When packing for Japan, I was advised to put my best clothes into a suitcase, drive into an abandoned warehouse and burn it. “You best shop there if you want to make any kind of impression. The Japanese sense of style is pure elegance. You might stand out like a sore thumb,” a friend who visits Japan frequently told me, kindly. Luckily, I ignored her advice, bought my JR Green Pass, packed sensibly and set out to explore the Land of the Rising Sun. I did gawk at the street fashion — perfectly tailored short dresses teamed up with understated but highly functional designer flats, the occasional graceful kimono in the subway or on street corners, men in Yakutas, the plainer version of the kimono. But it is also fine to be different from the crowd, to wear your Indian prints and bright colours with a casual indifference, as Japanese people do not stare. Even if you are obviously a foreigner in a sea of Oriental faces, who dresses and speaks very differently.
My trip took me from Osaka to Tokyo and back again in the company of relatives now settled in Australia with roots in Japan. The plan was to eat my way through the trip and pamper my tastebuds. Easy peasy. At the end of three weeks, I found Japan delicious, kind, ridiculously clean, freaky, cute and the kind of country everyone must visit at least once. I, for one, plan to return to enjoy the perks of a culture where respect is paramount. Respect for food — never had a bad meal here even in fast food restaurants as food is prepared and served with reverence, great service and a no-tipping culture that rounds off the whole dining out experience perfectly. Add to that a deep respect for nature, for honesty, manners, time, hygiene and beauty. Phew. Great for a first time visit, but I never got to peek at the weird manga, anime, school girl fetish scene that adds another dimension to this wonderfully disciplined, rule abiding populace.
I arrived in Osaka towards the tail end of the cherry blossom season. The weather was perfect and we settled ourselves in Rokko Island, a man made island off Kobe, luxe, quiet and connected by an efficient monorail system.
Armed with our JR pass getting to all the major cities and sights was a breeze.
The days flew by, marked by super efficient rail trips on the famed Shinkansen or bullet trains. Everything, I heard about them was true. Clean, punctual and reliable. Polite staff who bow while inspecting your tickets, passengers who leave the compartment to take a call, plush seats, gleaming toilets, picture windows and smiling attendants with cold towels and green tea and trolleys full of Hello Kitty merchandise while the countryside rushes past at a soundless 200 kmph.
Train travel, anywhere else can never measure up to this. Ever. Thanks to the super efficiency of the bullet trains we were able to pack a lot of sight seeing into our itinerary very quickly. We went from the lush gardens of Khanazawa to Japan’s most beautiful surviving feudal castle in Himeji, from the manic buzz and glitz of Tokyo and Osaka, the stunning Golden Pavilion in Kyoto to the sober, resurrected grandeur of Hiroshima, every city left a lasting impression on our palates and our latent memories.
Okonomiyaki — a savoury cake of batter, vegetables and noodles, fried to perfection and drizzled with sauce was yum. Delicate slivers of Kobe beef lightly sautéed to melting perfection and fresh sushi and sashimi that tastes of the ocean, eel, delicate white prawns, tender octopus morsels, bowls of rich miso soup, silky tofu, rare sea urchins, fresh French breads (some even better than Paris), decadent confectionary, strange cheese, deceptively mild sake and the best lobster I’ve ever tasted. Arigatogozaimas — a wonderful culture where good manners and kindness to strangers helps overcome language and cultural barriers with ease.
