Your daily pictures from Japan post...

[dangermousie]

Goddamn tags. They are being wonky.

Oh well.

Yet more pictures from Japan. If you like hills or small towns or sulfur, this is for you :)

Comments

[ladysaotome]

Wow! Al the green & villages are so pretty! Was traveling with the language barrier very difficult?

[dangermousie]

It wasn't as bad as I thought. We had our phrase-book and really good maps (and mr. Mousie has awesome direction skills), and what with that, and pointing and smiling and being the politest we could, and the Japanese being so patient and nice with us, we got around OK.

I still remember changing money in a bank though. He was trying to have a polite conversation with us, and we tried to do it back, but since his English was equivalent to our Japanese, it was...interesting.

[ladysaotome]

That's why I really want to get as fluent as self-taught possible before I go. So I can really enjoy my interactions with the Japanese. (Plus I'm terrified of getting lost)

[dangermousie]

People there are so incredibly helpful, though!

We were on the subway, in Tokyo, and while not the height of rush-hour it was close to it so it was super-crowded. So the escalator was packed and Mr. Mousie was temporarily a few steps behind me on it. And I think we were the only non-Japanese as far as my eye could see. And then (I'll never forget this), this older gentleman in a spiffy suit (of course) turned to me, and asked me in English, with impeccable manners, where I was from, and when I told him (and which city) he told me he's been there some years ago and enjoyed the museums. Then we got to the bottom of the escalator and he bowed and told me to enjoy my trip and walked off. Can you imagine something like that in NY?

[ladysaotome]

That's really cool. I'd squee for days over that. Sadly, they must be highly disappointed coming over here. (I saw a cashier getting annoyed once at someone having a hard time figuring out our money & their attitude made me so mad!)

The Japanese really seem to focus on always trying to have a good attitude. My Japanese penpal was in NY recently & she got lost & ended up in tears & a florist helped her out. The friend she was visiting vitually abandoned her the entire visit. I would think she'd look back on the trip as a horrible waste but she says she's glad she went & had a good time regardless.

[dangermousie]

Apparently a small number of Japanese who go over to France have to be emergency sent back because they have a breakdown over rudeness (very very small number, like a couple every year, but still...)

My parents have been to Japan too, and they had exactly the same experience of everyone being so lovely. They were trying to get to a particular bus, and they stopped someone to ask how to get there, and even though the guy was on his way to work, and probably was going to be late because of it, he didn't just give a quick one sentence explanation but spent 15 minutes explaining best ways to get where they are going and walked them to the stop.

[ladysaotome]

Apparently a small number of Japanese who go over to France have to be emergency sent back because they have a breakdown over rudeness (very very small number, like a couple every year, but still...)

I read an article on that once. It's a unique psychiatric problem that I think only happens to the Japanese. But they seem to really idolize the French so I can see why it would be such a shock.

Have you heard about their growing population of hikikomori in Japan? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6535284&sc=emaf

[dangermousie]

The hikikomori thing is so troubling and sad. I don't even know what to think about it...

[ladysaotome]

It is sad. And fascinating. Since interaction outside of Japanese culture helps, I wonder if friendships outside of Japan would help.

[dangermousie]

Probably would. Less drastic than moving elsewhere, certainly.