[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":294},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog:2007:things-i-learnt-in-japan":3,"blogMore-Personal":237,"comments-things-i-learnt-in-japan":250},{"_path":4,"_dir":5,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":8,"description":9,"date":10,"category":11,"tags":12,"excerpt":14,"body":33,"_type":228,"_id":229,"_source":230,"_file":231,"_stem":232,"_extension":233,"url":234,"wordCount":235,"minutes":236,"commentCount":220},"/blog/2007/things-i-learnt-in-japan","2007",false,"en","Things I learnt in Japan","I loved my trip to Japan and thought it would be fun to reflect on what I've learnt.","2007-01-04T13:37:16+00:00","Personal",[13],"Japan",{"type":15,"children":16},"root",[17,24],{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":20,"children":21},"element","p",{},[22],{"type":23,"value":9},"text",{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":25,"children":26},{},[27],{"type":18,"tag":28,"props":29,"children":30},"em",{},[31],{"type":23,"value":32},"[)amien",{"type":15,"children":34,"toc":218},[35,39,46,81,87,105,111,134,140,158,164,182,188,211],{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":36,"children":37},{},[38],{"type":23,"value":9},{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":41,"children":43},"h2",{"id":42},"airports",[44],{"type":23,"value":45},"Airports",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":48,"children":49},"ol",{},[50,56,61,66,71,76],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":52,"children":53},"li",{},[54],{"type":23,"value":55},"Commercial airlines take the fun out of flying. Airports are often overcrowded and always have so much ‘dead-time’ waiting for check-in, security, boarding, take-off, baggage claim, customs…",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":57,"children":58},{},[59],{"type":23,"value":60},"Heathrow is horrific and I’m glad Guernsey doesn’t fly there any more.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":62,"children":63},{},[64],{"type":23,"value":65},"When UK customs say one piece of hand-luggage per person they mean it. Handbag and laptops are a piece and taking liquid or gels is still a pain.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":67,"children":68},{},[69],{"type":23,"value":70},"It takes around 1h 20mins to transfer between Heathrow and Gatwick by coach.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":72,"children":73},{},[74],{"type":23,"value":75},"Seoul’s airport is impressive even under construction, though the one-hour delays on the runway were a shame.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":77,"children":78},{},[79],{"type":23,"value":80},"Korean Air’s fleet delivers interactive individual LCD screens with seat-to-seat gaming or ancient dodgy CRT projectors depending on the luck of the draw.",{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":82,"children":84},{"id":83},"trains",[85],{"type":23,"value":86},"Trains",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":88,"children":89},{},[90,95,100],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":91,"children":92},{},[93],{"type":23,"value":94},"The JR Rail Pass offers massive savings for those wishing to get around. As well as Shinkansen bullet-trains between major cities you can take slower trains between towns and JR lines inside cities.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":96,"children":97},{},[98],{"type":23,"value":99},"Show your JR Pass and ticket at gates instead of putting your ticket in the machine. Otherwise be prepared for a polite yet firm official to tap you on the shoulder.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":101,"children":102},{},[103],{"type":23,"value":104},"JR Pass doesn’t let you get on the Nozomi Shinkansen. The quickest you can ride is the Hikori which is the same speed but has more frequent stops often.",{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":106,"children":108},{"id":107},"subway",[109],{"type":23,"value":110},"Subway",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":112,"children":113},{},[114,119,124,129],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":115,"children":116},{},[117],{"type":23,"value":118},"Tokyo subway is quite easy to navigate despite the sheer size and number of people thanks to near-complete Romaji maps.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":120,"children":121},{},[122],{"type":23,"value":123},"Kyoto subway is a bit of a mess thanks to multiple operators and no unified map.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":125,"children":126},{},[127],{"type":23,"value":128},"Fukuoka’s subway is fast, clean and easy to navigate… it is also new.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":130,"children":131},{},[132],{"type":23,"value":133},"Buy a credit ticket that will be deducted per trip. It saves a whole lot of time messing around with machines and costs and lets you get on the last few trains when the ticket machines have closed.",{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":135,"children":137},{"id":136},"technology",[138],{"type":23,"value":139},"Technology",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":141,"children":142},{},[143,148,153],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":144,"children":145},{},[146],{"type":23,"value":147},"All Internet cafes should consist of cubicles you can sleep in with TV, workstation, bean-bag, unlimited soft drinks and a free comic library like Gera Gera.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":149,"children":150},{},[151],{"type":23,"value":152},"Mobile phones are everywhere with people texting and gaming in the street, on trains etc.