Saturday, February 7, 2015

Japan: Adorable-san

In an effort to make traveling 24+ hours with an infant more tolerable and even enjoyable (side note: early data indicate this is a fool's errand), we decided to stoppover in Japan on our way back from the United States. It was the first visit to the country (outside of the airport) for all three of us.

If I must sum up Japan in one word following my 24 hours there - and I must because why else have a blog? - I would say that Japan is ADORABLE. In full realization that at various points in history this was a wholly inappropriate way to describe Japan, it is the perfect word for Japan in 2015.

Case in point: anyone and everyone in the service industry wears white gloves. Adorable. At the hotel restaurant the waitstaff brought a little child spooon, plate and bowl for Miles to use at the buffet. Adorable. Upon inspection of Miles' baby bottles while going through security, the guard proceeded to gently waft the aroma of the contents toward her nose...with a golved hand. Bizarre, but also adorable.


We had a very short time to get acquainted with Japan so our to do list was limited to buying more baby food (and an adorable baby toothbrush) and visiting the Narita Temple. In fact, we never even made it into Tokyo. But Narita was enough of a taste that we unanimously agreed we must go back for more.

There is something exhilarating about understanding only about 3% of what is going on around you. It didn't help to realize while standing in line at customs that I was even iffy on how to say "hello" or "thank you" - the two go-tos you really shouldn't get off the plane without. I said to John, "Konnichiwa, that's Japanese. Does it mean hello or good bye or thank you?"

By the following morning - bolstered by sleep in an actual bed - I was feeling more confident and was really spreading my Japanese wings. Until I realized that I was telling everyone "obridago" when I wanted to say thank you instead of "arigato." The Portuguese did not, in fact, colonize Japan.

It was not just a language barrier. And, cultural barrier doesn't seem like a strong enough description either. Cultural giant gapping valley seems more appropriate.

We arrived at the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple. It's Buddhist. But where were all the Buddhas? Yes, there were many devout visitors but there was also a random dude with a carnival game for shooting down stuffed animals.

If I were Marco Polo writing home about what I saw, my description would sound kind of like this, "the temple appears to be dedicated to some sort of cabbage. Large banners displaying said cabbage hang from the rafters and ornate garden plots of actual cabbage abound. Also, why is everyone gambling? It is unclear." See what I mean? Gapping valley of cultural disconnect.



This is why it is always good to at least visit Wikipedia before writing about a country that you know nothing about. Alas, no one was gambling. Buddhist followers were simply asking priests for prayers and guidance (but I swear the mechanism for doing this looks a lot like the betting windows at Pimlico).

As John pointed out, "You have to like a religious ceremony that features bass drums." There was also a fire ceremony going on with chanting and people intentionally bathing themselves in smoke. And there was cotton candy for sale. I don't know what any of this means.

But in a suburb of the only city on earth larger than Jakarta, we found a bit of tranquility and we had a lovely breath of fresh air. And then we saw a long line of people waiting for some delicious smelling confection, which was surprisingly not sweet and, frankly, not tasty. But the sun was shining, the public transport free and on time, and the Naritasan Temple charming and totally adorable-san.