Random Thoughts on Japanese Society

Now that I'm over the initial shock of arriving in Japan, I'm starting to see that there's an awful lot of complexity under that futuristic sheen.

For example, it seems like the Japanese society is pretty lonely. It's rare to see groups of people hanging out in parks or walking down the street together in groups of more than two or three. And because of the astronomical price of real estate, bars and clubs are incredibly tiny. Most of the places we've stopped into are cramped with 20 people, which obviously makes it tough for big groups to get together and have fun. Which is not to say that people aren't friendly - they are. But I think it would be really difficult to live here and meet a group of people to hang out with.

Also, this past weekend we met up with my buddy Ted who's currently teaching English outside of Hiroshima. He told us that in his classes whenever they talk about hobbies most of his students say shopping is their favorite thing to do. Given what I've seen over the past week, this makes a lot of sense. Almost everyone on the street is dressed impeccably, and even the homeless people have their shirts tucked into a clean pair of slacks.

Posted by flow Frazao on July 13, 2005 at 12:45 AM in Japan | Permalink