Anna Jackson England to Japan
Impressions of Japan I first went to Japan in 1991 where I spent 3 weeks there on my own. So it was really quite daunting particularly because I didn't speak a word of the language. The language is so different from anything spoken in Europe. Getting around actually proved quite easy because of course its got an amazingly good transport system. Everything makes a lot of sense once you figure it out. And it was also, I also found the people really friendly and really helpful. It's amazing how you can really communicate with people across that language barrier. I did find eating out on my own rather difficult because I didn't understand the menu at all, and even when I got the food, I wasn't quite sure what I was eating because it was so different from what I was used to! And also I felt kind of, I did feel quite alien as if I stood out, even though I've got quite dark hair. I really felt quite different. And in small towns for example, the children would sometimes stop and stare at me, whisper to each other "giegin" which means foreigner, outsider, and they would run off giggling when I tried to smile and say hello to them in Japanese. In some ways, Japanese cities seem very much like European ones - the kind of bustling commercial cities> But in other ways, you were quite conscious that you were in a very different culture and I think what struck me most was the kind of juxtapositions. You'd be walking down a busy shopping street and suddenly you'd come across a small shrine, laden with goods, laden with sort of offerings and it was wonderful to see that even in globalisation, this kind of wonderful local identity lives on! And I did wonder whether people coming from Japan to England felt the same - that there was a kind of mixture of traditions, modern. There are also lots of little things about Japan that makes it kind of efficient place to be. I'm always struck, even now, about how wonderful it is to have lockers at tube stations, so you can always deposit your shopping. But of course, shopping is the real big thrill in Japan! They have a shopping culture and I don't think anyone has shopped at all, until they've shopped in Tokyo, because it is such an amazing and dynamic city, and I know no other that's the same way. I mean, you can compare it to New York but I still think it's actually very different. And I still, although I've been there many times since then, I still kind of get a thrill when I see the 'Ginsen', the main shopping area in Tokyo, particularly when its lit up at night! Luckily, I don't feel quite so alien anymore. I feel quite at home in Japan and my girlfriends in Tokyo always know which restaurants to take me out to - the best Sushi bars, so I have quite fun eating now as well. And actually, it Kiyoto rather than Tokyo, that's actually my favourite city in the world. It has the buzz of Tokyo but on a much more manageable scale. And it also has very beautiful temples, where despite the crowd of tourists that you find there, it's always possible to find a quite serene spot of contemplation. And the last time I was there was at the time of the Geon Festival, when the city takes on a really party atmosphere, and everyone gathers in the streets to see these amazing floats being pulled though the streets, and there is really nothing like that anywhere else in the world!