Normal Rules Don’t Apply

Since we arrived in Japan we have marvelled at what a rule bound society it seems to be. Everything feels neat and ordered, with everyone knowing and happily following them.  No one ever does an unseen eye roll after bowing for the umpteenth time, or pushes onto the train, or crosses the road before the green man appears. They walk calmly, certain that they have left exactly the right amount of time to get where they are going. I like it. Even in a big city with flashing lights everywhere you can feel calm.

Today we travelled from Miyajima to Kyoto, where we will stay for 5 nights (and actually unpack - I’m very excited about this). With the Japan rail pass (worth every penny if you ever make a trip like this) you can’t take the straight through bullet trains so you have to change. They recommend changing at Shin-Kobe but a friend had recommended seeing Himeji Castle and we discovered that changing there with a three hour stop between trains gave us enough time to see this absolutely beautiful place. We left our cases in the lockers at the station and walked up to the castle.

Himeji is a place where normal rules seem to not apply. Outside the train station were some  musicians. We’d seen buskers before in Tokyo but people shuffle past not making eye contact. In Himeji they had drawn a crowd and the crowd were clapping and singing along. Then we noticed that people were running. Someone even crossed the road before the green man appeared. The Long Suffering Husband looked at me, confused. I scratched my head, “I’m not sure what’s going on,” I told him.
Then I noticed that they have statues of women in Himeji and not just naked ones.  The castle, which they describe as a white heron, seems to be all about a Princess, rather than her husband.

People were eating as they were walking along the street. It was most odd. In Tokyo where they sold street food there were helpful signs reminding you that walking and eating just wasn’t on. Hundreds of people stood on one street corner looking at their phones (we assume it was Pokemon related). Even the crossing Jedis in Himeji also seemed very old.

“People don’t seem very happy here,” observed the LSH.
“That’s because normal rules don’t apply here,” I said.
Then we saw another statue that confirmed my theory.

Naked saxophone playing is against the rules wherever you are.