Five favorite things about living in Japan
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move to a different country to see what life would be like? After Covid, many people questioned their life path and even made some big changes. My husband and I had both spent time in Japan and we knew we loved the country so this wasn’t exactly blindly heading into it, however, this time we had two kids! Also, working, raising a family, and integrating into daily life is different from a long vacation or even studying abroad. After two years, we still feel that this was a great decision. It has complexities and I will be sharing more about that in future posts, but for now, this post will focus on some of my favorite things about living in Japan. As an artist who’s constantly absorbing the environment around me, that perspective completely influences the way I enjoy life in Japan.
Seasonality & Nature
While Japan does have many holidays, the seasonality is strongly tied to nature. For example fruit is a very seasonal thing: strawberry, watermelon, persimmon, pears and peaches are some that you can only get while they’re season. Local restaurants change menu items to fit themes of each season “sakura”(cherry blossoms) and in the fall there’s kuri (roasted chestnuts). The cycle of nature is celebrated and appreciated for its beauty and deliciousness! The photo on the right was from last June when I learned to make umeshu (plum wine) using sugar, brandy, honey, and ume (plums). I recommend it!
Ease of Transportation
I’ve always loved riding my bike and did it often in the US whenever I could. But riding a bike with two kids…well, that’s a little scary. Commuting by bike is a toss up between convenience and safety. In Japan, it’s so common that people are used to accommodating the maze of pedestrians, bikers, motorbikes, and cars. And the best part is the electric powered “mama-chari” (mama chariot). I love riding this bike and as you can see,,,picking up the kids and getting groceries is totally possible.
Textiles!
Well, are you even surprised? One of the first things that drew me to Japan was the beautiful textiles. Last fall, I went to the Jidai Matsuri in Kyoto. This was one of my favorite festivals. Although, I did go to the fire festival that same night and that was pretty cool too! The Jidai Matsuri is like a living, walking museum that sends you back to different periods of time via the garments and accessories. Some of it felt incredibly modern and I thought to myself: I want to wear that now! Textile processes in Japan are abundant and more and more they are less common due to modernization. However, you can still find many places that sell, exhibit and teach about traditional textile practices.
The Food!
There’s so much to say (and eat!). I’ll just highlight one of my favorite style meals which is called teishoku. This means set meal or preselected. The picture here is from a favorite local cafe. Teishoku usually has rice, miso soup, a protein, Japanese pickles, and a few different vegetable or salad-like sides. The variety of teishoku is immense! Every restaurant is different. Depending on where you are in Japan and the season, this will change the selection of the set. These meals are well balanced and probably something I could eat everyday and never tire of!
Parks and Safety
Okay, this is really TWO different things but they do go together. If you haven’t heard it before, Japan is a very safe country, and that’s for many reasons. Since I have two young boys who love playing outdoors, this fact is very comforting. The public parks are also interesting with different playgrounds, gardens, cafes, farmer’s markets and festivals.
BONUS: The Bathrooms
I was only going mention five favorite things but I couldn’t leave out one that I might love the most. It’s the abundance of clean bathrooms everywhere! Who doesn’t love accessible toilets?!