It’s easy to come back from a trip and think everything on your vacation was better than what you return to at home.
Like ramen. I don’t think I can eat ramen here for awhile without comparing it to the bowls I’ve had in Fukuoka and Tokyo on my recent trip to Japan.
But sometimes we don’t stay long enough in a place to really get to know it — and some things may seem better on the surface.
Take, for example, traffic.
It’s easy to think that other cities don’t have the kind of gridlock morning traffic we have here on Oahu. But we also don’t travel during peak commuting times when on vacation, so what we experience — the lonely backroads, the unclogged interstates — aren’t really an accurate picture of the city’s traffic woes.
So I’m going to make a list of things that we can compare between Hawaii and Japan, and for those of you who have been to both, I’d love to get your input:
Hawaii vs. Japan: which is better? (My answer is in parentheses.)
• Public transportation (Japan)
• Ramen (Japan)
• Pastries and desserts (Hawaii. I have a sweeter palette. Sorry!)
• Convenience stores (Japan, hands down)
• Fashion (I prefer Hawaii’s laid-back vibe.)
• Beaches (Hawaii)
• Friendliness (Hawaii)
• Crowds (Hawaii)
• Tourist areas (Japan. I think Hawaii is too kitschy.)
• Music (Hawaii)
• Weather (Hawaii)
• Public restrooms (Split. I think Japanese bathrooms are cleaner, but you have to like squatters.)
• Birds (Tough one. I’m not sure if I prefer huge crows or dirty pigeons.)
Hmm. Looks like I’m torn.
What about you?
10 Comments
the Ramen in Japan is tough to beat, they boil those bones for weeks! I think your list is pretty good, but public transport is a tough one. Japan has bad traffic problems, and a great rail system. Rail systems in general are not designed to reduce traffic, but to allow for more economic growth. The side effect is a forever changed landscape.
This is an interesting topic because Hawaii is trying to also build a rail system, but Im not sure people that want it have thought about the long term effects of growth. Public transport like Japan’s is nice, and although it wont reduce traffic in the long run, it can allow for massive economic and population growth. How do we want Hawaii to look in 50 years? like a tropical paradise? or an urban sprawl? perhaps progress is too powerful to stop either way?
Pastries, definitely Hawaii! and did you try any Italian food in Japan? seems bland to me, but they dont seem to like their food flavors too strong.
Electronics stores? Yodabashi trumps Best Buy! =)
I agree with your assessments 90%. Having said that I’d take Hawaii for the weather over Japan, hate cold weather period.
My only dig against Hawaii is the friendliness thing. If you are local Hawaii instead of haole people treat you a whole lot better. It takes a new transplant to Hawaii a long time to get the same treatment as someone from there. This is true to an extent in most cases when you are the new kid on the block but in Hawaii it takes a whole lot longer, years and years sometimes, and in some cases it never happens you feel at home.
DJ, feel you on the treatment thing, but some/a lot of it comes from the way the malihini treats the locals. kind of a give-aloha-get-aloha thing. tourists, for example, naturally come here expecting to be served (they’re on vacation). that attitude often extends beyond expecting turn down service at the hilton to the way they treat locals in day to day interactions. growing up in Hawaii, I often felt like I was considered a prop or an extra in some tourist’s production of “Vacation in Hawaii”. no wonder (not excusing, just explaining) some tourists got directions to Palolo Valley when looking for Paradise Park in Manoa.
I know/grew up with many local haole who weren’t treated any differently than I was because they “knew how fo’ act”.
Amen Matt. I was a laid back Southerner when I first came to Hawaii in 1994. It did not take me too long to fall in with it there. My ex was a NYC girl and could not wait to leave to ‘go back to reality’ and it proved very troublesome. Likely why we were 17 years and done.
I’ve noticed when mainland folk come to Hawaii they have this misconception locals are undereducated and they have this ‘big fish, small pond’ attitude thing. They also get rock fever. And they think things are too expensive… as if they the only ones who want to live there. And like it isn’t 2700 miles to bring stuff in.
Yeah, I heard a guy tell a tourist how to get to Kailua Beach… via Waianae. LOL. My first trip to Waianae got schooled on the oldest computer algorithm there is:
If (Haole = Yes AND Destination = Waianae)Then
Go with Local Friend
Else
Don’t Go
End If
• Public transportation (Japan)-japan, hands down. I don’t think the new rail system will make things better, either. alienate half the island by not providing service to them? Not that i want to see rail lines up the valleys and over/under the mountains into the windward side, but I don’t think it’ll have the effect that some think it will.
• Ramen (Japan)-obviously, although there’s something to be said for a nice bowl of local style saimin sometimes. on the flip side, how are the laulau in japan. overall, though, for savory food, I go with Japan.
• Pastries and desserts (Hawaii. I have a sweeter palette. Sorry!)-Hawaii, also. and I don’t have a sweeter palette. I think the western style desserts in japan are too sweet and more style than substance. the local desserts (fine dining category) with the local ingredients (okinawan sweet potatoes, kona chocolate and coffee, mac nuts, fruits etc) are much more appealing to me and the things that the new chefs are doing with these ingredients are mind blowing sometimes
• Convenience stores (Japan, hands down)-Japan for the diversity of products, although I think the hot food is a dead heat. love the beef curry buns (and pizza buns, etc) in japan, but also love the various dim sum and musubi in Hawaii.
