Page 26 - WDT Winter 2018 japan

discovering Japan a real adventure. Some of those dif-
ferences are simply visual – kimono-clad women and
signs everywhere in kanji, the Japanese writing system
based on Chinese characters. Less obvious, are the
different cultural traditions and customs.
Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the
world, and it is extremely clean and tidy. Even in the
busiest cities, we visited, including Tokyo, there was
very little litter anywhere, including in public transporta-
tion hubs, streets or alleys. No cigarette butts cluttered
parks or promenades, even though there are lots of
smokers here.
Cleanliness and neatness are part of the cultural
fiber in Japan. We were witness to it everywhere we
traveled – from the hot towels presented before meals
in restaurants to the amazing women who clean an en-
tire shinkansen bullet train in seven minutes. We saw
shopkeepers constantly rearranging displays, sweep-
ing, wiping, and sanitizing. And of course, we had to
take our shoes off before shrines, castles, homes and
our apartment in Takayama.
Part of the reason for Japans obsession with
cleanliness is its long history of public health issues,
including viral epidemics, parasitical infections, and
food poisonings. Religion plays a part – the Japanese
believe that Shinto gods abhor filth. Every Shinto tem-
ple we visited had elaborately decorated purification
stations with traditional bamboo ladles to use to wash
their hands before they prayed. Buddhism also teaches
that cleanliness is necessary for a peaceful mind.
It didn’t take long for us to figure out the fixation
on cleanliness in the country, but we still wondered
-- where did all that trash go? That remained a mystery
since trash cans are almost impossible to find. We
were in our third week of touring before we discovered
one oddly located next to an ancient stone shrine. The
Japanese, we speculate, must carry little trash bags, like
those used by dog walkers in America. When they spot
litter, they bag it and take it home to recycle

26 WDT MAGAZINE WINTER 2018