Discovering Japan, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

April 6, 2013 Martha Thomases 3 Comments

Greetings from Japan, Constant Readers!  I’ve been here five whole days, so I am no expert.  However, I came because I will soon be 60, and I needed to have my comfortable assumptions challenged.

That is happening.  So far, so good.

Just for starters, they drive on the “wrong” side of the road.  Which means when one looks for oncoming traffic, it isn’t there.  More troubling for this pedestrian, it means they also walk on the “wrong” side of the sidewalk.

When you sit down in a restaurant, you get a hot towel or moist towelettes.  This is lovely.  However, after this, you get no napkin.  Since, as an American, I am a slob, this can be a problem.

 

 

 

Also, because of nerve gas attacks several years ago, there are hardly any trash cans.  And yet, there is no litter anywhere. I am constantly carrying around little bits of paper, annoyed, but no one else seems to care.

The cherry trees are in bloom, which is cause for celebration.  Other national festivals involve autumn leaves, and the moon.

Every meal includes pickles, even breakfast.  I don’t know how the Japanese did this ahead of the Jews.

Many of the most beautiful tourist attractions are inspired by religion, either Shinto or Buddhism.  This isn’t surprising, since many of the most beautiful tourist attractions in Europe are also inspired by religion, either Catholic or Protestant.

There are souvenir stands at these attractions, with lots of trinkets. I love trinkets.  A lot of them feature Hello Kitty.  I love Hello Kitty.

We are just back from Nara today, where we saw the world’s largest Buddha.  The park that contains the Buddha and other shrines is full of deer, who are considered national treasures.  You can buy food and feed them out of your hand.

At the souvenir stands, you can get pictures of Hello Kitty dressed as a deer.  You can get pictures of Hello Kitty sitting in the lap of the Buddha.  And you can get a change purse that is the head of the Buddha with antlers.

I don’t think Christians would sell souvenir change purses of Jesus in deer drag.  I don’t know what the Jewish equivalent would be, but I am pretty sure we wouldn’t do it, either.

Why would Japanese people do this and Westerners would not?  I don’t know.

We talk a lot about how our God is a loving God, how we trust him and confide in him.

Yet we don’t seem to be playful with him.  We don’t tease him.  We don’t treat him like part of the family.

The Buddha is not a god, nor is he a part of a god’s immediate family, so this isn’t a straight-on analogy.  But the Buddha seems up for a good time.  Maybe that’s why Hello Kitty likes him.