Japan is the first country that comes to our minds when we think of the Far East. It is a nation that has experienced great destructions as well as its glorious history, but has managed to rise up every time with the consciousness of being a nation. In this article, I would like to share my impressions about this beautiful island country that has adapted its historical texture to the new century.
Taking advantage of living in South Korea, we landed at Narita Airport in Tokyo with a two-hour flight from Incheon Airport.After entering the country very easily with the visa application at the door, we set off towards the city center by public transportation.In the first hours I was in Japan, I didn’t feel much different from South Korea, but as we approached the city center, the landscape started to change. As we started to go deeper into the city center, we came across a classic Asian metropolis again. Skyscrapers lined up in rows and brightly lit billboards adorning all the buildings that I could never get used to…
After settling into our hotel room, we hit the streets to explore the city. I really liked the subway stations. Although less developed than in South Korea, the aged look of the subway stations in Japan made me feel like the journey had just begun.
If you really want to get to know the country you are traveling to, prefer public transportation in long distances and walking if possible in close distances. You will have a better idea about the culture of the place when you blend in with the locals and follow their daily routines. First of all, everyone is very respectful to each other in the subways. I can say this in general for my observations during my whole trip to Japan. But as an urban legend, not everyone sits with a book in their hands. Here you can best observe the tiredness brought by the metropolitan life and hustle and bustle at the end of the day. While the eyelids resist the exhaustion, one of your ears is listening to the next station announcement that will bring you home … Or people spending time with their phones. Of course, this is not to say that Japanese people do not read books. Bookstores, book cafes and the feeling of calmness of people leave you with positive feelings about reading habits. One of our stops on our trip to Tokyo was Jimbocho, a street with shops selling second-hand books. If you like reading Manga, I highly recommend you to visit Akihabara.
With 14 million residents, Tokyo is one of the most densely populated capitals in the world. The Japanese government provides financial support to those who want to move out of the city to reduce the population density in the city, but the variety of economic opportunities in the city center makes it difficult for people to leave. In addition, the social and cultural opportunities that Tokyo brings are also among the reasons why the population is dense here. But despite all this density, the city is really clean and organized. We did not feel insecure at any stage of the trip. People who left their bags on the table and went to order or the money found on the road and left aside.
Tokyo has been destroyed several times until today, and each time it has risen again as a Japanese miracle.1923 In the great earthquake of 1940, 140,000 people lost their lives in both the destruction and the fires caused by the earthquake. When the plan for the reconstruction of the city exceeded the budget, they gave priority to infrastructure. Five years after the destruction, the subway station opened. Infrastructure was followed by investments in education and culture, and by 1940 Tokyo was already back to its good old days. But this time war struck the city. Nearly 200,000 civilians were killed in the bombings, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki… The education system and work patterns in Japan were shaped in part by the lessons learned from these days – the fear that if they weren’t the best at what they did, someone better than them would come along and take it all away.
We continue to walk the streets of Japan. I’m looking for the shop of my Japanese friend whom I met in a hostel in Thailand a few years ago. He runs a hair salon in a neighborhood where the majority of beauty salons are located. The population here is younger and since it’s not a tourist destination, the majority are locals. The Japanese definitely have their own sense of fashion. I was planning to get a haircut as a memory, but I found it a bit risky and changed my mind. We sat in a cafe and started to watching people. It started to rain, the umbrellas opened. I never got used to the umbrella while wearing a raincoat, but in cities like Tokyo where there is heavy traffic and industrial activities, the rain is just as dirty due to air pollution. For this reason, people take care to carry umbrellas. We said it’s nice to get wet and we continue our way towards the temples, museums and busy streets of the city.
See you in the next article 🙂
Goodbye
