Japan: A Great Place, But...

Japan, Japan, Japan. I like it here. It's an easy place to be as a monolingual American female. People generally ignore me and I am free to go about my business in peace. That statement notwithstanding, a woman actually spoke to me at the gym on Saturday while I was in the hot tub. How do you shake someone's hand when you have no clothes on? I did, and we chatted so long that I way overstayed the amount of time I should have been in the jacuzzi and came out a very pink K.

But back to Japan. It's very easy here. I work in an English-speaking environment. There are several people with varying Japanese proficiency who are always quick to help me out when I need it. I live in an area where there are lots of people who speak English (although I find that I just tend not to talk to people). The public transportation system is pretty incredible. I will say, though, that I am non-plussed that the trains don't run 24 hours. If I decide to go in to Tokyo for the evening I have to either start heading back home around 11:30 or commit to staying out until the trains start running again around 5 am.

I also don't like the earthquakes. Or the spring winds that rage this time of year. Or the fact that not only does Japan NOT participate in daylight savings time, but Japan should be moved one time zone to the west. It is not normal for the sun to come up at 4 am at this lattitude.

Those minor annoyances (along with the stifling heat and humidity of summer) aside, Japan is pretty okay. However, it's not the kind of place people want to visit. During all the times I've been in Japan, I've had exactly 5 visitors (one of whom came twice). Ken is finally coming at the end of April for two weeks. But even getting him here took some work. Who wants to come to Japan when there's earthquakes, heat, humidity, and the sun rises ridiculously early?

If more people knew the Statue of Liberty actually sat on Tokyo Bay, I think the number of tourists Tokyo sees per year would jump dramatically.