Back in April-May we spent a fascinating 2 weeks in Japan,
mainly in Tokyo and surrounding districts. It was an opportunity to glimpse
another culture as well as experiencing a super-mega-city (at 35 million it is
almost twice as big as Mexico City, the second largest city in the world).
Despite a falling birth-rate and inverted population
pyramid, Tokyo seemed full of young people – young men with highly contrived
hair-styles and shaved eyebrows, and doll-like young women in lacey blouses and
pastel pleated skirts. There were lots of babies, too, many carried in slings. People were everywhere - every shop, restaurant, and museum was packed to the
rafters, though it was possible that ‘Golden Week’ - a week of public holidays- artificially increased the population.
Nonetheless, given the vast number of shops etc – grid after grid of streets
packed full of huge department stores as well as Starbucks and MacDonald’s - this
was quite an achievement. And expense didn’t seem a deterrent, either (a cup of
coffee was around £3; costs for most things are far higher than in the UK).
I loved the beautiful parks and the splendid butterflies (swallowtails;
huge blue and black ‘bluebottles’), and I loved the way the Japanese manage to
create gardens in the tiniest of spaces, even a piece of pavement near a door.
I marvelled at the weather (heat, rain, thunder, tornadoes), and the way the forest
marches down the steep hillside into the edges of the towns. I admired all the
temples and shrines, and found the Japanese approach to religion – basically, doing
a bit of venerating on special days or at times of need but otherwise not being
too bothered - was quite healthy. And I really relished Japanese courtesy, the
bowing in shops, the endless ‘thank-yous. This seems to have
extended into the street-signs, and the generous provision of English signs
everywhere - particularly welcome in the exceptionally tangled Metro system.
But there were unsettling aspects of Japanese society also, such as the way many people create babies out of lap-dogs, even
pushing them around in prams. The prevalence and popularity of Pachinko
– slot machine venues – was also peculiar, particularly as money cannot be
acquired (gambling is forbidden) and no skill is involved. And the Japanese attitude to women
can sometimes be a source of discomfort, for example in the ‘waitress cafes’ common
in places such as Akihabara, the electronic district of Tokyo, where the young waitresses display both innocence and sexuality. Last, but not least, down
at the coast at Hase we saw tsunami warning signs, a small indication that in
Japan, the natural world is magnificent but also threatening.
