Country info for backpacking in Japan

Map of Japan Cherry blossoms in Kichijoji, Tokyo The "Land of the Rising Sun" is a country where the past meets the future. Japanese culture stretches back millennia, yet has also adopted (and created) the latest modern fashions and trends. Japan is a study in contrasts and contradictions. Many Japanese corporations dominate their industries, yet if you read the financial news it seems like Japan is practically bankrupt. Cities are as modern and high tech as anywhere else, but tumbledown wooden shacks can still be spotted next to glass fronted designer condominiums. On an average subway ride, you might see childishly cute character toys and incredibly violent pornography - sometimes enjoyed by the same passenger, at the same time! Japan has beautiful temples and gardens which are often surrounded by garish signs and ugly buildings. In the middle of a modern skyscraper you might discover a sliding wooden door which leads to a traditional chamber with tatami mats, calligraphy, and tea ceremony. These juxtapositions mean you may often be surprised and rarely bored by your travels in Japan.

History

While geography is not destiny, the fact that Japan is located on islands on the outermost edge of Asia has had a profound influence on its history. Just close enough to mainstream Asia, yet far enough to keep itself separate, much of Japanese history has been the alternation of periods of closure and openness. Until recently, Japan has been able to turn on or off its connection to the rest of the world, internalizing foreign cultural influences in fits and starts. It is comparable with the relationship between Britain and the rest of Europe, but with a much wider channel. Recorded Japanese history begins in the 5th century, although archaeological evidence of settlement stretches back 500,000 years and the mythical Emperor Jimmu is said to have founded the current Imperial line in the 7th century BC. The first strong Japanese state was centered in Nara (8th c.), moving later to Kyoto and Kamakura until Japan descended into the anarchy of the Warring States period in the 15th century. Tokugawa Ieyasu finally reunified the country in 1600 and founded the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal state ruled from Edo, or modern-day Tokyo. A strict caste system was imposed, with the Shogun and his samurai warriors at the top of the heap and no social mobility permitted. Tokugawa rule kept the country stable but stagnant with a policy of total isolation while the world around them rushed ahead. US Commodore Matthew Perry's Black Ships arrived in Yokohama in 1854, forcing the country to open up to trade with the west. The resulting shock led to the collapse of the shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1867. Japan launched itself headlong into a drive to industrialize and modernize, which soon turned into a drive to expand and colonize its neighbors, culminating in the disastrous Second World War that saw 1.86 million Japanese and well over 10 million Chinese and other Asians die in battle, bombings, starvation and massacres. Forced to surrender in 1945 after the nuclear attacks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was occupied for the first time in its history. The Emperor kept his throne but was turned into a constitutional monarch. Thus converted to pacifism and democracy, with the US taking care of defense, Japan now directed its prodigious energies into peaceful technology and proceeded to conquer the world's marketplaces with an endless stream of cars and consumer electronics, rising from the ashes to attain the second-largest gross national product in the world.

People

As an island nation shut off from the rest of the world for a long time, Japan is very homogeneous, with around 98% of the population ethnically Japanese. The largest minority are Koreans, around 1 million strong, many in their 3rd or 4th generations. There are also sizable populations of Chinese, Filipinos and Brazilians (many of which ethnically are actually Japanese). Indigenous ethnic minorities include the Ainu, driven north over the centuries and now found mostly on Hokkaido, numbering around 50,000 (although the number varies greatly depending on the exact definition used), and the Ryukyuan people of Okinawa. The Japanese are well known for their politeness. Many Japanese are thrilled to have visitors to their country and are incredibly helpful to lost and bewildered-looking foreigners. On the other hand many are not used to dealing with foreigners (commonly known as gaijin (外人), outsider, or gaikokujin (外国人) - a more polite phrasing) and are more reserved and reluctant to communicate.

