Japan Might Be My Favorite Country

I just arrived last night to Japan, and I honestly think Japan might be my favorite country. I’ve been to Japan many times (I’m half-Japanese so used to come every year as a kid), but every time I come back I’m still blown away. Don’t get me wrong I’m not necessarily saying I would live here, but I think as a country to visit it is one of the most interesting places with one of the most fascinating cultures. Japan is a vibe, and is truly like nowhere else on the planet.

I arrived to Fukuoka thinking I’d walk around for a couple hours then get bored, but ended up walking and exploring until 1am. Within an hour I saw an outdoor festival with the most hilarious muscle boy idol group performance, a vaporwave looking mall with all kinds of anime toys and games, little ramen stalls by the canal with a pink sunset in the sky, narrow streets with “Midnight Diner” style intimate countertop restaurants, helped a drunk man out of a canal, and walked through Shinjuku style red light districts with flashing neon lights and male host clubs and the promoters wearing the most outrageous wigs.

A lot of what I love about Japan are the little things. The lobby of the hotel I’m staying in instead of just selling you bags of mixed nuts directly has one of those toy ball machines where you put coins in and get a ball filled with bags of mixed nuts. Vending machines everywhere. Japanese convenience stores are on another level. The food and the whole restaurant experience I’ve realized are my favorite in the world. Most polite people on the planet. Beautiful fox temples in the middle of the city.

Most polite people on the planet

Japan’s the type of place where you might get greeted with an enthusiastic “irashaimase!” (welcome) walking into a convenience store, walk around and not buy anything, and then be told “arigatou gozaimasu!” (thank you) on the way out.

Yesterday I was at a convenience store about to go to the cash register when something else caught my eye so I paused to take a long look. Afterwards I went to go towards the cash register and someone else had beaten me there. No worries, I’ll wait behind him I thought. Nope, this man insisted I go first, even after I declined. This seems so small and insignificant, but I was moved to the core. I don’t think this could happen anywhere else in the world.

The traffic workers here will stop cars to let you cross and then tell you “arigatou gozaimasu”!

Best food and dining experience

Japan has regained my crown as best food country in the world which I formerly might’ve given to Korea or Singapore. What makes Japanese dining so special is not only the food itself, but the whole experience. You’re getting 5 star service in a random low budget curry chain or ramen shop.

The food itself is of course incredibly delicious and healthy - I won’t say anything there that hasn’t already been said. What I’ve realized I really appreciate about the food is how I feel afterwards - not bloated and sluggish, not craving more carbs and/or dessert, my stomach not some brewing storm of spices - just the perfect level of contentment. After my morning sushi today I felt energized to walk around, explore, and get some work done. After a pizza or heavy western meal, I’ll probably instead feel bloated and wanting to take a nap.

But what really sets the dining experience apart is the service, decor, and atmosphere. I already spoke to how amazing the service is - enthusiastic greetings, the warm towel to wash your hands, little things like giving you a box to place your backpack. The decor is often classy and minimal (I love the wood they use).

But what I’ve realized about the restaurants is that there’s no kitchen in the back staffed with underpaid immigrants, you watch them cook right in front of you. Especially in Fukuoka, most of the restaurants here are these small intimate countertop restaurants (like the Japanese TV show “Midnight Diner”) where the chef takes your order and makes your food right in front of you. It makes for a very personal and intimate dining experience.

Attention to detail

In Japan, your sushi chef isn’t just carelessly slapping together rice and fish. People here take their craft very seriously, and that’s why their cuisine - as minimal as it often is - is world class. As a customer, I appreciate the hell out of this.

Quirkiness

That random performance at a street festival of these “muscle boys” was probably the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. It was just so absurd, I can’t imagine that happening anywhere outside of a Japan. Although they all had six packs and most had impressive physiques, it was clearly a comedic performance and I don’t think anyone could watch that and not have a smile on their face.

With all the games (arcade games, card games, videogames, etc.), anime, characters, Gundam, etc. there’s definitely a craziness to the culture that I love.

Anyways I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at this for now.

If you haven’t been to Japan yet, Japan is an absolute must. Even as someone who’s already been to Japan, I’m blown away every time I come back.

It’s surprised me to realize how much of “me” is Japanese even though culturally I grew up in the U.S. I resonate a lot with the attention to detail and pride they take in their craft, the politeness and sense of justice when it comes to things like waiting in line, efficiency, striving for the best, quirkiness, etc. Now I don’t resonate with everything (eg. conformity, overstaffing), but I definitely resonate with so much of their culture and wish the west would incorporate more of the positive elements (eg. at the least, bidet toilets and vending machines).

I’ll say though - I’m really glad I decided to visit a new part of the country I’ve never been to though. Initially I was going to book a flight to Tokyo, but the flight ticket was way more expensive than I expected so I booked here for 1/3 the price (from Seoul), and am so glad I did. Even though I’ve been traveling the world for the past 5 years, it’s easy for me to default to laziness and going to the same places, so this was a good reminder for myself to change things up. I’m trying to explore more off the beaten path now, and I think it is actually a great strategy to enter countries in less touristic cities first if logistic allows.

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