OK, the hate and the scorn come later, but for now, the things I love. Will I get all the way to five? Well, I'll try.
1. The food. Obvious one this. It's tasty AND healthy. Although sometimes the smells of fish and seaweed drifting from restaurants you pass too early in the day can put you off, most stuff (and it's not always 100% clear what the stuff is) goes down well. Even if you go to an event it's always more than just hotdogs and burgers, which is what you get in Britain.
2. The mountains. For skiing, Japan cannot be bettered. The choice and the conditions are excellent, the queues are short, the season long, the hotels are big and warm and the food is good. They also often have hot springs to bathe in after a day on the slopes. Nagano is 3 hours by train/bus from Tokyo, which means a long weekend is a perfect getaway.
3. The mountains. For summer hiking, it's a kind of paradise. Amazing. There are places where no cars go, making it a serious breath of fresh air. Magnificent.
4. The convenience. Convenient is Japanese people's favourite adjective. For some people, it's their only adjective. Why do you live in X? Because it's convenient. But it is; life has been organised well; around the station are restaurants, pubs, shops etc, and a few minutes from there is a tranquility you wouldn't imagine in a big city. Also, packages of food open easily, things are organised in general with an attention to detail that is gloriously simple - I often think to myself; why didn't we think of that? The Japanese did. Top marks.
5. Public transport. You don't really need your own car in Japan. The trains and buses wherever you go seem organised with their passengers in mind. The trains in the city are brilliantly organised, they run meticulously on time, they are clean and safe, they connect well with other trains, and they are, apart from Shinkansens, very cheap. Compared to London, for instance, Japanese trains are gloriously cheap.
6. Technology. Wow, I got to six. Japanese technical ingenuity is well known. They invented the Walkman and the hybrid car. You get a lot of brownie points for that. Even though Apple isn't Japanese, I feel it ought to be. As a lover of gadgets, Japan is a good place to be. Their cameras are the best. Enough said.
Next up, hate. Maybe I should make a top ten, or could I stretch it to twenty....
Friday, June 19, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
