Culture - Japan

Onsen (hot spring)

There is no doubt hot spring is one of the popular activities among the Japanese. They use it to relax, improve skin, and improve health in general. One of the popular spot is Kusatsu Onsen where natural spring water is emerging nearby and continuously flows through your body so you can be sure that the water is as clean and hot as possible. Traditionally, carrying a tattoo in your body would prohibit you from entering the onsen because it could be gang-related and get into trouble easily; however, there are lots of onsen allowing people with tattoo in tourist spots like Kusatsu, so tourists can enjoy the spring water as well. An embarrassing fact is that this is my first time enjoying onsen and I thought people would use towel to cover their bodies (as advertised in propaganda) throughout the session rather than actually being naked in front of other people, and it turns out the latter one to be true (I guess you always learn new things from different culture than our own).

Politeness

If you ask me one remarkable thing about the Japanese, I would say their politeness as a citizen of a country, a guide of a tourist, and a human being on earth. I am honestly not exaggerating the fact here. Every time you buy something from a shop, the employee will always escort you to the exit and bow at you forming a 90 degrees between the inflection point of the body (you get the idea). Also, it is extremely hard to find a single trash bin in the city; nonetheless, there is almost no trash lying on the ground. All in all, national education accounts for all the beauties among the Japanese, and school uniform is probably one of the iconic symbol of the educational system in which represents a sense of unity and discipline.

Crossing

Millions of people living in Tokyo, and one of the popular spots to visit is the Shibuya Crossing between busy streets where nearly thousands of people would walk through the street under a minute. I always found seeing thousands of people crossing the street in god speed fascinating especially in busy hour.

Nightlife

Kabukicho district is no doubt one of the famous places for nightlife in Japan. Endless clubs and hostesses will welcome you as you walk by the street. Unsurprisingly, some of them would even stand on the street carrying a cardboard with a listed price of spending the night with the hostess with endless drinks that they would probably take part of it as commission.

Sakura

The usual peak blooming time of sakura is from the end of March to the beginning of April. If you happen to be in Japan a month earlier, there are still chances you could watch the cherry blossoms. One of the places you could visit is Matsudayama Herb Garden.