Earthquakes

One thing about Japan is that there are many earthquakes that can be very dangerous and many lives are killed from them.

The worst earthquake in Japanese history hit around Tokyo and the Kanto plain in 1923 and 100,000 people died from this tragedy called the Great Kanto Earthquake. Sometimes when an earthquake happens under an ocean or lake a tsunami takes place. A tsunami is a giant wave.

At my father's office he works on the fourth floor and if an earthquake happens they have to be prepared. Some company made a device for them to help during an earthquake if there is not enough time to go down the stairs or through the escalator. It is a long medal bar that shoots a harness to the bottom of the building through the window and there is also a harness at the top by the window. Someone gets into the harness at the top and then goes down and then the harness at the bottom comes up and its a push pull reaction so that more people can get down during this emergency.

Seijin No Hi

Two days ago was a national holiday called Seijin No Hi, or Coming of the Age Day. On this day all 20-year olds come to these civic centers and shrine to celebrate becoming of an adult. Now they have the legal rights to do things like vote, smoke, drink, and do things without parental control.

This is a day of tradition, fun, and advice in which the elder give to them about entering adulthood.

Even though this is a day of fun this day is also very expensive for the 20-year olds. Although the women in their beautiful kimonos and the men in their new suits or traditional kimonos are stunning they are also very expensive. To rent them they cost anywhere between $550 to $1,000, to buy them cost $4,000 to $10,000! On top of that they have to pay for assistance getting dress and hair appointments. You have to have an appointment scheduled 6 months in advanced to go to the beauty parlor!

Traveling differences

This year for Christmas through New Years we went on a three week vacation. Our flight back to America the carts for luggage were free but the security was really rough. We had to take off our shoes and jackets and empty our pockets. Since we had laptops we had to take them out of our bags so they could scan the batteries. Everything in our bags that are checked has to be scanned along with our carry-ons. It was a 17 hour flight back to America. After staying in America for three weeks we went to the airport and went through security again. This time it was a lot different. First off we had to pay three dollars for the carts at the American airport. The security was the same, but once we arrived in Japan it was totally different. We didn't have to take off our shoes or jackets or anything like that. it was entirely different and less strict. I asked my mom why it was like this. She said that after 9-11 America couldn't take any chances. Too many people have tried too many things to hurt Americans. There have been incidents where people have tried to bring a bomb on the air plane in a water bottle to people putting grenades in stuffed animals.
In Japan it's not like this at all because people don't do things like this. There are barely any crimes there for two reasons: one because their jails are actual jails. It's a little room with a hard cot for a bed and it's cold and there isn't a TV. The only entertainment they have is once a week a little cart comes by with books on it and you get to choose one. Number two because people their care about their families and for them to cause a crime or something would bring shame to their family. Imagine you being the first one in hundreds of years to bring shame to your family. How would that make you feel? That's the other reason why there aren't many crimes there.
Since there are very little crimes there the security and things at airports aren't near as high. It's also a lot more safe in Japan and you don't have to worry about being kidnapped or anything.

That's one of the many differences between Japan and America.