I have recently visited Japan for the first time on January of 1997. It was freezing...as soon as I arrived at the train station, I had the urge to go use the restroom. So I did. The restroom had the most unimaginable odor. I don't know if it smells like that in the men's but as soon as I entered one of the stalls, I was terrified. It was the old traditional squatting down toilette. Not only that, they didn't have any paper. To top it off, the door was from the ceiling to the floor and I was literally trapped inside with this odor. I couldn't breathe. There wasn't enough oxygen in there. So, for all you travelers, I recommend that you always carry tissue and never, I said never use the restrooms in the train station.

Another thing that surprised me was the thing called,'morning' In other words, you are basically ordering, one egg and half a toast. The waitress comes up to me and says,'morning' so obviously, I replied 'good morning' then she says 'morning' again and this went on for several times until I asked her in Japanese why she was greeting me so much.

In conclusion, I would have to say Japan has the most delicious foods, with good and quick services, restrooms that keeps you amazed, everything compact, no place to park, traffic, and a lot of love hotels. So I recommend that if you feel hungry and horney, this is the place to be.

1998/1/22