| Japan is
probably something of an acquired taste, but once acquired, rather
addictive. It is so very different from the West, but has all the
attributes of comfort which make their culture relatively digestible.
The food is quite unbelievably wonderful; subtle, sophisticated, an
aesthetic delight and a challenge to any palette. Their architecture deceptively
simple. Clothing, drama, rituals all quite perfectly constructed.
I can fully understand how they might view us Gaijin as an inferior
civilisation. Almost anywhere in
Japan you can enjoy "kaiseki" a banquet, a work of art, the meal of a
lifetime; you may, however, end up slightly confused about which are the bits you are
meant to eat and which are mere decoration. In Hokkaido you can
indulge in an onsen, a series of hot baths, showers, cold baths, herbal
baths, sauna...and you will emerge a clean person, ready for a very large,
cold Sapporo beer.
If you can afford it, the hotels are
superlative and, best of all, you never have to feel the awkward moment of
tipping...it is simply not done. Service is what you are paying for
and therefore what you have every right to expect without paying extra for.
Now that is definitely a superior culture! |
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