On The Kindness—and Indifference—of Japanese Strangers

Two Stories, One of Them Mine

Three Places That Didn’t Give Me Trouble

Since my arrival in Japan I’ve remembered an article I read several years ago by a young gaijin living in Tokyo. On a trip home to England, he concluded that he could no longer live there—or, in fact, anywhere outside Japan. The noise, dirt and disorder were bad, but most unbearable was the lack of customer service. Surly waiters, rude salesclerks, and the general absence of helpfulness drove him back to his adopted country, and he vowed to remain here.