Leaving Japan - impressions

 Toilets...have heated seats, a light under the seat, front and back bidiets, auto flush and music to camouflage what is going on.

*Food....pickled vegies often raddish, soba noodles made from a seed, miso soup with fish stock base, nothing grilled, tempura vegies and prawns, hot pot individually cooked with thin strips of wagu beef, pork, tofu,sashimi...tuna,octopus,white fish, horse, salmon,blowfish to dip in soy sauce with wasabi. Lots of different mushrooms, grasshoppers cooked in honey and soy...crunchy. lots of seperate dishes served in succession, you must not put soy sauce on your rice.
*Restaurants everywhere...most very small
People often sit individually along a bar.
People eat out a lot.
*There are very few overweight Japanese.
*Japanese people are very polite and bow to each other to say hello, goodbye and thank you.
• People form very orderly lines at zebra crossings and wait for the green man....they do not jay walk.
• Japan seems to be very safe
• they like their processes, politeness sometimes succumbs to efficiency
• Trains run absolutely to time....people que to get on the designated carriage marked on the platform.
• fast trains are fast and frequent.
• trains are very quiet inside...no phones, no talking...very respectful of others.
• No smoking in public places...infact very few seem to smoke.
• 41 million people live in greater Tokyo but it seems to work...streets do not seem congested and not excessive numbers of people on the streets. There are some trees.
• Very few fully electric cars...none from Korea or China.
• young women and men sometimes wear kimonos to visit shrines etc.
• Shinto has shrines worshiping natural things....trees, mountains etc. with Torii gates, ropes and lightening bolts.
• Buddhism has temples with bodavistas and Buddha.
• The two religions are often mixed.
• The uniform is white shirts and black trousers or dresses work and school.
• private cars are scarce in Tokyo
• rural inns and guesthouses use futons on the floor with warm eiderdowns. Pillows are stuffed with beans.
• traditional dinning rooms are sitting on the floor on cushions...some have backs for the cushions.....some have a hole under the table for your legs...few have chairs.
• very little wine available....what there is is poor.
• vending machines everywhere...even on forest paths
• chocolate is not common.
• Noone eats or drinks on the street