Our time exploring Japan is drawing to an end. We are heading for home in Melbourne after nearly three weeks of big cities, extended walking from temple to temple in Shikoku, sleeping on futons, being delighted at the way food is prepared and presented, and laughing at things that amused us (and ourselves) along the way.
Today has seen us check out of our hotel in Kanazawa and walk the few kilometres to that city’s central station for a Shinkansen (bullet train) that would take us to Tokyo Central, arriving at around 3:00pm. As we have come to expect, the bullet train departed on time at 11:56am and through clearing skies we could see the snow-capped mountains to the east that we would travel through on our way to Tokyo.
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The journey took us through Nagoya, before turning north east towards our destination. We hit peak velocity of around 250 kph soon after departure, then passed through an extensive system of tunnels under a range of mountains.
A three hour journey gives us an opportunity to reflect on the time we have spent in Japan and the observations we have made along the way:
- The big cities are just that – big (Tokyo and Osaka being the biggest we visited). Surprisingly the cities are quiet, ordered and clean. We noted it was unusual to hear the beeping of car horns, unlike many other big cities in Asia.
- Flowing water is featured where possible – and sometimes where it should not be possible. Almost without exception the water appeared to be crystal clear and potentially potable. The network of drains, moats and channels were devoid of plastic bags and general rubbish.
- Parks occupy prime real estate and are celebrated as a place to catch up with family and friends, with claims being staked out for favoured positions using picnic rugs and ground sheets. Elaborate temporary furniture is constructed from cardboard boxes that are disposed of in the bins provided at the end of the day. “Shoes off” is observed before stepping onto the picnic rug or ground sheet.
- Rice is served with every meal, and grown everywhere. We found it interesting that small rice fields would be managed right into suburbia. There was no such thing as broad acre farming observed in our travels, and we could only speculate on why this would be the case. Maybe there is a conservative farmers’ vote to be retained and nurtured, but the small scale of farming suggests there are massive productivity gains to be made in the farming sector.
- We have not seen a single farm animal is our travels, beyond a few ducks and the sound of chickens opposite one of the places we stayed in. Where are the cattle that provide the prized cuts of beef to the restaurants, or the pigs that feature in the bacon we have consumed along the way?
- Young people have deserted rural Japan. It was very rare to spot any locals under 70 during our time in the countryside. More often than not it would be elderly women, stooped over to work the rice fields and vegetable gardens.
- Smoking is restricted in many places and smoking rooms were noticed in shopping malls. Some local cafés and restaurants allowed smoking at the tables but this was relatively rare. “Walking smoking” was openly discouraged in many places.
- Finding a rubbish bin can present a challenge. We found that we would be stuck with rubbish until we arrived at overnight accommodation where the bin in our room was put to good use. The only places to reliably find bins were beside vending machines – and yet rubbish on the streets is not an issue.
- Cash is king and accepted everywhere. Many places make it quite clear that they only accept cash. Signs in Japanese and English will leave customers in no doubt about what will be accepted. It has never been clear to us why this is the case. Our first, but not necessarily correct, assumption is that it is a way of avoiding payment of taxes.
- Traditional dress is worn by women and men in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka but almost not at all outside these major cities. It’s possibly too precious to soil in the rural towns and villages we visited and reserved for special occasions.
We have also made a series of observations that call out the differences between Japan and Australia (or those habits and social mores that don’t sit well in one or the other country).
- Few windows have insect screens in Japan. We found this surprising with so much water laying in the fields. It often left us wondering where all the bugs were.
- Rice paper-clad walls offer very little in terms of insulation. In situations where temperatures often fall below freezing and snow is common through winter, Japan really needs to look at the potential for better insulation – or get thicker doonas!
- There is more technology on a Japanese toilet than you would find in most Australian homes: motion sensors to open the toilet cover when the toilet is approached (possibly an innovation taken to extremes); warmed toilet seats; buttons to lift and lower the toilet seat; buttons to wash your nether regions from the rear or from the front; further buttons to blow warm air gently across forementioned nether regions; sensors to detect when its time to flush the toilet; further sensors to switch on and off under-seat lighting for those middle-of-the-night calls of nature.
- Many doors in Japan open outwards, because the room being entered is too small for the door to open inwards; some doors have a sign saying “push” but don’t make it clear whether it is a hinged or sliding door.
- Footwear for outside the house, separate footwear for inside the house (but not on the tatami mats) and further footwear for the smallest room in the house (even if it is so small there is hardly room for the toilet sandals in the available space) makes for a lot of ‘shoes on/shoes off’ moments. While on the topic, one size does not fit all – Chris’ Aussie feet are obviously unusually large.
- Pillows filled with beans or buckwheat husks are not pillows, they are bags of produce destined for the markets.
- Beer served in shot glasses is different. It makes a bottle of beer seem to go a long way.
- Having a shower before you have a bath seems excessive but makes sense when you realise the bath water is shared between patrons.
- Sitting on the floor is a novelty that quickly wears off, especially when our western limbs have lost flexibility and are not used to a lifetime of floor sitting.
- If it grows or moves you can eat it. Sometimes it is better not to know what something is and be surprised by what you eat and the flavours you experience.
Our return to Tokyo was right on schedule. The labrynth that is located under Tokyo Central Station seemed less confusing on our return. We had decided to take the opportunity to go for a walk before strapping ourselves in for a 10-hour flight back to Sydney and another 1.25 hour flight to Melbourne.
We headed for daylight, escaping the rush of people as we entered the plaza in front of the hotel we stayed in on our arrival to Tokyo almost 3 weeks ago.
We completed a lap of a boutique shopping mall opposite the station, buying a few last minute items (eg. a glasses case to replace one that broke during our time on Shikoku). We returned to the station to catch a suburban line train to another station where we could change to the monorail that would deliver us to Haneda International airport.
The journey to the airport skirts Tokyo Harbour and the docklands for part of the way. It appeared to be quite an industrial part of town, with power plants and factories filling the view from the monorail.
Unlike Melbourne, the train drops you (under cover) right in front of the departure entrance. We consulted the information desk to see where we needed to go to retrieve the luggage we had forwarded from Kanazawa two days ago.
With luggage retrieved we are now sitting back waiting for the Qantas check in counter to open. In the meantime we will watch the sun set and do some people-watching to fill in the time.
We will be back in Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. Catching up with family and friends will commence shortly thereafter. We will share our views of the experience, make up facts where we can no longer remember them and exaggerate the challenges we faced and conquered along the way.
In July Wendy heads to Chicago for a short catch up with family and a few American friends. She will be on her own and the blog will be her responsibility while she is away.
Our next big adventure will commence at the end of July when we head north from Melbourne – all the way north for just over 4,000 kilometres. We are revisiting Cape York after first heading up that way in 2011. Planning for the adventure is well progressed, with bookings made at important and popular destinations and packing considerations taking shape.