Life in Japan

For those of you that know me, you are aware that I have been fortunate enough to be able to live in 4 different countries and experience different cultures. I was born in India but moved to South Korea when I was 2 years old and lived there for about an year before we moved to Japan right before I turned 3. Though my memories of South Korea are too vague as I was so little then, I do remember that it was in South Korea that I saw snow for the first time in my life. I remember some of the cartoon shows that I watched on TV- 'Pororo' was my favorite show and I still have some of my toys based on characters from that show. Thankfully my parents clicked a lot of pictures of our time there that remind me that I must have had a nice time there.

After moving to Japan due to my Dad's work, we got to live there for 6 years. I could say that I was partly raised in Japan and I had a wonderful experience there. With so many interesting people, cultures, traditions, and rich history, it is a wonderland of splendor. Here are some things that I experienced in Japan.

One of my favorite places to visit in Japan is Kyoto. Kyoto is a beautiful city with so many different shrines and amazing buildings or structures, such as the Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is a pretty old structure, yet is still amazingly good- as- new! The famous Bamboo forest in Kyoto is another such place that  I enjoyed visiting . Did you know that Kyoto used to be the old capital of Japan. It is visited by millions of people annually. You can’t say you have visited Japan without visiting Kyoto.

Tokyo is the current capital of Japan, and is hustling and bustling with people! It is a very popular city, with many shops and buildings. There is also a Buddhist temple in Tokyo called Sensoji Temple. Did you know that the old name of Tokyo was Edo? Japan still has an Emperor. An interesting fact is that the Imperial Family ( the Emperor and his family) lives in Nijubashi Castle in Tokyo which is a short walk away from the Diet (the Japanese Parliament Building). I find it fascinating how the old and new centers of Government are located so close to each other.

When in Japan, we lived in Iwaki and Nagoya. Iwaki is a city on the Pacific coast in North East Japan whereas Nagoya is a port city in Central Japan.

  In Japan you can travel between most major cities by riding on a Bullet Train, or a Shinkansen. These are some of the fastest trains! And did you know Japanese trains are almost always on time? 

Another popular city is Osaka, which is a travel and business hub. There is also a great tourist destination there: Universal Studios Japan! USJ (Universal Studios Japan) has many different rides and themes. There is Harry Potter World, with a 4K ride inside Hogwarts. They speak Japanese, and have English Subtitles on the screen. It also has Oliver’s Wand Shop, the rest of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and more supercool rides. They also have butterbeer! There are also Despicable Me minion rides, Hello Kitty rides, Jaws Rides, Firework shows, parades, and more! There are a lot of rides based on movies and books. On my 9^th birthday, I got to go to the USJ! I think it was a great way to celebrate my birthday especially since I am a big Harry Potter fan! 

I went to a Japanese kindergarten and I can definitely say that it is a whole world apart from the American schools. I got to learn Japanese and was very fluent in it. Do you know that Japanese schools have no janitors and students are taught to clean the classrooms and help with maintaining school property ? Also in the school cafeterias students have to take turns to serve food. One interesting experience for me was a field trip from my kindergarten. We went to dig for sweet potatoes in a farm and I came home with a bag full of sweet potatoes.

Japan has 4 beautiful seasons, of which my favorites are Spring and Autumn. Japan’s Cherry blossoms in Spring are well known world over but that’s not all. They have lots of other blossoms such a Plum, Peach, Apricot and Almond which are also beautiful and colorful. Autumn (as Fall is known there) is colorful due to the colorful Maple  and Gingko trees. We used to go on frequent outings each weekend to enjoy these seasons. Summer is fun too because of Summer festivals. Each place has its own way of celebrating summer, but most common is the fireworks. They are similar to the 4^th of July Fireworks in the US but some places have the most extravagant displays!

Japan being a country with a lot of history, there is no dearth of temples, shrines and castles. Every city or region in Japan has its own specialty and that made life there so much fun for a family like ours that loves to travel and experience new things.

Japan has some of the most amazing food I have eaten and ever since we moved out of Japan, that is the one thing I miss the most. Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki and Gyoza are some of my favorite Japanese foods.

My mom used to write a blog when we lived in Japan. You can check it out here :  stayingglobal.blogspot.com.

(Pictures used with permission of stayingglobal.blogspot.com)