2/23/17
For most people it’s the food. Think about those rare times you’ve shelled out some real monies for insanely good sushi. You can get that caliber at 7-11 in Japan and it only gets better from there. Tempura fit for gods and gyoza like you’ve never had it. Every restaurant offers “party platters” that deliver the amounts you’ve always dreamed of ordering but never had the opportunity. It’s enough to make the trip. But it wasn’t the food.
That's a party platter.
For others it’s the people. So nice they make Australians seem standoffish. Everyone in Japan has a smile with genuine happiness behind it – smiles like these are so pure that it makes you want to leave social media and never look back, for these are real smiles. Japanese also posses a remarkable quality that combines pride and an utter willingness to drop everything to assist foreigners in their quest for Tepanyaki, or Ramen, or gyoza (gyoza my god the gyoza). Though we experienced unbridled kindness from all walks of life, that wasn’t what did it for me.
That's 90 pieces of fresh Gyoza.
What got me to buy tickets was the powder – that should be enough for anybody living in a sunburnt country. It was so light and plentiful that there were days when you didn’t actually shred or rip, it was just float from the top of the mountain to the bottom, as if on the back of Totoro himself. I’m tempted to say it was the powder for me but alas, a constant barrage of giant flakes dumping and first tracks each morning still was not it.
That's what the powder looked like on a mediocre day.
Some like to praise the culture and I get that. It’s old and deep and has achieved such a beautiful harmony with the modern world that you can’t help but soak it in. The amount of unique heritage in such a small geographic footprint relative to the world makes an insatiably intriguing environment. This gets closer to why Japan is now top on my list but it’s too broad.
That's the Imperial Palace in the heart of Tokyo.
It’s the details that have me frothing, drooling, literally pining to return. There is a relentless drive for perfection in Japanese innovation that gets to life’s nitty gritty problems and fixes them. It’s as if their first emperor said “we have the tools, let’s fix it, all of it, that’ll be our thing you guys.”
And fix it they did.
Let me tell you about their heated toilet seats. Japan has recognized the most intimate of problems and taken the initiative to solve it. After some very light and shaky internet research, I have Hiroshi Nishinaka to thank for elevating what is beyond a doubt, the most important part of every day.
This weighs the complexity of the Darth Vader robot toilet which at times introduces an overly mechanic element to what should be mostly organic and maintains the much needed balance of design and ultimate utility. I experienced these when sitting in China and couldn’t shake the feeling that capitalism had come to join me though I didn’t extend an invite. Fans and beeps followed by jets and even fake water noises put me on edge when I should have been centered. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to be greeted by the silent work of a quaint electrical cord that made sure I had a comfortable landing to do my business every time. It was remarkable.
This is but one of infinite details Japanese innovation has solved for, and I spent every moment appreciating all my experiences because someone like Hiroshi had thought them out so thoroughly, there was no option but to smile with genuine happiness.