A Detour to Japan
I went to Japan once before, about 3 months ago for 4 days, to Tokyo. And right now, Im on a boat back from being in Japan for 8 days, on my way to Tianjin, China, then back to Beijing. Im really glad first impressions aren't, a lot of times, correct. When I first went to Japan, I flew to Tokyo. It was a wonderful experience. My girlfriend met me there at the airport then we went around Tokyo and eventually Nagoya. It was an absolutely romantic and awesome long weekend in Japan, but the people were something else. When someone says "something else", generally they mean it in a good sense. They were quite literally something else though. Everyone in Tokyo wears a blue or black suit and doesn't smile. Everyone in Tokyo wears a face that embodies the ":|" emoticon. The lack of love was a bit scary. Everyone acted as if on one else existed. In hindsight I realize that out of all the places I've been, Tokyo gave me the greatest feeling of "Am I really here?" or "I can’t believe I’m here". It was most likely because no one really recognizes that you exist. Not even because Im an outsider either, I don't think they acknowledged anyone. Tokyo is such a beast. I still had a great time of course; the food, the company (my girlfriend), the younger generation's eccentric culture, and the sights were all top notch.
Besides with my girlfriend though, intimate or interesting conversations or happenings were nonexistent, leaving me just a bit empty. I know 4 days isn't much time, but even 3 days in Singapore was more fruitful. I was approached by an old man with one single tooth in Little India. He was a modern-day Socrates schooling me (hard) in philosophy. If God exists, I think it was that man, who knew all too well how confusing life is, who showed me how important the simplicity of a smile really is. Tokyo was far different. Far different from the smiling elderly person I saw in Cambodia. This elder had endured and survived the Khmer Rouge's Genocide only about 35 years ago.
Kobe and Nagoya have left a lasting impression on me. (Actually it’s about 12AM here, so of course it is completely dark outside. We just passed under a beautifully illuminated bridge. It’s hard to stay focused on writing as I bask in the beautiful of its landscape while peering through this small window on the boat. While on the boat to Japan, I met a lot of Chinese people, Japanese people, and one real nice French guy. When we went through immigration, myself and the French guy (Gregory) but will be referred to as “The French Guy” also had to wait a long time.
Accompanying me is a young man named Masato, a spirited traveler who loves Jimmy Hendrix and is from Tokyo. Next is Shinji, a tiny, nerdy and amazingly sweet guy from Kobe. Then there is Suzuki, a very focused and extremely serious young man who beat me at chess and sang "I can’t help falling in love with you" by Elvis during karaoke… badly. After that, there's Miki, the token Japanese girl, who does not act very Japanese. And last, but not least, the old guy. The 77 year old guy. The 77 year old guy who speaks perfect Japanese, Chinese, English, and near perfect Spanish. What a crew!
Everyone pretty much went their separate way’s, however The French Guy, Masato, and Shinji and I went to the Kobe bus terminal together beforehand. Masato and The French Guy were going to Tokyo, and Shinji came along even though he lived in Kobe. Both the Japanese guys helped me get a ticket to Nagoya, then surprisingly afterward, Shinji treated us all to a Kobe specialty cake pastry. I bought both the guys some green tea, since Shinji gave me the pastry, and, earlier on the voyage, Masato gave me two instant meals. I’m still blown away at how nice those guys were to me.
On the boat, I asked the old guy, where his favorite place is. He replied that it was “Japan”. He claimed that in the whole world Japan was the best because the people smile and they have the best hospitality. (We're now in open water and the waves are terrible. The boat is rocking to nearly 60 or 50 degree angles and my stomach isn't too happy, hopefully I don't throw up. Usually I see the horizon, looking straight out the window, but now, Im seeing the sky, then the ocean, the sky, then the ocean. So annoying.) At the time, I was a bit estranged by his response, so I told them about my previous Japan experience in Tokyo. They all shook their heads in unison and stated "of course" Tokyo is just totally different. They knew it was a city of its own defining character. I never really thought about it but people who I have met in the city, no matter the region, are generally ruder.
Starting with the people on the boat, Masato, Shinji, then the lady working at the bus station in Kobe, the hospitality, as the old guy had explained just kept getting better. At first, I judged Japan probably as most foreigners do, based on Tokyo. I was dead wrong though. From my girlfriend's parents, to friends, to a large percentage of people on the train, to people just walking down the street. They were all kind. They were all warm. And they smiled. From sitting naked in the Japanese hot springs with my girlfriend's male friends, to talking to one guy who had a similar computer as mine in Starbucks they are all very warm and receptive. Another guy, Tomohiro, was so pleased with a picture of us, he printed out a copy of it for me and him. All he had was $5 and no job, and the pictures cost him $0.60. He was giving even though he had nothing. Indeed Tokyo was far different. They were all kind and very sincere!
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