All Good Things Must Come to an End…

So we are officially down to one week before this semester is over…….and I can’t believe this is actually ending…..
It almost feels surreal……I know that the last days of the semester are coming up, but my mind does not want to process it.  I know that the full realization will hit me when I am on the shinkansen(bullet train) back to Narita Airport, and that I will probably cry my eyes out(at least internally) on the flight back to America.

These last 3 and a half months have been some of the hardest, most fun, and most motivating months of my life.  Not only have I been able to experience and learn so many new things, but I have also made incredible lifelong friends, and unforgettable memories.  This has been by far the best 3 and a half months of my life so far, and I can honestly say that I have very few regrets.  The only regrets I will have is not being able to stay here longer…..since I know the next 2 years will drag by until the time that I can return to Japan…..

Although I know I am beyond excited to get back and tell everyone back home about my experiences in Japan, I know part of me will still be in Japan, and I am guessing there will be many days where I wish I was back in Japan.
But the goal of returning in 2 years gives me the motivation and determination to finish college quickly, and return to Japan as soon as possible.

Sorry this post seemed to be a bit depressing, since I find myself reminiscing quite a bit as the end of the semester gets closer……
hopefully once I return to America, I can finish up some other posts that will hopefully be a little more cheerful, and slightly more informational, since I hope to cover some topics such as study abroad tips, culture shock, and other topics from a practical and real life point of view.

So, until then, じゃあ、まった～

by the way…..it’s Sakura(Cherry blossom) season here!~
here’s some pictures I took last week ^~^

Happy Accidents

It’s always interesting when a string of somewhat troubling occurrences result in something better than you could have ever imagined.
Today was definitely that sort of day.

So originally, my Japanese conversation partner and I had planned to meet and go to a city called Nagahama, since it was close, and at the time we planned this outing, I had not been to Nagahama yet.
However, as luck would have it, my home-stay family ended up being in Nagahama, so that kind of threw a wrench in our plans.
So, my conversation partner did a little looking and we decided to go to a difference city because it had a ropeway(cable car) that went up the mountain so you could look out over everything.  But first we decided to go for lunch.
My conversation partner wanted to eat at a locally famous ramen shop, but when we got there, the line was out the door.  So we scrapped that, and went to a different ramen shop, but that one was also super busy(for some reason, everyone decided to eat ramen today…..) so we ended up at a tiny little restaurant behind the second ramen shop.  I was slightly hesitant, since it seemed super tiny, and was kind of expensive…..but it ended up being the most amazing food ever……

it was Japanese style, which meant that there were a bunch of tiny side dishes along with the main course, rice, and miso soup.  The sides were fermented soy beans, lotus root(with some sort of amazing sauce over it that made it taste like meat) some sort of spinach and vegetable dish, pickled radish, salad, a square of tofu with sweet miso sauce, and yogurt with raspberry sauce and a mandarin orange it in.  I absolutely love this kind of meal, because it lets you taste a variety of flavors while still only eating a normal sized meal(although, it was definitely more than filling).  I think I would definitely go back again, even though it’s a little pricey…..the food, interior decor, and menu design make it worth it…

Anyway, back to the main agenda…..
After lunch, we went looking for the rope-way.  However, we soon found out that the way to the rope-way was blocked off because there was a festival going on.  This meant we had to park about a block away and walk.  However, this also meant we got to see the festival, which was AMAZING!!!!!
After doing some research, I finally found some information about the festival, which is called Sagicho Matsuri.
For this festival, people build massive torch floats, and decorate them with the animal of the year(from the Chinese zodiac, so this year is the sheep).  These floats are then paraded around town, and each is carried on the shoulders of a large group of men(and sometimes women).  The floats are super heavy, so there’s a lot of people for each float.
The floats are paraded around Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and then on Sunday night, they are all burned, hence the festival also being known as the “fire festival”.

If you want to read more about it, check out this website here.
Anyway, I had always wanted to go to a Japanese festival, but I thought I would not get the chance, because festival season is usually either around New Years, or in the summer, so when I found out we had stumbled upon a festival by accident, I was beyond excited.
If you ever have the chance to go to a Japanese festival, I highly recommend it!!!!!  It’s so much fun!!!!
They take street food to another level, and you can’t go wrong no matter what you buy.  It’s all hot and freshly made right in front of you, and it’s definitely an experience I want to have again…..
Anyway, so not only did we get to go to the festival, but we also got to go on the rope-way, since the festival was build around the rope-way shop, which I just realized was probably a very smart move business wise…..
Here’s a view from the top area of the rope way, where you can walk around and visit the shrine on the top of the mountain.

