Sakura Diary #10: I Love You Japan, Adios

Three nights in Okinawa. Sometimes you go to a tropical island hoping for sun and enjoying the white sands and transparent turquoise water but find a clouded sky and a strong wind. This was the case in Okinawa. I was already warned by Kate, that a cyclone is approaching and that a typhoon is possible. The predictions said that it is approaching on the day I leave the island. I hesitated only a little before flying to Okinawa, since most of our fears are exaggerated, and since it is a regular event in the region. I assumed that the island is prepared to face such events. It is Japan after all and what I have seen so far makes me trust this country in many things. Things simply work here.
Sometimes when I see organised societies, it seems all natural and self-explanatory: There is no garbage in the street because there is a garbage man whose job is to collect the garbage, and people don’t throw garbage in the street. Why would anyone throw garbage on the street? This all sounds very logical but most of the world does not function like this. Most of the world is dirty and dysfunctional, or at least does not function using the same logic.
The check-in process in most of the Japanese hotels I stayed in was done by a machine and a hotel employee is hovering around the machines to assist those with less digital competence. The machine scans your passport, finds your reservation, collects your payment and then spits out your room key along with a small paper with your room number.
I checked in to the nice room and rushed to explore the features of the toilet 🤣. This is a thing here. This toilette would open the toilet lid once you approach it. By a click of a button you can also control the toilet seat. The usual other functions include controlling water flow to clean you, control water temperature, a funny function oscillates the water so that you increase the area covered 😁. A button for music covers up for the auditory pollution that you might create, and sometimes there is even a button for drying your sparkling clean rear. Most of Europe still needs this kind of evolution, instead of this strange habit of wiping with papers!
Living in Europe, one can sense the feeling of “superiority” of the west. Because of the industrial and economic dominance of western countries, as well as the higher quality of life, many people there assume that they are the top of human civilisation and that this welfare is an indicator of an advanced society. Unfortunately, some people generalise this into thinking that the western way of living is the best and the rest of the world has just to “catch up”. Specially in topics like social interactions and morality. A lot of this is justified by its affiliation to science, which is also mostly coming from the west. Here I borrow Tanizaki’s question: how would the world have looked like, given that Japan (I add: or other non-western societies), were at the front of scientific and industrial innovation? Let’s remember that science is the product of scientists, which are always biased human beings. Humanity would have probably advanced in a different way, other than changing the last name of women after marriage or just wiping our rears with papers, and other countless examples of things that don’t make sense to me.
The trip to Japan was a milestone for me. Here I saw a top society with totally different culture than the west. An example of how things can be done differently and still function with excellence. Specially on the social level. This gives me hope that globalisation does not necessarily mean westernisation or Americanisation of all countries, but rather on taking the best feature from each culture around the globe.

I spent my time in Okinawa chilling, eating, getting massages daily and dancing. I visited one beach but that was below average. The best Hawaii-like beaches are either more than an hour drive or an hour of ferry ride. Since my driving license is suspended at the moment and I didn’t want to get stranded on a remote Japanese island while the typhoon hits shortly before my return-flight, I relaxed myself by meeting travellers and locals on the island and enjoy lazy and schedule-free 2 days.

At the end of my trip, I will take back with me a new affection for Japan and Japanese people. The way they bowed to welcome you or to bid you farewell was always heart warming. Sometimes a business owner or worker will come and bid you farewell and wait until you take the lift. Their smile can be felt behind their masks. Always polite, always courteous and always eager to help you. I observed that this is how they treat each other in general. When the flight from Okinawa to Tokyo landed in the rain, and the airport bus came to pick us up, there were two meters from the stairs till the bus where you could get some rain on you. But no! two gentlemen stood there carrying two umbrellas so that the passengers don’t get uncomfortable. The flight attendant came down the stairs of the plane and kept on waving bye-bye to passengers and specially children. I ask myself, is this a job? Is this in the job description? or do they add an extra humane touch? or is it the ”natural” thing to do for them?

So, that’s it. My time in this trip has come to an end and it is time to go back and serve. Thankful and privileged I am to have the time and means to go on this trip. I appreciate your time reading my words and sharing the trip with me. This is one way of fighting the traveler’s loneliness. I am now excited to see how this trip will influence me in the future. I am also excited to come back to Japan one day.

A few friends that followed this trip expressed that it would be nice to travel with me. I would gladly disappoint you 😄 having a companion changes the dynamics completely and strips your time of the priceless freedom. Then there is often he conflict of interests and the need of compromise. Unless you are immensely lucky to have the perfect travel partner, I would mostly choose to travel solo. I guess an exception of that would be going to nature-filled destinations like Iceland or camping, then i believe that a loved and like-minded soul is essential to share what you see and what you feel with. Until the next trip, I give you a kiss and a hug.