I have recently been to a trip of a lifetime and visited Japan. Blown away doesn’t even cover how I felt afterwards. So today let me tell you about all the unique things of Japan that I loved while exploring this incredible country.
Have you been to Japan? What things did you find unique and maybe you’d like to have them in your home country? Let me know in the comments! 🙂
Not a wrapper in the streets
To say that Japan is clean is an understatement. There are no bins in the streets, and yet there is not a single wrapper to be seen anywhere. Well, I’ll make one exception. When we were in Shinjuku area of Tokyo, the streets are quite littered with empty alcohol bottles etc. after the night. But they get cleared in the morning.
No one litters. Everyone takes their rubbish either home, or to one of the bazillion of convenience stores, where you can segregate your rubbish.
Everyone looks after the area they occupy. Seeing this gent hoovering the stairs at a train station brought a new meaning to Keep Your Space Clean.
On contrast, I walked down the streets of Southampton one morning, and took 11 pictures of dumped beer cans. This was a 20min morning walk.
Unreal politeness and helpfulness
Japanese politeness, and lack of selfishness is legendary. While I absolutely am not glorifying this country, and I am positive that there are awful people everywhere, I did not experience any of this during my 10 day trip around Japan.
Just the contrary.
Starting with being quiet and respecting people’s well-being in trains, through wearing a mask so that other people don’t catch your germs.
The best example of Japanese helpfulness is something that happened to me in Hakone. Our group was after a lunch spot in a small town of Hakone. The sushi place that we all descended on was too small for 12 people to be fed. A Japanese girl waiting for her take-away sushi translated for us and the chef that the chef could accommodate max 5 people. Ok, let’s go somewhere else.
I decided to go to a convenience store (they are quite amazing in Japan) just to grab a sandwich and a rice dish. When I was coming close to the store, someone tapped me on my shoulder. It was the Japanese girl from the sushi place, who did the translating for us, and who ran after me. And she ran after me to offer me… her sushi. The one she bought earlier on. I nearly hugged her. I thanked her profusely – including bowing as best as I could – and we parted ways. But my goodness, I’ll never ever forget this.
In another – small – restaurant, we got fed by one chef. All 17 people eating more than 1 course of meals got all the dishes prepared by one chef. We couldn’t tip him – this is considered rude in Japan – so we gave him a standing ovation at the end of the meal. The chef stood in front of us, in a full bow – thanking us for allowing him to serve us.
This attitude is something that I’d love to see more of in the world. Let me think of the world and people around me rather than what I can gain from whatever situation I am in.
Toilet slippers
Yes, you’ve read that right. You may have heard that in Japan you need to take off your shoes before stepping into a house or room. And yes, this is quite common.
On top of that, there are special toilet slippers in the toilets. This means that the ‘stuff’ from bathrooms doesn’t get spread around the house and outside. How genius and yet straightforward is this!
The toilets in general
Ok, we have to talk about the toilets in Japan. They are the perfect example of unique aspects of Japan that I’d love to see elsewhere.
First of all, they are insanely clean no matter when you go. Whether this is a convenience store (yes, there are toilets in convenience stores), a train station or hotels, every one of them is superbly clean.
And this isn’t because the cleaners are on stand-by to come in with a mop and sort out any mess. This is because everyone who uses them leaves them in a pristine condition. Once again, the notion of looking out for the others comes in to play. “I’ve used the bathroom so I’ll make sure I’ll leave it for others in a perfect – clean – state”.
Not to mention the fact that a toilet can clean your bum, sing a song for you, warm you… because why not! 🙂
The love for nature
The love for nature is baked into Japanese religions. However, I loved how it is visible everywhere you go.
The gardens in every city are some of the best examples of how the Japanese cherish their environment and nature. In majority of cases, lawns, trees, bushes are tended to manually. You will spot people cutting tree leaves or grass by hand. And you could argue that this is taking looking after your backyard to an extreme, but in their world, this is the way to do.
It also is linked with ikigai, their attitude to life and – among other things – process of creating anything.
In effect, you can’t help but marvel at every green spot you come across.
Unique Stamps from Shrines, Temples and Castles
This is one of the unique aspects of Japan that I wouldn’t like to have anywhere else – because these stamps make Japan so distinct.
Whenever we were in a shrine, temple or a castle, we could buy a stamp that was specific for this place. And these stamps were simply gorgeous.
The one in the picture is my favourite one. It’s from Fushimi Inari Shrine – the shrine of thousands Torri gates.
If you are visiting any of the locations that sells such a stamp, I’d encourage you to collect them. You won’t get them anywhere else 🙂
There are lots of other unique aspects of Japan that are worth mentioning! That’s why there are books about them 🙂 And yes, food is also unique – I’ve written about glorious food in Japan separately.
Now I’m keen to hear your thoughts!