A few things to note about Japan...

Kyoto, Japan

I have heard that Japan is the most culturally different country from the United States. Whether this is true or not is up for debate. Several things were alarmingly more wonderful and efficient compared to the United States and some things were...well…different.

A few things to note:

The subway:  I never would have thought that riding an escalator in one of the world’s busiest subway stations would have been an enjoyable experience, but I was pleasantly surprised. In Tokyo, there was an unwritten rule that you kept to the left on the escalator if you wanted to ride up and to the right if you wanted to walk up. Thinking we had the system down, we were a little surprised when they switched things up in Kobe and kept to the right to ride up and went to the left to walk up. (I later found out this has somewhat of a historical context, related to folks in one half of the country who were warriors kept their swords on one side vs. the other half of the country where folks were merchants and kept their money pouches on the opposite side. Mystery solved.) As if the journey to and from the actual subway car wasn’t exciting enough, imagine entering the train single file in a nice orderly fashion after those wishing to exit were able to do so. In New York, I became accustomed to getting trampled each and every time I wanted to get on or off the subway. It’s everything I love about New York only more polite.

Trash Cans: Or lack there of. Japan is one of the cleanest places I have ever been. And to be honest I have no idea how they do it despite their lack of trash cans. My first day there, I went on more than one wild goose chase in order to deposit my trash in the proper receptacle. I later found out that years ago there was a bombing in one of the subway stations where the bomb itself was placed in a trash can, hence the lack of trash cans. Moral of the story: If you visit Japan, prepare to pack it in and pack it out.

Surgical Masks: When they had these scares about SARS and Avian Bird Flu all over the news several years ago, they showed hoards of Japanese people wearing paper surgical masks. Then every time I saw someone in New York with a surgical mask, I was secretly hoping they didn’t know something that I didn’t and that some pandemic wasn’t on its way. So now I’d like to dispel the rumor that everyone who wears a surgical mask has some type of horrible disease. Most wear them because of allergies. With the amount of Kleenexes I go through on a weekly basis, the surgical masks aren’t such a bad idea.

Sit and Eat: It’s a nice idea, sitting and eating. As Americans it’s not always something we take the time to do. We have become a nation of drive throughs and take out menus. In Japan, while there are an over abundance of convenience stores with a wide variety of instant ramen to tempt your taste buds, there are very few public places to sit and eat it. (Squatting on the floor in a train station to finish off your lunch is also frowned upon in case you were wondering.) So plan ahead, sit, relax, and enjoy.