The Observer

Japanese public workers, the people in transport, security, maintenance and the like, very much resemble Lego men. Not because they are small and yellow - I said not - but because their standardised outfits have a quaint iconographic quality befitting of the popular toy, right down to the domed white helmets and crossed-ribbon torso designs. The abundant traffic officers even wave cute little glow sticks. Speaking of toys, oh how they treat their dogs! Those crazy Japanese.

That is to say, any cultural observations I make from 42 days of leisure, over half of which were spent in the one city, will be callow at best. I can only speak from my own experience, with its immense limitations as a qualifier, when I say that the dominant impression is of quiteness, orderliness, kindness, and that there are few occasions which call for condescending remarks like the above. But it's 32 degrees and you have to take that stripey top off your tiny panting dog.