Japan:10 Best Things

Okay, continuing from our last post...

Ten things we LOVE about Japan

1o. Bowing This is a really nice custom. There are times when a handshake would be weird, but a bow is perfect and polite. After a transaction at a store or restaurant, the employee and customer bow to one another. I also find it useful in the car, in place of a wave.

9. Coffee and French Bakeries Everyone knows the Japanese love tea, but what I didn't realize how much they love coffee. There are amazing coffee shops on every corner. A common in menu item is "American Style Weak Coffee". There are a plethora of french bakeries here offering very authentic pastries and bread. French pastry without the french attitude-Heaven!

8. Karaoke Seriously, I'm not kidding. But only Japanese style. I will never do karaoke in the states, but if you ever come to visit us, you're singing. (Dave does a great rendition of Bobby McGee.)

7. Eating Out This is also on our "hate" list. But the great thing about eating out here is there are restaurants everywhere. Of course lots of Japanese food, but pretty much any other ethnic food you'd want. Everyone always says how expensive Japan is, and some things are, but eating out is pretty cheap for the most part. And we haven't had a bad meal yet.

6. Public Transit The train system is quick, reliable and far reaching. It's great not having to rely on the car.

5. Safety Japan is one of the safest industrialized nations in the world. Tokyo is the largest city in the world. The Tokyo murder rate for 2005 was 1.4 per 100k people. By contrast NYC's rate was 7.37, Philly: 23.26 and Baltimore: 41.89. (via cityrating.com)

4. Unexpected Beauty This part of the country is full of urban sprawl, so it's hard to notice some of these little things at first, but around every corner in our neighborhood is a little garden or small well tended park. The plantings have been planned so there is always something blooming. Right now there are hydrangeas here-beautiful!

3. Fashion The clothes are beautiful for both men and women.

2. People The people are wonderful. They are generous, polite and accomodating. Most are fiercely proud of their culture, and in our experience, very excited to share it with us. People often go out of their way to help when we're confused. No one has ever really been rude just indifferent, which is just fine by me. The little kids do stare at us though. The children are so cute, some schools wear matching yellow hats and backpacks-they look adorable walking down the street!

1. Drink Machines No joke. There are more varieties of beverages here than I have ever seen. They're on every corner and some offer hot and cold beverages-even soup. Most have several varieties of iced coffee, so you can grab a caffeine fix in between the gourmet coffee shops. Some machines vend beer, sake and mixed cocktails. It's crazy, and so Japanese.