Welcome in Japan!!

                                                                                                                                            29/10/2012

09.00

Japan, here I am! After a twelve hour flight I finally landed and I am ready to visit this beautiful country, despite the jet lag!

22.00

Ok, maybe I needed some rest. This bed is so comfy and the flight has been sooooo long. It is late to go and visit Tokyo, but I didn't want to waste more time in this hotel room, so I did my homework. Since I know very little of Japan, I googled it and now I know anything is worth to know about Japan. I can't wait to go outside and verify if all I've read it is true! Maybe it's better if I write down what I found out:

POLITICAL SYSTEM

Japan is a constitutional monarchy. It is similar to Great Britain system because the power of the Emperor is very limited. The Emperor is the symbol of the state and the unity of people, a ceremonial figurehead. Until the Second World War, he was considered divine, but the Constitution of 1946 limits his role as a consequence of Second World War defeat.

Nowadays, the Emperor is dropping down in popularity. He broke with traditions when he apologized in national live broadcast for the Fukushima disaster: he and the Government are considered responsible for this tragedy by newborn protester movements such as Scream for the Truth, which fights also against censure.

These movements are deeply innovative and Japanese people are not used to them: Japanese society is based on respect, power acceptance and this is proved by the fact that, even if it is a democratic country, from 1996 until now the Liberal-Conservative party has always won elections.

HOW TO BEHAVE:

• Never point your feet to your interlocutor or show them in public: feet are considered dirty and showing them is a sign of disrespect!
• Never blow your nose in public. Wait and sniffle until you're alone (weird... Hope I don't catch a cold)
• Take off your shoes before walking on a tatami
• Respect personal space: Japanese people avoid touching each other and are not comfortable with hugs and back slaps (it will be hard!)
• Never leave your chopsticks standing upright in a bowl of rice, this is how rice is offered to the dead. You won't find any napkin since they don't use them
• smoking is allowed everywhere but in streets! You will find provided places where to smoke or a kind white gloved Japanese man will ask you politely to put that cigarette out

23.15

Ok! It’s late, but my stomach it started to make some strange noises. I’m starving! The first restaurant I’ll see it’s going to be the right one! I’ve always been fond of Japanese cuisine and, in particular, I’m a wasabi addicted...the first step is to admit it! Tomorrow I’ll write everything!

30.12.2012

10.00

I found out that what is commonly fought about Japanese food is absolutely true: it is really good and hard to cook. Japanese cuisine is based on fish (since the state is an archipelago) and on rice, because it rains a lot. Rice fields are spread all around the islands. The Japanese diet is extremely healthy because most of the dishes are served raw and with no addiction of grease, such as oil or butter. It is reasonable that the average older age of population is around 88 years, with a slightly difference among men and women.

While I was going to the restaurant, even though I was starving, I managed to get a look to the buildings surrounding me. They are built in a particular way as so to be more “flexible” and to resist to the frequent earthquakes that hit the country. In fact, Japan is located over four different moving tectonic plates. Amazing!

13.00

I just went out to try getting to know new people. Japanese is really a difficult language to foreigners and the writing is totally incomprehensible! Luckily, I met some people who spoke a good English (better than the average Italians) and who were glad to talk with me about their country.

They told me that Japanese society is very strict, life, education, work everything is encircled in a deep sense of duty. When someone happens to fail something (e.g. a man loses his job) it is likely that he attempts suicide to avoid the shame of having to tell it to his wife or to his family. However, nowadays this sort of endeavours are rarer than in the past. A samurai used to act a “karakiri” act when he was blamed for something: he killed himself to avoid the shame of a failure.

It is to be said that, due to the strict rules working on Japanese society, the suicide’s rate is one of the highest in the world.