As the previous entry stated, my name is Nathan Purmort and I am an electrical engineering graduate student at the University of New Hampshire as well as an employee of Project54. Recently, I had the opportunity to accompany a friend of mine on vacation to Japan. Here’s the story.
It all started back in late September when a good friend of mine, Shin, approached me saying, “I’m heading to Japan over winter break, wanna come?” Now this sounds like a great offer, but there’s a lot to consider when someone pops this sort of question on you. First off, I had never been off the continent before. Sure I’ve been all over the country: Wyoming, Florida, Michigan, even Canada, but I’d never been 10,000 miles from home in a country where their native language consists of two alphabets and hundreds of other symbols. Now, this wouldn’t be much of a story if I declined the invitation, so as you may have inferred, I jumped at the chance and we immediately put the plans in place.
My first flight departed Logan Airport at 8:10am, connecting at Detroit Wayne County Airport and continuing on to Narita, Japan’s largest airport; my day had begun at 5 and little did I know it wouldn’t be over for another 20 hours. Now, if you’ve ever been on a plane, you’re aware of how spacious and comfortable they can be: I was completely unprepared for fourteen hours of this. The longest I’ve probably ever sat still before this was the drive out to Detroit, but at least in a car if you want to get out to stretch you don’t need a parachute to do so.
I eventually made it to Narita Airport and met up with the two friends I’d be staying with – Shin and Curtis – both of whom had left Boston around the same time as me but on two different flights.
My first real cultural misunderstanding came before we even got out of the airport. Riding the escalator down to the train station, I stood next to one of my friends, talking with the guys about their flights when a man walked down the escalator right at me. I was quickly whisked over to the left side by Curtis, who has spent plenty of time in Japan on business. Evidently, everyone stands on the left side of the escalator (they also drive and walk on the left) to allow the pedestrians who wish to walk on the escalator the room to do so on the right side.
We took the Keisei Skyliner train from the airport to Ueno Station and then took a taxi to Asakusabashi, where we were staying. I was very excited to see the auto-opening Japanese taxi doors in action – the driver pushes a button and the door opens automatically. In fact, many of the devices usually requiring human interaction are automated in Tokyo; building doors and crosswalk signals are two other examples.
The next leg of our adventure involved finding our apartment from where the taxi dropped us off. Why didn’t it just drop us at our apartment you say? Well, Tokyo has a very…interesting method of addressing their buildings. Normally, you would just locate the street and the building number and maybe apartment number/letter and you’d be there. Nope, that’s too easy; instead, Tokyo’s system involves finding an area in the city (ku), then an area within that area, then a group of city blocks (chome), then a specific block, then a building on that block. A good example can be found here.
We eventually found the apartment and used the combination we were emailed to get in. Upon opening the door, we realized there was something lost in translation. This place was far from the “Weekly Mansion” it was advertised as.
As small as it was, it ended up working out really well for us as it was in a great location – near a major train station (Akihabara), and it was pretty inexpensive too.
Once we got all unpacked, it was time for dinner. I was still in awe of my new surroundings, so I wasn’t much help when we went out to hunt down a restaurant. I was even more surprised when I was led into a small unassuming entry way with a sliding door. It had a blue cloth banner hanging above the door with 4-5 characters written on it; apparently the name of the restaurant. We opened the door and walked in to see five people sitting around a small bar with all three of the tables behind them empty. The three of us grabbed a seat at the bar amidst the stares. Relying on Shin’s Japanese to converse with the people next to us and to order (this wouldn’t be the last time), we ordered food and Sake and chatted with some of the locals. After a great meal and a long day of travel, we were all more than ready to get some sleep.
5 comments
andrewkun says:
January 28, 2007 at 10:00 pm (UTC -4)
Are taxis in Tokyo likely to overcharge you if you’re a foreigner? Is something like this a concern at all with any of the businesses you encountered?
How do the Japanese treat foreigners in general and Americans in particular? Are they friendly, curious, rude, maybe indifferent?
Also, did you use chopsticks the whole time you were there?
nathanpurmort says:
February 3, 2007 at 11:00 am (UTC -4)
From my experience and also from what I’d read and heard about from others, the people of Japan are very honest. One of the guidebooks I had said something to the effect of “if you dropped your wallett on a crowded street, there would be 3 people behind you trying to stop you and return it.”
That same honesty extended to businesses as well. Whenever you walk into any store, from a convenience store to a giant electronics retailer, every employee on your way in excitedly welcomes you. When you leave, it’s the same story; everyone thanks you for shopping, whether you purchased something or not.
That said, because the quality of service was so good and the people were so honest, we never experienced firsthand or heard stories of anyone being overcharged in Taxis or elsewhere. Tokyo is a very consumer-driven city and we were treated with respect and courtesy every place we went.
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The people of Tokyo appeared to be very comfortable seeing and dealing with foreigners and, while we were largely outnumbered, there were many Gaijin in the city. Usually, we were treated with indifference, but there was the occasional exception.
From what we saw, Japanese people keep to themselves; they were not friendly, but not rude. They appeared to be very private people and if we were to strike up a conversation on the street with a stranger, that would have been highly unusual. Occasionally, we got some glances on a subway or train, but that was about as far as the curiosity extended.
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And yes, I used chopsticks about 95% of the time I was there. I think I used a fork for 1-2 meals (we ate at the Imeperial Hotel Viking!) and spoons a bit more frequently, but most meals were eaten with chopsticks – It’s a good thing I was comfortable using them before I went!
Ed Bourbeau says:
February 6, 2007 at 3:06 pm (UTC -4)
From your point of view what were the most fascinating aspects of Japan’s culture, infrastructure, and general way of life? Was it so different from what you’ve seen in the U.S. (besides the language barrier)?
nathanpurmort says:
March 8, 2007 at 3:54 pm (UTC -4)
The general way of life in Japan seemed different from that of the US. It’s not that their daily routine is unusual, but rather their attitude about doing it is different. It’s a common observation I’ve heard of people in Japan that they all seem to “march to the same beat” and this was very visible to me.
I don’t know that it’s such a big issue, but people in Japan seem to be very regimented in their routine (both on a daily and life-long basis). It’s tough to describe what this looks like without seeing it, but I guess the closest parallel I can draw is that of a movie script – everyone seems to follow the same story line without question, without variation.
The men graduate from college, get married, and get a job with a company they will work for the rest of their lives. They put their heads down and do what they’re told, wearing dark suits to work, looking very bland. Their wives take care of the children, the house, and the cooking. That routine is never deviated from and the children are raised in the same image.
I’m not going to try to wrap up an entire culture into one bin based on a two week visit, but I definitely saw this sort of thing in Tokyo and I’ve heard it from other people as well. It’s really tough for me to accurately describe Japanese culture due to the language barrier and the brevity of my visit, but that’s what I saw.
Wayward Son says:
June 13, 2008 at 10:56 pm (UTC -4)
I agree with nathanpurmort….I recently returned from Japan and he’s exactly right. Every man where a suit and looks tired as hell. Kind of reminds me of Hiro at the beginning of the show Heroes when he is still working at his father’s company. The language barrier wasn’t much of a problem as there are lots of people with excellent english.
Anyway, I was actually looking for things to do in Japan and accidently ended up at this page. If you’re looking for stuff to do or where to stay visit the page Where to Stay and What to Do in Narita. The page was great…very helpful for my trip!