So long Japan, Hello Communism (...Again)

I hop a boat for China tomorrow morning. Just one in a persistent string of departures and short goodbyes, leaving Japan is different because, for the first time so far, I'm not ready to move on.

In my previous blog posts, I've really focused on the negative parts of travel here and I think I figured out why. In a place with so few negative aspects, it's really easy to focus on the ones that are there. In all fairness, Japan is an amazing place to experience.

The people here are so nice... Just looking completely lost will usually be enough for someone to walk over and help. I arrived in Matsumoto way too late without reservations and while I just aimlessly walked around that city at night looking for a cheap place to stay, this man just walked over and asked if he could give me a hand. He helped me get my bearings and pointed me in the right direction. Even more surprising was when I was walking around Fushimi Inari and it began to rain. I didn't particularly mind at all so I just kept exploring. At some point, this woman bursts out of a house and frantically runs over to give me an umbrella. I did my best to describe to her that I didn't mind getting wet but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I thanked her in the only way I knew how (arrigato gozaimasu). It poured the rest of that day and I was extremely glad to have that umbrella.

The cities here are just awe inspiring. I've just lost myself for hours among rows of izakayas and brightly lit store fronts. The neon lights and noise from pachinko parlors fill many streets creating endless options for interesting walks. These cities definitely get more interesting by night and every late night stroll has been rewarding in some way. While I was in Hiroshima for example, I heard some music off in the distance and decided to hunt it down. I stumbled upon a group of friends jamming out under a bridge. They were really good so I just sat down and watched for an hour or so. That was a great night.


And I cant forget the food. There are so many varieties of food unique to Japan and they are mostly awesome. For the first week I was here, I looked forward to every meal and that feeling only subsided as I started cooking for myself to cut costs. One of my favorite specialties is called Okonomiyaki. You sit down at a table with a hot grittle set in the middle called a tepan. After greasing the surface, you put a mixture of meat, cabbage, egg and sometimes noodles in the middle and then flip it once it's crispy on one side. Finally, once it's done, you douse the whole thing in mayonnaise and a dark bbqish soy sauce and then eat. It's cheap and just uncontrollably delicious. This is just one of many amazing food items that I had never heard of but was glad I got the opportunity to try.

I still feel as though the culture is very hard to understand but my feelings have moved from desperation to intense curiosity. This is the first place that I can definitely say I need to come back too and it will have to be for a long time if want to figure things out. And I really do, the culture here is just so dense and rather than scaring me away, it just fosters a greater will to learn. I'll be leaving with more questions than answers so, I totally need to come back (hopefully with more money next time).

So this is my last night in Japan and I'm truly sad to leave. I have two days on a boat to rest (which I desperately need) before landing in Shanghai and beginning my exploration of the intimidating behemoth that China is. I started my night with a 38th floor view of vast cityscapes of Osaka and Kobe. After that, like so many nights before, I walked in what ever direction looked interesting among pachinko parlors, restaurants, izakayas and arcades bathed in neon light. And finally, it ended like many Japanese people end their night over a hot bowl of soba noodles in a humble roadside shop. A fitting climax, I would say, to an awesome couple weeks.