OP
- Thread Starter
- #41
I know. It was nice but sparse relative to Meguro.
BTW, I can't post any photos directly from my phone here due to size limit. It's too much hassle to resize or upload and post a link.
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Visiting Japan this spring. Ideas?
- Thread starter stunta
- Start date
BTW, I can't post any photos directly from my phone here due to size limit. It's too much hassle to resize or upload and post a link.
Guermantes
Senior Member
On my first big trip during sakura season, Tokyo was underwhelming for sights but it has its own charms (same with Osaka). The best sakura were in places I didn't expect: Sendai and Akita. Much of it has to do with timing since the blossoms have a brief life and this is why they are an essential symbol of "mono no aware" for the Japanese.
Indeed. I was taken by a friend to a tour of countryside where trees have specific designations and such. Here are some shots of that:
And this one in Kyoto which is amazing:
Beyond the beauty though, there is the spiritual side. I got into that early in the morning all by myself in the massive field of flowers. You get a sense of why this is such a special thing to Japanese. It lifts your spirits into the heavens almost. Not sure how to put it in words.
It is best captured in the movie The Last Samurai. THis is a horrible clip with the wrong aspect ratio but conveys the point:
"The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You can spend your life looking for one and it will not be a wasted life..."
So spend a bit of time just taking it in.
And this one in Kyoto which is amazing:
Beyond the beauty though, there is the spiritual side. I got into that early in the morning all by myself in the massive field of flowers. You get a sense of why this is such a special thing to Japanese. It lifts your spirits into the heavens almost. Not sure how to put it in words.
It is best captured in the movie The Last Samurai. THis is a horrible clip with the wrong aspect ratio but conveys the point:"The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You can spend your life looking for one and it will not be a wasted life..."
So spend a bit of time just taking it in.
Tokyo is very metropolitan, but I found the bluster and in your face asepcts of Osaka in many ways more interesting. Part of that may be because of my friend who lives in the area so I got a local tour. Most certainly the Kansai (Osaka area) sense of humor much more closely matches with mine. Plus I find the dialect interesting.
So for grins Stunta - see if you notice a difference in Japanese spoken around you in Tokyo compared to Osaka and Kyoto recognizing you don't speak Japanese. In customer facing businesses staff will use standard Japanese in both areas so there won't be much difference.
It is supposed to do that automatically. Is it not happening? I just tested it with Chrome on my laptop and it is working.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #47
Not working from Pixel. Chrome
Ah, Ray is right. I thought you meant viewing pictures, not uploading them.
It is a good suggestion though. Let me research it and see if there is a plug-in that does that.
It is a good suggestion though. Let me research it and see if there is a plug-in that does that.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #50
270 km/hr (I measured it with an app) on the 2nd fastest train in Japan. Amazing public transportation in here overall. US feels like a third world country relatively in this regard.
Isn't it amazing and so much better than flying?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #52
Absolutely. For short to medium distances train journeys are the best. The trains here are an absolute pleasure to ride in.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #53
Feature-rich toilets, sliding doors, street vending machines, obsessive queuing, amazing product packaging... I love this country
There is a lot to love there. BTW, did you go in a bathroom, wash your hands and then realize they have no paper towel or any other way to dry your hands? You look dumb looking for it while everyone else pulls out a handkerchief and dries their hands that way!
Feature-rich toilets, sliding doors, street vending machines, obsessive queuing, amazing product packaging... I love this country
And some good audio engineering, too...
The real Culture Shock for me was on the returns. First trip, we landed in Dallas at 7:30pm, for some reason two of us went to a Grandy's.
Sitting in a giant booth, with giant fork, and a giant plate of bland food, completely surrounded by no beer.
Look out the window at big empty parking lot, grass divider, empty service road, grass divider, 5 lanes of empty expressway, grass, five more empty lanes, grass, empty service road, more grass, huge almost empty parking lot, and, in the dim distance, "just across the street", a big (probably about empty) Shopping Mall.
It was depressing. I think I'm still depressed, 30 years later.
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Next trip, landed in Dallas about noon, management wanted immediate report, so we go to conference room.
They tried to grill us, we were still detoxifying, and about all we could do was look at each other and giggle.
Sitting in a giant booth, with giant fork, and a giant plate of bland food, completely surrounded by no beer.
Look out the window at big empty parking lot, grass divider, empty service road, grass divider, 5 lanes of empty expressway, grass, five more empty lanes, grass, empty service road, more grass, huge almost empty parking lot, and, in the dim distance, "just across the street", a big (probably about empty) Shopping Mall.
It was depressing. I think I'm still depressed, 30 years later.
---
Next trip, landed in Dallas about noon, management wanted immediate report, so we go to conference room.
They tried to grill us, we were still detoxifying, and about all we could do was look at each other and giggle.
Reminds me of the very first business trip to Japan. Hated Japanese food and got stuck there for a week eating so much stuff we did not like. We landed back and immediately decided to go for a full "American" meal in the form of Pizza Hut "Meat Lovers Pizza." Could not wait 'till it was served. We took two bits and could not eat anymore! We were so used to eating lighter food, fish, etc. that we could no longer tolerate the American diet. Took a few days to get used to the beefy, heaving, greasy meals we eat here!
Funny enough I found more similarities than differences. I've worked in New York City for over 25 years and found it in many ways more similar than different. For example, the public transportation in Japan is light years ahead, but the process isn't fundamentally different.
I was mighty thankful for the internet however, it made finding maps and navigating much, much easier.
What I don't understand for a very energy concsicouss country with high energy costs is the lack of insulation on lots of residential contruction. Hokkaido being a notable exception.
I was mighty thankful for the internet however, it made finding maps and navigating much, much easier.
What I don't understand for a very energy concsicouss country with high energy costs is the lack of insulation on lots of residential contruction. Hokkaido being a notable exception.
Yeh, us older folks are talking about pre-Internet era. No smartphones. No maps in English. No online translators.
No smartphones. No maps in English. No online translators.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #60
Food quality in Japan is very good. I am not a big fan of the really authentic Japanese food, but loved the okinamiyaki and yakitori. I even tried Sashimi in one ryokan we stayed at in Takayama and liked it. I swore I would not eat raw meat before the trip, but I ended up trying some at this elaborate dinner they served us in Takayama. The diet in Japan is lacking in veggies but still people live very long in Japan. Must be all the green tea and portion control.
I've visited 20+ countries and the US is the worst place for food. I call it "the land of the bland". Unhealthy crap everywhere and massive portions.
Public transportation in Japan is decades ahead of the US. I was amazed how they move so many people around in such an organized fashion. Screens inside trains and buses tell you everything you need to know in both Japanese and English.
@amirm, I want to post a bunch of photos but the size limit restriction is really annoying. Were you able to find a plug-in to auto-resize photos during upload?
I've visited 20+ countries and the US is the worst place for food. I call it "the land of the bland". Unhealthy crap everywhere and massive portions.
Public transportation in Japan is decades ahead of the US. I was amazed how they move so many people around in such an organized fashion. Screens inside trains and buses tell you everything you need to know in both Japanese and English.
@amirm, I want to post a bunch of photos but the size limit restriction is really annoying. Were you able to find a plug-in to auto-resize photos during upload?