Towns

 The way towns are structured in Japan compared to America is very appealing to me. I love walkable cities and the convenience of having what you need in walking distance. I wish that we did not have such a reliance on cars in America, it’s not good for the environment and it’s isolating. The American suburbs are a little depressing to me, especially when compared to all the people on the streets in Japan. I'd much rather walk to my destination and spend some time outside or ride the train to get farther places than get into my personal car to go somewhere 20 minutes away. Not to mention all the different things you can do in Japanese cities, here I can’t think of many things to do especially if you can’t spend very much money. The main activities here are shopping or going out and drinking which are both very expensive and a lot of times unnecessary. You could go out to eat but again that’s expensive, the only thing I can think of is going to the zoo. It seems to me that the people are at the center of the way Japanese cities are structured whereas American cities aren't. I was watching a video the other day where a man from the Netherlands talked about how weird it was that Americans drive to places that are over 4 hours away. He couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t just take a train somewhere that was more than 40 minutes away. The convenience of a good public transportation system and walkable cities is something that I wish I could experience here and also something that I know a lot of people attribute to Japan, I hope that I am able to experience it someday!