We finally arrived in Tokyo Wednesday, September 29. Michael has posted accounts at http://cbu-nrt.blogspot.com that give a good account of our day in Tokyo and later visits to Osaka and Nagasaki. Because the Silver Shadow arrived late, our Tokyo tour was limited to five hours including lunch. Lunch on a tour is always at least an hour and a half affair. A visit to a Shinto shrine, a Buddhist temple, lunch at a pretentious western style hotel, another Buddhist temple and a brief stop in the Ginza shopping district probably did not give us a very complete nor accurate picture of Japan's capital city. It was fun nonetheless. Our Japanese guide was probably the most interesting part of the tour. Her comments on life in Japan, Japanese customs, history and even her personal life showed a completely different perspective from westerners that was most interesting.
Michael and I were able to walk around the pier neighborhood the evening we arrived in Osaka. The amusement park at the pier had what was claimed the largest Ferris Wheel in the world. Tokyo had two smaller ones. We took a tour of Nara and Kyoto the following day. We visited a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine in Nara. Following an hour drive to Kyoto, we had lunch in another pretentious western style hotel. The hotel had more of a Japanese flavor as the restrooms were Japanese and the meal was prepared and served in Japanese style although using western ingredients,. We finished our tour with a visit to another shrine and temple.
By the time we visited Nagasaki, Michael and I had both seen enough temples and shrines to last for awhile. We took our own tour of Nagasaki using public transport and walking. No temples were included. We visited the A-Bomb hypocenter memorial and the nearby Peace Park. We then walked several miles around the city. We had a good time at the Dutch Slope tourist area. I even bought a souvenir purse that may have been made in Japan. Most everything in the shops had "Made in China" labels if one looked closely. Even the tee shirts with Japanese sayings.
Tokyo and Osaka are modern. One could think one was in New York or even Singapore except that the Japanese drive on the wrong side of the road. Nara, Japan's first capital, and Kyoto, the capital until the late nineteenth century, were spared destruction during World War II. They have a "Japanese" look, as there is a mixture of traditional and modern architecture. They also have a lot of temples and shrines that are world historical sites. Nagasaki after WWII. was, of course, entirely rebuilt Nagasaki has a mixture of styles and neighborhoods. Some of the historical areas were rebuilt to look like Disney characteratures of the way they once did. Other neighborhoods are entirely modern.
Observations:
Japanese technology is not as wonderful as they would like us to think. The computer heavy immigration processing broke down and caused excessive delays. The tour guide in Tokyo had problems with her sound system. Even so, technology is everywhere. The toilet in the Tokyo hotel was equipped with electronic controls allowing for two kinds of washing and three kinds of blow-drying! Even the squat toilets in the Buddhist temple in Nara had electronic sensors for automatic flush. The electronic billboards in the Ginza district were huge and glitzy. All of Tokyo was awash in multi colored neon after dark.
Japanese society is very polite and formal in ordinary interactions. This contrasts with their very violent Manga comics and video games. Everyone is encouraged to fit in and act just likes everyone else. Harmony is sought in everything. Yet one wonders just how far they have come from their militaristic past when all the police salute one another crisply and seem to enjoy directing people. They tend to motion extravagantly to go or stop. There must be a lot of suppressed frustration.
Compared to Korea and China, Japan is clean and orderly. The people are polite. I do wonder, though, what the current generation of young adults will be like in twenty years. They have grown up during a decades long recession. A number of them dress outrageously, dye their hair multi colors or blond and affect an air of detachment (cool.) It is impossible to say how these cell phone wielding young people will interpret traditional Japanese values. That is not to say there aren't legions of well behaved "salarymen" working late and filling the bars after hours. At least they all appear friendly to westerners.
I spent a mere four days in Japan and did not really have a chance to see the countryside. I don't know if these initial impressions will hold up with more experience.
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