Many, many years ago (oh say 50 or so years), I traveled through Southeast Asia including some time Japan. So this was not my first foray into Asian territory. Ah, it was a different world back then. No internet for one thing. How did I do it without Google Maps?
Starting our journey in rural Japan and hiking the Kumano Kodo was ideal in easing us into the Japanese way. For that way is so very different from our way. From learning the systems for riding buses and trains without big crowds rushing us to understanding bath and table etiquette and local customs and history as explained by our guesthouse hosts, it was invaluable. But feeling the thighs trembling and knees creaking as we tackled yet one more steep, slippery ascent on the Kumano Kodo was, yeah, memorable. Humbling. And wow did it hurt. To think the monks did it in wooden sandal.
Each city we visited had its own character. Probably always true no matter what the country. It felt like we were moving around a lot, maybe too much, and that ate into our stamina. In retrospect though, I can’t name a single place we would leave out.
As with any country we are not born or raised in, it would take years of living in a place to begin to understand the culture. So I dare not pretend that I really get how the intermingling of Shinto and Buddhism, the social collectivist mindset, the almost ceremonial concern with details, the close to obsessive attention to hygiene and cleanliness…the feeling of safety…all these things and more…meld as a culture. I head back home knowing it was only a taste.
Over and out, for now.
