What's great about Japan (and how to enjoy it)

I actually long for the noble Japanese now that I am in Thailand. They stay out of your face, that's a good thing. Its true the Thais could teach the Japanese how to be polite without being excessively formal, but I still miss a lot about Japan.

Namely when I was on a plane there, having no job, no home and said goodbye to my friends and family for an undefined number of months, reality sunk in. All I had was a back pack and I was flying into a city I had never been to before late at night without even a hotel booking. fortunately...

1. Customer Service
So what if its all social protocole, Japan has fine customer service. The best I have ever come across, on my first night there a super nice, friendly info desk girl in Osaka Airport called a hotel for me, got directions and drew a map with minimal fuss and the politest manner you ever saw putting me at ease. All I asked was 'where do I catch a train to get here?'
And so fourth, in Japan customer service reps presume nothing and go the extra mile all the time. They can also respect personal space aswell, unlike other countries I can name that solicit you constantly.

2. The Baths.
You gotta go naked and public, its the only way, Japanese men/women won't check you out as much as you don't want to check them out. Get over yourself, nobody cares. That done, welcome to the country where clean is beautiful, and going the public bath option can save you money on a hotel room as well. I am a big fan, I want a japanese style bathroom in my home. First, you wash, soap yourself from head to toe, then shower yourself down, rinse off. Then you hop in the big hot baths after rinsing your special areas again. And you relax, and really do, and you get out, enjoy a sauna or just towell off. Nothing is better. Nothing.
If you really want to appreciate how beautiful Japanese public baths are, go to a 'Japanese' public bath in China. Where the squat tiolet door is see-through, seady men are getting massages, everyone is smoking in the shwoer and the baths and you think (rightly) that you are getting dirtier not cleaner.

3. The Food.
Japan certainly doens't have the best food in the world. It is however a power house cuisine. Infact I'm confident no country has the 'best food in the world'. But if you are in Japan, know this, Sushi is not even the tip of the iceberg of Japanese cuisine. Increase to 4 meals a day and try Japanese curry rice, shabu shabu, yakiniku, takoyaki, katsudon, okonomiyaki, tempura, gyoza, ramen, soba, miso-udon, kare-udon, unagidon, yakisoba, oden, gyudon, sashimi, teppenyaki, misoshiro, mcdonalds, mosburger and any number of Japanese 'local specialities'.

4. The people.
Despite the masochistic work tendancies, the people are the best part, if you can make friends with a japanese national you are set, they are the most generous, funny, out there people you can meet.

5. the fashion.
Best observed outside Japan. The 'crazy' fashions can be deceptively monotonous in Japan because they usually involve membership to a group. But really the clothing designs are truly different. Its a pity the European fashion brands sell so well.

6. The commons.
The trains are the best you will ever come across, as are public toilets. Maybe not the ones in parks, I don't think even Jesus could figure out how to keep those clean. But ones in department stores, book shops, train stations etc are for the most part immaculate, well stocked and unvandelised.

7. Bicycles.
That such a rich developed country has women in highheels riding bicycles to work is a testimony to its greatness. You would never see that in Australia, or anywhere else. Once you hit highheels in most countries, you are either being chauffered by your asian boyfriend, or trying to take on 'the man's world' of professionalism in Australia and thus driving a holden or some shit.

8. Security.
I'm sure as a tourist I could wear a fur coat with all my savings in 10k yen notes pinned to it trailing down the street and Japanese punks no less would rush up to show a note to me and tell me it dropped off my coat. Japan has its share of psycho stories, but to me, not getting drunk and accepting a lift home from a creepy looking businessman seems like common sense in any country. Japanese psychos may be a little more creative than other countries and more prone to fetishes from the abundance of pornography, but these remote dangers are as nothing compared to knowing nobody is going to reach into your backpack and steal all your valuables while you sleep on the train.