10 days ago Annemarie wrote about our first impressions of Japan. Now we’ve been here a little longer I can write in more detail about why we still love Japan. I suppose I have to start by saying that my impressions of the country are somewhat altered by our experiences across the rest of Asia. Had we flown here directly from Europe we might have thought a little differently, but probably not much. Japan reminds me of Germany. In fact, it is the Asian equivalent of Germany. Everything is clean, tidy and well organised. Nothing is out of place and everything has a purpose and works exactly as expected. Things are efficient and well thought out and everything has been considered. In everything we touch, everywhere we go and everything we buy we get the impression that someone has thought long and hard about the end user and their needs and requirements. In short, most things are easy to understand, work as expected and are clean. It’s almost perfect. In China everywhere was crowded. Every street wound be filled with people and every tourist attraction ruined by huge crowds. I guess in peak season Japan will be far busier but so far everywhere is very quiet. The Chinese also talk loudly. Well, that’s an understatement, they shout. In Japan people talk at a normal volume making the streets and tourist places so much more pleasant. The Chinese, and most other Asian nations, walk around with no awareness of the space immediately around them. When the Chinese walk they don’t care and other people near them, for example people walking four abreast and clearly blocking the path for others. That’s the norm in China. They don’t care! But in Japan the people are incredibly polite and do their best to ensure the minimum impact on other people. They look behind themselves and consider others before taking an action. That may seem normal for most of the world, but coming from a month and a half in China, it’s brilliant. The politeness doesn’t stop there. Everyone is helpful and polite in Japan. From the greeting when entering a store to the thanks when exiting. The same happens in restaurants. If the kitchen is open the chefs will also welcome new arrivals. Traffic wardens will bow a little and greet you as they stop the traffic to ensure a safe crossing of the road. We’ve even had people stop and put down all their bags to come over and ask take a photo of the two of us in front of a building. Getting around is usually pretty simple. We walk into...
Read MoreIt rains a lot here which scuppered our plans as did the lack of international driving licence, which means a big hole in the wallet but also another opportunity to take the Shinkansen. Although slower than the Chinese ‘G Trains’ you can feel the acceleration as it hits 250kmph. We arrived in Japan via a ferry from Qingdao. After checking our temperature we had to sit around for an hour before being allowed into immigration and customs. We were queued up by the staff and then I was interrogated as to the name of the hotel in Kagoshima, which I didn’t know. Then I didn’t have a flight out of Japan, but was still allowed through into Japan. In the next room bags were fully checked and emptied, no x-ray scanners. The lady did a little sifting in my bag and we had a chat about travelling. Then I ended up having to show my passport to a Policeman and we ended up talking about travelling for a good 10 minutes. We were held up again trying to find an international ATM. Asking at the friendly tourist information desk we found ourselves at the Post Office, their ATMs are linked to Cirrus so international cards work here. In the first hour of our journey into Japan we met a number of people who were very friendly, smiling ( apart from the immigration guy) and helpful. A stark contrast to China where people rarely smile. Buying train tickets was a calm experience with no queue and no need to show our passport. Japanese people also accept money with two-hands or use a little tray and are always polite. Getting onto the train was simple, we put our ticket in the machine and walked onto the platform. There was no shoving and pushing, nor were there any people. We got on the local train, which was not full! A quick transfer to the Shinkansen and we were off. No police checks, no men with huge guns and no shoving. The train was pretty much empty, which you’d expect since it was a weekday at 11am. But this was a big change coming from China. With so many people everyone appears to be on the move all the time. We have never been on an empty train, it is always full or nearly full. Walking down the street is also different in Japan. People think about others and move to the side. No-one walks into one another and because there were less people you could walk in a straight line, it was the first time in weeks. I bet Tokyo will be...
Read MoreBuying Tickets If you want to take the ferry to Japan from Qingdao you can buy the tickets a few days in advance from the ticket office which is near the International Finance Centre. That is about 5 miles (8km) from the port itself and the railway station, plus they add a bit extra to the prices. The ferry for South Korea has a ticket office next to the passenger terminal. We booked our ticket at the passenger port on the day of departure, around 9am. The boats seem to run with almost no passengers so don’t worry about late booking. Because we bought tickets directly from the port they were slightly cheaper and we paid 1,400 RMB for first class. At the time of boarding at 4pm it looked like tickets could still be purchased. We were due to sail at 8pm, but didn’t leave until 12:30am and between 8pm and 10pm a fair few people were still boarding. Currency Only Japanese Yen is accepted on board. No credit cards or other currencies! At the passenger port in Qingdao is a currency exchange counter, but be warned, they only stock ¥10,000 notes, which cost us 620 RMB. You’ll need to buy currency in multiples of ¥10,000. Food Food is about ¥600 per dish and drinks can be bought for ¥150-200. There are a number of restaurants on board. Hot water is provided for free. The restaurant opening and closing in announced on the tanoy system. All announcements are in Japanese and Chinese only, but the opening times of the restaurants are on the notice boards. The timings are very precisely enforced. You select your meal from the menu outside the restaurant and input the code into the machine just inside the main door. Drinks can be bought from vending machines on floor 5 next to the shop and near the information desk. Cabins We paid for first class and got a 4 person cabin with only the two of us in it. In fact only 2 first class cabins are in use on this whole deck. The cabin is reasonably large, we have a window, a table with teapot and cups, a TV and a washbasin. A little wash bag was provided in our cabin. It contained some shampoo, a bar of soap, a shower cap and a small towel. Wash Rooms The toilets are down the corridor as is the onboard onsen, a Japanese style washroom. You get undressed, then wash yourself whilst sitting on a little stool. Shampoo and shower gel is provided beside each wash area. After washing you can relax in the large bath....
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We had picked a hotel in Qingdao which was ideally situated between the train station and the passenger port. This is a little bit away from the tourist area and the nice, German parts of Qingdao but only 15 minute walk from the train with our bags and only a 15 minute walk to the port. The hotel was OK, a little tired looking but clean and comfortable. We arrived mid afternoon on a Sunday and the ferry ticket office was closed. So we wandered into town for a few hours. The next morning we had to buy tickets for the ferry to Japan. It departs every Monday and Thursday from Qingdao. The ticket office was 5 miles away on the other side of Qingdao, but on the day of departure tickets can be bought from the port. The ferry terminal was easy to find and buying the tickets was also pretty simple. Because we bought the tickets at the port rather than from the ticket office there was no commission added, so we bought first class tickets for the same price as we expected to pay for second class. First class would get us a cabin to ourselves, whereas second class would have meant sharing with up to 6 other people. Also in the port was a currency exchange booth to buy Japanese Yen. This was excellent because online we’d read that the banks wouldn’t exchange Chinese money into Japanese money. Only Japanese Yen is accepted on board the ship so we were very relieved. That afternoon we arrived at the port at 3pm to find it full and a line of police standing guard at the door. We went to change our remaining Chinese money but the desk only hands out ¥10,000 notes, about £58. We had enough to buy one note, but not two. The majority of the people were getting on the South Korean ferry. Once they had left the police disappeared to. I guess the dodgy people go to South Korea! Feeling relieved that Japan must be very safe I could now relax and wait for our ferry. There were only 30 people waiting to board the ferry to Japan. We started to board at 4pm and we were immediately shown to our first class cabin. We had 4 beds, a washbasin, lockers and a seating area near the window with a table, teapot, cups and a TV. A Japanese couple had a cabin down the corridor and apart from them the rest of first class, which was the entire floor, was empty! Cool. We pretty much had an entire floor to ourselves. We...
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