history - I was met with blank stares. Japan are informed of their role in the war but it is often framed along the lines of Japan being the victim of America's atomic weapons. Personally, I detest what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (check out the Hiroshima peace museum for a sobering look at what happened in 1945) but young Japanese need to have a well rounded perception of how things actually went down.

Whereas Germans are very thoroughly educated about indoctrination, propaganda and other techniques that led to the formation of the Nazi state, it seems this education is lacking from Japan - at least from what I was told. 

LESSONS FROM THE PUBLIC BATHS

Public baths are a nice part of Japanese culture. There's something pretty leveling about going to a public place with other people from your society and bathing.

They are segregated by gender and a place you go to relax, wash, meet with friends and chill out. 

The baths and facilities vary from place to place but you will usually have little shower cubicles with soap, razors and other toiletries provided and a stool to squat on and wash. Aside from the washing areas you have hot pools of different temperatures, steam rooms, ice baths, saunas (which have TV's playing sports - usually baseball) they are pimping.

The first time I used a public bath, I was one of the only people around and decided to go in my underwear. Later I was told by our Japanese Couchsurfing host Masato: "If you wear your underwear, Japanese will think you are gay." I laughed my ass off but the rationale from Japanese is "Why would you hide your body? Have you got something you are ashamed of?"

The second time my partner and I went to a public baths, we went up market in Kyoto to a place called Funaoka Onsen: http://www.japanvisitor.com/kyoto/kyoto-public-bath
This place was pretty nice.

It certainly took me a moment to stroll butt-ass naked into a crowded room full of men but once I realised nobody really cares, it was very liberating. I would recommend checking one out if you have the chance.

So - hope you found at least some of that helpful.

Feel free to write any comments or questions. Thanks!