It reminded me that even though I’ve lived in Japan a long time—or maybe because of it—I don’t really go to the headliner sights here, thinking I can just go any time. It’s when I’m traveling abroad and have a limited amount of time that I research the places I want to see and make an effort to get there, even if they’re a bit out of the way.
It had probably been thirty-plus years since I’d been to Tsutenkaku Tower, for example, and I’d only ever seen Osaka Castle when I passed by it on my way to a concert at Osaka-jo Hall once. When I was in Australia, everyone associated Osaka with Dotonbori. But I never wanted to get anywhere near the bustling crowds around the famous bridge there, so I hardly know any of the shops or restaurants in the area.
Still, foreign travelers equate the busy Dotonbori area with Osaka. They love it and find it interesting—so you can’t very well deprive first-timers of the experience they’ve been looking forward to.
After turning it over and over in my mind, I finally decided to take my friend to the Namba-Dotonbori area, Osaka Castle, and one of my personal favorites, Minoh Falls. Had it been a Japanese friend, it probably would have been better to take them out to a nice restaurant or the local shops and cafés, but people from abroad come expecting to see “JAPAN,” so there’s no avoiding the tourist spots jammed with foreign visitors.
That said, it’s apparently interesting for Australians to come and experience a level of crowdedness they’d never see back home. They actually love the atmosphere of our crammed-in, boisterous Japanese pubs. Those were new discoveries for me.
Once you spend some time abroad, you start to notice the great things (and not-so-great things) about Japan. My friend was amazed by the level of Japanese service—the way they would carefully and beautifully wrap each item they bought at the souvenir shops, for example, or come to your table just to pour your water for you in a restaurant. Or follow you all the way out of the restaurant with deep, repeated bows to see you off when you leave. And then there are trains always arriving on time. The level of service we take for granted in Japan is not at all common in other countries. Just experiencing that is part of seeing the Japanese sights.
Visiting Japanese tourist sites was also a good reminder for me in several ways. It seems obvious, but there is a really high percentage of non-Japanese people in those places. I would say that around 80% of the people at Osaka Castle were foreigners. We also went to Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto and Asakusa in Tokyo, and more than half the people there were from overseas as well. Sometimes we would go into shops and find that I was the only Japanese person there. The pamphlets at different facilities are in multiple languages. This might be normal for Japan, but even at major museums overseas, I didn’t notice things being in so many languages. Tourist sites have their own interesting quality to them. They’re designed to appeal to people from other countries.
After going around to all the sites, we ended up a few streets away—and suddenly there were no tourists at all. We went to a local modern bathhouse, a restaurant, and a supermarket to get a taste of everyday Japanese life. To me, that’s the real Japan.
Visiting somewhere and actually living there are of course two different things, no matter what country it is. Everything depends on where you stay.
I realized that when I’m in Australia, I don’t mind walking an hour a day in the slightest, but in Japan, I’ll immediately hop on the train or use a bicycle or car to get around. Strolling the streets gave me a chance to discover new things and notice shops I hadn’t seen before—when before I was just racing the clock trying to get somewhere. It made me want to take my time and see more things in Japan while I’m here.
