Japan must be the friendliest place we have visited so far. That is saying something, as we have met so many beautifully kind people pretty much everywhere we have been.  Especially in India and in Thailand where we felt welcomed and included on so many occasions and of course in Australia where people are so friendly and curious and helpful at every turn. However, it is really Japan, in all our travels so far, that stands out for us at this moment. We were in Japan for 6 weeks and during this time, pretty much everyday,  we have experienced the warmth, friendliness and kindness of so so many individuals.

I always imagined the Japanese were a reserved, shy and slightly aloof bunch. So much for that idea! The kindness we’ve experienced has not been the kind you can repay in any way, it was just given, often with no recourse to repay and left us with that sense of overwhelming gratitude and optimism in human nature.  We usually end up far from cities and perhaps this preference for peace and isolation has meant we have met people who have been generally more open and happy to meet foreigners.

We really experienced countless instances of kindness from strangers. Small abd large gestures here and there that now flit in and out of my memory.  So what follows is really just a small collection of the ones that readily come to mind a month on.

I can’t even really get started without mentioning our Tokyo friends Chisa and Masaaki and their boys, who introduced us to their country, which is why I will always love Japan.

The day we arrived into Imabari port to return our rental bikes at the end of the Shimanami kaido track, we were hot and sweaty and not a little tired after a sweltering day in the sun and not an insignificant number of hills under our belts. The young man who dealt with us was like so many other Japanese people we had met, just simply Lovely. After helping us choose the best and most interesting way to journey back to our starting point, he went out of his way to show us where to buy ferry tickets and where to catch the boat. All of this was additional to his bike rental return duties of course and obviously saved us considerable time and effort. He then let us into the innards of his office building so we could fill up our water bottles and wet our dry throats. Then, yes there is a then, he asks ‘are the children hungry?’, I responded we never eat before a boat ride (a lesson hard learned). Perhaps not understanding my response, he dashed off, closed up his office, hopped on his bike and 20 minutes later caught us just before we were boarding the ferry with a good bagful of his favourite foods for us to enjoy on the boat!

This isn’t the first time this has happened in Japan either – maybe the kids just look like hungry ragamuffins having traveled in the same clothes for a year, I don’t know, but on day 1 of our cycling , we stopped in a little town to stock up. We left the boys outside the supermarket where there was an elderly vendor of puffed rice, he had huge bags of brown and white puffed rice that he had just made with a machine and the boys watched him conduct his transactions. After a bit, he tried to converse with the children and they I guess tried back telling him they had cycled in from Onomichi, a good distance away on a very hot day, the result was he gifted 2 enormous bags of the most delicious puffed rice ever to the boys (breakfast for 2 days!), then he went delving about and gifted them 2 of the tastiest and hugest home grown tomatoes (lunch for 2 days!). Not satisfied with his gifting he pulled out a bag of black bean snacks. Samuel found me in the supermarket and said, ‘Mama, come!,  there is no need to buy breakfast for tomorrow!’ When I thanked the man profusely and tried to offer him some money, he said waved me off saying ‘Present, Present!’

Sometime after this at the end of another long and hot cycling day we stayed in a fantastic house, luckily having the whole place to ourselves, our hosts welcomed us so warmly we felt we were returning home, they laid out ice-cold home made plum wine and japaneses snacks and played origami with the children for ages, before heading off to their place. We didnt want to leave and seriously considered staying longer. The next day on checkout, we discovered a flat bike tyre, once again, we were looked after, Akira-san took Tim in the car to fix the bike making our lives so much easier and ultimately this meant we caught the last ferry at the end of the day.

On the train to Hiroshima a few days later, another elderly gentleman made sure we could sit all together by moving himself and probably some others! He tried talking with us and as we failed on the nihongo front, he dug into his bag and simply handed out sweets to all of us. We took a picture of him and us to try and communicate our gratitude at his kind gesture.

We also had two pretty amazing farmstay experiences, where we arrived as strangers and left knowing we will be keeping in touch with the wonderful people we have met.

In Miyama and Takeoka, we will never forget our welcome and all the delicious food and generous gestures making us feel a part of the place. We absolutely loved our stays at both farms and hopefully we maybe even make it back one day. We were all wowed by the firework display Masayuki and Iko put on for us 2 nights running at Takeoka, they were so thrilled at the boy’s excitement and at sharing a bit of Japan. On another occasion just as we were putting the kids to bed Masayuki rapped on our door  and said “Hotaru??!!” (Fireflies) we said ‘Yay’ , and all three scantily pyjamaed boys and us hopped into the back of his miniature pickup for a breath of very fresh air en route to watch and catch fireflies down by the riverside. It was a very memorable evening. On the day we arrived we were made to feel incredibly welcome as half the village turned out to say hello!
At Miyama, our last night was probably our best, a fantastic, convivial & delicious feast that we enjoyed with Ryoko, She spent hours preparing it just for us and from the finest of ingredients.

When we stayed at Shirakabako, at Taiki and Tania’s hostel, they didn’t actually realise we were set to arrive that day. However, within moments of walking through the door they invited us to join them for dinner at their friend’s place. It was a great evening spent with the locals!  It meant when we were hillwalking the following day, we recognised someone working at a restaurant from the previous night’s party, we felt part of the landscape! Tania and Taiko also went out of their way to take us to the shops for supplies and even found a bike that Elliot could ride on, which meant we could all go out biking, and what fun we had riding the ramps in the local empty car park!

We will never forget these lovely times and people, who went out of their way to make us more than comfortable and happy,  they have shaped the way we will always think of Japan.