One thing about being in Japan is that you are going to be assaulted by sounds and people. There are a lot of people in a very small space and everything is going to make some kind of noise. We couldn’t even figure out why all the things were making noise but it started driving us nuts.
You will hear things chiming for no apparent reason. Elevators, doors, taxicabs, trains, busses, and even toilets would talk to you and then start beeping or chiming in some way.
You will smell fish and other things that you are not used to smelling. You will be visually assaulted by flashing lights, whirling thingies on traffic signs, and stuff moving around. And it’s all constant and non-stop.
And they have barkers, as in a carnival barker. People are constantly trying to get you to come into their store or place of business by standing by the door and yelling something…constantly. The worst was at the snow festival in Sapporo where we walked between two isles of food vendors. I swear, I think there were six people simultaneously yelling at us and I just wanted to scream and tell them we’d buy everything if they just shut up.
If you walk in, or out, of any place of business be prepared to have everyone in the store simultaneously greet you or wish you well on your way out – Gozaimasu!!. It’s kind of like going to CiCi’s Pizza on steroids.
We decreed when we got home that we would have a few days of absolute silence. It’s amazing how much we missed that
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