Japan I ❤ you

2025-07-01

(Still in progress)

• I love you because for two weeks every year, when cherry trees blossom, you are virtually indistinguishable from heaven.
• I love you because your traditional eating habits are both healthy and yummy.
• I love you because jazz is actually popular as background music in your cafes and shops.
• I love you because everyone is trying their best not to intrude into other people’s lives as much as possible.
• I love you because at every street corner there’s a chance to find a hidden, lovely temple.
• I love you because people are kind.
• I love you because you can leave your wallet unattended, your bike unlocked, your apartment door open, and nobody will steal anything.
• I love you because your cemeteries are beautiful. Because they are filled with ashes instead of corpses, I don’t find them creepy (yes I would like to be incinerated please. Err wait not right now, after I pass away, thanks).
• I love you because everything, everywhere, is as clean as reasonably possible. I regularly see metro employees sweeping the stairs (I lived in Paris for 25 years, never saw that), or dog owners splash a small bucket of water where their dog just peed (never saw that anywhere else).
• I love you because everything, everywhere, is convenient, well thought out.
• I love you because your public transit rocks, unlike some other places.
• I love you because all your women are lovely in their own way.
• I love you because your subway plays cute little music instead of a boring beep before the doors close. And it’s always a different one.
• I love you because women (and men) aren’t afraid of falling asleep on the subway.