Anyway, all in all, today was probably one of the most amazing days ever, and I really want to go back to that festival again….
Hopefully I will have the chance to go to some sort of festival again before I leave….
Anyway, until next time!!
じゃあ、まった～

Home-stay : Part 3

This is the third and final post for my weekend home-stay with a Japanese family, so if you haven’t already read the other two parts, you can find them here(part 1, part 2).

This morning started out with breakfast, and then I was shown around the other house that the grandparent’s daughter’s family live in.  From what I gathered, the grandfather either built or bought the house, but realized that since he was getting older and his legs weren’t as good anymore, he preferred his old house since it was only one story high instead of two.  Anyway, after that, we set off for a city about 1-2 hours away to go on a short cruise on a ferry around part of the lake to see the scenery and learn about the history of both the lake, and the ferry.  Although, I mostly just enjoyed the ferry ride and watched the scenery, since I couldn’t really understand most of the history that was being talked about, since it was all in Japanese.
After that, we drove around for a while looking for a place to eat lunch, and finally settled on the restaurant that was right next to the college I’m studying/living at.
After we finished eating, we returned home for coffee and a last phone call to say good-bye to the relatives I had met before, and then we headed back to the college to finally drop me off.

This will definitely be an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life.  There were a lot of things I knew, and a lot of things I didn’t.  I found out I know more Japanese than I think, but less than I would like, and the more I try to understand, the less I can because it makes me too nervous, and I end up over-thinking things.
And also, I honestly don’t know why, but in America, I really really don’t like kids……but here, I actually like kids…..so that’s something I learned….
Also, I learned that the average Japanese person knows less English than I thought, but obviously any English is more Japanese than the average American would know, so I guess I can’t complain….
I know now that even the students who come to my college knowing very little English probably know more than the average Japanese person, so I will not be taking that for granted anymore…..
I also realize that when I am in an unfamiliar place with no one who can speak English or translate, I speak very little……and I almost revert back to the way I used to be about 4 years ago……which is slightly frustrating, since I spent 4 years trying to improve on my ability to step outside my comfort zone, only to realize that when push comes to shove, I really haven’t improved at all……..

But, nevertheless, this was definitely an interesting experience that I would love to have again sometime in the future.
If anyone ever gets the chance to do a home-stay in the country that they are learning the language of, I highly recommend it!  It’s definitely a life changing opportunity that I am glad I experienced.
Well, until something interesting happens again then,

じゃあ、まった～

Home-stay : Part 2

Hello again!!!!
This is part 2 of my weekend home stay, so if you haven’t read part 1 yet, please check that out here(x)!

