Japan:
The sky-high costs of Japan put off a lot of travellers, but if you do some research and plan ahead, you can probably avoid spending too many thousands of dollars on a trip to this island nation. For instance, there is a youth hostel in Tokyo, and in the countryside, you can stay at traditional guesthouses that don't cost a year's salary. If you don't eat out, and do a lot of walking, you'll also avoid some of the high costs.
For Westerners, Japan is enigmatic, even for those you live there. And for the Japanese, Westerners are bizarre as well. Although the Japanese are supposed to learn English starting in grade school, they never seem to get beyond a basic grasp of it, and their pronunciation is mangled. In the cities, you'll see a lot of signs, t-shirts and lettering and logos in English, but it's always extremely weird and absurd translations or renditions. Learning some Japanese before you go to Japan can help a lot.
Outside of Tokyo and apart from the pleasures of touring the old city of Kyoto, Japan is a hiker's heaven. Most of the country is covered in mountains and forest, and you can spend weeks hiking and climbing the mountains. One amazing place for hiking only about two hours' train ride west of Tokyo is Yatsugatake, a spectacular range of eroded 3,000-metre volcanic peaks in the Japan Alps. After hiking, you can soak in natural hot springs.
Many of the mountains in Japan are volcanic, and occasionally blow up. For instance, in late March, 2000, Mt. Uso, in the far north, erupted, spewing ash, smoke, rock and gas around the nearby countryside. Since the Japanese are efficient, however, all the locals towns had been evacuated by the time the mountain blew its top.
The crime rate in Japan is among the lowest in the world, so getting ripped off or attacked is off your list of travel worries. The Japanese, who can't conceive of why anyone would want to be alone, will make solo travellers feel welcome.
There is still a demand for native-English speakers to teach English in Japan, and you can make a good salary while living in a small apartment, and then come home with a few thousand dollars to spend on big-ticket items, or go travelling for a year.
Some Western women decide to work as bar girls in the cities -- hostesses who sit and drink with Japanese men and flatter their egos. This is usually a benign experience, and lucrative, as well, but there have been some reports of violence against some foreign bar girls. Be very careful if you decide to try this. The Canadian embassy in Japan advises against working as a bar girl.
If you do plan on living and working in Japan, take note that you may have problems getting North American or European-size clothing and shoes. Thanks to Mariellen Ward, who lived in Tokyo for a year, for this tip.
Books: The Roads to Sata: a 2,000-mile Walk Through Japan, by Alan Booth: Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan, by Alan Booth
This page last updated November 9, 2002