Whether you end up taking photos of a reproduction Eiffel Tower, surfing an indoor wave, shacking up in a love hotel or kipping down in a capsule, you'll do best to come with an open mind and be prepared to be surprised.
Somewhere between the elegant formality of Japanese manners and the candid, sometimes boisterous exchanges that take place over a few drinks, between the sanitized shopping malls and the unexpected rural festivals, everyone finds their own vision of Japan.
Japan is the subject of more gullible and misguided musings than perhaps any other place in the world: the best way to approach it is to discard your preconceptions. Somewhere between the elegant formality of Japanese manners and the candid, sometimes boisterous exchanges that take place over a few drinks, between the sanitized shopping malls and the unexpected rural festivals, everyone finds their own vision of Japan. Whether you end up taking photos of a reproduction Eiffel Tower, surfing an indoor wave, shacking up in a converted love hotel or kipping down in a capsule, you'll do best to come with an open mind and be prepared to be surprised.
In Japan, the four seasons are clear and distinct, so Japanese enjoy anticipating the coming of each season. As a matter of routine, around the end of winter, the blooming of the plum trees is a big topic when they greet each other. TV weather forecasters always report how the "sakura zensen"(cherry blossom front) moves slowly north in spring and the "momiji zensen" (autumn foliage front) progresses south in fall.
The seasons have always been an important element of Japanese literature. The first large anthology of Japanese poetry, the Manyoshu (8th century), had a great number of seasonal works. In haiku, as is well known, a seasonal reference or "kigo" (seasonal word) must be included to indicate the season in which the poem is set.
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