Japan - Expectation vs Reality

Judy. It took us years to get the courage to come to Japan. The culture is so radically different from ours, and, as I pointed out in my last post, the language borderline indecipherable. That was true in Turkey, too, and we managed just fine. Maybe it’s the mystique. Maybe the fact that everyone we knew who’d been there was either on a tour or a cruise, both of which we’d prefer not to do for this trip. Then it was the high price of the yen. Then the yen dropped and we were worried there’d be too many tourists. Oh, we can always talk ourselves out of anything. 

Finally, we talked to two women who’ve been here and loved it. One of them, Sonya, outlined a trip for us, and Melora, the other, gave us more suggestions. Shoutout to both of them! We had a fabulous time. And many of our myths were, if not shattered, at least cracked. 

Expectation: No one speaks English and people are distant. 

Reality: There’s not a great deal of English spoken (it’s their country, after all!), but Google Translate and my bad Japanese plus their bad English usually worked. People are respectful and polite, but kind and helpful. Wakaba and her mom have been so open and giving, as have been our tour guide at Matsumoto Castle, the gentleman we met in the street who wanted to talk baseball, and others. We’ve learned to bow, say good morning and thank you, and that opens doors and smiles. 

Expectation: Robots will be everywhere. 

Reality: In our first hotel in the Haneda Airport, a robot checked us in and out. I think we’ve seen some floor cleaning robots, and certainly many restaurants require you to order from a vending-type machine, but real people bring the food. And there is a plethora of toy capsule vending machines.

Not really robots, but no salespeople in sight at this toy store. 

Expectation: We’ll miss the cherry blossoms by not going during tourist season. 

Reality: I’m not happy about climate change, but in the parts of Japan we visited, they were blooming, and in Kamakura, at several temples, they were absolutely glorious! 

So glad we got to see this!

Expectation: If we want to go to an onsen, we’ll have mixed nude bathing. 

Reality: Both hotels we stayed in had separate onsen for men and women, and in Hakone, we had a private outdoor one. And we are hooked! 

Our own private onsen

Expectation: The “food police” will watch to make sure we don’t eat on the street. 

Reality: Most people don’t eat on the street, but we have seen Japanese young people, especially in Kamakura, munching on street food as they walk the touristy areas. On local trains, no one eats, and very few drink anything, but on Shinkansen (bulletin trains), it’s quite common for people to bring bento boxes they buy at the stations and eat in their seats. We did that several times. And typically, the bento boxes were good! 

Expectation is clear

But some don't care

Expectation: The police will arrest you for crossing at any place except a marked crossing. 

Reality: Certainly in the rural areas, we’ve crossed when there are no cars. In the cities it just seemed safer to use a marked crossing, especially with lights. One couple told us they had a whistle blown at them for trying to cross illegally, so it’s just easy to use the crossings. 

No marked crossing on this rural road

Expectation: We’ll eat tons of sushi and Wagyu beef. 

Reality: I think we had sushi three times, and one time it wasn’t even good. At least where we were, there weren’t that many sushi restaurants. I believe we had Wagyu a couple of times. We did eat a ton of soba noodle dishes and some tempura, which were delicious, and for snacks often had konbini (convenience store) egg salad sandwiches or onigiri (rice balls), both yummy. We also ate Italian, French and Spanish food. One soba dish I ate had kudzu thickener. By the way, Japanese food has very subtle flavors. And we enjoyed their breakfasts. Restaurants tend to serve one thing--tempura OR soba OR Wagyu, etc.

Onigiri at the 7-11

And egg salad and other sandwiches.  Delicious, and cheap

Expectation: We’ll see Mt. Fuji several times. 

Reality: Just like our experience with Denali in Alaska, clouds obscured the famous landmark. The one day we did catch a glimpse while riding in a cable car, was worth the wait. Everyone in that car, Japanese and Americans alike, shouted, “Fuji-san!” 

Through the clouds, but still...

Expectation: Trains are the best way to get around and, whatever the cost, the rail pass is worth it. 

Reality: ABSOLUTELY! And for most bus and local train and convenience stores, Suica, a prepaid card on your phone, is a must. 

Just add money with your credit card. You can use it on trains or in shops.

Expectation: Streets are spotless. 

Reality: There truly is very little trash. I’ve seen citizens out picking up what was there. But take your trash with you. There aren’t many trash cans. 

