It’s cold outside. We just got dropped off at the hotel by airport taxi. The check in time is yet to start. We have some time in hand to walk around, eat some breakfast after freshening up? The only choice to freshen up is the hotel common area washroom. Ok. The pot seat is warm!!! An array of switches next to the commode lets one decide the extent of jet water, angle & different levels of details. Another switch enables warm air to dry up!!! That was our ‘Welcome to Tokyo’ moment.

Japan a beautiful country with 4 aspects that attract curious travellers like us like –

1. beautiful nature (Mount Fuji, fall colours, cherry blossom etc,
2. to see Modern technology at work in every sphere of life,
3. to see the Japanese celebrate their traditions (culinary, theological, architectural etc) & continue doing it over & again, younger people joining traditional artisanal work & getting paid well, respect that artists (of all kinds, including chefs) get.
4. The endless warmth of the people & ‘always ready to help a stranger’ attitude. It was delightful to see the peaceful coexistence of the modern technology & times while embracing some of the traditions & values of the past.

The trip to Japan was organized by our friend Neil Patil & team, Veena World, Mumbai. Neil is an avid traveller himself & shares the same passion about food like we do. So Neil’s personal suggestions on every food & experience in the trip worked really well for us. We paid to Veena World for visa services, air travel, local taxi in few places, guide services, stay. Food was on us & so was most of the local travel.

This is a 3 post series. Topics covered:

Post 1

1. What we saw, felt & experienced
2. A brief history of Japan from ancient times to Modern

Post 2

3. Food in Japan
4. What we ate

Post 3

5. Cities we visited & Activities we did

What we saw, felt & experienced (in no particular order of importance):

• What we found fascinating about Japan is that it is a technologically advanced nation with it’s people steeped in tradition, having a democratically elected Government, with Emperor as Head of state.
• Attention to detail in everything they do – be it in the area of high end cutting edge technology or even in something as basic as cleaning every corner of a public toilet or a train.

• Art & Science coexists e.g. Hi tech products are good in practical & visual design also, art is presented / preserved using technology. Design is practical, good quality & looks good as well – all together. Example – restaurant seats with a place to keep bags / jackets below the seat.

• Quality over Quantity – We did not see any SALE, OFFER, FREE, DISCOUNT kind of communications in our trip. That’s not the focus. Most businesses were trying to focus on good quality. Eateries took pride in their good offering, there was no offer to pay less. People were buying sweets in pieces – eating 1 good quality sweet rather than trying to buy many average sweets at low prices.

• To say thank you, the Japanese people fold hands like namaste & do a bow.
• Anime (cartoons) is a serious business. It is a mainstream way of communication to adults as well. Government notices also explained thru animes. Communication in general is also very visual (photographs, sketches etc.)

• Western façade & Japanese interiors – Most modern Buildings look like any other building in the west. The nuances of interior design are often very Japanese.

• Every city has manhole covers that depict their city. In the same city also, we saw different kinds of manhole covers, some tone on tone, others colourful, some like pictures, others anime.

• Ramen was a post-world war 2 innovation. The Japanese were rice eaters. Due to shortage of rice, America sent wheat. Western bakery items got introduced slowly but what caught the attention of the young was ramen.
• Crime rate is very low. There is a general tendency among people to follow rules.
• No trash bin anywhere on the roads. We heard this action was taken after a terrorist attack where they had planted bombs in trash bins. So people nowadays just put trash inside a plastic bag, carry that with them & later throw

• Travel & transport
• Pedestrians seriously follow traffic rules & so do the drivers of motor vehicles. Cycle tracks are a part of the footpath.
• While bullet trains are about speed, driving speed in cities is super low. 3 km can take 15 minutes. At times walking 1 km distance & by car is similar. Road traffic moves so slow (more time for same distance in Tokyo than in Delhi) because at frequent crossings there are elaborate zebra crossings & pedestrians are given high preference.
• In large cities people walk a lot. Footpaths are super wide, impeccably clean, no broken corners, no sudden change in levels of walking for pedestrians.
• Cycles are very common. It was a very common sight to see young men & women in cycles with their babies sitting in comfortable, covered child carriers.
• Trains of all kinds are a transport lifeline. We saw buses but they were less.
• Taxis are available but they are very costly. Example – 8km ride can cost yen 2500
• We saw many mothers with their infant (in premium pram) crossing the busy traffic intersections, taking a metro train ride.
• People wearing best of western luxury brands were also seen travelling on metro.
• We saw a man in wheelchair going to office, with his backpack, crossing the road at a traffic signal.
• Mountain road to Fuji was like any other broad road in the plains. It was like driving thru a road with Low angle gradient. Till the end, there was almost no winding / narrow roads, no sharp U turns. Speed limit in the hill was 50kmph!!

• Self-Discipline at Public places
• Standing quietly in queues everywhere is a norm, be it outside a restaurant/ food stall / shop / trains / crossing roads etc.

