The land of cute

Sorry it`s been so long since my last post! I`ve been in Japan for about 10 days now. The country is very different to China, or to anywhere else I`ve been through for that matter. Of course there`s the whole politeness thing. Whenever I walked into the 7-11 convenience store near Akinobu`s house, any staff within earshot would say "aregato gotsaimas" (thank you very much), every minute or so. And after I bought something and was about to leave, all the staff would say it in unison, bowing slightly. I was also surprised when I came across a line of people queueing for the bus. In China, it`s always a mad scramble to the doors, to try to get a seat, or at least a decent place to stand. So when I saw people queueing patiently it seemed a bit ridiculous, and I was sorely tempted to just push my way to the front, until I realised with a shock that I would naturally have joined the queue in Britain.

Meals in restaurants are always presented beautifully, with several dishes in a selection of small bowls, which are sometimes handmade. But one of the first things I noticed was how unbelievably cute the automated train and bus announcements were, when they were in a female voice. It has to be heard to be believed! Another thing about Japan is how fashionable everyone is. They were fashionable in Russia and China, but the Japanese really have style. I`ve heard fashions here change every couple of months. At moment it`s all the rage for girls to wear their hair in a ponytail which is towards the side of their head, instead of being directly at the back.

I spent a week in Kyoto. It`s a beautiful city, surrounded by forested mountains on three sides. Wherever the mountains meet the city there are temples and shrines galore. Kyoto is said to have a 1000 temples, and I can well believe it. Most of them have lovely gardens, as well as many Buddhist and Shinto gateways and huge wooden halls. I found my favourite shrine on my last day in Kyoto. A small shrine up in a wooded stream valley in the hills, it doesn`t have the grandeur of other places, but feels much more intimate and close to nature. The bunches of freshly cut flowers show it`s still cared for. And what really drew me in was the waterfall clearly meant for bathing in. Of course, I had to strip off and give it a go.