Time in Japan

I have had the wonderful opportunity to live in Japan from 2008 to 2013. I lived with my family

on a military base named Kinser in Okinawa. I was able to travel all over the island as well as the

mainland, but I still want to go back and visit while I am grown up. A place that I would love to go to as a

kid was Round 1, which was an extremely popular arcade that included a variety of activities like indoor

go-karts, sports, and classic arcade style games. I would also frequent the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

which had an enormous tank that even held a pair of whale sharks! The Aquarium was the second

largest in the world then. My favorite part of the aquarium was the deep-water section that had sea

creatures like the king crab and huge octopuses. I was also able to visit the Tokyo Disneyland location

and, in my opinion, I preferred the park in Tokyo as it is much cleaner, and people were also a lot more

considerate of each other.

Japan is an amazing place to visit if you like food since there is such a variety of things to get.

Ironically, my family and I never discovered mochi ice cream until we arrived back to the United States.

One place that we would often go to was coco curry, and while we would eat, I would read the Dragon

Ball Z manga that they had on a dedicated shelf in the restaurant. Japan is very well known for their

seafood, and while I’m not a huge fan of seafood, I would try new things like eel, fisheyes, and my

favorite snack onigiri. Another thing I found amazing was that almost every block had a vending machine

so we would never end up thirsty on the side of the road.

Something that really stood out to me while in Japan, even as a kid, was how respectful and

organized society was. While many in America greet each other with either handshakes or physical hugs,

Japanese people tend to “bow” to one another. This can be used as either a greeting, farewell,

apologies, or for religious praying, and the depth, length, and style of the bow has different implications
in a societal context. I’ve not once dealt with rude or inconsiderate people, albeit a few, but rarely in

public or for no good reason. I do wish to visit soon as it is one of the most beautiful countries I have

ever visited.