Technically, this is not my first time in Japan; I visited Kyoto for one week last summer but, as a tourist, I was unable to experience Japan in the same way that I can now. So I think it is fair to talk about my first impressions on coming to Hirakata City.
But what I was not prepared for was the number of small shrines scattered around Hirakata City. I have seen several so far and pass by one of them every day on my way to and from Kansai Gaidai. What seems particularly strange about these shrines is that they are barely separated from the rest of the city. This one is located right next to a grocery store and you can see a pile of white garbage bags right beside:
Like everyone else who has any interest in Japan, I was aware that Kyoto is famous for its rich history long before I ever had the chance to see it for myself, so I was not surprised by the atmosphere in the touristy parts of Kyoto. This picture of Kiyomizu Temple (taken on the Kyoto tour at the end of orientation week) is a good example of how I imagined Japan before coming here:
But what I was not prepared for was the number of small shrines scattered around Hirakata City. I have seen several so far and pass by one of them every day on my way to and from Kansai Gaidai. What seems particularly strange about these shrines is that they are barely separated from the rest of the city. This one is located right next to a grocery store and you can see a pile of white garbage bags right beside:
I can't read the kanji, so I don't know who this shrine is for but there are always fresh flowers by it so clearly someone is taking care of it, despite its less-than-holy location next to the trash pile. The shrines I have seen are all pushed up against their surroundings in this way, regardless of what those surroundings may be. In fact, it seems like everything in Hirakata City is “squashed” into as small a space as possible. As a citizen of the US, I am accustomed to a lot more separation. The houses here are right next to the street with almost no yards and there never seems to be more than a foot or two between them, if that. Roads are also much narrower than I am used to, often with barely room for a car and a bike to pass, let alone two cars. Even the wider streets with two way traffic on them seem remarkably narrow to me, especially since most of them have no sidewalks. This street, which runs between my host family's house and Kansai Gaidai, took a lot of getting used to:
As you can see, there is no sidewalk and, yes, I often encounter buses on my way back from school. Walking between that wall and the oncoming traffic is especially difficult at night, or when I meet other pedestrians coming the other way. But all the Japanese people seem to think nothing of it, and the drivers are clearly used to narrow roads and somehow manage to leave me just enough space. Even so, I think the compressed space here in Hirakata City will take some getting used to, and I'm starting to realize that, as an American, one thing I'll have to work on if I want to fit in is shrinking my “personal bubble.”
