the tall blond guy goes to japan

That so-called Japanese culture

Shibuya

Many of my friends at home have sent me specific requests for items of Japanese culture. After spending time wandering around Tokyo, I don't think that Japan is really the right place to go when you're looking for Japanese culture.

Before I arrived here, I thought of Japanese culture as being things like Astroboy, anime and Sanrio things. While all three are in evidence around here, I've seen better selections of most of that stuff in Vancouver or in Hong Kong. The most popular culture here seems to be Japanese versions of other cutlures. I talked about the restaurant in this hotel- it's a Japanese version of European culture. It's recognizable, but wrong in subtle ways. It's as if they as a culture are trying too hard to fit in.

Sometimes, this leads to (itentional?) whalloping bad taste:

A jacket with a US bomber flying over Japan

The only times I've seen it work are times when it works really well. There's a chain of cafe/bar things around Tokyo called "Giraffe". They're just like something I would find at home, but done better. The prices are very reasonable (for Tokyo), and the service is really excellent. If only something like that existed at home!

The big question here is this: How can one resolve this wide embrace of all of the world's cultures to the point of worshipping them, while at the same time maintaining a very insular, even xenophobic nature?

That being said, however, I don't think I've ever been in a place with friendlier, more helpful or more polite people.

This is something I've gotta figure out...