Japan-Journal : notes & observations from Nippon
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The first step into the plane creates already a change in my state of mind. A friendly ”Konichiwa!” from a Japanese stewardess brings up a variety of emotions. Familiar feelings, which I did experience in my past travels to the land of the rising sun.
Japan, a country with a truly unique culture. A mix of respected traditions and modern inventions. A proud country with a violent past. Fascinating to so many and always claiming a top position on the bucket lists of a multitude of travellers. Seemingly a place, everybody wants to go to nowadays.
But I have not been one of them. For me, my relationship with ”Nippon” was a slow affair: a shy first encounter, followed by a number of repeated visits, which felt like a long row of dates before a first hushed kiss on the cheek.
The first time I came to Japan was mostly for private family reasons, with only a few days as a tourist. And this was, how it continued. I even visited during Covid times, when literally nobody else was allowed to enter the country and I started to feel like a Dutch merchant during the period of “Sakoku” (1603–1867), when no foreigners were allowed to step foot on the islands with a few singular exceptions.
No, Japan was not really on my list of “places to travel”, or at least it was much further down — behind other places, like Senegal, Costa Rica, Laos or Bhutan. Yet, life throws us always into situations, we never really expected — and thus developed my slowly growing appreciation of this unique culture.
When we Westerners (of my generation) are aware of history, visiting “foreign lands” comes with some luggage of old-style explorer-emotions and historical references. So early on (already in the 80´s) during my worldwide travels, I developed an attitude of “respectful curiousness”, in which we are not only aware of being in a different place, but also have a humble attitude towards the “life of the locals”. We do not assume; we do not feel superior; we respect the other; we are aware of our common humanity and we are ready to “celebrate our diversity”. I still think, this is the best way to travel to any place — especially, when when we do not really know much about the culture or the people, we encounter.
I friendly answered ”Konichiwaaaa!” and walked down the aisle behind an older Japanese woman, who was sitting in the row before me. Her repeated bowing as a sign of gratitude, combined with a quiet ”arigato gozaimasu!” after I helped her putting a bag into the overhead bin, was just another tiny reminder of every day life in Japan.
Everybody always bows.
This is a sign of traditional respect, we know — but it comes also as a kind of rhythm, moving through the day. When you leave the bus (in front!), you politely bow to the driver; the employees at the gas station bow a few times, when one pulls in with the car (yes, like in old times, there are a few workers, waiting to friendly serve you!); the sales person at the store, bows calmly and professionally, after handing you your bag when leaving the store — and receiving all these bows, we automatically begin ourselves to respond — either with a smiling nod or a hint of a an upper torso bending — subsequently also entering the Japanese body rhythm movements…
When I sat down in my seat, I immediately felt more relaxed. I suddenly realized the meaning of “Japan” — if only through a tiny glimpse into the vast treasures of a culture and its heritage. I realized, that after some visits, I had begun to understand some of its intricacies and strange peculiarities. It felt like meeting an old acquaintance, a friendly and warm sensation. “Yes”, I thought“…this country has grown on me.”
The plane was maybe filled with 50% Japanese and listening to the language bits and pieces during the commotion of flight preparations were a somewhat familiar backdrop which further calmed me down. I took three deep breaths and I felt safe, cherishing the moment to start yet again another journey into the land in the east.
And so begins my Japan-Journal, because this time, I have decided to talk about these journeys, to tell some stories, as there are indeed many stories to tell. Yet writing this here is also a bit about my own discovery — including writing in my 2nd language. I am very aware, that not all my words may flow smoothly — but please think of this as part of the journey, because when traveling to Japan, only a minority of Japanese do indeed speak English well.
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all photos are mine and © villamondial / World Culture Group
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