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On October 28th I flew from Zurich, Switzerland, to Sapporo, Japan. The flight, via Amsterdam was ten-and-a-half hours too long, and by the time we'd landed my backside was completely numb. Having regained the use of my legs, I staggered down to the railway station, only to find that I was unable to buy a ticket as I couldn't make head nor tail of the characters used to list the place names...

Japanese Tales: Japan 2000, a lengthy tale (1)

Joseph Tame
2006-06-30 12:47:56

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www.tamegoeswild.com

In October 2000, Joseph Tame decided to take a break from life in the Swiss Alps. He headed over 9000km East to a country of which he knew nothing, where he found a land which offered him a little of everything.

It actually all started as a joke.

I'd been working all summer high in the Swiss Alps, as a waiter in a mountain hotel. The job was fairly easy really, if at times a little rushed. You see, every day thousands of Japanese tourists would flood through Kleine Scheidegg and stop for lunch in our restaurant. They were all on their way up to the Jungfraujoch, known as "The Top of Europe" - a scientific research centre and tourist trap. Well, anyway, into the restaurant they'd pour, hundreds at a time, "Konnichi wa!" here and "Konnichi wa!" there, all very polite and friendly. But, well you know what it's like with tourists. No matter where they're from, in one way or another tourists are always looked down upon by the locals. Perhaps it's just their lack of knowledge of the region that does it, or is it the way they always take the last seats on your train, leaving you to stand all the way home?

Despite all of this, as I served them with plate after plate of sausages and Rösti, I marvelled at their friendliness, and the manner in which they accepted being treated as tourists en-mass. The way that they always enthusiastically thanked us for the meal, and graciously said goodbye. By far, the Japanese were the most pleasant tourists that I ever had the opportunity to serve. It was this kind of attitude and the sound of their ear-pleasing language that established my interest in the people and culture of this distant land. However, when I first mentioned to my friends that I may go to these Asian islands for my only holiday of the year, having been surrounded by thousands of Japanese for the previous six months, they found it to be quite ...