• Fashion (I prefer Hawaii’s laid-back vibe.) again I agree. I’m not a fashion kind of guy, so laid back is the way to go.
• Beaches (Hawaii) hawaii, although there is some fishing in tokyo bay that I have on my bucket list (the suzuki run is supposed to be a blast).
• Friendliness (Hawaii) agreed again, although ymmv, I guess. Helps if you speak the language (in either place)
• Crowds (Hawaii) hard to tell since i don’t go to waikiki much. iirc, though it’s not too bad. the crowds in japan are a whole different thing. like a living organism in and of itself. similar density to a times square at night crowd but a whole different dynamic. the times square crowd is less organized; more of a chaotic party. Japans crowds seem more purposeful. like the whole energy of the crowd is focused rather then random.
• Tourist areas (Japan. I think Hawaii is too kitschy.) I was constantly amazed that the temples and castles i visited were twice, three times or more as old as our country. pretty cool stuff. plus, there’s always street food stalls leading up the the tourist areas in japan. I was going to go with Hawaii on this category, but the grilled mochi memories saved the win for Japan
• Music (Hawaii) yeah, some J-pop stuff is ok…even pretty good but a lot of it is just…loud and odd.
• Weather (Hawaii) hands down
• Public restrooms (Split. I think Japanese bathrooms are cleaner, but you have to like squatters.) Japan, hands down. we were driving from kurume to fukuoka when my son (then three) announced that he had to go shishi. we pulled the car over at a truck stop and went to the bathroom, somewhat fearful of what we might find (it was a truck stop, afterall). the bathroom was clean, modern and perfectly stocked with tp, soap and papertowels. my son accidentally pushed a random button that didn’t seem to do anything, but about thirty seconds later, there was a knock on the door and an attendant asked if we needed anything.
then again, I’ve never encountered a squat toilet, so I don’t have any experience in that.
• Birds (Tough one. I’m not sure if I prefer huge crows or dirty pigeons.) the only birds I noticed in japan were already getting crispy on the hibachi. I liked those birds just fine. the bulbuls in my mom’s yard piss me off. the always eat our tomatoes. I wonder if I can make yakitori out of them.
overall, to visit as a tourist, I pick japan, but it’s hawaii all the way if i had to say which was “better”. I think you have to move away to appreciate how truly special Hawaii is.
Hello Cat,
Public transportation (Japan)
Japan wins hands down, They have that down to the seconds and you can go everywhere.
• Ramen (Japan)
Hands down again. No place here comes close.
• Pastries and desserts (Hawaii. I have a sweeter palette. Sorry!)
I don’t know, I’m not into Pastries and desserts.
• Convenience stores (Japan, hands down)
Hands down again, they have so much more to offer.
• Fashion (I prefer Hawaii’s laid-back vibe.)
Hawaii, I prefer t-shirts, board shorts and slippers
• Beaches (Hawaii)
Hawaii hands down
• Friendliness (Hawaii)
Hawaii
• Crowds (Hawaii)
Hawaii
• Tourist areas (Japan. I think Hawaii is too kitschy.)
Japan, so many place to see
• Music (Hawaii)
Hawaii
• Weather (Hawaii)
Hawaii hands down
• Public restrooms (Split. I think Japanese bathrooms are cleaner, but you have to like squatters.)
I spit on this one too.
• Birds (Tough one. I’m not sure if I prefer huge crows or dirty pigeons.)
Split, biirds in Japan never bothered me.
If you’re talking about places to live, then you have to factor in the cost of housing and job situation. Neither places is really highly rated for those factors right now, but you do have more options in Japan (mostly because it is a bigger place).
Same might also apply to tourism. Japan is a bigger place and has a lot more variety than Hawaii. On the other hand, the language issue makes Japan unattractive to most Americans.
CAT: what about the homeless? Am sure you saw some in Japan as well.
• Public transportation (Japan) – No question, Japan
• Ramen (Japan) – Japan
• Pastries and desserts (Hawaii. I have a sweeter palette. Sorry!) – I would have to say Hawaii as well. As another pointed out, it is a lot of presentation over content in Japan
• Convenience stores (Japan, hands down) – Japan
• Fashion (I prefer Hawaii’s laid-back vibe.) – Not sure about this one. Never did any clothes shopping in Japan.
• Beaches (Hawaii) – Hawaii. I just didn’t find the beaches in Japan to be that nice. Of course I was in Northern Japan, so that may have been the reason. I imagine the beaches down in Okinawa are probably more reflective of a Hawaii beach.
• Friendliness (Hawaii) – Japan, never met anyone that wasn’t friendly in Japan. Not saying you don’t get that here, just get a more friendlier feeling there.
• Crowds (Hawaii) – Hawaii
• Tourist areas (Japan. I think Hawaii is too kitschy.) – Japan, definitely. There are just too many things to see in Japan.
• Music (Hawaii) – Japan. I love me some J-Pop
• Weather (Hawaii) – Hawaii, although I do like the four seasons when I was in Japan.
• Public restrooms (Split. I think Japanese bathrooms are cleaner, but you have to like squatters.) – Japan
• Birds (Tough one. I’m not sure if I prefer huge crows or dirty pigeons.) – If it’s golf birdies, Hawaii. 🙂
foodie cat!! pastries & desserts = hawaii, really!!!?? i don’t think anywhere tops japan for chocolate/confections/desserts/pastries! funny your bird comparison. so glad you enjoyed japan! go back soon!