• To avoid long queues, one can do online tickets. Almost available everywhere – for art shows/ exhibitions, transportation, restaurant reservations (pay 100% advance) etc.
• Separate lanes for ascending & descending stairs at Metro rail stations, Unwritten norm to stand on escalator on left so that if someone is in a hurry, they can overtake from the right,

• No eating in public places except in front of a food stall. No eating while walking.

• No talking on phone in a restaurant/ train/other shared public transport since that might disturb others.
• No strong perfume – Genetically the Japanese seldom have bad body odour. So perfume is something that was not common. Even when used, perfumes would be very mild.
• Faith – Shinto is the indigenous religion that has been around for millennia. Buddhism came to Japan through China & Korea, about 1000 years after it started in India. We met many people for whom Shinto & Buddhism coexist in the same person. For present life, they follow Shinto, they get married in a Church in Christian way & for better results in next life they follow Buddhism. One person mentioned that as a baby he was taken to Shinto Shrine regularly for for good health. As a child, on his 3^rd, 5^th, 7th years, he was taken to Shinto Shrine for kimono wearing ceremony. At 20, the adult ceremony was held at a Shinto shrine. His wedding ceremony happened at a hotel Church, in Christian way. His parent’s funeral happened in the Buddhist way, so that in afterlife the Dead person’s soul can go to heaven. Every Christmas he gives / receives presents.

• Warmth of People was remarkable. So was the readiness to help a stranger, even if they did not understand the language. No English signboards in most places did not help. Almost every time we have asked for help with direction, someone has helped. At times the security person left his location, walked with s few steps to explain the right direction.
• Currency & transaction in japan
• Bank notes in wide circulation are of the denomination of 1000, 5000 & 10000 yen.
• The person whose picture is on the bank note is usually an eminent person from different fields. Example – see slide 2 (same person whose picture is on yen 1000 note.

• Coins of 500, 100 & even 1 yen.
• Train stations, convenience shops like seven eleven, drink & food kiosks, many mid-range eateries have a zero cashier system – Customers go to the machine, choose the menu, pay the money in coin slot or note slot & get the change refunded at bottom. At times it got difficult for us while doing this, as the instructions were in Japanese but in most kiosks there was an option of screen showing a foreign language. Anyone who is unable to operate the money handling this way,  everyday everywhere will face a challenge to even buy water.

• Amex was accepted everywhere. So was visa.
• 3 star Hotel room in Tokyo can be size of (-)3 star hotel in India. About one of our stays we can say that we had a bathroom with an attached bedroom with about 2 feet space on 2 of the 4 sides of the bed!!! Stay in Tokyo is expensive due to Real estate price.
• We saw use of wooden room key cards at more than one hotel. ‘No plastic’

• Salmon was never a fish for sushi / sashimi. It was never eaten raw. The pacific salmon that the Japanese used to catch were used as cheap fish only for fried & other cheaper dishes. Norway had started farming salmon & they wanted a big market . With modern refrigeration they were able to give salmon in right quality with ko bacteria infection & higher fat quantity. So this entered the sushi & sashimi across the world. However in our entire trip in Japan no one served us salmon sushi / sashimi. Tuna is still the most prized. Tuna auction is an unmissable activity for food lovers when in Tokyo.

• Sushi is made with hand by the best of the chefs (no gloves). Sushi is eaten with hands (no chop sticks). Sushi does not need to be dipped in soy. Wasabi is not given separately as the chef adds those in the sushi.

• At Kobe we had wagyu, the best meat I have ever had in my life. The marbling of the meat did magic to the cooking process & the final dish. Wah.

A brief history of Japan from ancient times to Modern

Japan was born 15 million years ago, pushed away from the edge of mainland of Asia by the newly formed Japan sea. It was a flat land. However the land sat at the confluence of 3 massive tectonic plates – mainland Asia, pacific, Philippine. As was inevitable, plates shifted & mountains erupted due to the pressure created. These high mountains started getting snow & they would eventually melt to form rivers that would carry sediments to the plains. A million years later volcanoes started erupting.

Even today 10% of world’s volcanoes are in Japan!!

Tsunami is a Japanese term & it has happened every 800-1000 years apart in the history.

2/3 of land in Japan is uninhabited even today – they are forests, mountains, water bodies etc. the inhabited places were heavily deforested & what we see today was due to active afforestation in the 16th century.

The northern part of Japan is quite cold & the southernmost part is quite tropical.

The Korea strait in between Japan & mainland Asia was wide enough (200 km at its narrowest point) to keep away large scale military intruders & was good enough for trade with the rest of the world.

The ancient people who lived here are called Jomons. There is no written records about them from their times (like inscriptions etc.) but only archaeological evidences & oral tradition mythology written as late as CE 700.

Around this time two records were created – Nihongi (account of ancient matters) & Nihon Shoki- chronicles of Japan

So there is a story of izanagi & izanami (the first couple) from whom everyone was born. There is a long mythological story of different characters & finally comes up Jinmu, the first emperor of Japan. We also heard the story of a 3 legged raven named Yatagarasu who is said to have guided Jinmu in his eastern expedition. Emperor was believed to have divine sanction. So no one would openly challenge the Emperor in most parts of History.