Culture

Holidays Festival procession in the neon-drenched alleys of Shinjuku, Tokyo The most important holiday in Japan is New Year (お正月 Oshōgatsu), which pretty much shuts down the country from December 29 to January 3. Japanese head home to their families (which means massive transport congestion), eat festive foods and head out to the neighborhood temple at the stroke of midnight to wish in the New Year. Many Japanese often travel to other countries as well, and prices for airfares are very high. In March or April, Japanese head out en masse for hanami (花見, lit. "flower viewing"), a festival of outdoors picnics and drunken revelry in parks, cleverly disguised as cherry blossom (桜 sakura) viewing. The exact timing of the famously fleeting blossoms varies from year to year and Japan's TV channels follow the progress of the cherry blossom front from south to north obsessively. The longest holiday is Golden Week (April 27 to May 6), when there are four public holidays within a week and everybody goes on extended vacation. Trains are crowded, flight and hotel prices are jacked up to multiples of normal prices, making this a bad time to travel in Japan, but the weeks immediately before or after Golden Week are excellent choices. Summer brings a spate of festivals designed to distract people from the intolerable heat and humidity (comparable to the US Midwest). There are local festivals (祭 matsuri) and impressive fireworks competitions (花火 hanabi) throughout the country. Tanabata (七夕), on July 7th (or early August in some places), commemorates a story of star-crossed lovers who could only meet on this day. The largest summer festival is Obon (お盆), held in mid-July in eastern Japan (Kanto) and mid-August in western Japan (Kansai), which honors departed ancestral spirits. Everybody heads home to visit village graveyards, and transport is packed. National holidays Lunar holidays such as equinoxes may vary by a day or two; the list below is accurate for 2008. Holidays that fall on a weekend may be observed with a bank holiday on the following Monday. Keep in mind that most Japanese people take additional time off around New Year's, during Golden Week, and during Obon.

• January 1 - New Year's Day (ganjitsu 元日)
• January 14 (second Sunday of month) - Coming-of-Age Day (seijin no hi 成人の日)
• February 11 - National Foundation Day (kenkoku kinenbi 建国記念の日)
• March 20 - Vernal Equinox Day (shunbun no hi 春分の日)
• April 29 - Showa Day (showa no hi 昭和の日)
• May 3 - Constitution Day (kenpō kinnenbi 憲法記念日)
• May 4 - Greenery Day (midori no hi 緑の日)
• May 5 - Children's Day (kodomo no hi 子供の日)
• May 6 - Children's Day - Observed
• July 21 (third Monday of month) - Marine Day (umi no hi 海の日)
• September 15 (third Monday of month) - Respect-for-the-Aged Day (keirō no hi 敬老の日)
• September 23 - Autumnal Equinox Day (shuubun no hi 秋分の日)
• October 13 (second Monday of month) - Sports Day (taiiku no hi 体育の日)
• November 3 - Culture Day (bunka no hi 文化の日)
• November 23 - Labor Thanksgiving Day (kinrō kansha no hi 勤労感謝の日)
• November 24 - Labor Thanksgiving Day - Observed
• December 23 - The Emperor's Birthday (tennō tanjōbi 天皇誕生日)

