15) Japan Part I: the people

I have been thinking for a while on how to go about posting about Japan. I think the only way is to split it up into at least two posts. This one will be mostly about what I loved the most about Japan, the people.

I have had a couple friends from Japan at school, and I still keep in touch with one of them (Hiro, pictured below). Even knowing them could not have prepared me for how awesome the people as a whole would be there (not meaning that my friends were not awesome- they are, but they were a foreigner in my country, and I can only hope now, that I showed them a fraction of the kindness that I was shown in their country).


Every day in Japan I met at least a couple people that would have made my whole week great in ordinary circumstances. So every day I was there was really great. There were a couple of people that really stick out in my mind right now for various reasons, and their stories will be in the coming paragraphs.

I met a chick from the US while getting my visa, and I had mentioned that I wanted to go to a big market that I saw on the map. She said she was down with going, so we walked around for like 2 hours trying to find this place- and eventually she got tired and bailed out. So when I finally got there, I realized it was not what I had in my mind at all, and not open to the public. So as this was being explained to my by a security guard, 3 people come over and try to help me out, as the spoke good English. Moriko and her friend (who I have forgotten the name of) are from Japan, and their friend Harry is Korean. So they were showing Harry around Japan, and about to get some food when they ran into me. So they invited me to go with them to a restaurant where a certain type of ramen was developed. It was very good. Then they took me shopping, and out for coffee, and eventually back to the subway station. The whole time they were just as happy as I was to have met them, and be able to hang out with them. They really showed me a great time, and we hung out most of that day.



The next day while at the beach trying to get some pictures of the sunset, I met a group of 15 year old boys. I knew right away that they were going to want to talk to me. As I started to approach where they were, I could see them quickly turn and talk to each other, then when I walked by, one of them said “hi, how are you?”, the phrase they had just discussed and decided was best. So is stayed and talked to them about all sorts of stuff. One topic they were particularly interested was woman in the US, and I told them that they had it pretty darn good here in Japan- which is true for those of you who have not been there. One of the highlights of this meeting was the video that they showed me of one of the kids there trying to do a flip over a hand rail, and stalling out in mid-air, and landing with the rail right across mid back- the video was great quality, and on one of the kids phone. As we left the beach that evening we saw the last on of them jumping off of the highway bridge into water 30 feet below. A group of adults were watching and cheering as they jumped in. When they saw me leaning over they all shouted “see ya!” a phrase I told them was better than good bye just a couple minutes earlier.


On another occasion I asked some kids about the same age which way it was to the zoo and botanical gardens. They conferred with each other for a minute, and eventually just said, “follow me”. It turned out to be about an hour out of the way, and they took me all the way there. They were in track, so we talked about that for a while. It was two boys, and a girl, but the girl was too shy to talk to me. Along they way I saw that she was shooting video on her phone of me walking with her friends. When we finally got there I had to almost force them to accept something to drink- I had tried earlier, but they just wouldn’t accept anything, and insisted that it was their pleasure to have taken me.

One day I was at a museum, and looking at a big city map they had there, when one of the workers started up a conversation. Eventually it got on the topic of temples and shrines in the city. Eventually she talked to her co-worker, and just said, “lets go!” I thought she was just going to show me which way to go, but instead she took me on a 45 minute tour of local temples and shrines. We talked about all sorts of stuff, and she told me about local history aswell.

The last guy I have to mention I met in a mall at the store he was working at. It is funny to see how happy people get when you visit their store (and also how much they will go out of their way for the customer- both foreign and Japanese). So eventually I started to talk to this guy, and I hung out there for a while, just talking, and laughing. I told him I wanted to get a shirt, but had to buy a gift first, and then I will spend the left over money in his store (which was about 20 dollars). So I got the gift (met more people along that side trip) and came back. When he got back from lunch he was overjoyed to see me again. He helped me pick out a shirt, and then we just talked and laughed some more. He was an awesome guy, and didn’t want me to forget about him, I said I would write about him, and tell my friends and family. He was very happy to hear that.