Osaka ni imasu!

Well, I reached Osaka at 3pm yesterday afternoon after a wonderful flight on Japan Airlines. One of the main differences is the hospitality. Outside the airport, men and women wearing pristine white gloves assist your every move. I got into a taxi and as we left the airport, a man in white gloves bowed to the cab. London could learn a lot from the Japanese.

I have attached some pictures of my first little perambulation around the nearby locale. Directly over the road from the hotel is a Zen temple, which of course I had to go and visit. After going in and washing my hands, I took some pictures which capture the serene ambience of the place.

There are also vending machines everywhere. On one of the pictures is a little old woman, who's job it is to clean them with a tiny brush. She then picked out trapped dirt on the machines with chopsticks, which you can see her doing on one of the photos. I have spoken to a few people that have had deep culture shock on arriving in Japan, but for me, there is nothing unusual about the way people are acting. I don't find the bowing at all strange and my Japanese is sufficient to get by, so I feel very much at home.


In a couple of hours, I am off to Awaji shima, where the residency will begin. But for now, please enjoy the photographs. You can click on them to see the larger versions.