More trains and Japanese culture

9 October, Train to Nagoya

A 14 day Japan Rail Pass cost us just over $1000 for both of us. At the time we were a little unsure that we would get value out of it. How wrong we were. One thing that still is relatively expensive in Japan is long distance rail travel, so, with all the trips we've done, and still plan to do, we have probably got $2000 value out of the pass. Not only that, getting on and off trains and making connections is so easy when you don't have to figure out where and how to purchase tickets. We just flash our pass and walk on through. We quickly learnt the value of making reservations. Trains are well patronised, particularly on holiday weekends like this one, so a quick trip to the ticket office for a free, reserved seat has been well worth the effort.

One of the advantages of using local transport is that you get up close and personal with the locals, away from the uniform, Western/European world that seems to surround major tourist areas world-wide. Australians were exposed to negative aspects of Japanese 'culture' during the war years. Our parents and grandparents had good reason to have some strong prejudices against the Japanese. However, over the past few decades, millions of Japanese have visited Australia and many thousands have stayed on to live and work.. Japanese cuisine has found its way into supermarkets and our homes. Japanese movies have become blockbusters. The world of telecommunication has allowed Australians to become familiar with more positive aspects of the Japanese psyche.

Our observations and experiences have been only positive. People are respectful of each other, honest and courteous to the point of being embarrassing. Japanese, especially the young, have a marked sense of fun that sometimes borders on weird! Just watch a couple of hours of Japanese television to get the idea.. Respect for individuals seems to extend to institutions and the law. In the 1980's and 1990's the mutual loyalty of employers and employees meant that jobs were fairly much for life and generation after generation worked for the same corporation. Some of this has gone in these leaner economic times but the same principles seem to hold society together today. How this peaceful, ordered, respectful society relates to the outright barbarism of the Japanese that our parents and grandparents knew during the war years is difficult to understand. Our only theory is that the strong sense of loyalty, honour, and respect was in some way refocused by the militaristic government during the 1930's. Still, it is difficult today to imagine that this is the same society that, in the lifetime of many of those walking the streets and riding the trains with us, was capable of committing so many atrocities in the past.

Later 9 October, B Hotel, Nagoya

Nagoya is said to be the third city of Japan. How anybody can determine where one city ends and one begins on this densely populated 600km long plain of eastern Japan, who knows? Arriving at the station was much like hitting any other station in a big Japanese city. People everywhere, a bit of early confusion on our part then .. whoosh, off on the subway and a short walk to our hotel. Just an afternoon to wander about here, as Nagoya is just a stepping off point for our trip to Takayama tomorrow, so we jumped yet another train and took a wander about the Tokugawa Museum. Asian art is not really our thing, but this collection was just a little different. A private collection of the Tokugawa family, there were enough historically interesting exhibits of the shogun period and pre-war family mementos from the imperial family to hold our interest.

Tomorrow, JR Line train to Takayama.