Quote:
Originally Posted by billysweird
troo you remind me of the kind of guy that coughs blood and faints alot for no aparent reason.
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I have blood gushing from my nose right this very second
I also love:
Umbrella stands: You can pop your umbrella in a stand outside most shops, museums, and even many houses, and no matter how long you're inside, nobody steals it. Your umbrella is still there, unharmed, with no nasty surprises lurking inside. I know, I'm starting to give the impression that England is a cesspool
Blue roofing tiles: Every now and then you'll see a house with blue roof tiles. I think they look stunning. Obviously if everyone's roof were blue it'd get old, but just to see them once in a while is glorious.
Kit-Kats: Japanese Kit-Kats come in a startlingly wide array of flavours. Over here we just get the basic Kit-Kat, a mint one, an orange one, and a dark chocolate one. Occasionally we'll get something else, but it's rare. In Japan I've had vanilla, cookies and cream, green tea, and goodness knows what else.
Calpis boiled sweets: My god. They really do taste of Calpis!
Aquarius: I love the stuff, and it's nigh-impossible to get hold of in the UK. The lovely people at The Japan Centre looked quite apologetic when I asked if they ever planned to stock any, and responded with "We have Pocari Sweat..." Yes, and sadly Pocari Sweat genuinely tastes of sweat. For an invigorating, easy drink when you're hot and tired, nothing beats Aquarius. It's seen me through many days of castles, temples, shrines and shopping.
Reading: The Japanese are avid readers. When a writer's despondent about the low percentage of readers in the world, they should head to Japan.
Children: Now, I loathe children. I loathe the way we treat them like, well, babies until they're about sixteen, then suddenly expect them to behave like adults. I loathe juuuust about everything about kids. But in Japan, they're treated with respect, and very much as though they are simply miniature adults. They're not coddled, innocence is not forced upon them in some idealised attempt to protect them from the world, and they're not treated like idiots. In return, Japanese children are generally more well-balanced, well-behaved, and tolerable than our little b*ggers. They'll get themselves to and from school, they'll queue and follow their teachers around tourist attractions, and while they're obviously as rowdy as any other children when they cram onto a bus, their rowdiness doesn't spill out onto other passengers. Two thumbs-up to Japanese parenting!
Yakuza: A strange one, I know. But it does amuse me that the criminal element keep offices and regular working hours, and that one can make an appointment with one's friendly local loan shark in comfortable surroundings and have a surprisingly pleasant experience getting one's illegal business dealt with. Obviously I am in no way condoning finger-breaking, prostitution, or other illicit activities, but only in Japan would the mafiosos rent office space and have business cards.
Koban: At the other end of the spectrum is the prevalence of little police huts staffed with three or four officers whose job is mostly to provide a helping hand to anyone who needs it. You're never far from a koban, and thus never far from someone who's happy to provide directions, give emergency aid, and recommend a good local restaurant.
Honesty: Lost something? You can almost guarantee that if someone's found it, they've handed it over to the police. Even cash. Even large sums of cash, intact.