Allright I just about have the best of jet lag.
I have to say that this trip has held the most astonishing, bizarre and wonderful things I have ever experienced. I have attempted to capture some of this feeling in the photos, but no photo or video could convey the senses that would need to be felt to fully understand the contexts.
What made it so much more moving was something I have never heard described by anyone, and the only thing I know to call it is "safe white noise". I barely speak enough Japanese dealing with food to get by and I read almost none - so I could not read any sign, understood no advertisement or commercial written or otherwise and overheard no conversation I could decipher.
It seems like I remember experiencing this as a child, before I understood anything and simply
relied on my instincts and ignored irrelevent information.
All of these things combined with the heartfelt kindness of the Japanese people and the utter safeness and peacefulness of their environment made everywhere I went nearly completely free of negative energy - since I did not understand many of the sights and sounds that were undoubtedly comparable to anything anywhere else - in that context they became simply a backdrop of undecipherable hum and vision - which made everything easier to focus on.
In some environments this would be a scary thing, but in Japan I saw many travelers simply lie on the sidewalk with their bags around them and sleep, anytime anything was dropped it was returned, tips were refused even when offered, help was offered without asking by strangers who would go as far as to lead you where you were going. Even if someone is thinking negative thoughts - they are smiling and helpful.
There were so many things that were so incredibly genuine that it made me feel like in the states I live in a plastic world where nothing is real and everything is a calculated attempt to conform to a stereotype or theme - to reproduce artificially an environment that exists elsewhere by default. Organic versus mechanical, fluid versus rigid.
I understand that in the context of my trip I could only see so deep - but it wasn't so much what I saw as what I felt - and I trust that more.
So anyway, that is really all I have to say - if anyone would like any specifics or has any questions I will be happy to answer in detail.
If there are none - that is fine as well.