The forces of nature that the people used to pray & the thoughts & beliefs led to what we call Shinto religion today. It’s one if the 3 major religions in Japan of today.

Jingu was a female ruler who is believed to rule 70 years after demise of her husband, the emperor

In BCE 212, the emperor of China heard about an ancient land in the direction of the rising sun & he sent a ship with a thousand virgins but none returned. The Chinese started referring to this place as ‘Wa’. It probably meant ‘the land of the dwarves’.

300BCE to 250 CE Jason’s Iron Age when migration from Korea happened. With them came Chinese writing, potter’s wheel, metals etc. & patriarchal Confucianism. Till then women seem to have an equal role as warriors, chiefs etc.

Buddhism came to Japan not directly from India but indirectly through Korea & China, about 1000 years after Gautam Buddha lived in India. So a lot changed in the way they understood & still look at Buddhism. Later many leaders came up & re interpreted Buddhism – like Zen Buddhism.

1280 – Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan attacked Japan twice from the sea, in a span of 10 years & failed both times as nature came to the help of Japanese – tsunami killed all attackers once time & another heavy wind on another time. Marco Polo himself saw, ships readied by kublai khan against Cipangu.

Concept of shogun – Like in India we had Nawabs & Zamindars who ruled an area & collected tax & bore allegiance to the king, a similar position was referred to as Shogun in Japan. Most of history Shoguns did whatever they wanted / whatever the Emperor wanted but officially remained aligned to the Emperor. Most Shoguns did not proclaim themselves to be the Emperor.

Concept of samurai – This was a group of men initially trained in the art & science of war & later they started taking sides of one Shogun over the other.

While Emperor was always the official head, a large part of Japan was really ruled by the Shoguns & the Samurai.

Mid 1600s to mid1800s was a period when the rulers stopped interaction with all foreign lands (emigration & immigration made unlawful). Many arts & crafts of Japan flourished in this period.

July 1853 commodore Matthew Perry of America dropped anchor on a port in Japan in a modern ship that was at least 25 times larger than any Japanese ship of the time & much faster. Perry could not convince the rulers to let him in but made an impact by showcasing the 73 canons on board. He fired from all of them. He left with the promise to return soon.

Perry returned in 1854 with twice the number of ships & the Japanese panicked. With no fight, the following treaty was agreed in treaty of kanagawa

1. Open two ports (near Tokyo & Hokkaido) to America, promise to treat ship wrecked sailors kindly,
2. America would have an onshore consul in Japan

American also got most favoured nation status in Japan. The consul came & managed to get access to more ports for trading.

Educator Fukuzawa Yukichi, a Confucian & Dutch language expert, went to Europe with a fact finding mission, came back & declared that it was in Japan’s interest to modernise & westernise. Soon more people were sent on similar missions & they came back, of them after years with fresh ideas & technology.

Emperor Meiji gave the following landmark charter in 1868 – almost unheard of, from a dynastic king in power:

1. All matters to be decided by open discussion
2. All classes high & low shall participate in administration of the state
3. Common people shall be allowed to pursue their profession of choice
4. Evil customs of past will be broken off & everything based on laws of nature
5. Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundation of imperial rule

He also ordered & implemented the dismantling of Shogunate & Samurai. 1873 onwards modern military started replacing samurai. Japan built modern defence force with modern technology real fast. Warships & war equipment started being bought from Europe & America. There were many protests & wars. In 1877, the last samurai protest war led by Saigo Takamori failed. Emperor Meiji was able to get most things done as per his vision.

Meanwhile, In 1871, a fact finding mission (Iwakura mission ) was sent by emperor to the west, comprising 48 envoys & 54 students. They came back with more ideas & information & became the foundation for modern Japan.

School uniforms became European. Emperor started wearing western military uniform himself, leaving aside traditional garments.

By end of 1800s, Japan became militarily strong & went to war with Korea & China. Grabbed land in both. Taiwan was under Japanese rule till WW2.Japan also defeated Russia in naval war in early 1900s.

Once again, decades after Emperor Meiji was gone, the new Emperor started taking a backseat. At some point the main decision making power became collective & in the hands of power hungry people. They started dreaming of powerful Asian force. So allied with Germany. Got into war with all attacked Burma, India.

WW2 – Japan attacked Pearl harbour. US dropped Atomic bomb at Hiroshima Nagasaki. After many decades, the Emperor chose to speak out against the people who were running Japan on his name. Emperor Showa was already pressing for end of war. After the atomic bomb, he straight away went on radio for the first ever time & announced ceasefire without consulting anyone. The war was over.

The documentation & pace of Reconstruction & detailing in planning is something many can learn from the Japanese. The economy was in ruins. People’s lives were messed up. In a few decades the country & its people bounced back through smart business moves & by embracing of latest technology.

Japan has no army since world war 2. They do have a Self-defence force.

People born post war grew up eating a lot more dairy, meat & wheat – average height increased by about 7 inches

Tokyo Olympics was a landmark event as world community accepted Japan after WW2.

‘salary man’ – the salaried educated people post WW gave a big boost to the economy by heavy consumption. Exports contributed hugely as well, in reconstructing the economy.