After a gap of one year to allow for the arrival of our newest member of the family - Jack Price - one year old on July 27th 2010 - The Price family resumed our journey around the globe on the surface. This time the plan was for a side trip to Japan. Sadly without Jack, given his very young age. This section of the journey was to exist as a stand-alone trip, not joined up with our last end point Beijing. The idea is to start from Beijing next year and head south in to South East Asia.
In the meantime Japan is such a fascinating country to warrant a separate trip.
As I sit and type this a few days after our return, as the jet lag still has a hold on me, I am left with an impression of a tremendous country.
My lasting impression of Japan is not just bullet trains or temples. It was for our family an impressive society where respect for each other and a feeling of community is the over-riding theme. People show courtesy for each other all the time, maybe not on a crowded Tokyo subway but in shops where the cashier shouts out a welcome to you when you enter, to a restaurant where a tip is flatly refused, to an inn where nothing is too much trouble and you are a revered guest. When the western world is turning inwards and we all think about 'me' constantly, the Japanese spirit of community and respect is very refreshing.
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