Florida Coalcracker Chronicles: Tokyo Japan Is Over The Top Different

The Buddhist Temple on campus

I love these tiny vans - they sit 2-2-2

It is 9 PM Friday night - our last night in Tokyo. We have been busy busy. Lulu did two presentations on Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of the time we toured on foot and train. Our Hotel Mets was in Yokohama - about 12 miles south of the Royal Palace. Three days we took the train from Tsurumi to Tokyo Station.

I have so much to say about Japan. Again - I remind you - spending 5 days in Tokyo and commenting about Japan is like visiting Tamaqua for a week and thinking you know about the USA. We really liked everything we saw. Japan is very different than China and the USA - heck it is different than anywhere I have ever been. Tokyo has a very high standard of living. Everyone is working - they dress very professionally - and everything is so well kept.

We have never seen a train/subway system like this. I have never seen cars so densely packed with people. But yet it is quiet and comfortable. No one talks on the train. The trains are fast - smooth - on time - clean - and the latest technology. The trains have big windows and they are all spotless inside and out. The floors are very clean. You cannot find litter anywhere. No graffiti.

The shopping is over the top. There are so many high quality stores - packed with intricate goodies - food - clothes - toys. Prices are much lower in China - but the goods seem to be a higher quality for sale.

I can go on forever about the cars and streets. I was surprised at how civil the traffic was. There were very few bikes or scooters. There might be a restricted zone that keep many cars out of downtown - with a big fee. The street are perfect- no pot holes - cracks- bumps. The sidewalk are beautiful. Well maintained and lots of gardening. There is no challenge between cars and people in the walk/no walk signs.

Tokyo population is about 13 million - which is 11% of Japan folks. It is amazing what Japan does with this arch of islands. Most of it is jagged mountains - very little farm land or fuel. When I was a kid - all the cheap manufacturing goods came from Japan. But they graduated from that. China is our big importer now.

In my opinion the best cars in the world come from Japan. They are the easiest to maintain - and last so long. I estimated 90% of the cars I saw were Toyota. We saw very few Hondas - my favorites. Toyota makes a black cab that is really nice. It is not as good looking as the new London cab. I simple love the little vans and trucks in Japan. They cannot bring them to America - because they do not pass our safety laws. Another safety thing - most cars are removed form the highway by the time they hit 40,000 miles - they are very strict on engine emissions - if they engine flunks the test - they are removed and sent to America. America loves Toyota engines with only 40,000 miles on them. In America - Hondas and Toyotas are stolen so much - to pluck their engines - and other parts.

German cars are nice too - but they are more costly to maintain - we did not see many of them here - maybe some Porsche sedans - not many Mercedes. In China - they make Mercedes right there.

Lulu had a great presentation at the Tsurumi University. Because Lulu is paid by Fulbright - she is not allowed to accept a fee. The guest schools provide hotels - Fulbright pays Lulus travel. I pay mine. You all know what a tightwad I am - several of the schools offered as much as $2000 as an honorarium. Lulu turns it down out of hand. She explains that she is being paid.

After her lectures here - we toured the Buddhist Monastery and Temple on campus. I never saw anything like that. They spend their whole day praying and cleaning. They sleep and live in spartan buildings. We got to go in. A monk took us on a tour. We saw a Buddhist service. Drums - bongs - incense.

We knew coming in that hotels - transportation - and food - in Japan were expensive. Lulu shopped a lot but bought very little.

The weather was better in Tokyo than Beijing. It was up and down here. We had 65 yesterday and sunny - and a high of 45 today. One day was shirtsleeves - the next day a heavy jacket. Beijing has worse smog. Both cities are making strong efforts to clean up the air and water. Everyone drinks bottle water in China - too much lead in the water. We see no bottled water here in the hotel - etc.

We came here on Air China - a communist government jet. It was only about 20% full. It was smooth - and the food was okay. They flew with the first class cabin almost empty. In the USA - they would move guests up to first class.

There is a shop here that makes scratch cream puffs - like Wenzels used to make. they bake the puffs - then fill them with cream right in front of you. We used to get them in London - Beard Papas. They go for about $1.70 each. We had them two nights. You can have chocolate - white - or yellow filling.

The Imperial Palace is on an island right downtown. This is where the Emperor lives. It is a walled island. It is said that at the end of the war - General MacArthur did not go in the Palace. He stood outside and said the Emperor will come out - he did. Tokyo was heavily bombed during the war. Today - by treaty - Japan does not have an aggressive army - just a small defense force. Almost 80 years later - USA keeps a big force here.

We measure countries by their Gross Domestic Product - the total of all their goods and services. USA is number 1. China is number 2. Japan is 3. Germany is 4. It seems that a way to get ahead is to go to war with the USA and lose. USA will then come and give your foreign aid to rebuild you and you flourish. Someone should tell Vietnam they should have let USA win :-)

We fly home to Beijing tomorrow at 2 PM - the flight is 3 hours. This is the last side work trip for Lulu.