This is the Japan trip post-mortem.
But first… shout out for my love’s 48th birthday. He’s my favorite person.
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Near the beginning of our visit to Japan I was messaging with a friend and I said, “I knew they were better than us, but now I know it know it.” There’s no question in the debate of which country is better – US vs. Japan – they win. By a landslide. They won even before The Moral Failure of November 5, 2024.
But after our 16-day visit I will definitely say that Japan is hyper idealized. Here are some things that were amazing, and some things that weren’t THE MOST PERFECT THING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. And some things that honestly gave me the ick.
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Our Free Walking Tour guide in Kyoto (who was from Switzerland) said that people frequently say that Japan is “futuristic”, but it isn’t really. And he’s right. I didn’t see any technology or solutions that seemed particularly space-aged. Bullet trains? Robots serving you coffee? The former is not new technology. The reason we don’t have it in the US is because… well, all of the other reasons we can’t have nice things. The latter I don’t personally want to see until we have universal basic income. Also, I’m not sure the future has as many things wrapped in single-use plastic as Japan does.
But what Japan really seems to excel at is implementing obviously positive solutions for community benefit. The biggest and most obvious example of this during our trip was using their transportation system. It is AMAZING, but it’s not futuristic. It’s prolific, it’s reasonably priced, and it’s efficient. For the purposes of our itinerary, it was never a question if we would need a car. We even doubted we would use cabs (but we did a couple of times). The public/shared transportation options we used were shinkansen/bullet trains, the subway system in Tokyo, above-ground local/commuter trains, and city buses. For airport transfers we utilized a coach bus option and a train specifically designed for that purpose.
Google Maps was on point every time for transit directions, even giving us which platform number to be on to catch a train and which exit number to follow when leaving a station. Signage at stations and onboard was almost always in both Japanese and English. Tickets and navigating stations were generally easy to figure out, and there were always humans available for help when needed (who all seemed to speak the amount of English needed to help us).
In some cases there were barriers between platforms and tracks to keep people safe. Did you know that in 2022, 234 people were hit by NYC subway trains?
In addition to the infrastructure making sense, cultural norms should be equally credited for the success of transportation in Japan.
People stand in lines and patiently wait their turns. People exit and then people get on. Weird, right?
People don’t typically vandalize or litter at waiting areas or onboard. People are quiet and don’t make others uncomfortable (WELL EXCEPT FOR THE PERVERTS, but more on that later). The seats in many (all?) methods of transportation we took were cloth. CLOTH! Can you imagine how nasty those seats would be in your closest US city? Nope – they’re pristine in Japan.
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So we will put Japanese transportation in the PLUS column. Brace yourself… I’m about to balance the sheet.
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We saw a couple of local men wearing 45/47 aka The Moral Failure paraphernalia. I couldn’t buy a replacement iPhone there because they have the camera shutter sound hardwired as mandatory because of all of the up-skirt photos that perverts take there. Although the arts performed by geisha are gorgeous, it doesn’t take much imagination or follow-up research to hear about how men at the upper echelons of society abuse maiko. And then there was this sign that was directly outside of a public bathroom I used… the top line says, “I’m watching! Voyeurism is a crime.” (The second line is the name of the local police station.)
Regina King has this amazing line in Watchmen: “I’ve got a nose for white supremacy and he smells like bleach.” I’m sorry Japan, but there was definitely an odor of penis. The misogyny is real. Is it worse than than the US? Absolutely not. Is that a low bar? Absolutely yes. So when I say that Japan is better than us I mean it, but when I also say that they are hyper idealized, this is one of my points.
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OK… now some positives. (See how I’m doing that shit sandwich thing?)
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The kids. Oh my gawd. I work in a public school system and I think this job has made me more observant of kids overall and seeing how kids in Japan function and behave was super interesting. A few months ago a friend had told us about this Japan-based TV program called Old Enough! that Americans can watch on Netflix. Parents send their very young children, typically ages 3-6, on an errand in the neighborhood, then a film crew follows. It’s adorable and funny, but also as a US person it’s really sad thinking about the very good reasons we would never do that here. But from the perspective of an occupational therapist, I feel sad watching it because of all of the bad reasons our kids don’t/can’t/won’t benefit from this level of independence and responsibility until a much later age.
I had heard that 5-year olds in Japan are expected to get to school on their own, and I visualized that as walking a short distance in a small town to their neighborhood school, perhaps with a friend. What I didn’t expect was to see two (perhaps) 5-year old little girls get on the train a bit outside of Kyoto, one of them exit the train and go up the escalator of a platform several miles later, and then the other one continue the ride on their own for several stops and repeat the independent exit themselves. I tried not to stare but holy crap it was crazy to see. They are better than us. I started to rant out a list of people and systems that are failing our children (and future adults), but I stopped.
