Tuesday 15 December 2015

9 Things I Learnt in Japan

In November I was lucky enough to visit Japan with my family, namely Tokyo and Osaka and it was definitely an experience to remember. I ate a lot of ramen as well as some ramen and did I mention ramen? Without further ado I present NINE THINGS I LEARNT IN JAPAN:

look at all those lanes of traffic!
and the other side!
on the surprisingly uncrowded train
the amazing trees of japan!
  1. Barely anyone can speak English but everyone is willing to help a stranger. The Japanese are incredibly friendly and very polite. Bowing is the norm. Workers will bow when leaving a shift, salespeople will bow when you look at them and bow so deeply that their nose touches their knees if you buy their product.
  2. Everything is smaller in Japan. Living spaces, buses, cars, restaurants, etc. They even have mini trucks that look like they belong in the Lego Movie. Everything is also cuter in Japan. Even their police stations have adorable cartoon characters of police officers positioned outside. 
  3. Peak hour is 11pm. The nightlife in Japan is well and truly alive.
  4. Everything is cheaper in Japan. Food is cheaper, even souvenirs are relatively cheap. This is in comparison to the cost of living in Sydney (which is apparently one of the highest in the world :/). Strangely, the sushi in Japan is more expensive than, say, at a Sushi Train in Sydney.
  5. Japan is NOT the most environmentally friendly country. Anything you purchase will be wrapped in plastic which is then placed into another plastic bag and sealed with plastic tape. They might even slip a few plastic bags into your plastic bag for future use.
  6. The Japanese love their beef (and their fish of course but definitely the beef too). Also, almost every restaurant we went to gave us a glass of ice water upon arrival which I found surprising because I think I expected cups of steaming green tea (oops)
  7. Many Japanese smoke cigarettes. And it's allowed INSIDE restaurants! Let's just say I've done my fair share of passive smoking the past week and found myself smelling like a smoker afterwards. 
  8. Stairs, stairs and stairs. There are an infinite amount of stairs everywhere in Japan. In the train stations, in museums, in parks, in shopping centres, there is no way to escape them. I think my legs are more toned than ever from all the stairs! 
  9. Japan has beautiful trees. 


the view from the bullet train from tokyo to osaka



This post is not intended to offend anyone. It's simply what I observed during my time in Japan which admittedly is a limited view of life over there. Please forgive my generalisations. All the photos were taken by ME so yay for me. I will hopefully be posting a review of Japan's Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter soon! If you've been to Japan or you found anything interesting, comment below! 

P.S. Sorry for all the exclamation marks in this post, I was simply too excited to share all this!


2 comments:

  1. You make Japan sound so beautiful with its scenery. I have been planning a trip overseas recently, and I am definitely putting Japan as one of my options!

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  2. I agree with you said because I was there with you, haha.

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