IMPRESSIONS OF JAPAN
Travelling
to Japan without much thought or research is probably not a great idea.
Fortunately I had Mieko, a Japanese born Canadian to introduce me to this
intriguing culture, so different from our laisser-faire life in Canada. With
most of the Western World we have many cultural similarities, but Japan was
full of pleasant, easy to adapt to differences.
My initiation
into Japanese culture was in a very remote area of Japan located on the Sea of
Japan - Mirakami, home to Mieko and her family. NO, I repeat NO English spoken
here. But hey I am the foreigner, non? I depended heavily on Mieko for
translation, but soon I realized the importance of hand signals - except when I
tried to indicate to Mieko’s Mom I was just going for an evening stroll and she
thought I wanted to take her photo! I
honed my hand signal skills after that.
My first
impression of the countryside was fields of water (it was rice planting season)
and I wondered how people navigated between towns - perhaps in gondola like
Venice? But no, in fact there are tiny
road in between the rice paddies for cars and machinery and for part of the
year the backyards of most people are these ponds of rice plants. They do grow barley and wheat as well, but
given that their main diet is rice and not pasta or bread, you know which one
wins out! Dexterity with chopsticks is a must!
The Japanese
are a well-disciplined culture - they always obey the rules and in fact crime
is very rare in this country. If you lose your wallet, chances are you will get
it back passport and cash in tact.
They
have very little influence from the outside and lots of influence from
Buddha! Shrines are found in most homes
and many temples in the communities, but with no set “meditation times” - just
a personal time on their own to live in harmony with nature.
There are
two forms of worship in the Japanese culture. The spiritual one was adopted
from the aboriginals of Japan and it worships nature. Shrines are found
throughout Japan often in beautiful forests where you can hug a tree if you
like. Buddhism is the religion with many different sects and Buddist monks
reside close to the temples which can be visited for meditation or to pay
respects to ancestors. I had the
pleasure of being instructed by a ZEN Buddhist monk on how to meditate -
believe me - not easy to have your knees folded under you OR cross-legged in
front of you for 45 min. I may have managed 5 before my feet fell asleep. This started me noticing the seating habits
of the Japanese - they are often in this position - they seem to be shopping,
eating, meditating on their knees - a very humble society. I, as a Canadian sought out every chair I
could! And yes, there were some.
Bowing is a common practice showing humility
and respect for the person you face. However, no, I repeat NO physical contact
- no Bisous 2,3 or 4 times like in Europe, no handshake, just bowing and
smiling. I was so taken with Mieko’s parents,
I tried a couple of times to give them kisses on the cheek was met with a stiff
reception. In the end I was able to give her Mom the “bises” but I stuck with the respectful bow with her
father. It is
customary to bow twice at the Shrines, clap twice and then bow again to have
the spirits listen to your message. The train conductors bow as they leave the
car, sales staff bow as they return your change, then again as they give you
what you bought in one or two wrappings, then bow again as you leave the store.
I noticed when shopping that nothing is
exposed to the elements - everything is over packaged in bright boxes that are
stacked on the stored counters - no chance of contamination! However, what astounded me is that they lag
behind on recycling all this plastic. As I Canadian I was always searching for
the recycle bin for plastics, bottles, paper. They are smart and they will soon catch up. It
does make me wonder though where all this “over packaging” ends up.
Japan is
mountainous with volcanos - most of them dormant - which results in hot springs
throughout the country. A hot springs or
spa experience is nothing like home. First of all men and women are separated
(no fun at all) and you have to scrub yourself down at little stations before
entering - nude - into the sulphur water. Even business hotels have a little
spa (again separate) which is open early in the morning for the guest to enjoy.
Did I say they were super clean?
My biggest
challenge was to remember to take off my shoes and put on my slippers, then
take of the slippers again when walking on the mats in the bed and living
rooms. And get this - there are separate slippers worn in the bathroom!!!! So
take your living slippers off at the bathroom door and put on the bathroom
slippers. You can’t imagine how many times I forgot and went wondering into the
kitchen with the bathroom slippers!!! Even in public places they provide
bathroom slippers! And speaking of
bathrooms you will not believe the technological toilets! Low flush, full flush, bidet option and
heated toilet seats on every single toilet in Japan!!!! Did I say they were
super clean?
Kimonos used
to be the dress of the day and many can still be seen in the streets,
particularly in Kyoto. It takes quite
the effort to dress up in one - not like slipping on a housecoat! The kimono itself has to be tied up at the
waist to the proper length, then the obi (the wide waist band is tied several
times around the waist to fill in the curves. A curvy figure is not attractive
on a woman, but the nape of the neck and the wrists delicately visible when
pouring tea are! And yes the geishas still don full regalia to entertain in the
guest houses. They are fewer in number than what used to be but we managed to
catch the scene of a Head Mistress and her two geishas heading out for an
evening’s work.
Japan has 126 million people, but they are all polite and organized so not many collisions occur, unless you happen to be running for a train and end up dodging through the crowds at the station. Yes, this did happen! And we did make the train. The Bullet trains are a great way explore Japan as they travel up to 300 km an hour and they depart on the second! We bought a rail pass and used it on fast trains, slow trains, ferries and busses.
My biggest
worry about travelling to Japan was dealing with crowds. However, despite its
population I never felt more crowded than in Paris or Italy. The trick is to
choose the time of day to visit the temples or to go shopping or to take the
train or tram - all this comes with the experience of being a TRAVELLER and not
a tourist.
For me,
Japan and the Japanese were an absolute delight!
