Japan trip 99

By Greg Riley

From: "Riley, Gregory"
To: Uncle Paul
Subject: RE: [joke] smithsonian correspondence
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 08:44:00 -0400
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Status: U

I just got back from Japan. I was there for a week and had considerable tourist time but unfortunately we were in the Honjo/Isesaki metro area, a.k.a. West Virginia. We took off our shoes, sat on the floor, had sushi, saki, mutant snails, seaweed, tempora, goose, beef tongue, a fine offer on chicken guts which we declined with straight faces. It was hot while we were there, 90's every day. Japan does not appear to have emissions controls. This part of Japan was not leveled in WW2 so there are numerous old buildings and the entire area is in dire need of a bath. When you go to places like this you realize that Japan Inc. does not exist. You also realize that Japan has not had any cultural development in a very long time. I was looking for a t-shirt for my kids with something written in Japanese. Nothing, everything was in English. They love western culture but don't appear to love westerners. We were amazed at how many signs were written in English and that almost know one knew what they said.

Went to a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, to the Ginza and to the plastic food district. I was looking for Japanese PokeMon cards for my son and some of his friends. The kids in the US like the ones written in Japanese but they are rare in the US. They are rarer in Japan. The kids there like the English ones. Not a real surprise after the t-shirt search. I found t-shirts marked with Japanese characters and a tourist trap in Tokyo. They said, ichi ban and kamikaze, not what I was hoping for.

We played a game in Tokyo. Try and hold your breath until you see an American made car. We almost died. In 4 hours in downtown Tokyo we saw one Blazer, one Taurus and one Cadillac. We saw lots of Japanese cars you don't see in the states and then some that you do like Altimas but the name is changed. One thing I noticed is that the pace of Japan is slower than the US. Tokyo is not like New York. It just looks like it.

Seeyabye,

Greg

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