With Social Media heavily focused on the part of Japanese hospitality that is fed up with tourists. In such a movement, it is easy to overlook the kindness that lies beyond conventional encounters told online.
In this article, we will share heartwarming stories from our experiences in Japan a few years ago.
A Gift From A Traveling Local
It was mid-summer in Gifu, and we had decided to travel around the region’s mountains to escape the heat. We traveled down from Shirakawa-go and were on our way to Shizuoka. On the way there, we decided to take quite a major detour to a post town that was once a pathway connecting Kyoto and Tokyo, now right at the border of Gifu and Nagano prefectures.
Magome-juku (馬籠宿), the label read on our map, not long after we exited one of the tollways. We had expected the attraction to be somewhat busy, even though the sky was partially covered with some dark clouds, but at that time in summer, there were only four or five cars in the parking lot opposite where the walkway begins.
We began our walk through the long path, probably wide enough for around five or six people to walk side-by-side, surrounded by traditional Japanese-style houses, shops, and stores along the way. Not long after climbing up some stairs, and the steeper part of the walkway, a store selling steamed buns caught our attention.
An old lady was running the shop alone, taking out the freshly steamed buns and putting them in one of the trays lined up in front of the store. We decided to stop by and sat down, ordering a few pork buns to enjoy.
The inside was wide enough to fit only a few tables along one side of the wall, and the otherside was where the old lady was standing. We thoroughly enjoyed the taste of the buns here. “Let’s come back to grab some before we go,” I said, planning to snack on them along the way.
We enjoyed the rest of the walk, only passing a few groups of people along the path: a European couple, a small Chinese tour group, a few Japanese tourists, and one older Japanese couple. Nodding our heads at some of them when our eyes happened to meet. It was a lovely, quiet day.
On our way back down, we stopped by to buy steamed buns as planned.
The Incident Unfolds
Before I was able to start ordering, the older couple we had passed earlier started talking to us in Japanese. That first sentence caught us off guard, and neither of us caught what the man said, but we could tell that he was making small talk with a gentle smile on his face. Watching us fumble to find the right words, he was noticeably surprised that we were not Japanese, which, at this point, had already become a normal occurrence during our trips in Japan. For your information, we are Thai.
After that, we were able to reply to him a little, of which he had deliberately chosen the easier words for us. When the conversation died down, we started ordering some takeout, and that was also when he said to the old lady who was running the store that he would be covering our orders. We were able to understand enough to get the gist of their conversation.
Not being completely certain that we interpreted correctly, I began pulling out some cash from my wallet. Immediately, the older gentleman stepped in and gestured towards us while saying in Japanese that he got that covered.
To our surprise, we had really correctly understood what he said, and he was in fact trying to pay for us. For a second time that day, amidst an unfamiliar situation, we failed to come up with the right words to try to refuse his offer. The only thing we managed to do was look utterly dumbfounded enough for him to know what we were trying to say and keep insisting, already putting his money in the old lady’s hand. Without much of a back-and-forth, we gave in, and he paid for our order.
Still a little confused by the turn of event, but also greatly touched by his action, and with a great appreciation for the moment, we wholeheartedly thanked him with our words, smiles, and a few bows before leaving.
A Memorable Departure
Throughout the rest of the way, that was all we talked about. ‘That was so nice,’ was probably said by both of us, to each other, a few too many times.
After stopping by the souvenir store beside the parking lot, we came out to our car and were ready to drive off, but before we could leave, a red Mazda–if we remembered the color correctly–drove by. It was one of those sporty models, probably an MX-5 Miata convertible with its top down, and inside, we saw the old Japanese couple, probably well over their sixties, who had just paid for our pork buns, sitting in the car. I quickly point them out in excitement to my girlfriend in the passenger seat of our rental Toyota Roomy. “Whoa, now that is quite cool,” I said, while she let out an amusing “whatttt,” as they drove away.
That had been, to this day, one of the most memorable encounters we had during our trips in Japan, one that we will never forget. Whether his gesture was purely an act of kindness from seeing two younger travellers in his country, and had wanted to help us out a little, or a token of apology for having mistaken us for a Japanese couple, and seeing us panic a little trying to reply to him, or a mix of both, we greatly appreciated his gesture and like to tell him that what he did for us has made our whole trip more pleasant, and deepen our love and respect for his country.
Mistake and Forgiveness
Only a few days before the event that we told you about earlier, we had another incident, you could say, a rather big blunder on our part. An hour and a half away from Magome-juku lies another popular post town called Narai-Juku (奈良井宿), in Nagano prefecture.
This post town, like Magome-juku and Tsumago-juku, is also a part of the Nakasendo trail; the overall feeling and style are similar to the two other preserved post towns, but a little more adapted to the modern attractions, we would say, with wider roads, more shops, and cafes.
After spending a good amount of time walking around, we stopped at a cafe somewhere along the road. We entered the cafe, sat in one of the window seats, as the sunlight shone through the wooden slats, filling up the place with a soft, warm ambience. The atmosphere inside was as cozy as it could be. We enjoyed a few drinks and one dessert to share, amongst a good number of other customers, just enough for us not to feel too lonely in there.
A Sinking Feeling
We were satisfied, rejuvenated after some rest, and were ready to leave. Before our trip to Japan that year, we were in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand, where we flew out to Tokyo afterwards, and because of that, we did not get to exchange the normal amount of cash we would have brought after considering our plan for a Japan trip. We went to a 7-11 when we landed in Tokyo to withdraw some yen from the machine, an amount that is now proven to be insufficient.
Stood there at the counter, just now realizing they do not accept card, both of us fumbling through our bags and pockets, mustering every coin we had and counting them, hoping that it would be able to cover the food we just eaten, and it did not. We probably had enough to cover only three-quarters of the bill.
In the panic of the moment, we asked the cafe attendants for the closest ATM around the area; one of us was ready to run there. After talking among themselves, they say the closest one should be 15 minutes away on foot. We were a little shocked to hear the distance, thinking there might be one close by, seeing that it was a rather popular destination for tourists.
Righting The Wrong
The town was quieter in the summer season, and there were not many people walking around, and no one was waiting for a table. We proposed that one of us would sit back down, as a hostage of the situation, while the other runs to the machine. At the same time, the attendant was seen discussing something with another male attendant.
“It’s ok,” he said, while pressing buttons on the register. He then asked us for the cash we had on hand, counting for a good round number, and returned some small change to us. “Discount,” he said, and concluded for us that our bill has been settled. We said some words of apology and thanked them for the discount, profusely bowing and saying sorry, embarrassed for letting this happen, before finally leaving.
We stopped a few buildings away, standing there, heads down on our phones, searching the map for a machine, not wanting to leave things this way. We found one in a small alley, and my partner hurriedly walked towards it as I stood there waiting. In under 10 minutes, she came back, shooting a grin my way before going back into the cafe. Not long after, she came out bowing a little and smiling back inside. When it comes to swiftly taking action in these situations, she is way better than me. With that, we concluded our trip in Narai-juku and left.
The Closing
Through our experience travelling, this is only a few of such situations of kindness and benevolent acts. No matter where it stemmed from, it shows another part that people do not talk about too much on the internet these days, which is also ingrained in the culture of Japanese people. We have received it with gratitude and try to be as respectful as we can in every encounter, making sure we do not disturb their balance and peace, and in return, we also discover the side of their people that we have come to love.
We will leave you with the local cats from Magome-Juku
If you are interested in Japan’s old town we also recommend you to visit Kumagawa.
May we all be Kind,
Travel Tegami