My Thoughts on Japan

Japan will always have a special place in our hearts as we lived in Osaka from 2014 to 2019. I reflected on my time here shortly after departing in the summer of 2019. (Farewell Japan) We decided to come back for our Winter Break mostly for the kids so they could reflect on their time here. Nostalgia has a way of romanticizing a place and they were here during their formative years, so I think it was good to have all of us visit it again. We had a great holiday here, although, as I always say, as long as I am with family and friends, it does not matter where I am, I will enjoy vacation time! We stayed close to our former neighborhood and relived many of the streets, and trails and visited with old friends.

Last month, Ian Bremmer in his excellent PBS program G Zero World, interviewed the current US ambassador to Japan on his podcast “Unpacking the Complicated US-Japan Relationship“. My father regarded Japan as a mortal enemy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in his childhood. Today Japan is one of our strongest allies, especially against China. In one generation there was a complete reversal of the relationship between the USA and Japan. Japan is a stable democracy that values human rights and is on the American side in the global division between the Americas/Europe vs. China/Russia/Iran. I think it is special that the two countries have turned from enemies to friends.

The visit reminded me of the distinctiveness of Japan. There is no other place like it and even its closest equivalent, South Korea, is much more like the rest of East Asia than Japan. I appreciate differences and it is good to have a place like Japan in the world. What other country designs sewer covers based on what suburb they are located in or if the firefighters use them? The attention to detail and focus on their surroundings truly astounds me.

One aspect I don’t miss is the small size of the Japanese homes. The entire ground floor of the house we are renting these two weeks is slightly smaller than our living room/dining room in Uzbekistan. There is a lack of privacy within the home and I understand why there are so many hotels people can rent by the hour. Coming down the steep, narrow stairs in the morning to turn on the heaters in a very cold house. I always said it is like living on the seasonal porch in an American home. The idea of “feeling the seasons” sounds great, but living it is not.

I love the fresh air and blue skies of Japan. In the winter especially, the skies are so blue. I also used an electric bicycle for the first time and think that it could convince Americans to use a bicycle more for their daily errands and activities. The winter fresh air was invigorating as I cycled often through my old routes I loved when I lived here. Not much has changed. I also loved the juxtaposition between our suburban nature town of Minoh and the megacity of Osaka downtown.

Earthquakes will always be prevalent. We were reminded of the Osaka Earthquake of June 2018 that we lived through when there was an equivalent earthquake on New Year’s Day afternoon in the Noto Peninsula. Fortunately, the epicenter was over 400 kilometers away from us instead of 10 kilometers like in 2018. Our house swayed back and forth gently for over a minute while we were having lunch. 57 people died and there was a lot of destruction on the other side of main island of Honshu. There is no way of getting away from earthquakes as Japan is directly on the Pacific Ring of Fire.