This morning started off with breakfast while watching a Japanese dubbed Korean drama.  Then we headed out for some sightseeing around the city, and walked around a few streets with some tiny shops that I will definitely be visiting again……
After lunch, we drove to see the host grandmother’s older sister(it always amazes me how close family lives in Japan), and I got to meet two of her grand nieces who(from what bits and pieces I could pick up) are either graduated, or graduating from high school and starting college soon…….at least I think……
All I really got was some bits and pieces about being 18 and other talk of school, so that’s what I eventually pieced together……..
Anyway, I always end up understanding younger people better…….I don’t know why……but I have a lot of trouble understanding the older people……
It seems like so far, the younger they are the better I understand them…….
But anyway, basically I got paraded around today and shown off as the “外国人お姉ちゃん” which basically means the “foreign older sister”, but here “older sister” is a polite affectionate term for a young girl/woman.  Although, they eventually figured out that I have a hard time responding to “onee-chan” all the time, and fially settled on either ニコルちゃん or ニコちゃん, which are just affectionate ways to say my name.
After dropping off my host grandmother somewhere (she said where and why, but I didn’t understand…) my host grandfather and I went to a Japanese garden to walk around and have tea until it was time to pick my host grandmother up.
Afterward, we went shopping for dinner, and returned home.  I tried helping with dinner but my host grandmother didn’t let me do much except chop off the ends of the green onions, and slice some sort of root into slivers………
Anyway, we had sukiyaki for dinner, which is rapidly becoming my favorite Japanese food……and something I’m going to miss dearly when I return back to the US, since it involves eating food dipped into raw egg, and we can’t really do that back in the US…..
I met another daughter and her two children, who were super shy at fist, until they realized I could understand about 90% of what they said, and we ended up sitting down and studying Kanji(the Chinese characters) together with the two kids I had met the day before who came over with their parents again.
I got distracted at one point when an English TV program came on(trying to teach kids English) and I got thrown for a loop of nostalgia when I realized how long it had been since I heard a TV program in English……..it was almost weird that I could understand everything without trying……..
After we finished studying kanji, and the kids finished cross examining me about America and what I like about Japan, we played cards again, and I got quizzed on my elementary school math(which I might have forgotten most of).  But in my defense, not only was I was never good at math to begin with, but I got pop quizzed in Japanese by a 9 year old, who had a calculator and was rapid firing addition/subtraction/multiplication/division at me in Japanese……which we quickly learned that first he had to teach me the words plus, minus, multiplied, and divided in Japanese.  Which, then not only did I to remember the words for the mathematical terms, but I also had to be on top of my numbers in Japanese………
Moral of the story?  If you ever want to test if you truly know the basics of math…….do it under pressure in a foreign language………
Anyway, one by one the others returned home for the night, until once again, it was just my host grandmother, grandfather and me.  Usually they go to bed around 10, but my host grandfather and I got caught up in a murder mystery drama that ended up going till 11…..
I was surprised at how much I actually understood, and how absorbed I actually got in the drama without realizing I was translating or understanding the drama without subtitles……
I somewhat regret not doing a semester home stay, since I can tell how much better my listening has gotten even over just 2 days and I’m going to miss the feeling of being part of the family, but I think if I had done a semester home stay, I wouldn’t have had as many opportunities that I did have so far.
I hope I can come back and visit soon…….
Anyway, I guess its time for me to go to bed, so till next time….
じゃあ、またね~

Home-stay : Part 1

Welcome to part 1 of my weekend home stay experience.  Part 2 will be posted shortly after this.~

So, I’m currently writing this on a note app on my phone, and by the time you guys read this, I will be back.  But since I left in such a rush that I didn’t remember to grab any study materials, and I don’t have WiFi, or my laptop, if I want to kill time, this is the only way I can write.

Anyway, for those of you who may or may not know, this weekend all the weekend home-stay applicants are doing our home-stays with a Japanese family for 3 days from Friday-Sunday.
Mine is from a city about 5 minutes away from the college I go to, and they consist of a woman, her husband, their two children, and her parents.  Although, it’s mainly the grandparents that I’m staying with.  The kids are adorable, and I get along best with the younger one, because since he’s young, he still uses “easy” Japanese, and I don’t have to worry about being formal with him when I speak.  Of course, the kansai-ben(dialect) makes things a little difficult, but I’ve managed to figure out the gist of most things……so far…..
So far the kids have taught me 2 new card games, and a boatload of new Uno rules that I’m pretty sure don’t exist anywhere outside this household…..
The mom I think used to be an English teacher somewhere (China?…..maybe?…) so sometimes she can help translate a little…….but not much…..
I thought that living with Japanese roommates for 4 weeks would have taught me how to communicate well enough in Japanese, but oh how I overestimated that………
I guess it’s one thing to live with Japanese people in an English environment, and it’s a completely different story to be in a completely Japanese environment where you literally cannot use English……at all……
Honestly…….it’s a lot more frustrating than I originally thought it would be……
Especially when your brain is super tired from trying to decipher Japanese all day, and decides to default back to English no matter how hard you try…..
As far as I can tell so far…….the mother, husband and kids don’t actually live with the grandparents…….they’re in a different house, but its super close, like 1-2 houses apart, so they stayed the majority of the time in the grandparents house today, and then went back to their house in the evening……
Anyway, I feel bad, because somehow I managed to create some sort of misunderstanding where I think they think I’m studying right now……..but the truth is, I didn’t bring anything to study with me………so…..yeah…..
I wish I were studying……but I actually finished all the homework for Monday, so it would have been slightly pointless anyway…….
Anyway, I’m getting super sleepy so I’ll continue my home-stay recounting after tomorrow….
So untill then,
じゃあ、またね~

