I'm a big fan of trains, and there can hardly be a better place for rail aficionados than Japan. There are many different types of "super express" trains (in the West we call them "bullet trains," but Mr. Hineda, my Tokyo-Hiroshima host, prefers to avoid the violent metaphor), as well as commuter trains and distance trains of all sorts, including monorails ... and I got to ride many of them during my visit to Japan. With the intense concentration of population in Japan's cities, it would be impossible for the country to function without well-developed mass transit; still, this is one area where our Asian friends put us to shame.

A friend back home asked me to describe sensory impressions of my visit so far, and I replied with the following.

WHEW! This trip is like a visit to heaven in many ways. The people I'm meeting are in awe of Berkeley, and it's difficult to find the balance between encouraging them to take inspiration from our activism and disabusing them of some of their exaggerated impressions. I've been telling people that after hearing what they have to say about Berkeley, I look forward to visiting the Berkeley they know.

A few random impressions:

• In the Tokyo subway station this morning, I was struck by the clopping of thousands of pairs of dress shoes on the polished stone floors, with very little talking hubbub or other noise. That was a bit unique, because it has been very noisy in many places here, both with animated conversation and with amplified sounds, from pinball machines, advertising blaring from shops, hawkers, and so forth. In many parts of Osaka there are a lot of large, lighted signs at night; but not so many are animated or flashing that it assaults you like Vegas.
  
  
• For the amount of traffic, there are very few car horns, and there's no rude blaring like in the U.S. Cabs drive fast down narrow streets, but somehow it's not too disturbing, because everyone seems calm, you don't notice drivers aggressively jockeying for position, and people seem to be aware. The cab drivers are clearly watching everything around them, but I don't see obvious head-turning or glancing at mirrors.
  
  
• The bullet train to Tokyo from Osaka was noticeably fast when looking out the window, but a very smooth and quiet ride.
  
  
• People are dressed a variety of ways. The folks I'm dealing with, except government officials, are less formally attired that I'd expect -- more like business casual, with some in student casual. I'm more formally dressed than most of them (but that seems appropriate, my being the special guest).
  
  
• Many younger people have light or bleached/dyed hair. A lot of women and many men have brownish hair, and some have blonde, with one or two in green or orange. And the Japanese have become tall: Many of the people around me, especially those in their 20s, are taller than I. Just about everyone is thin, although the number of U.S. food sources (KFC, McDonald's, AM/PM, Subway, Starbuck's) in Osaka presages an unfortunate change in that.
  
  
• The food is not entirely unlike Japanese food in the U.S., though more variety and more stuff that's a little hard to eat, such as a small octopus sliced in half down the center of the head. (That I didn't eat.) I am offered a lot of food, and at evening meals people constantly refill my beer-glass. One particular food item that was most definitely non-American but that I enjoyed was a small, red, pickled berry (it may not be red in its natural state) with a pit, served on a breakfast buffet. It was quite bitter and firm, but a nice little counterpoint to the other breakfast food.
  
  
• Like the little bit of Japanese language I've learned (which pleases people to no end), the people here are fastidious, organized, on-time, and sensible. For example, instead of everyone individually traipsing to the toire to wash up before dinner, we are brought warm towels before food is served. Makes perfect sense, and if I ever open a restaurant, I'm going to do that.