I am now flying back to London. My second visit to Japan has ended and I leave this time, feeling like I understand a bit more of their people and customs.
This doesn’t mean I now see them in a different light. For me it is clear that there is such a thing as being “Japanese”. The day Japan won its first World Cup match, you would never have guessed it from just seeing the people in the streets. Celebratory mood is carried within and only expressed during a Matsuri it seems, or maybe it is as it was pointed out to me by a couple of locals at IPMU: we do praise when there is sacrifice involved. Here there was no sacrifice. We are happy, and that’s it.
