I am not an expert on Japanese culture. I conducted no scientific surveys. I am a fallible human being wearing American-tinted glasses. Please forgive me if I make a statement which doesn't seem 100% sensitive. The text that follows is meant to be somewhat entertaining, not profound.

What is the purpose of this page?

This page gathers together a small number of my remarks on Japan -- a sort of a "conclusion" to Dan in Japan (even though the Dan in Japan Web page is nowhere near finished, my stay in Japan is almost over). There's quite a lot of text here, and not many pictures, so this is where I talk about some of the stuff that you can't take pictures of...

What's not so great about Japan is that... What is so great about Japan is that...

It can be old, dirty, and unadvanced Everything's so expensive Japanese is not nearly as colorful as English Nobody speaks to strangers You don't have as much personal freedom It'd be hard to bake your own cake You might have to hold back

It's beautiful, and it has tradition It's got railroads, subways, and no tipping Japanese is far more logical than English Harmony is Japan's middle name You are expected to be responsible Japan was based on healthy food You can get naked and relax

I expected...

People to eat sushi and other raw things every day That everyone would be a technophile That everyone would love animation (anime) That ALL Japanese people would be very smart People to say "sayounara" for "goodbye" To be taller than everyone That I could learn it all

I never expected...

So much pornography and things of that sort Such a lax attitude toward alcohol Music CD rental Our words instead of theirs That public urination was something people would do Pre-wrapped jellied bread

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