The Japanese calendar The Imperial era year, which counts from the year of ascension of the Emperor, is often used for reckoning dates in Japan, including transportation timetables and store receipts. The current era is Heisei (平成) and Heisei 20 corresponds to 2008. The year may be written as "H20" or just "20", so "20/1/15" is January 15, 2008. Western years are also well understood and frequently used. Religion Buddhist temples, Mount Koya Japan has two dominant religious traditions: Shinto (神道) is the ancient animist religion of traditional Japan. At just over twelve hundred years in Japan, Buddhism is the more recent imported faith. Christianity, introduced by European missionaries, was widely persecuted during the feudal era but is now accepted, and a small percentage of Japanese are Christian. Generally speaking, the Japanese are not a particularly religious people. While they regularly visit shrines and temples to offer coins and make silent prayers, religious faith and doctrine play a small role (if any) in the life of the average Japanese. Thus it would be impossible to try to represent what percentage of the population is Shinto versus Buddhist, or even Christian. According to a famous poll, Japan is 80% Shinto and 80% Buddhist, and another oft-quoted dictum states that Japanese are Shinto when they live, as weddings and festivals are typically Shinto, but Buddhist when they die, since funerals usually use Buddhist rites. Most Japanese accept a little bit of every religion. Christianity is evident almost exclusively in a commercial sense. In season, variations of Santa Claus, pine trees and other non-religious Christmas symbols are on display in malls and shopping centers throughout metropolitan areas. At the same time, Shinto and Buddhism have had an enormous influence on the country's history and cultural life. The Shinto religion focuses on the spirit of the land, and is reflected in the country's exquisite gardens and peaceful shrines deep in ancient forests. When you visit a shrine (jinja 神社) with its simple torii (鳥居) gate, you are seeing Shinto customs and styles. If you see an empty plot of land with some white paper suspended in a square, that's a Shinto ceremony to dedicate the land for a new building. Buddhism in Japan has branched out in numerous directions over the centuries. Nichiren (日蓮) is currently the largest branch of Buddhist belief, and many Westerners are introduced to Japanese Buddhism through Soka Gakkai (sōkagakkai 創価学会), a Nichiren sect that is somewhat controversial for its evangelical zeal and its involvement in Japanese politics. Westerners are probably most familiar with Zen (禅) Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the 14th and 15th centuries. Zen fit the aesthetic and moral sensibilities of medieval Japan, influencing arts such as flower-arranging (ikebana 生け花), tea ceremony (sadō 茶道), ceramics, painting, calligraphy, poetry, and the martial arts. Over the years, Shinto and Buddhism have intertwined considerably. You will find them side by side in cities, towns, and people's lives. It's not at all unusual to find a sparse Shinto torii standing before an elaborate Buddhist temple (o-tera お寺). Amusement Karaoke (カラオケ) can be found in virtually every Japanese city. It's pronounced karah-okay in Japan - many natives won't have any idea what you're talking about if you use the Western carry-oh-key. Most karaoke places occupy several floors of a building. You and your friends have a room to yourself - no strangers involved - and the standard hourly rate often includes all-you-can-drink booze, with refills ordered through a phone on the wall or through the karaoke machine itself. The major chains all have good English-language song selections. Old folks prefer singing enka ballads at small neighborhood bars. Also ubiquitous are pachinko parlors. Pachinko is a joyless form of gambling that involves dropping little steel balls into a machine; prizes are awarded depending on where they land. The air inside most pachinko parlors is certifiably toxic from nicotine, sweat and despair - not to mention the ear-splitting noise. Give it a miss. Video arcades, though sometimes difficult to distinguish from pachinko parlors from outside, have video games rather than gambling, and are often several floors high. Japan's national game is Go, a strategy board game. By no means everyone plays, but the game has newspaper columns, TV, and professional players. The game is also played in the West, and there is a large and active English wiki discussing it [2]. On a sunny day, the Tennoji ward of Osaka is a good place to join a crowd watching two Go masters go at it.

Climate

The Japanese are proud of their four seasons (and a surprising number believe the phenomenon is unique to Japan), but the tourist with a flexible travel schedule should try to aim for two of them.

• Spring is one of the best times of year to be in Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and March-April brings the justly famous cherry blossoms (sakura) and is a time of revelry and festivals. In early March, the Japan Meteorological Agency announces predictions about when the blooming will begin [3].

• Summer starts with a dreary rainy season (known as tsuyu or baiu) in June and turns into a steambath in July-August, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C. Avoid, or do as the Japanese do and head to northern Hokkaido or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku to escape. The upside, though, is a slew of fireworks shows (花火大会 hanabi taikai) and festivals big and small.

• Autumn, starting in September, is also an excellent time to be in Japan. Temperatures and humidity become more tolerable, fair days are common and fall colors can be just as impressive as cherry blossoms. However, in early autumn typhoons often hit the southern parts of Japan and bring everything to a standstill.

• Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring hopping, but as the Japanese have yet to figure out the wonders of central heating, it's often miserably cold indoors. Heading south to Okinawa provides some relief. There is usually heavy snow in Hokkaido and northeast Japan due to the cold wind blasts from Siberia. Note that the Pacific coast of Honshu (where most major cities are located) has milder winters than the Sea of Japan coast: it may be snowing in Kyoto while it is cloudy or sprinkling rain in Osaka, an hour away.

Further reading

There are multitudes of books written on Japan. Some great, some amazingly un-great. A good place to begin is one of the many recommended reading lists such as this one on Amazon or sites like The Crazy Japan Times, Japan Review or Japan Visitor. Some recommended books include:

• 'Untangling My Chopsticks', by Victoria Abbott Riccardi. Set mainly in Kyoto.

• 'My Mother is a Tractor', by Nicholas Klar. A former English teacher with a witty and informative take on Japanese society. Written from the depths of the Japanese countryside.

• 'Dave Barry Does Japan', by Dave Barry. The very funny Dave Barry with his take on Japan. Written during a rollicking three week tour. Not much cultural insight, but an excellent introduction to Japan's wackier side.

• Hitching Rides with Buddha ', by Will Fergusen is about a Canadian English teacher who hitches rides across the country, following the blooming cherry blossoms. At times hilariously funny and deathly serious, it gives a very honest evaluation of all sorts of aspects of Japanese culture.

• Culture Shock: Japan' A part of the 'Culture Shock' series, this is an excellent overview of the culture and lifestyle of the Japanese. A good resource for a long or work-related stay in Japan or even for interaction with Japanese people.

Japan may be the safest country in the world.

Crime and scams

Street crime is extremely rare, even late at night. Of course, little crime does not mean no crime, and is not an excuse to ditch your common sense. Women travelling alone should take care as they would in their home countries and should never hitchhike alone. Pickpocketing does sometimes happen - if you take your usual precautions in crowded places such as trains and at Narita Airport you should be fine. Women on crowded rush-hour trains should be aware of existence of chikan (痴漢), or molesters. A lot of heavy drinking goes on in the evenings and occasionally drunks may be a nuisance, although alcohol-related violence is extremely rare. The infamous yakuza (ヤクザ) or Japanese gangs have earned a partly undeserved reputation of being a bunch of violent, psychopathic criminals due to their portrayal in various films. However, in reality, even though they are largely associated with the vice trades, they rarely target the average person on the street. Just do not find trouble with them, and they would not bother you. Note that drug laws in Japan are stricter than those in many Western countries. Possession of even personal-use quantities can land you a prison sentence of several years, and Japanese law does not distinguish between marijuana and hard drugs. Red-light districts in large cities can be seedy but are rarely dangerous for visitors, however some smaller backstreet bars have been known to lay down exorbitant cover charges or drink prices. In some extreme cases, foreigners have reported being drugged at such establishments, then charged for as much as ¥700,000, or close to US$7000, for drinks that they do not remember ordering (notably in the Roppongi and Kabuki-cho districts of Tokyo). If you choose to visit an establishment in one of these locales, be sure to note the price and address before entering. Police boxes (交番 kōban) can be found on every other street corner. The police are generally helpful (but often speak little English), so ask if you get lost or have any trouble. They usually have detailed map from the area around telling not only the difficult-to-understand numbering system but names of office or public buildings or other places which can help to find your way. Also, if you carry travel insurance, report any thefts or lost items at the koban. They have forms in English and Japanese, often referred to as the "Blue Form". For lost items, even cash, filling out this form is not wasted effort, as Japanese people will very often take lost items, even a wallet full of cash, to the koban. If you happen to find such an item, don't hesitate to take it to the koban. If the item is not claimed within six months, it is yours. If it is claimed, you may be due a reward of 5-15%. Japan has two emergency numbers. To call the police in an emergency, dial 110 (百十番 hyakutoban). To call for an ambulance or fire truck, dial 119 (a reversal of the US 911). In Tokyo, the police have an English help line (03-3501-0110), available Monday through Friday except on holidays from 8:30 AM - 5:15 PM.

