Up until recently, I never thought going to Japan would be possible for me, at least not this soon. I’m never one to save up money for vacations, nor have I ever gone traveling in a country where I don’t speak the language. On top of all that, never have I thought I’d go to Japan, not until I learn a bit more of the language. I often get mistaken as a Japanese person back home as it is, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go to Japan.
But here I am, on vacation in Japan. The conditions are actually less than perfect. It wasn’t something I initiated, and it actually pretty stressful, despite getting help with the hotel and air fare. I just don’t like the idea of going on vacation when I can’t afford it. It happened anyway, and with much planning and research, I was able to come out with itineraries with a small budget (whether I follow it or not is another story).

Doing My Homework for Real, for the First Time

I spent a good 3 full days, researching and putting plans together, and decided that I would only be able to go around the central and northern part of the country in the 7 days of the train pass. Maybe I will save the west and south part of the country for my next trip, if that ever happens.

Full Japan Trip Plans and References in PDF format

I’m glad I did the research before hand, I had pretty ambitious travel plans. I knew that on this trip, I want to at least meet up with my friend Azusa and Akira who both were in Toronto a year ago to study English, and I met them through kendo. I also knew that I would like to see as much of Japan as possible, and see the most of the culture.
The entire trip was an eye-opening experience. Not just on how people on the other side of the world live, but because of the people that I traveled with, I got a bit of a life lesson on the importance of communication and what I should possibly do to better myself.

The Cultural Differences

I think I am in a somewhat advantageous position when it comes to traveling in Japan. Having been educated in Taiwan up until grade 3 taught me enough of the Eastern culture, if not a bit too much. Growing up in Canada gave me an idea of what it’s like to be part of the Western culture.

Being in Japan had a familiar feel to it. I am accustomed to a lot of things, both from having lived in Taiwan and from Kendo. Most of the time I was able to read street names and store signs without realizing it, due to the Kanji in Japanese writing. I was unable to match them up with the English/Romanji, however. Sometimes it becomes a bit confusing. But with both Eastern and Western backgrounds, I was able to contrast the culture. Some of major things are:

GREETINGS. I’ve never felt so overly greeted in my life. Everywhere I go, I’m being greeted. All stores must have some sort of policy, where if you come one metre within a customer, you must greet them. When they do that, I feel like I must acknowledge them, it was quite awkward, but somewhat nice. It made the place feel warm and friendly. I always thought that Canadians are polite, but after being in Japan, I think we can only match to 50% of their politeness.

POLITENESS. In a population dense country like Japan, people often bump into each other. 9 out of 10 times I get an “excuse me” in Japanese whenever someone bumps into me, or walks in front of me from a different direction. While on an unreserved train of one of the overnight train rides, the girl who sat beside me asked if it would be ok to sit there, even though I left it empty and without any items on the seat next to me. When it was time to get off, she thanked me. I thought that was strange, but I later realized how big of a difference it made when people communicate and knowledge each other, as opposed to simply doing our own things and ignore all things around us. Still, I have a hard time doing that myself. How do they do it?

PRESENTATION. This one I’ve known prior to coming to Japan. I’ve always know that presentation is very big in Japan, from packaging of items to ways one dress and behave in public. Uniforms can be seen anywhere, and more often than not, they are worn properly. Cab drivers, transit crew, store keepers, cleaners, even construction workers wear uniforms. Cab drivers even wear white gloves, making the cab ride feel like a limo ride.

PROFESSIONALISM. Much to do with the uniforms and the way people present themselves, many of the workers seem to take their jobs seriously and with pride. No attitude, helpful, and very much polite. On the trains, the crew members bow each time they exit a car to go to the next. EVERY TIME. Even when they’re in a rush. And I thought having to remember to bow each time we go in and out of the gym in kendo was difficult.

CLEANNESS. A cleaning crew goes through a train whenever it reaches the last stop before resuming service. A public washroom, even in a RAMEN ALLEY, does not stink of piss. A store in a snowy area does not have mud tracked all over the entrance. Litterless streets despite of the lack of trash cans along the sidewalk. I have no idea how they do it, but once again, it puts Toronto to shame.

HYGIENIC. What I know as the SARS mask can be seen worn by many people in public areas, even more so than in Taiwan. Personally I think it’s a bit much, because that’s what our immune system is for, but I think there may be other reasons it’s worn. Aside from the SARS masks, I noticed that each time I buy food items to go, there is ALWAYS a wet-nap packed with it.

ORDERLY. Lines are formed everywhere. People move to take up less space on non-divided long train seats. People stay in their assigned seats even when there are other empty ones. There are signs in trains asking people to turn off their cellphones and have designated talking areas while on the phone. Even groups of teenagers chat quietly mostly. The quietness can be a bit eerie, but it felt like a nice change to the rowdy party people that we see all too often on our trains.

NO FAT PEOPLE. Be it their diet, daily activity, or simply because of the amount of work people do, rarely can I see a fat person, and I’ve yet to see an OBESE person. Maybe they’re all hidden away at home, but something is up.

I got used to the lack of fat people pretty quickly. But on one of my bullet train rides I was reminded how sad North America is when it comes to the number of fat people. There was this big fat white guy traveling with his wife. His assigned seat was the middle seat, but his ass was so big that he didn’t sit right next his wife, so he sat on the isle seat instead. When the passenger of the isle seat came on a few stops later, he did not seem amused while waiting 3 minutes for the dude to move all of his stuff from the middle seat to the proper overhead storage. then proceed to move to other empty seats that’s not assigned to him. The same owner of the isle seat seemed even less amused to have to move when the white dude was kicked out of his other seat when more passengers got on the train.

These are just some of the major differences I’ve noticed. Now I finally understood why people are so big on traveling. It’s great to be able to see the other parts of the world; how things are done, what are things we can learn, the things we have that we can be thankful for. There’s much more to what I’ve learned on this trip. Stay tuned for part two if I ever get to it.

© SNL