Yokoso Japan

Being away from Japan for 10 years has really given me a new perspective on the place. It's like arriving for the first time all over again, but with some sense of familiarity. So many changes have occurred since we left. The subtle ones say more about the internal changes that have occurred, than anything else. Take for example some changes in the transport system. Women are now allocated a single carriage designated soley for women passengers. For many women this must have arrived as a welcome relief from unpleasant experiences such as lecherous guys who take advantage of the crowded conditions to feel-up unsuspecting female passengers, virtually hidden from view, or being surrounded by men reading newspapers and comic books which usually featured women being exposed, or exploited in all manner of twisted sexual scenarios.
Then there are the verbal and written announcements all over trains and train stations urging passengers to quit shoving and rushing onto the trains, which was the typical style of riding in the past. Train employees were even given the job of pushing people into train doors to get the maximum number on, as possible.
Consideration of others has always been a trait encouraged in Japan, but this time we noticed that it has extended to the use of mobile phones as well. Signs and announcements everywhere remind people to switch their phones to quiet mode, or as they call it, 'manner mode', for the comfort of fellow passengers.
Riding trains in Japan is an essential daily experience, and it is made relatively easy by their incredible efficiency and regularity, however it is mostly a dehumanizing experience, with the volume of people one encounters everyday, and the fact that most people switch off from each other and hardly even make eye contact.
Despite the positive changes to the system, getting around took its toll on us, so it was with welcome relief when we were able to relax in one place for a few days and limit our train travel.
Kyoto offers so many beautiful temples and historic sights to see. We only had 6 days there and between recuperating from the various train rides that it took to get from Narita to Kyoto, including a 3 hour Shinkansen ride, and with Sage being ill with a cough, our time was even more limited and we found ourselves madly trying to catch up with friends on the few days we had left.
We did manage to see some beautiful places, like the sand and rock garden of Ryoanji, the philosophers walk from Ginkakuji to Nanzenji, winding along the canal, with various temples and shops along the way, and the bustling markets that surround the temple of Tenmangu. Sophia was so thrilled to buy a beautiful pink and red yukata there, that she wore it all the way home, eliciting cries of "kawaii rashii" from passersby.
Other diffenerces we noticed indicate much more significant changes in Japan, like some commodities and food being cheaper or the same price as 10 years ago. Despite this welcome change, it is still awesomely expensive to travel around mostly eating out, so we became used to, although not happy about spending a few hundred dollars a day there.
Some elements of life there remain the same, like the incredible generosity of old friends. We had the almost overwhelmingingly generous experience one night of being treated by old friends to an amazing traditional meal in a tatami room restaurant served by kimono-wearing attendants who entered quietly through sliding doors with the many courses of delicious food: a plate of delicacies including dried persimmon slices sandwiched between slivers of hard butter, sashimi, tempura, individual shabu shabu dishes, individual nabe dishes, lobster miso soup and macha icecream.
Later we were treated to a night at a hotel which had its own hot spring baths and an outdoor hot spring, called a rotenburo. We walked around the hotel in yukata and slept side by side on a tatami room floor, on our individual futon. A lasting memory will be of Sophia relishing the bath experience at the hot spring, taking time to scrub and rinse her hair and body, before slipping into the hot waters, saying how she wished all her friends could experience it with her. She loved the little shower stools and handsets and must have scrubbed herself all over about three times, just to get the maximum use of the soap and water.