Five things I learned during my trip to Japan

I was away for nearly three weeks and I saw five games of Rugby, travelled to six cities, had a go at Japanese drumming, paddled in the sea, watched some sumo wrestling, tried lots of different food — and thoroughly enjoyed every experience.

Five things I’d particularly pick out are these:

Temples

Japan has a wealth of religious architecture, with just over 1,600 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. All of the ones we managed to see are highly individual. Three to share with you are the Golden Temple and the Heian Shrine, both in Kyoto, and the Tokyo’s Asakusa Shrine.

Tokyo

With a population of nearly 40 million, it’s very busy but they make it work. The rail network looks complex, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not difficult. The famous bullet trains deserve every bit of their reputation, beautiful to look at and extremely efficient.

People

I spent six years in Japan as a child and I returned in 2008 for a brief stay, so this was not my first visit. You can see how things have become more westernised in the clothes people wear, and the fact you can find Starbucks without much difficulty. What hasn’t changed is the hospitality, the strong service culture and the real desire to delight customers. You quickly get into the pattern of reciprocal bowing! Though rugby is not the number one sport in Japan —that mantle falls on baseball— they were very keen to put on a good show for visitors, especially since they will be hosting the Olympics next year. The national team (the Brave Blossoms) got to the quarter finals for the first time and with some dazzling play. For many of us foreigners, they became our second team.

Food

The food is an experience in itself. You can pay a lot of money, but you can also eat cheaply and well. We tried everything, from Kobe beef to Cook Your Own Scallops at the seaside. What is interesting are the vending machines. There are five million of them, one for every 23 people —on street corners, railway stations and in temple gardens, selling drinks, sandwiches, rice and sweets. They are always full, never vandalised and in pristine condition.

Fuji

Mount Fuji is the symbol of Japan. It is Japan’s tallest mountain and is held as sacred. It is also not easy to see, because it is often covered by cloud. We were lucky and saw it twice, once from a bullet train and once at sunset. Along with everything else, it made for a special trip.

Even if our excellent team was finally outplayed!