The world of the Japanese

Here are a few of the things I have found in Japan that are different than in Taiwan. Some of them are endearing, and some of them are a little annoying.


1. Whenever you enter a building of nearly any kind, you must take off your shoes and put on house slippers. In your own house, hotel rooms, at school, and at the dentist office. It does cut down on the amount of floor-cleaning you have to do, but constantly switching shoes gets old after awhile. At the dentist office, they have fake-leather slippers with the office logo on them that are sitting in a warming closet so they are nice and toasty when you put them on. It would be nice in the winter, but hot shoes in the heat of Japanese summer isn't all that pleasurable. This picture is at the entrance of a school. Shoes everywhere. For real. These people take the shoe thing very seriously.


2. Taiwan has scooters, Japan has bicycles. Thousands everywhere. We are one out of the only like ten motorcycles in Nagoya. The bikes are all granny-style with baskets. The best innovation, though, is the umbrella-holders that are attached to the handlebars so you have have your umbrella held over you when you ride (rain or sun...both are appaling to the Japanese.) Everyone rides bicycles--from the grandmas, to the hip teenagers, to the professional businessmen...it's funny how dignified people can still act when they are straddling a pink 1-speed bike.


3. These are the torii gates you find throughout Japan. They're pretty sweet. They are probably my favorite pieces of architecture here in Japan.


4. Yakitori. Meat on a stick was a great invention..