An overview of Japan

It's been a week since I arrived back in the UK so I've had time to readjust. Now, for some reason, I've been unaffected by jet-lag on both journeys which is something I'm very thankful for - my theory of hardcoring it until nighttime in the country of arrival seems to have paid off. One of the things that struck me most about my trip was that I simply wasn't hit by culture shock at all - I know I was only there for 2 weeks, but for most of the second week I was by myself and had to communicate in Japanese and get by myself in their society. Perhaps I had expectations of ultra-wackiness, perhaps England is getting more outrageous, perhaps learning Katakana before I went ensured that I wasn't completely isolated - who knows. I've never really considered myself to be well-traveled, but it has now occurred to me that I've been to a lot of cities around the world, so maybe new places don't intimidate me the way I expect them to. Certainly in Japan I felt lots of similarities to Mumbai and European cities. In fact it may be safe to say I experienced more severe reverse-culture shock. Or it may just have been the crushing disappointment of sharing a departure gate with a load of drunk Geordies who were returning from Amsterdam, the dirty, unreliable Metro and finally the complete lack of trains anywhere after 10pm from Newcastle. Not what I really needed after experiencing the upmost efficiency and then 14 hours on planes.

Japan itself is a series of contradictions and I'll give you a few examples. Recycling seems to be a big part of everyday life with different bins surrounding most conbinis and vending machines, but then the massive use of non-reusable chopsticks is putting pressure on wood supplies. Things like food, drink, local travel and everyday items are very cheap (the prospect of having to pay £3.69 for a sandwich at a service station this weekend had me launch into a rant), yet something as simple as a CD or DVD will set you back one and a half times what we pay. Maintaining face and honor are big here, yet drinking is encourageed at every possible juncture - witness the conference poster sessions with no water; only beer. The number of mum-ra'd businessmen I saw being carried home through the streets of Osaka as though it was the most normal thing in the world was certainly baffling. Japan is famous for being one of the mst technologically advanced countries, yet hardly anywhere takes credit cards, Japan lags behind Scandinavia in terms of internet connections and Japanese mobile phones aren't as advanced as you'd think. Western models can now rival, if not beat the Japanese equivalents.
The biggest thing though were the people. In the UK we have history all around us - from castle remains all the way through to the blue plaques on buildings throughout the country. It is something we can be proud of without caring too much. In Japan, the recorded history doesn't really start until the 8th century, with the country descending into anarchy until reunification in 1600. The Japanese seem obsessed with their history to a massive extreme. Major tourist attractions are actually recreations of the originals - Osaka castle, the golden pavilion, Todaiji temple at Nara. It's sort of the equivalent of us putting Stone Henge back together. The sites have become such tourist traps that a lot of the wonder that should exist around them is lost in the swarm of school tours. It seems like a lot of the events and visits that unfold arise because of tradition rather than an actual affinity for the past or religion. A good Western example of this is Christmas - now it's simply a winter festival that has lost all of it's meaning. It's now simply tradition and unfortunately if we ever stop the commercialism of it our economy would head south pretty fast.
I'd read about widespread discrimination against foreigners and I can certainly believe it's true. Whilst in the west, different nationalities can blend in, in Japan they stand out. We drew some strange looks as we walked through some of smaller areas of Osaka. I have to say though, that I found the people of Osaka to be by far the most welcoming, always offering us a smile and trying to help us if we looked too confused. Kyoto was another matter. I've read that it's citizens even regard Japanese not from the area as gaijin. The sheer number of foreigners trapesing through the city must aggravate the locals (especially with the loud Americans). People in Tokyo seemed more understanding of foreigners due to the higher concentration of gaijin who work in the city. Japan has certainly opened up to the world since the war, but it is still an insular country. Perhaps the lack of ethnic diversity has helped the country - everyone is Japanese so they all have their sense of honor, which helps keeps the crime rate down and traditions alive.

The trip has reconfirmed to me that it can really suck travelling by yourself. From having noone to talk to (1/3 of a learn Japanese book isn't too helpful when trying to strike up conversations), to having to ask people to take your photo all the time and then sitting by yourself in restaurants like the strange old man that every pub in the UK has...
I definitely want to go back - perhaps to the famous Sapporo Snow Festival held in February every year - especially if I can climb onto the ANA/JAL 10000yen flights. It may have to be fairly soon though. Due to heavy US pressure, Japan will be adopting the tactic of fingerprinting any foreign national who enters the country from November 2007...

Anyway - I'm working hard to edit my photos and tidy up all the blog entries. Hopefully within the next week... In the meantime enjoy this video of me negotiating the famous Shibuya crossing. I won't embarrasss Angharad by posting her karaoke video - I know I was just as bad as she was!