Japan : Reasons why its the best destination in the world
I started reading Shoe Dog, book in which Phil Knight describes how he worked day in, day out and created Nike. He described how he went to japan to start his company and the bits about Japan in the book really got me excited about Japan and last summer I did end up spending 10 days in the country.
I would try to list points why i think, Japan is the best destination for a holiday.
The People
You visit Japan and interact with Japanese people and it would be really hard to believe that they were such bada** guys back in mid 20th century. The Japanese People are incredibly kind and polite, they would literally feel horrible(almost cry)as if they have harmed you in case you ask for their help and they can’t.
Japanese customs and etiquettes came as a huge surprise to me specially for an Indian like me. The trains are crowded for sure, but you will enjoy your journey in subways, with every person on the train taking care that he is not disturbing others.
Japanese people would go out of the way to help you out. Me and friend were completely drunk one day and could not find the way back to our hostel, we only wanted to be pointed to the correct direction, but the guy dropped us to our hostel even though he had to de board the train after probably a long work day. If you talk to anyone who has visited Japan he/she would surely tell you some story about how someone came all the way to return their lost item, or went completely out of the way to help them out. Unlike places like Hong-Kong, London, where people might simply turn away if you ask them something, in Japan you can be 100% sure that people will help you.
Also, most people in Japan understand english, so for english speaking tourist you should not face any language issue. Although I firmly believe when traveling in these countries, language challenge adds another fun dimension to your trip, and some of those interactions are the most memorable ones. For example once we had to catch the last subway and could not afford to take a taxi, we had to get past the language barrier to find the station, it did give us a proud feeling.
And this fact is Universally true. You learn 5–6 words in their language like thank you, welcome etc. And Locals feel crazy happy on hearing it.
Even the ticket checkers are so polite that in case you are sleeping they wont wake you up to check your ticket. We were sitting in the reserved chair car and ticket checker waited 30 minutes for us to get up from nap and then told us that we need to go to the unreserved chair car.
Incredibly Safe
Well japan is the safest place on earth. People are honest. In mostly all parts of the world, you need to be careful about being cheated somewhere, but in Japan you can roam around without worrying about those things. Even visiting the party/red light districts are safe to go by yourself.
Expensive (Not really!)
Yes Japan is expensive, but not if you spend the money wisely. Yes if you take a taxi from the airport to the city it can cost almost a quarter of your salary, but do you really need to take a taxi, when the bus and subway connectivity is so good and always on time. They even have 3 different stations at the same place. We did a complete 10 day trip without a need to take a taxi, only using public transportation. You can use the tap water for drinking. The food is 15–20% more expensive than other places, but food is never the biggest expense on a trip. The hostels in Japan are specially great and within budget. Most hostels would cost around 25 USD or less.
We had booked one day stay at a Capsule hostel in Okinawa online, and when we were extending our stay on counter, I asked for a discount (something that Indians always do) and to our surprise she did give us a discount and we think she gave us the discount only because she thought it would be rude to say NO.
I spent a total of 1700 USD including Flights from Delhi to Tokyo and back for a 10 day trip,travelling the whole of japan.
Shinkansen (Bullet Train)
Traveling in a train is so much more fun that flights, with low cost flights you would usually end up wasting your time like the picture below.
I just completely enjoyed reading a book and glancing through the window at the countryside while traveling in a train.
In Japan you can travel in almost the same time as taken by a plane in the world famous Shinkansen (considering the check in time, baggage collection). You can buy the JR pass before arriving in Japan and use the JR line subway and trains(including Shinkansen) unlimited number of times.
One of the best part of our trip was the time when we missed our train and had to wait for 25 minutes at a small station. We decided to take Japanese beer and sat at the platform looking at shinkansen WIZ past us every few minutes. Watching shinkansen go past you in full speed is a spectacular sight. It gives you goose bumps.
Japan is Huge with enough to do
Most people get surprised when they find out that Japan is bigger as compared to germany.
There are so many things to do, I will go through a list of things that we tried and recommend for people who are thinking of visiting japan
- Visit Shrines in Japan
Where the Sacred Meets the Profane
2. Onsen in Hakone
3. Water sports in Okinawa
4. Mario Kart in tokyo/Okinawa
5. Visit To the Maid Cafe in Akihabara
6. Visit Conveyor belt Sushi restaurant
7. Shibuya Crossing and Meeting Haciko
8. Visit to Osaka Red light District. Just a casual walk around the area, is some experience.
9. Mount Fuji (The sexiest Mountain in the world)
10. Beer at Tokyo Bay.
11. Experience Capsule Hostel.
12. Tokyo tower
13. Cafe’s in Shinjuku’s Memory Lane
Still there will be huge number of places that I missed.
Japan will stick with you — like till you die
After visiting japan, the country, the people, the culture sticks with you, in your head you will always have fond memories of how pleasantly different the Japanese people are. The Japanese’s etiquettes in the subway, how these people will go to all extends to help us out.
The Japanese love for vending machines.
How the Japanese use every inch of space. Their love for Anime. The crazy Japanese pachinko Centers.
These all are memories that make your trip all the more memorable. Visit to many other countries like in Europe miss this important part of the different culture of the country.
Thinking about the unique experience in Japan often brings a smile to my face and it will bring a smile to your faces as well after your trip to this great country.
