Notes on Japan, pt. 2

Last time we were in Japan (mostly Tokyo), we were wowed by the efficiency of everything. All things, down to the smallest details, seemed well-thought out and every inconvenience or small discomfort eradicated.

I have some little tidbits about my trip this year that didn't really fit anywhere, just small observations of the place, the trip, and myself.




This time around, I was so tired and my feet were so sore. I blame age, a less active lifestyle and weight, and a terrible sleep schedule all taking its toll on my body.

Buying 3 towels... 2 in one day... losing one... after never using it. I have never bought towels for no reason before, and it kills me, but they were "required" for foot baths and onsen, unless we wanted to shake ourselves dry.



Vending machines... apocalypse.

Something we had noticed last time, was that everyone going to work dressed the same, especially businessmen. This time, in the dog days of summer, we came across a group of businessmen all dressed the same, outside an izakaya alleyway: black pants, white or light blue dress shirt (short sleeve for the humidity) and same black backpack/briefcase. It oddly felt like coming across a school group, except for their age and briefcases.



A word I had never encountered before my trip, was "douzo". I kept hearing it everywhere, but could not grasp the exact meaning as it seemed to be used for a variety of purposes, sometimes seemingly unrelated. "Next", "please", "thank you", it is a word that can be used for many situations.

After reading Pachinko, noticed the abundance of pachinko parlours that I had not noticed at all during my last visit. It filled me with both a sense of intrigue and sadness.



Packaging, packaging, so much packaging! Japan is notorious for overpacking everything - even though it is usually beautiful, I despise how much waste is generated, especially of the plastic variety. They gave bags for your bags, and there were plastic bags for every tiny little purchase at the convenience store or shops, before you could even refuse it. Living in a place that has long banned free plastic bags, it was nice at first because I used all the bags to store my dirty clothes and shoes, but then there was an overabundance of them and I had to throw some away.

It has always intrigued me how others live their everyday life, and I love seeing the little bits and pieces that are similar or different on the other side of the world. It helps me reflect on what I take for granted, what I think we could do better, and the little efficiencies and nuances that had never even crossed my mind.