Takamatsu

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The isn't a great deal to tell about this city itself. It is relatively small, 430,000 people, and is on the island of Shikoku. It is a bit ugly and not very lively. We visited the city for just one night as a stopover on the way to Naoshima and to see the garden Ritsurin-koen. The garden was pretty amazing, full of beautifully twisted pine trees, meandering paths and ponds full of colorful carp.

We could tell we were really deep in the heartland of Japan because few people spoke English and there was little written English (Romanji) most everything was in Kanji. So that made buying a tram ticket out to the garden a challenge. Especially since there was no English button on the machine. We asked someone for help and they went to the service window to get someone. The lady from the service window put the money in for us and made sure we got on the right train to go to the garden. The next morning we had to take the ferry tom Naoshima. We were in a bit of a rush to get to the ferry and accidentally bought the wrong ticket to another island. The man checking the tickets saw we had bought the wrong ticket. He told us the problem and then ran back to the ticket office to get our money back for us and then directed us to the correct window.

So what Takamatsu lacked in beauty was well made up for in kindness and consideration. But we have experienced similar situations all over in Japan. People here will really go out of their way to help you if it is their job or not. There is a genuine good will and respect towards each other here that I believe we have lost in western culture.

And there is the special attention you get when buying something. When I bought my lacquerware I really saw this. I selected the items I wanted from a showcase. A number of different examples of the same bowl I wanted were brought out. I had the chance to look them over and choose the one I liked best. The bowl was then wiped clean and carefully packed up in a beautiful box. The box was then wrapped with care and absolute precision in special paper. There was such a sense of pride about what he was selling me. It was treated with respect and so was I. I wish I had filmed the whole process.

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