Visitors to Japan are told silently but unquestionably that they are different.
It’s New Year’s Day at a shrine situated in a residential area in central Tokyo. There is a long line of people waiting to enter the shrine to pray, dispose of last year’s good luck charms, and purchase new ones for the coming year. Tables selling a wide variety of charms to aid in making every wish for the coming year come true are set up opposite the two temple areas where folks will take turns clapping their hands, bowing, and saying a silent prayer. The mood of the scene is relatively sedate and people are respectful of those around them despite the crowd. Even the people imbibing hot sake at a tent near the charm sellers are on their best behavior so as not to interfere with the spiritual observances of those visiting the shrine.…
Article comments
26 - A Duck
I like le crôque-monsieur. It is ham and melted cheese, oui? Et gruyere at that! Mon dieu! Je les aime.
In France, in the countryside I bought a baguette with ham and cheese and butter. That was good.
27 - Cindy
whooops. forgot to take off my feathers.
28 - STM
Lol. Nice one Cindy.
Widely travelled too ... so when are you going to get down this way for a visit?
God knows what you'll make of us if you do ...
At least we speak the same language - kind of.
The good thing is, if you can't understand anyone, at least you can read what's going on and understand the shop and public transport signs.
29 - STM
Doc writes: "In the city center ... "
I meant to take you to task for that a bit earlier.
Come on Doc; what, you're giving up the Queen's English after a couple of years in sunny Fresno?
Geez mate. Letting the side down.
30 - Dr Dreadful
This coming from an Aussie - the land where they can't even spell the name of one of their major political parties properly.
31 - STM
Lol. OK, then ... how come phonetic is spelled with a "ph" instead of an "f".
Labor ... a bloody-minded decision to differentiate it from your mob, I suspect!
Either that, or there were a couple of union leaders involved who thought we were becoming little America anyway, so what the hell.
Or they just couldn't spell.
32 - Dr Dreadful
And how come 'monosyllabic' has five syllables?
33 - Christopher Rose
Yeah, STM, a croque is ham and cheese and bloody delicious it is too. I first had one in a somewhat sleazy but very exciting cafe/bar in Antwerp, where I had the great pleasure of living for a couple of years, and I mean great pleasure. Fabulous city, fabulous toastie!
34 - STM
I must admit, I do miss Europe. I'm getting withdrawals again.
A couple of weeks is all I can handle at a time, though.
I love a sunburnt country.
35 - Cindy
RE #22
Dr.D,
We were headed for the Loire Valley. lol.
(must think me an idiot, driving around in Paris...haha)
36 - STM
Most Parisians appear to have cars, though, Cindy - or another form of wheeled transport (madness, riding a motorbike there).
They just can't drive the bloody things. It's a mobile obstacle course on wheels.
37 - Dr Dreadful
Bill Bryson in one of his books compares the notoriously bad drivers of two European capitals - Paris and Rome - and comes to the conclusion that the Parisians are worse. He reckons that while the Romans are merely crazy, the Parisians actually want you dead.
38 - Cindy
I was going to mention Rome. As I recall, everyone drives like mad down these narrow alleys. There didn't seem to be any advance rules. They only decided which way anyone is going to go once they actually get to the intersection.
I kept counting the number of ambulances I heard in my two weeks there.
39 - Dr Dreadful
Rome even has tiny buses that are specially designed to get up and down those narrow medieval alleys.
40 - STM
The Portuguese are the worst drivers I've ever encountered. They are, truly, insane. It's just a scary place on the road there.
Add in tropical weather, the Catholic Church, booze, oppressive government, poverty and a complete breakdown in morals and it's easy to see how Brazil inherited the legacy and became such a mad place.
41 - Dr Dreadful
I actually didn't think the drivers in Rio were that bad, considering their reputation. I think there's been a strenuous effort by the police in recent years to curb some of the mayhem; so that people do, now, actually pay attention to what colour the traffic lights are.
Buenos Aires was the real eye-opener. The drivers there aren't totally tonto, but they do seem to regard the lanes on the road as simply decoration.
42 - Kelly
I really enjoyed this article and it mirrors alot of my own experiences.
My husband comes from rural Japan, so whenever I took a step outside the door I was pointed at and whispered about. In the train station buying a ticket the whole crowd stops talking to watch you. After 3 weeks living there I could no longer go outside without feeling like a major celebrity, not a good feeling. When I got home I suffered from post traumatic stress disorder because of it.
In Tokyo however no one paid any attention to me! It was sooo great! I saw alot of foreigners on the subway and apart from the businessmen who targeted, and walked right through me, I didn't have a problem with Japanese people.
My husband I have just realised is an apologist. When I complained that Japanese people moved if I sat next to them, he explained that they were frightened I would speak English to them. When I complained that his in-laws asked him questions about me instead of talking to me directly, he explained that they are nervous speaking to a foreigner even in Japanese.
He even perpetuated the behaviour I think to some degree as he didn't try to educate his own family, his own people, by leading by example.