Expectation: Public transport will be quiet. It’s considered a private space. 

Reality: For the most part, yes. But there are giggly teens who shatter that myth. Sometimes certain tourists are louder than they should be. 

Public transport is considered personal space.

Expectation: I’ll never figure out where to get off the train, because it will all be in Japanese. 

Reality: In stations on platform signs, and in the trains, announcements are in Japanese and English, and signs are, as well. 

You can not only read what station you're in, but also the one before, and the next.

Expectation: We’ll be mobbed by tourists everywhere. Last year there was a record 43 MILLION international tourists. 

Reality: Maybe it’s the time we came, but we’ve NOT been overwhelmed. Certainly in a couple of famous places, we have seen huge crowds, often where there’s food. Mostly, though, it’s been pretty quiet.

We weren't sure we'd ever say this, but we're already talking about coming back. There's so much we didn't see. We thought three weeks was enough. Not even close.

Kamakura

Ted. Our final destination in Japan was the coastal city of Kamakura. This interesting town was the de facto capital of Japan in the 12th century. It’s most famous monument is the 48 foot tall bronze known as the Great Buddha. There are lots of other shrines and temples, since capital cities around the world are known for the glorious places of worship built by powerful men. 

While the history is fascinating, we arrived in Kamakura just in time for one of the most important annual events in Japan - cherry blossom time! We had always thought that April was the best time to visit Japan if you want to see the cherry trees in bloom. In recent years, the peak is now reached in late March so we were in luck.

One day, we took a hike recommended by Lonely Planet, visiting several shrines and seeing lots of cherry trees. 

Our walk passed through a forest

View from a ridge

Hokokuji ("ji" means shrine)

A spring emerges from the rock at Zeniarai Benzaiten

If you wash your money in the spring, it increases 5 fold

A traditional pilgrim lunch is Spanish paella

Jochiji

Wakamiya-oji (main street)

A Shinto Wedding at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

Good to know where to run in a tsunami!

Our new friend Wakeba and her Mom Jitsuko travelled down from Tokyo to have a farewell lunch with us. We had really hit it off in our earlier meetups and we all hoped to see each other again one day. I began singing a little song that Judy taught the girls in her Girl Scout troop decades ago; “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.” To our amazement, they both joined in singing in Japanese. Yep, Jitsuko had started a troop of Girl Scouts over 50 years ago and they sang the same song. 

Two leaders

Riding the train to Tokyo Haneda Airport on our final day in Asia, we asked ourselves a question - would we come back? Right now, the answer is … maybe!

Kenchoji

Hakone

Ted. From Matsumoto, we traveled to the community of Hakone, a area surrounded by the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Beautiful, and near Tokyo, this is the most visited park in Japan. 

Following the advice of several folks, we booked a ryokan for three nights. These traditional inns are known for their onsens (public baths) which are often fed by hot springs. As a rule, they provide breakfast and dinner. Ours included liquor in the price and our room had a private outdoor onsen. 

Shinanoki Ichinoyu (our inn)

We purchased three day passes to take advantage of the dizzying array of transportation options - getting around via buses, boats, trains, funiculars and cable cars.

Lake Ashi cruise boat

Another Torii

We visited the Takaido Road which, like the Nakasendo, connected Kyoto and Edo. 

All 16th cent. travelers stopped at this check point before entering Edo 

We had great views from a cable car. 

Volcanic steam vents

We finally saw Mt Fuji (know here as Fuji-San)

We also spent time at an exquisite open-air museum.

A work by a Swedish sculptor we like

Inside the "Symphonic Sculpture"

The best part, for me, was hanging out at our ryokan. I will never forget eating too much food, drinking sake, beer and Japanese whisky and nearly falling asleep in our steaming onsen. 

Breakfast!

Ahhh - heaven!

Turning Japanese

Judy. When we started this journey nine and a half years ago, I decided to study languages. Since I was no longer learning lines, it would not only be useful for our travels, but keep my brain sharp as well. Duolingo, despite its flaws, was a good choice for me, since it was easy to use on my iPad. 

It has worked out well. I’m pretty darned conversational in Spanish and French. So last summer, knowing we’d be coming to Japan, I started learning Japanese. 

