Japanese culture is consumed by details. From the intricate Japanese tea ceremony to the meticulous art of bowing, it seems that the Japanese revel in minutiae. Bozai, martial arts, flower arranging, even sushi preparation are all done to painstaking perfection down to the last detail. Respect for your surroundings is a key element of Japanese c...
We left Seoul and flew to Tokyo with Tara. We stayed in a Ryokan in the Asakusa district which was replete with lots of restaurants. Tara, after living in Seoul for months, found the Tokyo subway easy to negotiate and guided her parents through the rough spots. We then took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and stayed in a family Ryokan ...
People don't push in Tokyo. One of the few things I dislike about Korea is that people can get pushy, like on buses or the subway. Tokyo-ites don't push. Perhaps it's a more Japanese thing, but people here are far more respectful of those around them. Subway travellers seem to instinctively know when another person is coming and so move out of t...
It's been a while I know.. just had a bit of a rough trot but I'm coming out of the tail end of it now. Apartment hunting was a huge waste of time.. U remember my best male Japanese friend?? Mr Tatsu hehe well he was kind enuff to offer me a room at his place in the mountains. So looks like I will be moving there very soon. All hail King Tatsu L...
OK FACT - Japan is clean and the subway and train system cleaner. Why? Well they have it figured out, NO TRASH CANS, if you have trash - you carry it home. And what is amazing, they do.So on trains and subway you can see their empty bottles going home with them. It must be a pretty good habit, because even when we left the fight from arena - som...
Well hello there! So yesteraday we went to the biggest shopping district in the biggest city in the world ona weekend!!! Very wise!! Yes we went to Shibuya on saturday and boy was it crazy! But we also forgot our camera, so you'll have to take our word for it!! As we got off the subway and out onto the street, we literally could not move, due to...
Today, we went to a BBQ at the International Christian College in Tokyo. The party was hosted by Noriko's friend and co-worker, Rob. Rob is from New Zealand and the party had an interesting mix of people from Japan and also from all around the world. Some of the people spoke English, many did not. It was a fun BBQ, nonetheless, and I had some gr...
We finally arrived in Tokyo at about 5 PM. We blew through immigration and customs surprisingly fast. I brought some American cigarrettes and the customs people insisted I unwrap them. Apparenlty American smuggle joints in cigarette boxes. I surely wouldn't have hidden them there if I was planning to smuggle some weed int...
