Because of my interest, I frequent a number of blogs whose authors are Westerners living in the Land of the Rising Sun. One of my favorites, Thrusher, has just returned to the U.S. Before leaving Japan, though, she wrote some great posts.
In one, she listed why she loves Japan. She said that the people there are the “kindest, most courteous, gentle, friendly, smiley, biggest-heart-est people in the entire world.” She also mentioned their focus on nature, their lack of crime, their thoughtfulness and simplicity.
I especially liked her list of things she'll miss. She writes:
- 800 year old people talking walks everyday
- Seeing people wearing coats in summer in the 90* weather because they have zero body fat
- Women riding bicycles in high heels e-mailing friends on their cell phones holding umbrellas and adjusting their skirts - all at the same time
- The sing-song "Ohaiyo gozaimasu!" that I hear multiple times every morning ("Good morning!")
- Being called -san or -chan (Thrusher-san, Thrusher-chan)
- Awesome foot reflexology places in every mall or shopping center
- Japanese pottery - intricate, moving, (I won't miss it too much because I'm bring a thousand pounds of it with me to the US)
- Crazy demonstrations in the aisles at the supermarket
- Pizza with corn (I love you, Potato Country)
- The customer service - you wouldn't believe it even if I told you about it, so just trust me on this one. You'd miss it, too.
- Japanese men who tszuj their hair all the time
- Kids reading manga in Family Mart
- About a million more things
Granted, no place is perfect, but reading her thoughts made me want to experience Japan for myself even more.
Something else I thought of when reading her words--that is the place Hyde is from. Where he grew up, where he lives. He is truly and totally Japanese. And I love that about him.
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EDITED: Just so I’m not misunderstood. I don’t believe Japan is some kind of utopia. It’s not that it’s better or worse than my native country (America), it’s just that it is so foreign. A friend who’s traveled the globe--Italy, France, Morocco--said that, after a while, she would feel a kinship with most countries, but that during her stay in Tokyo she never got her feet under her. It was that different. And it’s often those differences that appeal to me.
3 comments:
Thanks so much for your nice post. I'm not familiar with Hyde, but now I'm definitely going to check him out. It's so nice to hear about other people who love Japan. I miss it terribly, terribly, terribly.
Glad you found your way here!
I so enjoy reading your blog. I hope you continue writing from America.
Okay, this is something that's been popping up all over Japanese related forums so I'd just like to add that it's not that we don't see the problems in Japan but the good things about it are strong pulls for us. Every nation has it's pros and cons, it's not about ignoring the cons (because Lord knows when I move to Japan I will have a safety pin permanently attached to the back of my skirt, eh-hem). It's about what you identify most with in a culture. So it's not about ignoring the bad in a nation but about NOT ignoring the good and deciding whether or not the good's worth the bad, which, to moi, it is. Okay. I'm done.
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