#9319300 - 05/10/18 12:32 PM
Japan 2018
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furball
Post Master Sr
Registered: 09/24/03
Posts: 9485
Loc: Toronto, ON
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Wife and I went to Japan for 2 weeks in April ...
Japan is on my top 5 places to visit ... Always loved the culture, the food, and the nuances/respect-aspects of how Japanese work...
We visited (days approximate, some overlap) - Shinjuku, Tokyo (2 days) - Hakone (2 days) - Kyoto (3 days) - Nara (day trip) - Osaka (4 days) - Hiroshima (2 days) - Takayama (2 days) - Tokyo (3 days)
a) Walked alot ... holy fucking ~20k steps/day batman ... b) subway'd / bullet-train'd alot c) fooded alot. Went to Sukiyabashi Jiro (of Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary fame) d) tourist'd alot
Random map of Japan for reference:
I'll post up videos later -- I need to edit out the wife & I ...
Will also post up 'thoughts/observations of Japan' later
Edited by furball (05/10/18 12:33 PM)
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#9319388 - 05/10/18 01:59 PM
Re: Japan 2018
[Re: Big Tasty]
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furball
Post Master Sr
Registered: 09/24/03
Posts: 9485
Loc: Toronto, ON
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FurBall's Cultural Learnings Abroad - Japan
Note: Obviously, I’m generalizing ...
The Japanese:
1) Love water - unfettered use of it. No real ‘conservation’ on a daily basis as far as I can tell. On a side note, open sewers. - Red bucket or bottles of water outside their home, labelled ‘in case of fire’ (I think) - large reason for it is to clean. They do conserve, alot. (See the way they recycle)
2) Lead structured lives - Except when standing on an escalator. They all stand on the same side, but it appears it depends who is on the escalator first that determines whether to stand left or right (and walk on the other.) - UPDATE: was told people in Osaka are savages, and always stand on the 'opposite' side.
3) Are selfless as a society (generalizing) - from infrastructure, to cultural norms - NIMBY examples that benefit the culture/people as a whole over any smaller, insignificant group is common. (Public toilets, albeit the squat type) abut onto public sidewalks. - will eventually lead them to extinction as others use it to their advantage. - many food joints where they eat standing up, then leave. Chop chop, in, out. - will thank you endlessly, and bow endlessly ... (Grand Hyatt Tokyo employees are hardcore at this...)
4) Live in the past and the future, at the same time - related to the above - sometimes too many people doing a job, sometimes too few/none at all - case in point: the highest-tech toilets, and yet they still have squat ones as well - everyone going to an onsen are forbidden to have tattoos. If you do, some have stickers to hide.
5) are quiet - from cultural norms on the train, to mechanical devices like an elevator or bullet train are uber quiet
6) love their carbs - besides all their rice, ramen, soba, etc, they love French pastries. And mochi.
7) hard to come by real fruit - legit strawberries are in the craziest packaging, each one perfect in shape, colour, size. And expensive as hell.
8) lack animals. Legit animals. - no pigeons. No seagulls. No squirrels. - many ravens - Hiroshima has like 5 doggie boutiques minutes apart, but otherwise few animals. - Some cities (can't remember which) have a ton of people walking high-end dogs
9) care about cleanliness / waste - few if any (besides ignorant tourists) eat while walking - it’s one of the cleanest cities, and yet have almost no garbage cans - they separate waste, to perfection. I handed some food waste to where I ate, and the lady returned two kebab sticks I got from another vendor. And yet... everything is in individually-wrapped plastic, and half the time chopsticks are the disposable kind - water used to rinse/wash sidewalks / exterior areas. I saw someone use a vacuum for the outside. Sanitation workers use tongs to pick up bits of trash. One guy smoking had a little leather pouch to catch his ashes.
10) exude a sense of world-class safety - money exchange counters are not behind 2 inches of glass with huge locks - cars are left idling with keys in the ignition (in small towns) - bikes are routinely parked nicely, unchained, with no lock. - young children walk or take transit to/from school on their own - no one rushing the train like that of the GO, TTC, etc. - no cars honk at your ass when you're crossing - no one jay walks typically...
11) are uniform - all the men wear a dark suit with white shirt and tie everywhere. No bow ties, no smart casual. Women in similar fashion - men and women have large tote bags that would otherwise look to be women-only tote bags in North America. - children all have school uniforms. (their unusual-looking backparks are $5-700 ) - blue collar jobs almost always in uniform, cab drivers wear white gloves - fringe fashion is a weird combination of multiple fashion trends all at once - IMO the younger generation is confused and lost.
12) Umbrella-ownership culture is a bit weird... - 90% of the people there (and tourists) use a cheap, 5-700 yen clear umbrella. When you walk into stores/restos, you can either grab an umbrella bag, or put it in the umbrella holder. - Thing is, they (almost) ALL LOOK THE SAME. i.e. people just take one, any one... I had to google this phenomenon, and it's... savage...
13) The Chineses are taking over - Signs are typically in Japanese, English, and if there's a need for a third language, it's CHINESE (with spoken language MANDARIN) - Some workers are actually from China, and speak fluent Mandarin (obviously)...
Quirks - crowded subways. DAMN - young children walk/take transit to/from school on their own - Japan is RHD ... they had more LHD luxo cars than I've seen in any other country, i.e. more 'opposite-hand-drive cars'...
Edited by furball (05/10/18 02:02 PM)
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#9319649 - 05/10/18 06:41 PM
Re: Japan 2018
[Re: furball]
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OracerO
Post Master Sr
Registered: 10/07/02
Posts: 3949
Loc: GTA
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I travel a lot and never bothered with Japan until last November , went to Tokyo and Hakone for the private onsen (8 Days)
Japan was LEGIT.
We ended up cancelling our Hawaii trip 2 months ago and went back to Japan: Kyoto, Osaka, tokyo, and some other places for 9 days.
I would go back to Japan any day.
I just got back from Bangkok, this city was Legit as well.
Anthony Bourdain suggested the Egg Salad Sandwich from Lawson's. I must say. It was damn good (as with everything in japan).
Edited by OracerO (05/10/18 06:42 PM)
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#9319652 - 05/10/18 06:45 PM
Re: Japan 2018
[Re: OracerO]
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A2B-Lexus
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 04/19/01
Posts: 45550
Loc: Raptors Land
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Japan for me in 2019. Doing it with the little one so will be doing it via cruise.
Edited by A2B-Lexus (05/10/18 06:53 PM)
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#9319705 - 05/10/18 08:36 PM
Re: Japan 2018
[Re: phoenixrage]
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Senor Eduardo_82
miataist
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 38036
Loc: Ca�ada
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#9321439 - 05/14/18 04:02 PM
Re: Japan 2018
[Re: porschetr]
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OracerO
Post Master Sr
Registered: 10/07/02
Posts: 3949
Loc: GTA
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Also wanted to say, i went in November and February and it was cold AF in Japan. In November, i was all Canadian and was like i don't need no jacket, just brought a fall jacket. Nope. Had to buy a winter down coat and used heat packs still.
In feb. i wore a Goose and still had to use Heat packs. 20k steps is no joke in Japan.
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