Lost in Hikone

This morning, a couple friends and I set out to find Ryotanji temple in Hikone.  We knew roughly the area it was supposed to be in, but since none of us had ever been there, or seen it, we really had no idea what we were looking for.  But since it was really nice weather, we figured even if it took us a while, we would probably eventually find it.
However, we gravely underestimated how vague our idea of the area was, and soon we found ourselves biking around a remote area of Hikone, running into dead ends, woods, other buildings, and everything except Ryotanji.
Somehow, and I really have no idea why we ended up here, but we managed to find ourselves on a fairly high vantage point surrounded by a bunch of beautiful Japanese style houses and lots of bamboo, but still with absolutely no idea where we were.

  

I guess we had somehow made our way up onto the mountainside, and after much wandering and going up and down steep hills, we found a random sign that told us the vague direction and distance that we should go to find Ryotanji.
So we started following the path and after a lot more up and down biking, the path finally took us down the mountain side to the bottom, back where we started….
Apparently, when we started, we went too far down to cross the train tracks and missed it.  If we had crossed the train tracks earlier, there would have been a sign on the other side pointing straight to Ryotanji, but since we crossed farther down, we completely missed it, and thus took a very long, very scenic route instead….
So after about an hour of wandering around, we had finally found what we came to see.  I must say, it was totally worth it.  Even though I think Ryotanji is one of the bigger temples, there was hardly anyone there.  And even though it is pretty close to the train tracks, since there’s a lot of woods surrounding it, it feels remote and removed from the normal hustle bustle of the town, and it is surprisingly peaceful…

  

We were told that Ryotanji had a really nice Japanese garden, and we were hoping to see that, but unfortunately, there was an entrance fee, and we didn’t have time today, but we’re planning on going back another day when we have time, since we know where Ryotanji is now…
However, there was a cemetery in the back, which was really interesting to walk through.  Some of the grave’s were really really old, and others were brand new.
There was also a hiking trail, but again we didn’t have time, and none of us were prepared to hike, so we decided to leave that for another day.

  

after we were done walking around Ryotanji, we went over to the small shrine that was next door.
The shrine itself was really old and deteriorating, so they had constructed a warehouse looking cover for it to try and preserve it as best they could.

 

But luckily, the gaps in the wire in the front were just large enough to fit the lense of a camera through, so we could still get unobstructed pictures of the shrine inside.

and next to the shrine was a huge Sakura(Cherry) tree that was so large, that some of the branches were supported by posts to keep them up.
I can’t wait for it to bloom in spring!!!!!

Well, anyway, that was about it for today’s adventures, so until next time!
じゃあ、まった～

Time Flies

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already almost the end of February, which means, I have less than 2 months left here……..
Time is flying WAY TOO FAST……….I can feel the end of the semester creeping up on my day by day, and I really hate that….
I can’t begin to describe how these last two months have gone, other than to say that they’ve been the best two months I’ve ever had….and I know that when I finish, I am going to want to do it all over again.

Anyway, our school does a program for Japanese students to come to our school and learn English for 2 weeks, and during that time, they stay in the dorms with us.  So two weeks ago, I had my first Japanese roommate, and she was here for 2 weeks, and then she moved out this past Friday.  However, there are 3 of these 2 week programs, so today, I got a new roommate who I will live with for 2 weeks once again.
I must say, that at the beginning I thought that switching roommates every 2 weeks for 6 weeks wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but after these past two weeks, I learned that you can actually get very attached to someone over only two weeks, and I definitely spent Friday in a weird semi depressed state after my first roommate left.  So needless to say, I was slightly apprehensive about getting a new roommate.  Part of me was really looking forward to it, and part of me just wanted my old roommate to move back in again.  But, I’m sure I’ll enjoy these next two weeks, just as I did the last two…

Anyway,  things are getting harder, if that’s possible, not only is the Japanese we learn getting more difficult, but the things we are expected to know and do are also increasing.  Not that I really mind, since I think it’s interesting.

It is definitely interesting to actually live with a native Japanese person, instead of simply seeing and talking to them every day.  Not only does this allow us to see how native Japanese people live from day to day, but it also teaches us to find a middle point between our cultures.  It also forces us to use whatever we can to try and meet each other halfway communication wise as well.
Usually we settle into some sort of half Japanese, half English mix…which must be interesting for other people to watch…..

