Summary
We recently visited Japan, and we just fell in love with it. In short, Japan is the USA of Asia. It is a beautiful country and full of good people. The Japanese are very clean, well-mannered, industrious, and above all, very kind.
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Cleanliness is paramount in Japanese Culture
“Alright, look for the trash bin,” I told my daughter who just finished eating her snack. “I don’t see one dad!” said my daughter. There were no trash bins to throw away the garbage! We looked and could not find one. Later, we found out that Japanese keep their trash in their pockets until they get home. It’s impressive for such a vast country with over 120 million people the country is very clean. Shinjuku which is the Time Square of Tokyo is literally trash free, and I still can’t believe it! Their bathrooms, even public ones, are so clean. Having now visited or lived in NYC, London, and Tokyo, I would say Tokyo stands out as the cleanest city!
Japan has a unique and excellent culture
Japanese are very helpful. We were in the middle of Akihabara, lost, and we approached this lady who was doing a pet show in front of the Sofmap building to get directions. She didn’t know the answer, but she left her station, ran to the police officer, and asked the question for us. She came back and gave us the information we needed. This happened again when we were at the Ikebukuro subway station. The person we asked didn’t know the answer, but he ended up going to the adjacent room to ask a friend where we should be heading.
I know that it’s only in major western countries that tips are encouraged. In Japan, they don’t accept tips. We went to a restaurant, and after a good meal, we tried to give a tip to the student waitress who covered our table. She was so polite to reject it. We tried to tell her that it is customary in the US to give tips. All she kept saying was, “Wakarimashita, demo, chippu o, kureru…dekinai.” Or, “I understand, but I can’t take tips.” It was such a humbling experience.
Japan is very self-sufficient
I can understand now why Japanese speaks very poor English, and that is because they don’t necessarily need to learn English. They have everything they need and want at their disposal. It’s like for Americans. The reason why a vast majority only speaks English is that America has everything. Japan has the Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, Komatsu, Hitachis, Sony, Canon and every other technology you can think of. And partly, because of their technology, they are very precise. The bullet trains and transportation are always on time. They are always on the clock. They are efficient in everything they do. I just love it!
They are hard-working, industrious people
Everyone works! Men and women all work. Some restaurants are managed by only a single person doing all the cleaning and making of food. What is also interesting is that the customers also help clean up by wiping their tables and bringing the used dishes up to the host.
The Gray Old Hairs
As soon as I stepped on to the first train we took from Narita Airport to Downtown Tokyo, I immediately noticed the older generations. Throughout our trip to Japan, everywhere we went there were old people. You could see their grey hairs on their heads and wrinkles on their faces. As I reflected on these things, I realized that those grey hairs and wrinkles were parts of what made Japan a modern country, a financial powerhouse, and technologically advanced society.
We will definitely go back!
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Share with us your experiences, thoughts and impressions of your Japan visit.