Anyone ever been to Japan?

[rumguy]

What's it like?

[Catch22Dem]

1. Lived in Okinawa for four years

Best four years of my life. I was in the military, but my wife, daughter, and I made a point of getting off the base every chance we could, so we could explore the island and its culture. We're really grateful for the experience! It's such a beautiful place, and the people are absolutely incredible. Imagine all they've been through. You could still read the pain in some of the old folks' faces.

[WindRavenX]

2. I wish!

I speak Japanese and I really want to go someday soon...

[Nightowl_2004]

3. It's Awesome!!!

I went on a student exchange and lived in my sister city (Wadayama, Japan) for a while. A Truly Amazing Place!!! I can't wait to go back there (somehow, I'll figure out a way....)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. I'm there now

for the ninth time, this time for a two-week work-related trip.

Japan is indescribable. Before I first went, I heard other graduate students' Japan stories for four years, and it still didn't prepare me.

Maybe a video of what I see walking around here would be an adequate description, but here's my attempt:

Imagine a country that is completely modern but not Western, a country that has all the American fast food places but there's something indescribably Japanese about them, a country where English signs are everywhere and few people actually speak English, a country where most people's ancestors have been in the same place for about 2,000 years, a country that produces anime and manga and horror movies but still has Zen temples and people who play the koto, the world's second largest producer of automobiles where nearly everyone uses public transit, absolutely frenetic cities and absolutely peaceful countryside, an ethnically homogeneous country but with strong regional differences, a country that I have been visiting since 1977 which never fails to surprise me.

The best portrayal of typical middle-class Japanese life that I have seen is the movie Shall We Dance, starring Koji Yakusho. It's available with English subtitles.

[rumguy]

5. thanks for the info.

I'm kickin' for more.