- There are many Toyotas, but I have seen no Lexus models. I’ve seen one Nissan, but no Infiniti. Mercedes, BMW, few and far between. Alas, I haven’t spotted a single American car.
- Finding a pharmacy is difficult – and once found, I saw no Advil.
- There are many McDonald’s.
- On escalators, people instinctively know to stand to the left, letting those who want to walk down escalators walk/run down the right.
- They drive on the left side of the road.
- Most cars are small. I have yet to see an SUV.
- They care about recycling here. Everywhere you go there are recycling bins. Convenience stores have bins at check-out to place your receipt for when it won’t be kept.
- McDonald’s doesn’t have mayonaise in packets, but they can put it on your sandwich.
- Flash memory is about twice as expensive here than in the States.
- Everything is smaller.
- I have seen practically no homeless.
- There is a slot in the hotel room for the room key. Without the room key inserted, the air conditioning and other appliances have no power. Nice way to save energy!
- It seems to rain all the time here.
- It is a rarity for stores to open at 9am here. If they aren’t 24-hours, they open up between 10am and Noon.
- You should speak basic Japanese phrases here – hello / goodbye / thank you / excuse me. If you speak English, you will get smiles, but oftentime little understanding.
- If security stops you, just keep speaking English. They go away.
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