Before I came back to Japan, people kept asking me if I was excited to be going back. Turns out I was too busy to be excited. In fact, by the time I stepped out of the airport, I still hadn't mentally prepared myself to be going to Japan. Kind of late, now that I think about it. I was pretty blase for a while before I finally turned the corner.
After having gotten setup in a guesthouse in Nakano, I was walking through a cramped alley crowded with tiny Japanese houses when I realized one of the things I really enjoy about Japan. Even though Nakano is inside Tokyo city limits, and only 20 minutes by train to my office, it still feels like a neighborhood. The main drag in Nakano is clustered with tiny family-owned restaurants and shops. In fact, the biggest grocery store is about half the size of a supermarket in the states. The narrow streets twist and turn through residential neighborhoods only to emerge at public transportation and convenient shops.
Of course, Japanese neighborhoods aren't all charm and atmosphere. The streets are (as mentioned above) cramped (but now as a negative) and the houses are tiny. During wintertime the lack of central heating and proper insulation, even in new houses, only serves to make you miserable for no good reason. The Japanese addressing system (what we would call street addresses) is complicated and un-intuitive. Since the streets have grown organically, street names are not used. Rather, a complicated system of wards, sections, and house numbers are used. Houses are numbered within a geographic area, such as a square block, although Japanese streets are rarely square, or blocks the same length.
Nonetheless, all this falls away in comparison to the suburbs and strip malls of America. While it may be inconvenient at times, it's really much more the kind of place you'd like to make a home. Friendly neighborhood grocers are a thing of the past in the states, and you'd certainly never hear the grilled sweet potato song being sung by trucks plying the neighborhood. In fact, even though there are no giant chain stores (only small chain stores), you can find most everything you need within walking distance. Although your local motorcycle repair shop might not have all the parts you need, it can certainly get them for you, and they more than make up for it in location.
The last place I lived in Japan was Azabu-juuban, which is foreigner central, as well as home to more embassies than you can shake a stick at (although the Ultra-Rightists certainly try). Every Saturday in Azabu was interrupted by propaganda trucks blaring their messages through enormous loudspeakers. Here in Nakano, all you hear are the gentle tap-tap of the fire wardens tapping two sticks together at night to remind people to be careful with fire.
