09-12 Japan 1987

"When I was 15 years of age, my father made me promise that when I became an adult, I would never live in a two-story house." This astounding statement came from our combination bus driver and guide when I went with Bob and Stacy Morrow on a tour of Japan in advance of the International Small Business Congress being held in Nagoya. The people of Japan lived with a fear of earthquakes. Mary was not with me because her father had died and she was helping her mother deal with the loss.
After visiting Tokyo twice in the past, a tour of rural Japan was an unexpected treat. So much beauty and so much tranquility. I loved our first stop in Kyoto which lived up to all its hype. So much history, and I loved the women being trained as geishas in their traditional costumes. They were called Maiko, and watching them walking in those wooden shoes was really something.
But my fun memory was in the photo with a group of high school girls. They did not make any movements while their picture was being taken with me behind them, but after the shot, they all burst into laughter.
I do not think I have ever seen a countryside so clean and so beautiful. Lots of shrines and temples. One of the most famous was the Great Buddha of Japan in Kamakura.
Then there was the famous Shinto Shrine in Nikko. We were told young Japanese followed the Shinto religion but became Buddhist as they aged because of the promise of eternal life.
Here is another shot of a Shinto shrine in Lake Ashi. It was the Hakone Shrine, and I remember the enormous, beautiful trees around the lake.
One of the features of this tour was visiting families of wealthy, middle-class and relatively poor Japanese. This was very educational. I was invited to dinner with a middle-class family with two children. The father was a chemical engineer, and the mother was a nurse … just like Mary and myself.
I asked her how she managed, raising two young boys and working full time. She showed me how she prepared meals in advance by putting noodles, meat and vegetables in small jars. And then when preparing supper, all she did was add boiling water. She called it Ramen. They all used English at the dinner table as part of their children's education.
Mt. Fuji was beautiful to behold approaching it from a distance. But boring driving up its winding roads. The saying in Japan is you want to climb Mt. Fuji once but only a fool climbs it twice.
Bob and I had lots of laughs following the routine, which included a group bath before supper, then changing into Kimonos and special slippers for sitting and enjoying some sake, then joining the larger group for dinner. The lodges around the mountain are expensive, and many Japanese find it cheaper to holiday or honeymoon in Hawaii.
Our bus driver told us that in the small town where he was raised everyone in the town joins together on Saturday night for a group bath and everyone is naked.
A highlight of the tour was walking around the small communities and noticing all the vibrant small businesses. One business had a special sign out front, and according to our guide, the business was in difficulty and everyone was helping him get back on his feet, including his competitors. Failure was such a disgrace.
When we equate small business with community development, you really see that in rural Japan, because the local communities are not dominated by the Walmarts of the world.