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Hello there, wherever you are (hopefully far from the chaos of looters or stock markets!) It has been a dramatic week in geopolitical affairs since we last blogged from the US, with the English riots, the US S&P downgrade and the huge falls in global markets. We, however, have had an exceptionally peaceful week here in Japan. We've both been amazed by our host society, which in many ways is a model one. In an age when it has been fashionable to criticize societies which embrace 'traditional values' as backward, and at the risk of you visualizing us with pipes and in slippers, it does seem that the western world, particularly now, could learn something from the current vibe of calmness here.
It all starts with the Japanese people, who on home soil are typically total stars. Their kindness, grace and stylishness is beguiling. If you ask on the street for directions you likely get led to the location, without any expectation of anything in return. At first it was a bit hard to get used to all the bowing, the formal courtesy of every gesture, but after a while it seems it would be rude not to. The politeness here is out of control, but we can honestly say it leaves you with such a good feeling that it definitely seems worth it.
All this is reflected in the cities as well. Everything is so clean and orderly. The food options are so diverse and very good. The shopping is elegant and beautifully presented. The subway is peerlessly efficient and comprehensive, clean and cool. There is a bullet train between Osaka and Tokyo every seven minutes! The parks are beautiful and meticulously maintained. Garage doors are left open. Bags are left on seats in cafes, trains etc while people make loo stops. There is a trust other countries' can only dream of.
We started in Tokyo, which was a real eye-opener. The greater metropolitan area is apparently the world's largest, and when you're there it's easy to believe. There's a vastness about the scope of the place, a seeming endlessness to it all which couldn't be redefined by a view from atop the Park Hyatt unfortunately due to the summer smog. But each area of this great city has its own character, its own points of interest, and lots to do. We hardly scratched the surface from our Shinjuku base, but had a great time trying.
We then got the bullet train two hours south to Kyoto, which contains more tourist landmarks (17 UNESCO listed sites) than any other place we've been. It's also dramatically beautiful, a city of 1.7m people surrounded by hills. Sort of like Canberra. But, well, better. Ok, much better. The interaction between nature and man-made structures is at it's most sympathetic here. We binged on tourist sites, visiting handfuls of hundred year old temples of cypress surrounded by gardens woven into the hillsides of pines and cypress and maple trees through which flowed cultured streams into lakes and ponds. There were zen moments. There was also sunburn, tired muscles, and a sense of wonder at all the effort that had gone into creating, and still goes into maintaining, it all. Kyoto is a wonderful place.
Of course, we haven't forgotten things past and present that grate about Japan offshore, and it's not all beer and skittles here either. Mt Fuji is surrounded by factories and the top half was cloaked in summer smog. Being told when to stop and go by clowns in uniforms can get on your nerves. The omnipresent neon advertising billboards in Tokyo grate a little, and cramming yourself into small spaces all the time (the country is ridiculously overcrowded) can chafe. Indoor fluorescent lighting is ever-present and the Pontocho area of Kyoto is oafishly racist (in the "oh! the shoes on the other foot now…" way). But it's hard not to like a culture where all the taxi drivers wear white gloves and the doors open and close automatically. Where all the toilets give your butt a shower. Where everyone in the tourist areas welcomes you with a smiling "irassaimassei"! Every corner of Japan brings a new surprise (and typically another drinks vending machine).
Anyway, as usual, check out the photos, which best tell the story of our journey, if you have time. They don't really do this country justice; we suspect nothing other than a visit can. But unless and until you can do so, hope our humble blog informs/entertains.
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