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":154,"children":155},{},[156],{"type":23,"value":157},"Mobile phone system is UTMS/3G so a GSM-only phone won’t work. You’ll also need to make sure your operator has a roaming partner in Japan because you can’t buy pay-as-you-go SIM’s in Japan unless you’re a resident.",{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":159,"children":161},{"id":160},"people",[162],{"type":23,"value":163},"People",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":165,"children":166},{},[167,172,177],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":168,"children":169},{},[170],{"type":23,"value":171},"Japanese people are incredibly polite and helpful whether it’s a stranger sharing her umbrella at a road junction, somebody helping you pick up the contents of your bag sprawled across the floor or somebody from a shop coming outside to help you get your map the right way up and point you in the right direction.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":173,"children":174},{},[175],{"type":23,"value":176},"Tiny Police stations (boxes) scatter Tokyo and are equipped with maps to help lost people since addresses are hard to find without one. Check the web-site for where you’re going and you’ll probably find a printable map.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":178,"children":179},{},[180],{"type":23,"value":181},"Emotion is all about the eyes and not the mouth in Japan. It’s not just anime but even emoticons are eyes-only. A sad mouthed-face here is tearful eyes!",{"type":18,"tag":40,"props":183,"children":185},{"id":184},"food",[186],{"type":23,"value":187},"Food",{"type":18,"tag":47,"props":189,"children":190},{},[191,196,201,206],{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":192,"children":193},{},[194],{"type":23,"value":195},"The street-tent Japanese eateries are a great place to meet people as locals of all ages and foreigners get chatting.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":197,"children":198},{},[199],{"type":23,"value":200},"Cheese, milk and chocolate are not common. Kit-Kat and Snickers are about the only recognizable brand chocolate bars.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":202,"children":203},{},[204],{"type":23,"value":205},"Eggs turn up in many many dishes. Boiled and dropped into soups, or cooked and laid upon practically anything or sometimes raw over rice dishes.",{"type":18,"tag":51,"props":207,"children":208},{},[209],{"type":23,"value":210},"Food is beautifully prepared, even supermarket sandwiches and lunch-boxes. Crusts are too ugly for their sandwiches.",{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":212,"children":213},{},[214],{"type":18,"tag":28,"props":215,"children":216},{},[217],{"type":23,"value":32},{"title":219,"searchDepth":220,"depth":220,"links":221},"",2,[222,223,224,225,226,227],{"id":42,"depth":220,"text":45},{"id":83,"depth":220,"text":86},{"id":107,"depth":220,"text":110},{"id":136,"depth":220,"text":139},{"id":160,"depth":220,"text":163},{"id":184,"depth":220,"text":187},"markdown","content:blog:2007:things-i-learnt-in-japan.md","content","blog/2007/things-i-learnt-in-japan.md","blog/2007/things-i-learnt-in-japan","md","/blog/2007/things-i-learnt-in-japan/",603,3,[238,242,246],{"title":239,"date":240,"url":241},"From somewhere small: Transport in the USA (well, Seattle)","2011-01-29T23:57:33+00:00","/blog/2011/from-somewhere-small-transport-in-the-usa-well-seattle/",{"title":243,"date":244,"url":245},"Origins of a love affair","2009-12-29T12:06:51+00:00","/blog/2009/origins-of-a-love-affair/",{"title":247,"date":248,"url":249},"Friday Fill-Ins #91","2008-09-27T05:26:07+00:00","/blog/2008/friday-fill-ins-91/",[251,273],{"_path":252,"_dir":253,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":254,"description":255,"id":256,"name":257,"email":258,"avatar":259,"url":260,"date":261,"body":262,"_type":228,"_id":270,"_source":230,"_file":271,"_stem":272,"_extension":233},"/comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1773","things-i-learnt-in-japan","1773","If you survived okay on real Chinese food I think you'd have no problem with real Japanese.",1773,"Damien Guard","damien@envytech.co.uk","https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/dc72963e7279d34c85ed4c0b731ce5a9?r=pg&d=retro","https://damieng.com/","2007-01-08T14:21:06",{"type":15,"children":263,"toc":268},[264],{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":265,"children":266},{},[267],{"type":23,"value":255},{"title":219,"searchDepth":220,"depth":220,"links":269},[],"content:comments:things-i-learnt-in-japan:1773.md","comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1773.md","comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1773",{"_path":274,"_dir":253,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":275,"description":276,"id":277,"name":278,"email":279,"avatar":280,"url":281,"date":282,"body":283,"_type":228,"_id":291,"_source":230,"_file":292,"_stem":293,"_extension":233},"/comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1772","1772","The main thing that's put me off going to Japan (apart from cost) is the food. I always insist on eating local food in local eating houses wherever I go, it's part of the whole experience, but try as I might I can't stand most Japanese food I've tried, even though I love other asian food (Chinese/Thai/Malaysian). Perhaps it's just what they serve in restaurants in other countries - I know when we went to China that the local places were quite a lot different.",1772,"steve","steve@stevestreeting.com","https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/fbe8cc9ac5bc8797382e01e10f5f8e33?r=pg&d=retro","https://www.stevestreeting.com","2007-01-04T14:51:27",{"type":15,"children":284,"toc":289},[285],{"type":18,"tag":19,"props":286,"children":287},{},[288],{"type":23,"value":276},{"title":219,"searchDepth":220,"depth":220,"links":290},[],"content:comments:things-i-learnt-in-japan:1772.md","comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1772.md","comments/things-i-learnt-in-japan/1772",1779264560365]