Tasty and cheap food
Speciality restaurants, which means quicker service
Reliable trains
Huge department stores
Order and respect of authority
Peaceful people
Clean streets
Politeness and helpfulness of the people
Cute girls with a real sense of fashion
Mild and dry winters (in Tokyo at least)
Onsen (hot springs)
Japanese nature (better than in my own country)
Japanese seasons (more clear-cut than in my own country)
Matsuri (festivals) and other traditonal celebrations (setsubun, shichigosan, obon...)
Love hotels
The energetic atmosphere (of big cities)
Japanese TV
General non-religiousness of the Japanese
Non-argumentative character of the Japanese
Low taxes (by European standards)
Japanese aesthetics (wabi-sabi, sado, traditional architecture, gardens...)
The ability to integrate aspects of foreign cultures and systems
The relative lack of political debates and demonstrations
Japanese-style houses (with o-furo, tatami, kotatsu...)
The numerous mountains, good for hiking and skiing
Good service and attention to customers
How easy it is to move around cities in bicycle
The homogeneity of society
The original street pattern, with very broad avenues and very narrow back streets
The fact that Japanese banks don't charge monthly fees on bank accounts
Kitsch decoration (pink, neons, cute characters...)
The relax attitude toward sex (lack of Judeo-Christian shame about nudity, porn, etc.)
The kindness and interets showed toward foreigners
The blissful joy and excitement of Japanese women
The dedication to work of the "salarymen"
Shopping on Sundays
The ambiance music in train stations and cute voice of the announcers
The ease to set up a company in Japan (little redtape)
The numerous bilingual Japanese-English signs in big cities
The sense of honour (linked to the concept of "face" and "embarassment")
The customs of "omiyage" and "duty presents" (who doesn't like giving and receiving gifts ?)
Seeing women in kimono from time to time
The Japanese imperial family (the oldest in the world and still respected)
The abundance of convenience stores and vending machines
Fast-food restaurants serving more kinds of teas than soft drinks
The low cost or mobile/cell phones compared to the quality
Living in Japan made me know JREF
Voted. Though some things like "shopping on a Sunday", which would be less prevalent or non-existent in Europe, is not such a big thing in the United States--- as everyone goes shopping on Sunday, and though some small stores may be closed or close early, most large stores are open the same hours.
(flickr: pgh, japan & korea, santa cruz ) (blog: eyesonthewires) (j-rock)
Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
-Eric Hoffer.
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