Easy on the nerves ramble...about Japan

Hmmmm.....Been traveling a lot lately. 2 trips to Japan and it's time to put down my thoughts on this amazing country!

Japan rocks....the Japanese people are FANTASTIC! Some tidbits of information (both good and bad in no particular order) about this awesome country from this rather brief visit:

1. They are the most polite culture (in practice) I've seen so far in my life.

2. They are focused BEYOND customer service....there were several times when they actually anticipated what I would request and had ALREADY taken care of it! The smile on their faces seemed to say "Yup buddy, I knew you were going to ask about it....and already took care of it!". They are extremely helpful and dont give up easily inspite of severe language issues!

3. They have cigarette vending machines on every street corners and as far as I've tried to figure out, there are no age / ID checks carried out by these machines....saw lots and lots of kids smoking.

4. The young people in Japan seem to drive the country's economy somewhat disproportionately. Lots and lots of young people hitting the malls and putting down some serious cash!

5. Japanese women are gorgeous (and I say that very respectfully!). It is nearly impossible to tell their age...I was constantly off by atleast 8 to 10 years!!! It seems as if they never change between when they hit maybe 20 yrs until their 60th birthday!!! So on the eve of their 60th birthday, they go to bed as absolute dolls and when they wake up the next morning *BAM* they are old and wrinkly! :-)

6. The reasons why Japanese people in general are so slim - they easily walk 5 miles a day just shuttling between different railway lines and stations within their subway system! They eat lean meat and smoke like crazy! Needless to say, they are geneticaly blessed as well. :-)

7. Between 50 and 60 % of Japan wears suits to school and work! I saw people in trains, buses, cycling and walking in dark coloured suits (usu. black). It did not matter whether it was raining and muggy or blazing hot - the suits were ON all the time!

8. Japanese desserts are probably the best I've eaten - next to India's ofcourse! :-) They have the perfect level of sweetness in them....killer good!

9. People are hard-working...stay late and work their tails off....sometimes I felt whether it was even necessary. One thing I noticed was that they were heavily into consesus style of decision making and would not move forward with an issue unless all parties had agreed upon a way forward. Not my place to generalize but wonder if it is part of the eastern way of life as I used to see somewhat similar situations while working in India.

10. I think they eat out a lot - all restaurants big and small and hole-in-the-wall had customers aplenty!

11. They have a KILLER GOOD public transport network of buses, local trains, metros and the SHINKANSENS ( bullet trains). One can set his or her watch by the arrival / departure times of the bullet trains.

12. I dont think the Japanese have gotten the concept of "social drinking". They consume alcohol like it's going out of fashion....usuallly tend to have no recollection of a few hours of their lives when they've gone through one such adventure - Kanpai to you my Japanese friends! :-)

13. They are very efficient in the use of space...and this is reflected in their homes...their cars....in all their design....in all spheres of life... their cars are filled with storage spaces, cubby holes...the only place where I saw a C pillar in the car replaced by a wrap-around rear windshield - how cool is it to think of and implement something like that! another design innovation is a 2 door hatchback / van with asymmetrical doors where the passenger door is LONGER than the driver's door so that the rear passengers can get in easily!

14. Cannot emphasize the functional aspect of design in this country enough - many bathrooms have a small portion of their mirrors heated to prevent fogging after a shower! almost all toilets had an electro-mechanical BUTT washer installed ( freaked me out and I never used it...BUT!)

15. Inspite of all the technological wizardry and gizmos - Japan is still a largely CASH-BASED society! that's right..not many places accept credit cards...specially not the smaller restaurants....

16. Another common theme..they are heavily into the use of headphones. To the point that I suspect they are BORN with a pair of 'em dangling from their ears!! Seriously - headphones market alone in Japan is sufficient to keep their economy going it seems like!!

17. Managed to see Mt. Fuji (or Fuji-San as it is affectionately called), Nikko (popular for its shrines), Kyoto (Golden Pavilion and Buddha temple) and Kamakura (Daibatsu - an 11 meter tall Buddha where you can climb inside the Buddha!), Yokohama (caught a brilliant fireworks show minus my camera) and ofcourse Tokyo in the 5 weeks that I was there....photoblog to follow!

All in all a beautiful people and a beautiful country....would LOVE to go back someday....