I was commenting on how much diversity there was in the Japanese people we were seeing and my son gave me the classic line, “Hollywood lied to us.”
I have been experiencing rush hour on Japanese trains. You know the video you always see of people stationed on the platform to push people on because they were so crowded. We have not seen it that bad but I have gotten friendly with a lot of people I didn’t know. I have ridden subways in Boston at rush hour though and must say it isn’t much different in crowding, just cleanliness.
It gives you a lot of time to look at people. Being the only Anglo in sight gives you only Japanese to examine. The differences are total. Some have the look of Aztec princes. Some look like Mongol warriors or Olmec stone heads. Long noses sit next to squashed noses. Although they tend to be thinner than Americans there are still a fair number of chunky locals. Skin color has a lot of variation. About the only thing that is consistent is the black hair.
The stereotypes from Hollywood don’t much exist. School children are different from Anmerica because they wear uniforms and have a general courtesy we don’t see much but they still squirm, race, goof and contemplate like children anywhere.
Travel helps you understand the similarities of human cultures as well as experience the differences. People are people.
homo unius libri
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