Japan - First Impressions

I arrived in Japan this morning at 10:30 having experienced a very short Boxing day (about 16 Hours) and have travelled from Kansai airport to my friends' house in Osaka. My first impressions are:

1. The country is very neat. Even the slums look tidy and the roads are very well kept


2. There are lots of English signs and people who speak English so travelling around on these major routes was pretty easy


3. All of their electricity is carried on overhead wires which make the towns look very messy. They do it because of the earthquakes but I don't know whether they mean that cables would break in earthquakes or that the overhead wires are easier to fix.


4. Lots of the nicer homes have Typhoon windows (steel roller shutters) which are designed to withstand the massive beating they can experience in the storms.


5. You are not allowed to park a car on a public road overnight, you must have access to private parking space.

Pics to follow.