Final thoughts

We both enjoyed our trip to Japan.  It was an unexpected experience.  The best way to explain Japan was that it is thoroughly modern, yet very Japanese in that they have not lost their culture.  Rather they have incorporated the technology into their culture.  As a visitor it makes it fascinating as everything is so different yet in some things there is familiarity.  

There are not a lot of signs with English script we would recognise but they are in most critical places like railway stations and the airport.  Many of the restaurants have English menus and if there isn’t there are always pictures.  English is not widely spoken but pointing is very useful way of communicating. 

The other noticeable thing or should I say it is notable that we did not see one bit of graffiti in Tokyo or Kyoto. There are no beggars that we saw.  We were told that there is not a homeless problem although we were told that the homeless went to internet cafes during the night where there were beds. 

The infrastructure is superb.  We had a pocket wifi which cost $26 for the week and we were always connected to the internet no matter where we were.  I had wifi calling on my phone so I could call home easily with only my usual minutes being used. 

The metro is superb, a combination of underground and overground lines which are run by different companies.  Thus you find different stations for various companies.  They are linked but it does make it rather confusing at times.  Without a Snapper type card you would have to buy tickets for several different companies offerings. I eventually figured out some of what I needed but it was a bit confusing.  Nonetheless we worked it out and after week felt fairly confident in getting around Tokyo.

The other surprise was the number of cyclists on the streets and footpaths.  It was not surprising given that Tokyo was very flat.  I was very amused to see one cyclist on a wet day cycling holding an umbrella.  How he did not come off I don't know.  While Tokyo is huge the amount of traffic was as bad as I expected, I guess that is because people do use the trains which go everywhere and are ver frequent.  

I expected to see lots of smoking but restaurants had no smoking areas where most people sat.  The young people certainly weren't smoking.  

The every day courteousness of the people was the other impressive thing which really enjoyed.  The people were generally friendly and helpful.  Despite being a large city, Tokyo felt very safe.  

One of the things that we noticed was that unlike New Zealand and Australia, Tokyo and Kyoto felt really homogeneous with few people of other ethnicities apparent.  Limited immigration has kept a very homogeneous society but that is not say that they have not adopted cuisines from other countries, like France or Italy.   

A revisit is on the cards to see more of the country.  Seven days was a short visit!