| Tokyo: New adherents to Zen Buddhism are often tested with riddles to help concentrate their mind. One such riddle asks: “What is the sound of one hand clapping ?” For those not seeking spiritual enlightenment by raking gravel in rock gardens, day to day life in Japan is puzzling enough.
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| Among my more poignant memories here have been of encounters with new arrivals in a state of bamboozled helplessness. For most Asians, Japan is more foreign than anywhere else. Here are a few tips for getting on top of things:
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| Travel: Domestic travel is so expensive that many Japanese prefer to take their holidays abroad. The Narita-Tokyo taxi fare costs the same as a Tokyo-Hong Kong flight. Bullet trains (shinkansen) are as costly as planes.
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| A Tokyo-Osaka round trip by Nozumi, the fastest bullet train, is $ 250. The best option is to buy a Japan Rail travel pass abroad before arriving and then travel. Week-long JR passes cost $ 250 and are activated from the first journey you make.
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| The other option is luxury night buses; they cost about half of bullet trains and take you anywhere. Although Japanese trains are the most punctual in the world, suburban or provincial connections can be complex. Wiser to plot in detail before setting off.
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| Accommodation: Japanese hotels take their cue from ryokans (traditional inns) for occupancy: they charge per head, regardless of how many people share the room. Whereas a ryokan rate includes breakfast and dinner, a hotel does not.
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| A 7 am breakfast of three types of fish, raw egg and sticky rice may not be your idea of a headstart to the day but staying in a ryokan is an experience.
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| A strict protocol governs toilet sharing and bathing arrangements. Footwear is important — slip-ons are convenient, lace-ups mean taking them off six times a day. For longer stays look for ‘weekly mansions’. A good starting point is the Tokyo American Club.
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| Food & Entertainment: Depending on your pocket, sushi can cost anywhere between $ 15 and $ 1,500 a plate, give or take a geisha. Location, ambience and presentation are everything in Japanese dining.
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| The Japanese entertain out rather than at home — it’s a social gap that foreigners find difficult to get used to. Most Japanese in big cities don’t cook. There are millions of restaurants and 24-hour supermarkets with freshly packed meals to suit every taste.
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| Unless it’s official entertainment, the Japanese go dutch — even couples split costs down to the last yen. As there’s no tipping, bills are settled at the counter on the way out. And for the freshest sushi, take a short subway ride to Tsukiji, the biggest fish market in the world. It operates all night, auctions start before dawn, so go early to avoid disappointment.
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| Which brings me to the four Ps to help crack an opaque culture:
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| Politeness: Reams have been written on what lies behind the Smiling Mask, or tatemae and honne, the conditioned duality by which the Japanese separate public expression from private feeling.
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| The crucial thing is never to raise your voice or lose your cool in public. The Japanese view any expression of anger or belligerence with distaste and contempt. In a vocabulary where the word for a blunt ‘no’ doesn’t exist, politeness is all. Even when you think no one’s looking, your manners are being scrutinised.
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| Punctuality: Get there on time. Or say you cannot. To keep anyone waiting, especially for a professional appointment, is an insult.
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| Patience: Everything can take a long time in Japan, even everyday conversations. There is an escapable form to all interaction. Not long ago, I had to interview a world-famous Japanese, the Osaka-based pugilist-turned-architect Tadao Ando.
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| I also needed permission to have two of his famous houses photographed. It took six weeks of daily calls and e-mails to his office — from arranging an interpreter to precise train arrivals and departures and a minute-by-minute mapping of the day — before I got what I wanted.
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| In the end it was Mr Ando who was late. Appalled by his delay he did two touchingly un-Japanese things. He paid for my lunch and ordered a flurry of assistants to organise a taxi and make certain I caught my train back to Tokyo.
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| Persistence: Planning and precision are important but persistence is valued even more.
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| The Japanese don’t give up easily. Keeping the four Ps in mind, nor should you. |
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