To The Land Of The Rising Sun

Since the time that I was born, I haven't gone anywhere outside the country where I live nor have any plans of visiting any country for the foreseeable future. Part of it was because even in my home country, there are still a lot of great places that I haven't gone yet so never mind going somewhere farther. But if there is a country that I would want to visit, perhaps even to relocate, my first country of choice will always be the "Land of The Rising Sun", Japan.

Japan by any means is not a large country and neither was perfect but no country is. They have a huge crunch culture problem and so was their declining birth rate but even with those problems, they are one of the safest countries in the whole world, having a strong emphasis in respecting others and self- discipline that was ingrained to them since childhood. Not only that, they also have one of the strictest gun control laws, making them one of the countries with the lowest crime rate. Just don't try to pick a fight on "Yakusa" and you will definitely have a peaceful life.

Aside from being safe, Japan is also known for having many places with great sceneries such as the Mt. Fuji that is said to have an amazing view during sunrise and sunset or the amazing sight of Kyoto during the Cherry Blossoms season. They also have lots of Hot Springs that not only cleanses the body but also calms the mind. There are also lots of Shrines to visit, some of which are built hundreds of years ago.

And if you are a culture enthusiast, staying in Japan will never bore you. During festival, Japanese can wear traditional clothes "Yukata" or "Kimono" which they also were during Tea Ceremonies which is a ritual that involve the preparation and serving of tea in a specific way or when writing Japanese Calligraphy. They also have "Rakugo" which is a traditional way of Story telling where the monologues rely on the skill of the teller, rather than scenery or complex props as well as live theaters called "Kabuki" that mixes acting with traditional dance while the actors wear elaborate costumes and makeup.

On the other hand, for those who like sports, they also have unique sports they play such as "Kendo" which is a form of sword fighting that uses Bamboo swords or "Kyudo" that uses traditional bow to hit the target. Martial arts like "Karate" and "Sumo" are also sports that Japanese participate. For traditional card game, Japanese have "Karuta" where someone will read a phrase a card and players will race to get the same card among all the numerous cards that were flipped down so not only it requires good hearing but also good memorization.

But the biggest reason why I want to go to Japan was because it was the land of Anime and Manga and for those who don't know, I am a huge fan of Anime that I will even have allocate my spare time to watch anime just as what you can see in this post. In fact, the main reason why I haven't been writing for quite a while was because I am having a One Piece Anime marathon and has watched about 100 episodes for the past weeks, starting from the Dressrosa Arc. I was watching it through a site called One Pace where each unnecessary parts and fillers were removed from the episode so my watching phase is much faster and will be able to catch up with the latest episode soon (PM me in discord if you want to get their discord link). Also, everything that I mentioned above, I learned through watching Anime so I did not require any research when writing this post. For reference, this are my Anime sources.

So yeah, those were the things that I know about Japan which is also why it is my first choice if I want to relocate. And though I can't read or write their language, having to watch Anime with Japanese Dubbed for a long time, to some extent I can understand what the Anime characters are saying which will make studying their language easier. Finally, Japan is relatively close to the Philippines so in case that I relocate, I can easily travel back to Philippines to either visit my family and friends.

またね (matane)! - see you!