Earthquakes

Japan is prone to earthquakes. The last major quake in Kobe (1995) killed over 5000 and the next big one in Tokyo is statistically some 20 years overdue. Every few days, somewhere in Japan is rattled by a quake large enough to be felt, but fortunately most of them are completely harmless. Even though electronic devices are now being introduced to detect earthquakes (both the earthquake intensity and the amount of seconds it will take for the tremors to reach a certain location), it's worth being aware of a few basic safety procedures:

• Don't put heavy objects in high places, especially above your bed.
• If you're indoors and you feel a shake, stay indoors, as running outside during a quake is the most likely way you'll be injured. Extinguish gas burners and candles and beware of falling objects and toppling furniture. Shelter under furniture or a doorway if necessary.
• If you're outdoors, stay away from brick walls, glass panels and vending machines, and beware of falling objects, telegraph cables etc. Falling roof tiles from older and traditional buildings are particularly dangerous, as they can drop long after the quake has ended.
• If you're by the sea and experience even a moderate quake, keep an eye out for tsunami warnings (also in English) on NHK TV (channel 1) and Radio 2 (693 kHz). Most tremors and small quakes will only merit a scrolling announcement in Japanese at the top of the screen, as they are not considered particularly newsworthy. If you're near the sea and experience a major earthquake, evacuate to high ground immediately - do not wait for a warning.
• Know exactly where your passport, travel tickets, documents, credit cards and money are and take them with you if you leave the building as you may not be able to re-enter.

Every neighborhood has an evacuation area, most often the local playground. Many schools are set up as temporary shelters. Both of these will be labeled in English. If you are traveling with others, plan to meet there and be aware that portable telephones will likely not work.

Other

Volcanoes, storms and typhoons are primarily a potential issue if mountain climbing or sailing, so check the latest information before heading out. Stick to designated footpaths in volcanic areas as volcanic gas may be an issue. There are poisonous snakes called habu in Okinawa although not in unusual numbers. You are unlikely to be bitten by one, but if you are, seek medical help immediately as antivenoms are available. If you are hiking in Hokkaido and Honshu, be aware of possible bear activity, especially in Autumn. Attacks are rare, but in areas such as the Shiretoko Peninsula, some guides recommend you to attach bells to your backpack to scare them away.

Japan is a country obsessed with cleanliness and health hazards are few and far between. Tap water is potable everywhere and food hygiene standards are very high. There are no communicable diseases of significance, as despite the name, Japanese encephalitis has been all but eradicated. Japanese public toilets rarely have toilet paper, although there are often vending machines nearby that sell some at token prices. Do as the Japanese do and use the tissue packets handed out free by advertisers at major train stations. Though it's common sense for people who have lived in urban areas, many newcomers to Tokyo or Osaka are unfamiliar with life in an extremely congested metropolis, where almost everything they touch has been touched by hundreds of other people that same day. When newcomers to large Japanese cities don't take basic precautions, they may be more suceptible to ordinary illnesses like the common cold. As in any urban area, when in a large Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka, wash your hands with soap and water as often as possible, especially after travelling on public transportation and before meals. Be sure to bring a small umbrella for the frequent rainy days. Don't rely too much on the weather forecasts, especially from a day or two ago. Then again, if caught without, you can always nip into the nearest convenience store and pick one up for ¥300. Japan has its share of dirty areas. In cities, because of the sheer magnitude of traffic, the streets and curbs are just as dirty as anywhere. The obsession of cleanliness and removing shoes before entering someone's home makes sense because of the conditions of the outer world. If you do become ill with a cold or other sickness, purchase a mouth covering, a cloth surgical mask. You will find that people frequently wear these out on trains and on the job. This filters your sneezing and coughing so you do not transmit to others.