Anyway, I will try to update again, but I don’t really know what to write about anymore……since I’m not really doing anything super interesting.  So by all means, if anyone has questions, please ask away, since it would give me something to talk about….^~^

Well, till then,
じゃあ、まった～

Sunset on Lake Biwa

So the other day the skies were clear for once, and we got to see an amazing sunset on Lake Biwa(the lake our school is on).
So, here’s some pictures that I took.

じゃあ、まった～

Sorry!!!

I’m so sorry!!!!!  This is turning into an epic fail of an attempt to run a blog……
Ok, so first things first…..sorry for being inactive for so long.  Things are a lot busier here then I thought they would be.

For those of you who don’t know, I am in a language intensive program, which means we have Japanese class from 8:40-11:40am every morning from Monday to Thursday, and then have a test on what we’ve learned that week on Friday.  So we’re covering about 2-3 semesters worth of Japanese language material in a little over 3 and a half months…..

To put it simply, we’re covering about 1 chapter per 3 days, which if you’ve ever taken a language class before, you know this is a ridiculously fast breakneck speed…..
In my college back home, we usually spend about 2 weeks on 1 chapter…..so this is about 2-4 times as fast as what we would be doing back home……
Needless to say, the first couple weeks were a bit rough, adjustment wise, especially since the teachers here expect a lot more from you than the teachers back home….
Here, you’re pretty much expected to know the material already, before coming to class, since it’s so fast, that they don’t really have time to teach you everything in class, so you’re expected to know most of the lesson before they teach it.
This means, not only do you get assigned about 1/3 of the chapter homework per day, but they also expect that you study a minimum of 3 hours a day….which is actually a huge understatement…….since it usually takes about 3 hours to finish your homework….
Besides the homework, we have to look over the chapter material, memorize the Kanji(chinese characters), memorize the vocab for the chapter, and also memorized the assigned dialogue for that day in order to be able to recite it from memory in class.  They also assign various book work to be done on your own, in order to help you understand the chapter.
We have 2 quizzes, a listening comprehension test, and a chapter test each week, and also have a mandatory 15 minute, one on one, conversation meeting with the teacher each week, where we talk with him in Japanese for 15 minutes.

Other than Japanese class, we are all taking at least one elective class.  This class meets only 1-2 times a week, but is usually about 3-4 hours long.  The one I am taking is about Japanese social and cultural psychology, and it meets on Tuesdays right after Japanese class, and goes until 4pm.

Outside of class, we try to get as much sightseeing, and do as many activities as we can, to try and get out and around our city.

Overall, this is definitely NOT a program for someone who wants to study Japanese on a whim……you really have to want to study Japanese if you’re going to enjoy your stay here.
It takes a to sit down and study Japanese for 5-6 hours a day, go to class and realize just how little you actually know, and still have the motivation to keep on trying.
Personally, even though it’s a TON of work, I absolutely love it.  It’s somewhat refreshing to be able to sit down and concentrate completely on Japanese, which is something I’ve wanted to concentrate on for a long time.

Oops…..got a tad sidetracked…….the purpose of me writing this blog post, was not actually to give you a run down of my schedule….I just wanted to let you all know that I am probably going to be updating sporadically, since I may not always have time to write things down……so sorry!!!!

Anyway, hope you at least find some things interesting!
And if you ever have any questions, definitely leave them in the comments section!  I will definitely try and answer them to the best of my knowledge! ^~^
So, until then,

じゃあ、まった～

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

So, I’ve been meaning to touch on this topic for a while now and just haven’t gotten around to writing about it.  But what happened tonight told me that tonight was the night to buckle down and write,……and so here I am…
Although, what I’m writing about merely brushes the surface of a topic that I could, and do(ask my friends and family), talk for hours about….

I’ve been meaning to talk about Japanese hospitality and how different it is from American hospitality…..
but not hospitality only as service toward customers, but even hospitality of people to one another.

In America, we often mix business with personal, which means unfortunately, often a bad day affects how people treat customers.

However, I have yet to see that happen here…..

