Things I forgot about Japan/Things that have changed about Japan

I recently went back to Japan/Kokura a year after I left. I lived there for 13 months in all, from March 2007 to April 2008.

My trip was only three weeks long, but here are some of the things I had forgotten about after being back in the UK for 12 months....

- Toilet Slippers - You have to wear open-toed, cheap plastic flip-flop-type shoes ('slippers') in the toilet if you go into an old restaurant/school/traditional place. You get used to it day-to-day but for a visitor it can be a bit annoying.
- Colour mismatching (Japanes girls have noooooooo sense of colour coordination, which can be a great thing, don't get me wrong.)
- High necks, tiny pants - It's OK to wear tiny tiny shorts, but wearing a low-cut top is baaaad news and very much frowned-upon. However, if you are Western, neither option is good. It seems that in the minds of Japanese folks, the legs of a Japanese girl are not as offensive-looking as the legs of a chubbier Western girl. If in doubt adn you want to make a good impression as an 'outsider', stay wrapped up.
- Buy a kitten on the streets - to be fair, there is only one street corner I have ever seen where this happens and it is an hour from where I lived. Also, I think maybe they were petting, not buying, kittens.
- How clean things are - you wont know 'til you go! The litter is non-existent, without exaggeration. I once went for a walk outside my local shopping complex at midnight and saw a team of uniformed people furiously scraping up chewing gum. Could have been community service, but they were putting a lot of effort in. Maybe it's just pride in your surroundings, something people in the UK lack, rampant litter-throwing idiots as (some) of us are.
- People fall asleep EVERYWHERE! Yep. I don't blame em, they work hard.
- Stinging soap. I don't know why, I really don't, but the soap STINGS my skin. It hurts a lot, even though you buy the same brands as back home (Yes, LUX, I mean you!)
- Deep, short baths, but large sinks! Ha. Lovely for short people, like me!
- How great street food is - Why dont we have more street food in the UK? Or even quick stand-up kitchens where you can gulp a bowl of something and move on fast.