India-Japan - An exchange of culture. 日本への旅.

I visited Tokyo and a prefecture in Japan for a cultural exchange program of students and youths. I was joined by 6 others from various parts of Tamilnadu and 120 others from all-over India. We were separated into 6 small groups. 8.5 hours journey from Delhi to Tokyo and the time just flew. We landed at the Narita International airport. Time difference is 3.5 hours and I had to tune my time forward!:) Tokyo, the capital city of Japan holds 10% of Japan’s population and you will never feel it is crowded. I was too excited that I kept clicking pictures of lorries, trucks and even ordinary buildings for the first few hours! :)

Hospitality is the first thing that pats you in Japan. People are polite beyond words, self-dependent, responsible and are pure workaholics. Japan has its own rules. Private transportation includes cycles and cars. Virtually no bikes!! Well-connected public transports include trains, buses and taxis. I found no one obese and people are very health conscious. Roads are pollution-free and everything is too much clean ;) It was supposed to be summer and the temperature recorded just 24 degrees Celsius! Buddhism and Christianity exist but Japan has its own ways of praying like thanking the farmers and parents before and after every meal! And not to forget, the city is busy all day but there is no noise! :o

Japan is divided into 47 prefectures such as Hyogo, Hiroshima, Ibaraki, Hokkaido, Niigata, Miyazaki etc., I visited Hyogo and Kobe, port city. The ride in the Shinkansen (bullet train) was superb, swift, punctual and comfortable. We managed to click snaps of Mount Fuji (worshipped by Japanese people as God). It is the tallest mountain covered with snow streaks and it is beautiful! While Tokyo was buildings, Kobe was the country side. The bay with no waves and mountains at the background stun you instantly! Getting on top of the port tower and looking at the entire city from that height makes you feel like God!

 

Food! They eat everything and they eat it raw!!!! And yes, Japanese people have the longest lifespan  Beef is too expensive and too tasty (heard so ;)). Cows are bathed in Sake (Japanese wine) and are fed apples!! Sushi, tempura and udong are the three Japanese delicacies that I personally tasted, purely vegetarian specially made by my host mother on my insistence :)

 

Home-stay was a part of my ten day program when each one of us had to live separately with a Japanese family for three days and two nights. There were five members in my family excluding two pups Den and Dick (Golden retrievers!). Youngsters in Japan are more into learning English and American culture and that includes my 18 year host sister too :) My host family lived in a remote place near Osaka named Mikishi. We had to change 3 trains to reach there from Kobe. Mikishi was too quiet and serene. Since it was a cultural exchange program I had to take note of the cultural similarities and differences between India and Japan. They also celebrate Diwali under the name Hanabi (Only sparkles. No crackers, no noise).

 

As for the dress, it is western everywhere. Kimono is their traditional dress which is worn only on special occasions and the summer kimono is called yukata. People mostly take bath in the night (not in the morning! :p), they eat very less but healthy food (fruits, fish and yogurt included in every meal), give importance to cleanliness (like using a hot napkin before every meal to wipe hands, wearing separate pair of slippers for outdoor, indoor and bathroom), too much importance to punctuality and work, less importance to relaxation and enjoyment, eat with chop-sticks and they give respect to everything in existence! 

And yes that's our Super Star Rajanikanth in Japan! A movie poster of Arunachalam in a local restaurant made my day!

 Technological advancement is put to best use! “Mottainai” is their motto which means “waste nothing” and they recycle everything. This includes space, food, water and garbage. All buildings are closely spaced and are built with wood and earthquake resistant rubber material which absorbs the effect of the quake. Environment is given godly respect.

Despite sky-scrapers scaling the skies, you see greenery everywhere in Japan. Cost of living is quite high, money is equally distributed and people are rich. And their ability to rebound is amazing! Be it the second world-war or the earthquakes, Japanese’ spirit soars high! Except for their robotic life and their superstitions (13th floor was missing in the two major hotels I stayed ;)) everything is positive in Japan!! My little heart still lives in Mikishi! :);)