1. They have drink machines EVERYWHERE. This is extremely fortunate as we were often in need of a cold drink!
This one was a frozen drink machine. Yes!
We loved their English named drinks. Matthew thought drinking Cool Men's would be very good for his image.
2. They have very visual signs. This sign is all over the train stations. I'm assuming it says: Hold on to the railing, don't talk on the phone, don't bump people with your bag, and don't fall on people.
This sign was in a bathroom. It is a map of all of the stalls. With pictures of Western vs. Japanese (squatter) toilets. With numbers. I thought it would be helpful to let the girls know "hey I'm in stall 35 if you need anything!"
3. They take extreme care in all of their food presentations. Whether it was dinner, a snack or dessert - we knew our food would be beautiful. This is a picture of a dessert stand in a department store. By the way, they take the same care wrapping your purchases of any type. One day we were shopping, it was raining. Every store would carefully wrap our purchase in a shopping bag and then they put the whole shopping bag into a waterproof bag. Very thoughtful!
4. They love animated characters. Hello Kitty is of course their favorite. There are many anime characters that we do not know, but they are very popular. Right now Snoopy is pretty big - I think because it represents the Olympics in Great Britain.
5. There are lots of fun, quirky things to buy - especially in their toy stores. They have hundreds of iPhone cases. I loved these food ones, but unfortunately couldn't figure out anyone who would appreciate them.
6. They love snow cones. And so do we. It was quite a nice relief to have a cup of flavored ice!
7. Their snacks are quite different from ours. The closest thing we could compare this one to is a giant Cheeto.
8. They beat the heat with shade umbrellas. And they have really cool rain umbrellas. We had to bring a few home.
9. They also beat the heat with towels. Every woman carries a little towel in her purse. She uses it when there are no towels in the bathroom, to blot perspiration and to keep cool. Great idea.
10. The older people are very cute. I asked our friend why they all have similar postures. He said that they have spent so many years bent over their rice fields, that they kind of permanently bend over.
11. They have amazing skyscrapers. They just look cool. Andrew had to stop and take this picture because he loved this building so much.
12. Getting a haircut in Japan is quite an experience. They take such great care in giving you the perfect cut.
13. Being in Japan with Jon is awesome. Not only can he speak the language, but he understands the culture. He spent so many hours preparing for our trip. I really appreciated that we were able to have experiences where we actually got to know Japan - not just see it. What a great trip. What a great guy.
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