First Impressions of Japan

So do you want to know something really crazy? The other night I went to a moon viewing festival in Kyoto.

Every so often I have these moments--I've somewhat adjusted to the daily grind here, and I'll just be going about my business, maybe worrying about my homework or complaining about the heat, and I'll stop in my tracks and think, "Hey... I'm in Japan!" 

I think that if I had to summarize my first impression of Japan I would focus on how closely the wonderful and the mundane coexist.  You could spend the night listening to hauntingly beautiful traditional Japanese music at a full-moon viewing festival in a beautiful temple in Kyoto, and spend the next day browsing second-hand manga shops in a heavily industrialized city setting.  Perhaps this is true of many countries, but I feel that in America at least the two extremes are not so close.  Before coming to Japan I was even told that Kyoto was ugly.  I don't think so.  The train station may have been all gritty concrete, but I felt as if around every corner were scenes of spectacular beauty.

This is a snapshot from Kiyomizu-dera, which I was thrilled to visit.  In this one trip to Kyoto, I made a wish at a Shinto shrine and drank from a fountain said to bring things like love, health and prosperity to the drinker.  I also went shopping in a department store, visited an underground mall and ate at a "Ninja Cafe" that catered mostly to tourists and served a great deal of Western food buffet-style. 

When I make a mental inventory of all the things I've done in my first few weeks here, I'm most astounded at their diversity.  To note: I have visited Kyoto twice, once to visit Kiyomizu-dera and shop and once to attend the annual Tsuki-Mi festival.  I have also been to karaoke four times, gone drinking at a middle eastern-style bar, taken purikura (print club photos) and had a birthday party at Sweets Paradise, an extremely pink buffet-style restaurant that specializes in pastries and girls' birthdays. 

These things seem unrelated, but they're not.  They are all part of the tapestry that makes up Japan.  As I see more and more of this wonderful country of neon lights, boy bands and hauntingly beautiful temples, shrines and castles, I hope to learn how they're connected.