Japan Dispatch #6
(I'm back at this point, but hadn't gotten to posting this as of the 29th when I wrote it)
As I’ve mentioned before, I think I’m very much a Kansai person at heart. Yesterday and the first part of today in Yokohama very much reinforced that for me.
There’s a bit of a stereotype that Kansai people are much friendlier and more laid back than their Kanto counterparts, and all the evidence (with a few exceptions - see below) seems to reinforce that. The general atmosphere in Yokohama is a lot less friendly towards foreigners, and I just picked up a lot more suspicion and even dislike towards us that I did not feel in Kyoto. This is a bit ironic given that Yokohama was founded as a port for foreigners to enter (as one guide in a museum compared it to a newer, larger version of Dejima, the island where foreigners were kept during the Edo Period) but it may in fact be because of that history that the attitude exists.
I think the low point of this trip (as of our last night here) is going to be last night when we were looking for something to eat. The night before we’d gone to a Chinese place right down the street, and we’d spotted a noodle restaurant on our way back from visiting the cemetery. We figured we’d just go in, order, and all would be dandy like it had been back in another noodle restaurant in Kyoto were we’d gone our first night there.
Not quite. As soon as we walked in something seemed odd, and I noticed a few people looking up at us oddly. There was some miscommunication where the girl working there apparently thought we were someone else, were ordering out, or something, but whatever the case we decided to make a quiet exit and find someplace else. The rest of the street wasn’t much better and generally seemed more hostile (to the point that I wonder if the lack of English on many of the menus was intentionally used to discourage us from coming in) but we ended up at another Chinese place with a nice lady who tried to help us out despite the language barrier and the fact that due to tiredness I was having trouble thinking in English at that point, much less trying to speak in Japanese.
I was also not impressed by the Yokohama station when we went to leave. While in Kyoto there are quite a few escalators, signs, elevators and generally means to get around easily with large bags, in Yokohama these are few and far between. I at one point commented “This is a very unfriendly station!” and I think we were both happy to get out of there. However, on the train to the Shin Yokohama station (where we were to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto, from where we’d transfer to go to Nara) there was a young man who spoke to us in English and helped us find our way. He redeemed his city somewhat, and was extremely helpful, apparently in part because when he’d gone to the United States they had been very kind to him, so he was returning the favor (Aww!).
In all I’m happy to be back in the Kansai region, and I felt the difference almost immediately. I’d heard some of these regional stereotypes before, but now I can say there is some truth to the friendly Kansai-ites and hostile Kanto-ites label.
As I’ve mentioned before, I think I’m very much a Kansai person at heart. Yesterday and the first part of today in Yokohama very much reinforced that for me.
There’s a bit of a stereotype that Kansai people are much friendlier and more laid back than their Kanto counterparts, and all the evidence (with a few exceptions - see below) seems to reinforce that. The general atmosphere in Yokohama is a lot less friendly towards foreigners, and I just picked up a lot more suspicion and even dislike towards us that I did not feel in Kyoto. This is a bit ironic given that Yokohama was founded as a port for foreigners to enter (as one guide in a museum compared it to a newer, larger version of Dejima, the island where foreigners were kept during the Edo Period) but it may in fact be because of that history that the attitude exists.
I think the low point of this trip (as of our last night here) is going to be last night when we were looking for something to eat. The night before we’d gone to a Chinese place right down the street, and we’d spotted a noodle restaurant on our way back from visiting the cemetery. We figured we’d just go in, order, and all would be dandy like it had been back in another noodle restaurant in Kyoto were we’d gone our first night there.
Not quite. As soon as we walked in something seemed odd, and I noticed a few people looking up at us oddly. There was some miscommunication where the girl working there apparently thought we were someone else, were ordering out, or something, but whatever the case we decided to make a quiet exit and find someplace else. The rest of the street wasn’t much better and generally seemed more hostile (to the point that I wonder if the lack of English on many of the menus was intentionally used to discourage us from coming in) but we ended up at another Chinese place with a nice lady who tried to help us out despite the language barrier and the fact that due to tiredness I was having trouble thinking in English at that point, much less trying to speak in Japanese.
I was also not impressed by the Yokohama station when we went to leave. While in Kyoto there are quite a few escalators, signs, elevators and generally means to get around easily with large bags, in Yokohama these are few and far between. I at one point commented “This is a very unfriendly station!” and I think we were both happy to get out of there. However, on the train to the Shin Yokohama station (where we were to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto, from where we’d transfer to go to Nara) there was a young man who spoke to us in English and helped us find our way. He redeemed his city somewhat, and was extremely helpful, apparently in part because when he’d gone to the United States they had been very kind to him, so he was returning the favor (Aww!).
In all I’m happy to be back in the Kansai region, and I felt the difference almost immediately. I’d heard some of these regional stereotypes before, but now I can say there is some truth to the friendly Kansai-ites and hostile Kanto-ites label.