Japan Visit- Reflections

Two days after ‘All fools Day’ I boarded the Japan Airlines from Indira Gandhi airport, New Delhi. No, I did not fool anyone this year nor did anyone try that on

As I stepped inside the aircraft, with a bow and a welcome smile, the air hostess took my bag pack from me, escorted me to my seat and placed the bag in the overhead locker. Wow! I thought that was really neat and comfy for a person of my age! My vegetarian meal was wholesome and moderately spicy. The flight time was over eight hours; my neighbour sat busy with his laptop and I slept. On arrival, I stepped down at Haneda airport, which is fairly large and modern.

“That was really quick,” I told the immigration officer when he returned my passport within a few minutes. He smiled and acknowledged by waving his hand. 

My son Baqar and grandson Ayaan took me to the Airbnb apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo, where Pooja received us. The entire trip’s logistics and accommodation was planned by her in consultation with her son Eshan, who was completing his semester in his college he

By and large the dimensions of all the rooms, including kitchens and toilets are very limited and cubby. Rentals are pretty high in Tokyo and for the price paid it was adequate! One has also to be prepared to sit on the floor and use the table hugging it, as we encountered in other different locations; an ordeal at my age, to sit, lie and get up! The youngsters had no issues.

Comparatively, transportation is economical in Japan, both public and private. In the US and Europe, the costs of travel by subway trains by and large match, however the surface transportation is far more costly.  We mostly used the subway trains. Travelling in the bullet train was a fine experience. Very comfortable and so fast; you reach the destination so quickly, wishing that the journey would last longer.

Talking loudly on trains is considered bad mannered and ranks highly amongst the most annoying behaviors on trains in Japan. Only on long-distance trains, on the decks between cars, is talking on the phone accepiable. Set your phone to silent mode. Set the volume of your headphones. 

However, the major gauntlet is the language barrier. This is more  evident when catching a train. All information is in Japanese with small lettered footnotes in English. My children were adept and eased the issues of the timings, change of platforms, details of trains, and so on; me a bystander. However, the officials were polite and often with the translation through the ai app they understood and assisted.

The communication predicament was faced everywhere; Nihongo, spoken by most Japanese, apparently is not an easy language to follow. However, we did encounter quite a few of those who spoke in English in a clear and pleasant voice.

It was April, the weather was pleasant and invigorating. While the sun shone it did not bite, a mild cool breeze refreshed us especially while walking. Spring was stepping in, bringing in the blossom cherry to captivate our hearts and savor our eyes.

For tourists like us Japan offers many interesting places and venues which are visually captivating, historically prominent, religious shrines and temples and ecological gratifying and congenial. We visited quite a few, leaving others for a future visit! The walk under the cherry blossom trees was exhilarating and tantalizing. The castle towers offered a challenge for our stamina and will power. We were unable to enter the Shinto temples as we needed a prior appointment. The temples in the cities were comfortably located for us to capture their pictures from outside, however, a few of them made us climb fairly long distances over hilly terrain  to reach them. The boat cruises in the river showed us various interesting areas from the river, however, we missed the commentary expounding their historical relevance and entity.

I was impressed with Akhibara, the electronic city where in one stop, all the electronic needs are displayed for sale. It is a hub for all companies to display their hardware, software and associated components.

I love Japanese cuisine, even though I am  a vegetarian. First and foremost it meets my basic requirement, it is healthy, with the right proportions of Vitamins, Proteins and Carbohydrates. It is nutritious and tasty. For the ingredients that suit you, the menu card gives the details. Sharing videos for you to have a glimpse at our choice.

During your meal it’s considered disrespectful to use the mobile phone. For urgent matters, take the call at the entrance area or outside the restaurant. Playing games on the phone is also not allowed.

Badri and Samira, my daughter in law’s parents, were travelling with us, and often preferred their country’s meal. There are around two lakhs Nepalese in Japan and we targeted Nepali hotels in every location we visited. Sharing a video from one of them.

To sum up, I enjoyed the trip as I am used to minor hiccups during my visits to new places! They add color and reminiscences which we cherish later. I would certainly like to revisit Japan, to go to the other places in the country, that I missed!

Sayonara!