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Vending machines and konbini. You hear about these all the time when you’re planning a trip, but the sheer volume and awesomeness of both is fucking fantastic. Vending machines are everywhere and have so many options – some the same as we see at home, some adjacent to things we see at home, and some completely new treasures. Because it was HOT AS BALLS while we were there (more on that in a minute), it seemed like we were constantly in need of a cold beverage and dropping coins into those slots (before we understood the power of the Suica). And even though it is true that Japan does not really do public trash cans, there are recycle bins next to pretty much every vending machine so that rubbish is easy to dispose of on the go. The only awkward thing about vending machines is that it’s against cultural norms to walk and drink, but honestly there were times that I was just so damn hot I went ahead and broke that norm. #uglyamerican
The konbini killed me. We were totally those people that stopped into 7-11/Family Mart/Lawson every night on the way back to the hotel to grab those cheap single-use plastic-wrapped goodies. And I am that basic bitch that couldn’t get enough of those crack egg salad sammiches. I had a lot of conversations in my head about finding an experienced business partner to open a store on the ground level of an apartment complex in my neighborhood and call it “Konbini”. Seriously, who’s in?
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People always talk about the food in Japan, and they’re right, it’s fantastic. Eating in the markets and various restaurants was lovely and tasty. Not to mention it was all so reasonably priced! But I think we are spoiled in Seattle with so many authentic Japanese options. Many of the things we ate on this trip – sushi, tempura, wagyu, gyoza, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakitori, unagi, curry, karaage, udon, ramen, etc. – are available and equally authentic in our hometown THANKS TO IMMIGRANTS YOU BIGOTED REPUBLICANS. We were happy to eat all of the goodies in Japan, but it wouldn’t be the number one reason for us to go back.
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While we were there I became enamoured with the whole stationery store scene. Who knew rows of pens, notebooks, and sticky notes could be so enchanting? For some reason I demonstrated a mild amount of restraint and only brought home a couple of stationery finds – like these Fuji sticky flags and a bunch of these pens. But since coming home I’ve discovered we have a few Japanese stationery stores right here in Seattle so I can buy these exact same things at any time. The main appeal of the stores in Japan though? Severely less expensive for the exact same products.
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OK now a bad thing that isn’t Japan’s fault at all. Japan in July was so, so gross. High 90’s fahrenheit, really high humidity… so much sweat. It was truly disgusting. We sometimes did that NYC thing where you slow your stride walking past big stores with air conditioning spilling out their front door. I will never return to Japan in the summer ever again. I made fun of Scott when he bought the dorky handheld fan, but then proceeded to hog it for most of the trip. And that’s a sweating torii gate from our Fushimi Inari day.
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Some tips for someone planning their first trip:
…Here’s a cute little Hello Kitty sign that gives some etiquette tips. Expect to see a lot of cutesy stuff during your time there. But also expect to see a lot of unhinged stuff, too. It’s an interesting place.
…Based on our itinerary (Tokyo, Kyoto, short day trips), ignore travel content creators that talk about how it’s difficult for English speakers there. There was so much signage in English and most locals we interacted with had pretty good English. Besides, Google Translate has really made language barriers a non-issue. You should still learn how to say “thank you” in Japanese, though. At the very least.
…On the topic of language, my food tour guide gave the tip to learn how to say “yummy” in Japanese – it’s “oishi” (oh-ee-shee) – and say it to people that serve you food on your trip. Every time I said it I always got a big smile in response. It’s a simple and awesome way to connect with locals on your trip.
…Travel content creators during our research phase harped about needing cash everywhere you go. That was definitely not the case, especially if you get yourself a Suica for vending machines. There were a few places we went that were cash only, but really not that many. Maybe this is more of an issue in smaller and/or less touristy places.
…The other “tip” I heard about all the time was how there are no towels in the public bathrooms so bring your own. Most of the ones I went into had hand dryers so I’m not sure where this anxiety is coming from. Maybe this is a smaller town issue?
…If you’re traveling between Narita Airport and Tokyo Station, just use the coach bus service you’ll see as soon as you exit customs and skip the Narita Express train. The bus is cheaper, takes the same amount of time, and you might be the only gringos on it like we were.
…If you wear eyeglasses, make a point to get some while you’re there. Just stop into JINS or Zoff or whatever. So cheap and the service speed might blow your mind. American healthcare seriously sucks.
…Tune Stay in Kyoto is highly recommended by us! Our Tokyo hotel was OK, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it. You can do better.
…Pack an extra duffel bag or do that suitcase-in-a-suitcase thing. Maybe bring your holiday gift budget with you. The shopping is so good. We are not shoppers, we are even borderline minimalists, and even we couldn’t restrain ourselves. It’s kind of hard to explain. Here’s a small sample of my damage:
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Since coming home we both regularly miss Japan. Compared to other places I’ve visited it has this unique dichotomy of being a place that is so foreign in so many ways, but also a place that is so comforting and easy to navigate. It’s a place to go where you feel a million miles away from the familiar, surrounded by gorgeousness and grace and kindness and patience and simple pleasures. I suspect our next visit won’t be until after retirement in a couple of years, but we will also likely max out our 90-day tourist limit as US citizens on that trip.
“It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten. It is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience.” ~Alain Ducasse
“For those with restless, curious minds, fascinated by layer upon layer of things, flavors, tastes and customs, which we will never fully be able to understand, Tokyo is deliciously unknowable. I’m sure I could spend the rest of my life there, learn the language, and still die happily ignorant.” ~Anthony Bourdain
Kjar-ied Away 