| I was not sure of exactly what to expect when I | | | | move in than if I had been in a small provincial |
| arrived in Japan. I was told it was as foreign as you | | | | Cotswold town. The Japanese it seems had left |
| are likely to get. A society so entrenched in its own | | | | town and the streets were devoid of traffic. Where |
| forward development yet so steeped in tradition that | | | | had they all gone? To the hotels it seems. Every |
| it is difficult to see how the two co-exist. | | | | hotel that I wished to visit for an inspection was full |
| Japan is so busy, I was told. You are herded on to | | | | or, going back to my point about being a rigid |
| trains by attendants so that every last inch of space | | | | society, was not possible to visit because I had not |
| is maximised. I visited during the Chinese New Year | | | | made an appointment. Appointments could not be |
| and over a weekend. I had more space than to | | | | made by me or by my guide. |