I’ve been to twenty-four countries in my twelve years on earth. Of all the countries I’ve been to, Japan is my all-time favorite. I love it so much that one day I want to live in Japan. When I have kids, I want them to grow up in Japan.
My mom is half Japanese and grew up in Japan. My grandmother is Japanese. That makes me one-quarter Japanese. I think Japan is a great part of my heritage and culture. When I first went to Japan, it felt like home. I love it there.
I love Japan because it has great energy and atmosphere. It’s such a beautiful and unique country. It’s got so much old and so much new. It has so much history. At the same time, Japan is so high tech. Japan has a lot of folklore. And not a lot of criminals. I also think Japanese food is the best food in the world.
Here are 5 of my favorite things about Japan:
- The People. Japanese people are so helpful, polite, calm and nice. They go out of their way to take care of each other and make life convenient for one another. My mom took me to Japan for the first time when I was one and a half. She said her and my dad went to a coffee shop for breakfast and I wasn’t being still or letting them eat. The mama-san who owned the café took me from my mom so she could eat her breakfast in peace. My dad kind of freaked out because the lady took me out of the coffee shop and he couldn’t see me. She was a stranger. My mom said she never worried because we were in Japan. After half an hour when the lady didn’t come back, my dad made my mom go look for me. She found me in the candy shop next door. The mama-san was buying me candy. She had already bought me a book from another shop. I still have the book! The last time I went to Japan three years ago, we got on the Shinkansen and there weren’t enough seats for my family to sit together. A whole group of businessmen got up and arranged the seats so my whole family could sit together. As soon as we sat down, my brother Jei started saying he was hungry. One of the businessmen gave Jei his mochi!
- The Values. Respect and honor are important to the Japanese. This goes back to Bushido, the code of conduct of the Samurai. It makes being in Japan calm and nice. I think it’s pretty cool.
- The Food. I love Japanese food more than any other kind of food. My parents like to take us to eat all kinds of food: Indian, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Brazilian, Caribbean, Turkish, Greek, Mediterranean. They’re serious foodies. I’ve eaten food from all over the world. Japanese food is hands down my number one favorite. I love tonkotsu ramen the best. I could eat it every single day. I also love okonomiyaki, sushi, chicken katsu, yakitori, yakiniku, udon, gyoza. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Japanese food is good because it’s so full of flavor but not greasy. It’s light. There’s no aftermath – you don’t feel fat and gross when you eat it.
- The Convenience. In Japan, everything is convenient. You can walk, bike and take the train anywhere. You don’t need a car. Convenient stores are open all day and all night and have everything you could need or wish for. There are vending machines everywhere with some of the coolest things – hot drinks, cold drinks, soda, coffee, water, snacks, popsicles, ice cream, and my favorite Ramune! There are buttons you can push for service on the table of restaurants. You don’t have to wait for a server. You just push a button and they come to you right away! Trains run everywhere and are always on time. The come every few minutes and you never have to wait long. Taxis are everywhere and you don’t even have to open the door. The taxi driver can open all the doors from the inside. Everything just works better in Japan.
- The Toilets. Japan has some really crazy high tech toilets. The seats are always warm and toasty. There’s a button for everything. You can even press a button that will make water sounds so no one will hear you poop. I’m just saying.
One of my favorite things in Japan was visiting Hiroshima Peace Park Museum. I met an A-bomb survivor just outside of the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima. He was in his mom’s belly when the atomic bomb went off on August 6, 1945. He was making a documentary about the bombing.
There are tons and tons of origami paper cranes all over Peace Park because they are offerings and wishes for Peace. My brother and cousin and I got to make some origami cranes. Then when we went into the museum we learned the story of Sadako, a two year old little girl who survived the atomic bomb. Even though she survived the blast, she was affected by the radiation. Nine years after the bomb went off, Sadako got very sick with leukemia. In Hiroshima, it was known as atomic bomb disease. When she was in the hospital, she folded one thousand paper cranes right before her death. It’s such a sad story.
