Ode to Japan
Where immigration isn't scary, where the welcome feels sincere.
Where the chaos of airport to train station is somehow actually very organised, where
huge crowds can part like a school of fish if you need to pass through against the direction of flow.
Where the trains are punctual enough to make Swiss watches nervous. Always on time, always clean, always quiet - even when full.
Where everyone is so polite, coming home feels rude. Where walking home at 11pm, toddler in tow, feels so safe it's jarring.
Where konbini are shrines to convenience, Holy places of fried chicken, oden, and egg sandwiches that are so soft it's like biting a cloud.
Where there’s always tea, and always pickles. Where pride in service is second to none.
Where toddlers are treated like VIPs, handed toys, given tiny cutlery, and welcomed like regulars by strangers who’ve never seen them before.
Where the streets are spotless, despite the baffling absence of bins. Where wildflowers sprout from every crack and a forest can border a city happily co-existing.
Where everything makes sense, despite not speaking the language.
Delicate and beautiful, busy yet peaceful. Safe.
Thank you, Japan. For the pickles, the famichiki, the peace, and the promise that I can walk home at night knowing 1: I’m safe and 2: there's a vending machine.
I can’t wait to see you again.
A note on my line “Where everything makes sense, despite not speaking the language.” My partner can speak and understand some Japanese - more than she gives herself credit for. Her being able to do this had a huge impact on the quality of our trip. We had countless beautiful encounters with people that would have passed us by if she was unable to communicate. Many of my favorite memories involve an encounter that would not have been possible without her. What I mean when I write that line though is that all the times I was alone - ordering food, catching a train, buying yet another piece of fried chicken from a konbini, things operated in such a consistent and efficient way it just made sense even though nothing I read made sense (because I couldn’t read it).
From the way a crowd of thousands can effortlessly flow without anyone bumping into one another, to people always lining up on one side of the escalator so if you’re in a rush or just don’t like standing still on them (me) you have a clear runway to just cruise past everyone standing still. Or the magical self checkout in UNIQLO (and I’m sure some other places) where you just put your basket full of items in a box and it just instantly knows exactly whats in there, no need to scan anything. Or trains being so reliably on time that if you didn’t hear the announcement and aren’t sure when to get off all you have to know is when the train is meant to arrive at said stop…(thanks google maps). If it’s meant to be 6:57 then just get off at that time, you’ll be in the right place.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea - Japan just works.
