Tuesday, February 8, 2011

8 Unmistakable pleasures of Japan, No. 6. The Service

Concurrent with my list of complaints about Japan, I present 8 things I loved about Japan.

    I have to admit, as much as I dislike the Japanese work ethic in certain things, it's incredible for service. We stayed at a hotel in Kyoto where we paid around $70 a night, and when we arrived our bags were all quickly loaded onto a bellhop's cart, and the bellhop showed us to our room, where she unloaded our bags, despite our attempts to help, and showed us around the room, apologizing in telling us that we probably shouldn't wear our Yukata in the hallways.
    This was much the sort of service we received everywhere. Even those who did not know English tried their best, and did not seem annoyed at our broken attempts to communicate in Japanese. Even the teenagers desking the Convenience stores, which I can only imagine is a mindless, boring, and thankless job, seemed to do their best to communicate, to help with a smile, to explain what they could, and to shout "Shiryaimasen!" upon the customer's departure.

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