Anyone who has spent time in Japan (and who is not Japanese, obviously) knows that it can sometimes be an entirely different world. I spent two years there while in the navy, and though I lived on base, I still had a really tough time adjusting.
I loved it there, but it took me maybe an entire year just to get comfortable going into town (Yokosuka) - and that was a town which is really used to the American presence, so there is a relatively large ammount of English-language signs (though something invariably gets lost... or added in the translation) to help you get around. But I did go to places that were not quite so westernized (spending a week in Shimoda was trippy...) and it was those short trips that usualy reminded me exactly how different the USA and Japan are.
Back onto the subject of this page: Dave Barry (comedian, author, etc...) wrote a book about his own experiences in Japan. Of course, he only spent a couple weeks there - but out of that trip emerged one of my favorite books:
He covers all kinds of things that I, myself went through over there. From wondering at the phenomenon of beer in vending machines, to trying to learn how to speak Japanese on the plane ride over, to climbing Mt. Fuji (in his case, almost climbing Mt. Fuji). Here's a sampling of what he has to offer.
First, on the subject of bowing, he mentions that he and his family didn't know what they were doing, but they felt obligated to try:
Dave Barry:This happened quite often. It started when we arrived at our hotel in Tokyo. As I was descending the steps of the airport bus, two uniformed bellmen came rushing up and bowed to me. Trying to look casual but feeling like an idiot, I bowed back. I probably did it wrong, because then they bowed back. So I bowed back. The three of us sort of bowed our way over to where the luggage was being unloaded, and I bowed to our suitcases, and the bellmen, bowing, picked them up and rushed into the hotel. We followed past a bowing doorman into the hotel, where we were gang-bowed by hotel employees. No matter which direction we turned, they were aiming bows at us, sometimes from as far as twenty-five yards away.
And on to the ins and outs of inns:
Dave Barry:Japan has a thing about shoes. You can wear them into stores and westernized hotels and restaurants, but you're not supposed to wear them into homes or traditional inns. You're supposed to take your shoes off at the door and put on slippers. And then if you go to the bathroom, you're supposed to take off those slippers and put on another pair of slippers, which are just for the bathroom. This custom may seem silly, but there's a sound reason for it: It keeps foreigners confused. At least that's what it did for us. I was always forgetting to change footwear, plus the slippers were always too small for me, so to keep my feet in them, I had to kind of mince around.........
...........The Japanese like to soak in wooden tubs filled with extremely relaxing water hot enough to melt Formica.; this is one of the first things you're supposed to do when you get to the ryokan. I almost did this the first evening. I minced down the hallway to the bath area, and I started to go in, and although there was a lot of steam in the air, I was able to determine the following:
1. There were people in there.
2. I did not know these people.
3. These people were naked.
4. These people represented all of the major genders.So I minced the hell out of there and back to our room, where I contemplated the beauty and natural wonder of people speaking Japanese on television.
There is also a chapter on Hiroshima, where he and his family visited on the aniversary of the attack. This chapter was thoughtfully written without humor, and in my opinion, alone is worth the price of the book. He explains how he had expected it to be a city wrapped up within the horrible events of its past, but that life had gone on.
If I may, these same sentiments were given by Splinter and Ninjara in the Archie Series when the former stated that he didn't expect Hiroshima to be so normal even after all that time - to which Ninjara said: "It is so normal that it is abnormal." (or something like that... I can't find my comic)
But I digress.
A few final words from Dave:
I'd like to be able to conclude with some deeper insights into the Japanese, but looking back through my notes, I don't find any. I find a lot of notes like: "CORN ON PIZZA!?!"
So, I heartily recomend you go out and get this book form the library or bookstore. It may not offer up along the lines of deep thoughts, but it certainly represents the way many westerners feel while visiting the lovely country for the first time.
'Nuff said :-)
