Japanese Musings

This is a list of my observations and musings about Japan.

First thing to note is how friendly the Japanese people are.  Courtesy is everywhere.  About the only time you'll find shoving or what you would call "rudeness" is at a train station where everyone is just in a hurry to get somewhere.  Trains run exactly on time, no ifs, buts, maybes, or otherwise.  And the shoving on the subway trains is a simple fact of life in order for people to get where they are going.

The country is extremely clean and not for want of a bin.  Bins are few and far between, the Japanese are just very clean people.  In my time here I have only seen litter a few times.  Japanese people are just so respectful of their environment.  Everyday litter is removed from the streets by people using tongs to pick the litter including cigarette butts, though generally smoking is forbidden in most open places if not all open places.

The country is safe, at no time did I ever think my personal safety or my belongings security was in doubt, and I do some fairly weird things and go walkabout at very weird times of the day to do photography.  I cannot say that about every country I have visited.

Almost anything you could want form a sustenance point of view is available via a vending machine, where Australia has a vending machine that stocks multiple versions of the same coke and some varieties and maybe some water, these machines will have 40 or more varieties in a machine 1/3 the size of what we have in Australia.  And they are everywhere.  And they are varied in what they offer, so many choices and of course not being able to rad the language I could not tell you much about the contents.

I have one golden rule when I travel, I never eat the same meal twice (breakfast excluded).  In Japan, I think I could be here 6 months and still not eat the same thing twice, that would be in excess of 360 different meals.

Transportation is awesome.  Taxis are highly regulated and as a result, they are exceptionally clean.  Also remember you are not allowed to open/close the doors yourself unless you are sitting in the front.  No matter the type of vehicle, the driver operates the rear door for you, this avoids anyone coming to harm.

Trains are also awesome, bullet trains or Shinkansen run more regularly than most suburban trains in our Australian capital cities.  Subways and above ground trains are also more regular than anything I have come across.  They really know how to do trains here.