Two things I brought home from Japan

Instead of a recap of the whole trip which would be interesting only to me (in a nutshell, it was a mixture of cultural travel and spring break shenanigans), here is an offering of my two favorite experiences in Japan:

Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo: I gorged on uni, which I have praised in a previous post. It's basically my favorite food in the world at the moment. The uni I had at 7 am one morning after visiting the famous wholesale fish market was an unusual breakfast, I grant. But oh my gosh, was it soft, fresh and delicious. I wish I had pictures of my chirashi bowl, which also contained slices of tuna and salmon roe, but the establishment didn't allow photos. All I have is these of the little restaurant district that adjoins the market. The meal I chose is pictured on the second row from the bottom. See the gorgeous yellow color of the uni peeking out? My companion was a first-year student, Vishal, who was on a pilgrimage in search of baby octopus. We sat together and ate in quiet reverence, pausing only to praise or share a morsel.

The Japanese people: I'm not going to say I'm a big expert now or that I met every last one of them, but the ones I did encounter did help to enlighten me about Japanese culture and customs. I used to think the culture rather stiff and artificially formal, with lots of hidden societal problems and tastes that lean toward the small and cute rather than the large and grand. Then of course there is that nasty business of past Japanese imperialism in China and Korea. But the visit helped me gain a more multi-dimensional perspective - which is the most valuable thing a person can gain from traveling abroad - and better appreciate Japanese culture (not excusing the imperialism).

I was struck by how comfortable and safe I felt at all times, unlike when I'm traveling in other foreign places. Never did I have to worry about a harsh word or a rude tone. My wallet, which I left behind in a stadium in Osaka after a Sumo tournament, was tagged and filed away by the staff before I even got back to the place where I had lost it. People bent over backwards to help me and my friends, and they did it all with a spring in their step and a pleasant manner. (Picture this: Our first day in Japan, we stand helpless in front of a bank of subway ticket machines in Kyoto trying to figure out how to purchase our fares, when a section of the wall in front of us actually opens and a man pops out his head to assist us).

Suffice it to say, I'm now a big fan of the Japanese notion of separating public behavior and private feeling. I see the value of behaving one way in public, regardless of how you feel inside, and helping to maintain an extreme kind of social order. The calmness may be superficial, but it sure does remind you that your fellow man is someone to be respected, not constantly struggled against. (Don't ask me to reconcile this with a horror story I heard from Tony, my very emo Taiwanese friend who lives in Tokyo. He was jailed for 2 weeks, after he aroused policemen's suspicions by being dressed in all-black and having a pocket knife in his backpack. He was eventually released with no charge.)