Tonči Štokov

Our sailors made sure to buy Yo-Zuri squid lures and other fishing equipment during each visit. I was impressed by the Sannomya Central Train and Subway Station (with no living employees as its operations are entirely automated), the artificial Port Island which serves commercial purposes, and the airport built on sliding joints (due to frequent seismic activity) on an artificial island in the Osaka Bay. Longshoremen always arrive at work one hour earlier, already in their work-clothes, to engage in 45 minutes of calisthenics (all together), after which their choir sings the company's ‘anthem’ and at precisely at 8 a.m. they begin working. After closing, the owner takes a bucket of soapy water and a brush and scrubs the shop’s width of the pavement and half of the shopping street in front of the shop and then rinses it with clean water (whether in Isezakicho in Yokohama, Motomachi-Dori in Kobe, Sakaemachi in Moji, or the Ginza in Tokyo). I was most impressed with the cleanliness and discipline of the entire nation, the virtually non-existent rates of theft and violence among the ‘everyday’ people and the sushi in Hokkaido. On the other hand, the Yakuza-run "Japanese-only" bars are not in the least bit attractive. However, whenever an opportunity arises, I will gladly visit Japan again.