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Everything looked very small, very open and very sparse when we arrived back in Melbourne. It seems we had become used to the seething metropolis that is Tokyo.
We braved a peak hour train and swayed with the masses as it rounded bends at break neck speeds, surged forward as it left one station and surged back as it arrived at the next station.
We crossed the road in the rain with the masses, all shielded by their own personal umbrellas.
We joined thousands on a sunny Sunday, lined up to purify at the water fountain, stood in queues to enter a temple and after removing our shoes and bowed quietly and prayed at the shrine.
We stood and watched as cars, buses and trucks, boats and trains all scrambled for our focus on a busy city thoroughfare made up of 4 layers of road plus ten tracks of rail and the river below.
We were overwhelmed when we walked into a department store at opening time and every single sales assistant we passed bowed low to greet us.
There is no doubting it – we live in an under developed, under utilised, relaxed environment.
Japan and particularly Tokyo was exciting, but it is great to be back in slow, solumn Melbourne.