WHOA! As you’ve probably already guessed, Japanese is a whole different ball game. Nine months in, I’m borderline useless. I remember some words, and have made connections by telling restaurant personnel that their food is delicious (one chef came out to meet us and bowed us all the way to the door!), and have struggled to speak with Miyo, the delightful lady who owns the Korean restaurant we have frequented. We’ve spent some time with our dear Servas friend, Wakaba, and her mother, Jitsuko, a 91-year-old ball of fire. Wakaba corrected some of my attempts, which was great. She’s offered to chat with me on the web, and I may take her up on that after I take a break.

 

Wakaba and Jitsuko-san work on our proper requests at a tempura restaurant

Somehow Miyo and I managed to converse!

Those times are where I’ve made my best advances. In Spanish-speaking countries, the intercambios, where one speaks for a period in Spanish, then English, have helped tremendously. But I’ve not had that opportunity with Japanese. And it IS difficult. Quite honestly, the hardest part is reading it. 

Japanese has three writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. These three symbols can appear in the same sentence, or even the same word. Hiragana and katakana each have  46 letters, but kanji is the rogue brother who came over from China and added thousands of symbols that make no sense whatsoever unless you were born here. 

This town's name is written in English, katakana & kanji combined, and in hiranga

Restaurant is spelled out in katakana

One thing that helps is that katakana is used mostly with foreign words and scientific terms, like dress or toast, or even the word for computer which is not borrowed from the English. After six months, I'm okay with hiragana and katakana, but very few kanji symbols stick with me. 

And, just for fun, sometimes western letters are tucked in as in the word for medium size

Furthermore, the words are not separated, butrunonlikearunonsentence. Plus, old-school Japanese is written vertically, although now much is written horizontally. And of course, books are backwards to the western way of thinking.

Old school vertical sign

Hard to see, but this commuter is reading vertically, and "back to front"

Still, despite the difficulty, I’m glad I’m trying. The few words I’ve spoken have elicited smiles and bows and responses. And the language itself is an insight into Japanese culture. Respect is a key word here in Japan, and it’s reflected in the language as well. Despite the yelling in Samurai films, people here speak fairly gently, and certainly respectfully. 

So, despite my flubs, I’m glad I try, because the smiles and help have eased my way. Not everyone here speaks English—something that scared us when we started. But smiles, “Japenlish” and Google Translate have helped us really enjoy this appealing culture. 

And, as I remind myself, “What do you call someone with a foreign accent? Brave.” I’m trying to be brave.

Matsumoto...and more

Ted. From Kyoto we journeyed northeast to explore a bit of an area known as the Japanese Alps. 

The city of Matsumoto lies on a plain, pretty much surrounded by mountains. With good rail service, we parked ourselves at a nice hotel near the station for six days so were able to explore the town and take easy day trips, one of which I briefly mentioned in my previous post. 

With a population of only about 250,000, Matsumoto is not a big town but it is known for a couple of things. 

It has one of Japan’s great castles. We were pleased to find that local volunteers provide free tours so we learned a lot about its history. 

I got busted by security but talked my way out!

With Hiro, our 84 year old guide

View from the top

The artist, Yayoi Kusama is from here and the local art museum has a large exhibit devoted to her works. We saw an installation of hers at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, Spain several years ago and were blown away. By the way - she’s 97 and still working! 

One day, Judy and I ventured to nearby Narai-juku, a famous town on Nakasendo which was one of the five roads connecting Kyoto with Edo (modern day Tokyo) centuries ago. I loved the local lacquerware and admired the trays every restaurant used so we visited a craftsman’s shop and picked up a couple. 

A bit of the old road

My Google Translate camera told me this was a soba shop

Our noodles, served on lacquerware trays

On another time, we took trains to Suwa and Nagano. The first was a small town on a legendary lake of the same name. 

Suwa Lakeside Park

Lakeside foot bath, ahhhh!

Nagano's claim to fame is that it hosted the 1998 Winter Olympic games. We were getting tired at that point so didn’t linger. 

My best memories of Matsumoto? There were virtually no tourists. Also, the hotel had an onsen (public bath) so I was able to learn about - and savor this important aspect of Japanese culture. Lastly, we got to meet Miyo, the Japanese-Korean owner of a Korean restaurant we stumbled into one night. Since her lifelong partner passed away a few years ago, she has operated this place by herself, greeting guests, cooking, waiting tables and cleaning everything up at the end of the night. All at the age of 63! She and Judy really connected and we had lots of chats using Google translate. After our last meal there, through hugs and tears she asked us to please come back one day. We’ll see…