Nippon Captured by Blue Eyes: My First Impressions of Japan

Hi. Wow so here goes my first ever blog post. My First Impressions of Japan. After being here twice before I have become accustomed to the initial shocks Japan gives any foreigner after arriving in its depths for the first time. After trying to remember what my original thoughts of Japan were five years ago, I realised that although they would be great and obviously the perfect ‘first impressions’, I have decided I’m not going to look back and try remember those thoughts. I know that now they would differ dramatically due to becoming able to understand Japans’ culture more so than before, so I am going to use the first snapshots I have taken this time around in Hirakata, Japan and let them show my ‘new’ first impressions of this wonder world.

So far the thing that has hit me hard about Japan that hasn’t before is the massive contrast between the old and the new. Traditional Japan is so rich in culture and is still living so strong and this is evident nearly everywhere you go yet ever so equally is the modern and fast paced Japan.

At a street crossing you can see a women wearing the latest high end fashion lines standing alongside women wrapped in kimono. Restaurants range from the most westernised fine dining to having tables two feet high from the ground and chopsticks at your ready, while temples and high rises share the same street.