I know this is not an accurate representation of Japan as a whole, and I’m sure there are people who let their emotions get the better of them, but from what customer service I’ve seen so far, not only are people always smiling, courteous, and polite, they often even go out of their way to assist you.  For example, in the 7-11 by our college, if you buy pre-made and packaged food, they offer to heat it up for you when you buy it.  In the food mart we were in, there was a microwave next to the pre-made food stall so that you could heat up anything you had just bought.
When I bought dango(Japanese rice cakes) instead of giving me one off the shelf, the lady gave me one she had just freshly made so that it was still warm and gooey.
Also, if you don’t know where something is, often the employee will escort you to the exact place and show you the product, and also talk about the different types of that product that they carry.
They include chopsticks and straws with pre-made food and drinks, and they package everything neatly, and thank you for shopping and ask you to come again.
In stores or restaurants, every employee who passes you will say, いっらしゃいませ(Irrashaimase – a very polite form of “welcome”) to you and any other person who enters the store.
And in the train stations, the operators and employees greet you as you walk in, and thank you on your way out.

But enough about talking about business, today I actually wanted to talk about this litte guy….

well, not him specifically, but the events that involved getting him are what made me really step back and think….

Tonight, a group of us international students, and some Japanese students went to a place to go bowling, and the bowling place was in the same area as an arcade, and had a bunch of games and machines around the bowling area.  There’s these machine called “gacha” machines.  There’s some of them in the US too, but I don’t know what we call them…..  They’re the little vending machines that have toys in little capsules, and when you put in money, and crank the handle, you get a random toy or item.  Well, there was one for a character called Nyanko-sensei from the anime Natsume Yuujinchou.  He’s usually white, but there are also black versions like the one I got….

Anyway, I had put in my 200 yen(a little less than $2) and cranked the handle…….and nothing came out…..
My friend had just done it before me, and she got a white one, so we knew it worked, we tried the handle again, but it had already done the rotation, so it wouldn’t turn anymore.  We kind of rocked the machine, and tapped on the side to see if the ball had gotten stuck, but nothing happened…
so I just chalked it up to being a defective machine, because they’re kind of old, and resigned myself to the fact that I had lost $2.
I mean, it’s not uncommon for machines in the U.S. to not give you what you paid for, so I wasn’t terribly upset…..just a little bummed that I didn’t get the plush when I really wanted one….

But  then out of nowhere, as we are walking away, this little old Japanese man comes up and starts looking at the machine…..we didn’t quite know what he was doing at first, and one of my friends was wondering if he was trying to get the one I should have gotten and another one for himself, since that’s something we would have expected from people back home………but we couldn’t have been more wrong….
After looking over the machine, he walked over to the desk and called some of the employees over and started explaining to them that I had paid for the ball, but nothing had come out.  The employee grabbed some keys and tried to open the machine, but apparently they were the wrong set, so she went back to get another set.  While she was gone, the old man started playing with the machine again, and after a few minutes of jiggling the handle, shaking the machine, and poking around in the chute, a capsule rolled out.
We couldn’t believe it……this little old man that didn’t even know us, had gone through all the trouble of getting the employees, and explaining the problem to them, and then actually getting the toy out of the machine.
All that trouble, for one toy…..and there wasn’t even anything in it for him.  He didn’t even want a toy, he just gave me the capsule and walked away……..
Needless to say, when he gave me the ball, we thanked him profusely, and went back to our table to marvel at what had just happened…..
But since to me, actions mean so much more than words ever would……what he did, made more of an impression on me than anything I have ever experienced….
And I will treasure that plush charm forever…..

Now, I’m not saying that this is how the majority of Japan is, and I’m not saying that Japan is better than the US, because they’re two completely different cultures, and to compare them based on culture would be the worst thing I could probably do.  But I am saying that what I’ve experienced from interacting with the people here for 2 weeks, is so different from what I’ve grown up with, that it’s almost too difficult to put into words….

Well, on that vague note, I still have homework to finish, so until next time!~
じゃあ、まった～

*oh, and all this applies only when you’re not on a bike……..I don’t know if it’s just me…..but it seems like people don’t even try to watch for bicycles……I can’t recall the number of times it’s been a green light for pedestrians and bikers, and cars are still turning while we try to cross the road while playing dodge-the-cars………or when they pull out of parking lots, or side roads…….I definitely will not miss playing the “guess whether the driver saw you or not” game….
but I swear….other than that, Japan is actually quite safe…… ^_^