Exploring Japan

Once I got comfortable traveling around base, I started walking around town. Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, and they are very tolerant of Western cultures. The same can not always be said of other Asian cultures. Yokosuka has been built around the naval base and the food and music is designed to attract the attention of Americans. Knowing Japanese is not required, many of the dishes served by restaurants are represented by elaborate 3D models in the windows. I tried sushi and enjoyed it along with a special type of rice. Using chopsticks is much more difficult than it looks! Luckily in most places they do not require the use of them.

Getting around Japan by car is a nightmare so traveling by train is usually the fastest option. Many of the roads have expensive tolls that need to be dealt with. Walking and riding bikes are also popular. I stayed in Yokosuka at first just to get a taste of the cultural norms and familiarize myself with the area. It is fairly easy to get lost in Japan.

Some Ensigns heard about an Oktoberfest happening in a neighboring town and wanted me to join them so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ride the trains and see a little more of Japan. The thought of having German beer in Japan was too intriguing to pass up. I was the only one in the group who knew German, several of them could converse in Japanese so we had all our bases covered. It was easy to pick out the Americans in the crowd by the size glasses they chose. You had about a half dozen different size glasses to fill. The largest glass could hold a liter of beer, so most Americans were going with that. The Japanese were choosing the smaller size glasses. If you turned in the glass at the end of the night, some of your original purchase was refunded.

I would love to travel to Tokyo and Mt. Fuji at some point. The big hurdles are finding enough time to do it and finding someone else to travel with since we need to travel in pairs. I hear the Cherry Blossom Festival is a must see as well.