1. Heated toilet seats – after two weeks in snowy Niseko and near-freezing Tokyo and Kyoto, I discovered my toosh is one of the extremities that goes numb in the cold. I humbly bow to a nation that heats public toilet seats in restaurants, stations, and other haunts of the itinerant.
Niseko
2. The mesmerising dance of snow flakes in Niseko, floating in eddies, locking into crystalline embraces, then disappearing into drifts as light as suds.
3. The hidden night life of the Gion. Fleet-footed geishas disappearing into wooden tea-houses; slatted screens offering tantalising glimpses of a secret world, an empty room, and three giant capsicums the size of watermelons.
4. The immaculate dignity of the shuudoushi monks begging for alms, courteously deflecting photographers who would document their shame.
5. The extravagant fashions of Tokyo’s Harajuku district and its Lavazza coffee house – sadly the only good coffee we found anywhere in the land.
6. The nightly broiling in the onsen – why doesn’t my bathroom at home come with a hot spring overlooking the snowfields?
7. The trains, omigod, the trains – setting watches to schedules, then enjoying spotlessly clean, silent travel where talking on mobile phones is unthinkable.
8. The Nozomi – fastest of the Shinkansen bullet trains. Next Christmas, I’m asking Santa for one: at 300 kilometres per hour, I could do Brisbane to Biloela in under two hours.
Golden Pavillion, Kyoto
9. The world-heritage-listed temples, shrines and gardens maintained for a thousand years or more in ancient Kyoto. Sunlight shafting through the snow flakes to strike Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion, in a dazzling burst of light.
10. The courtesy and helpfulness we encountered everywhere – a lesson I have committed to heart for when next I encounter a bewildered visitor struggling with an unfamiliar language.
Arigato gozaimasu Japan, for making our Griswold family vacation one of wonder and joy. We bow to you from the waist and hope to return your favours whenever your countrymen and women venture our way.
Christine Bongers 