Tip #  23   Electricity, Water and ...

Plug in Adaptors for your electronic devices are not needed for your Journey into the Heart of Japan.

Scratch that off your list.

Tap water is safe to drink.  Though this will be my 9th trip to Japan, I still remember my first trip concern about drinking tap water, I was cautious and hesitant.  Now I realize that tap water in Japan is safer that here at home (USA).  

Tip # 22.   Hiroshima: Ring the Peace Bell at the Chidren's Peace Memorial

When you visit the Peace Park, have lunch at Okinomyaki Nobumoto, just across the Ota river.  Cross at Heiwa Odori Bridge...
Meet Nobumoto-san, an extraordinary woman...
Enjoy the best Okinomyaki I've ever had.
Hiroshima style okinomiyaki is öishi, (delicious) and you'll discover it's interesting history.
Don't miss this special Hiroshima experience!

Here are the directions. 

Copy this Google Plus Code (like GPS coordinates) and paste onto Google Maps.
9CVX+5C Hiroshima

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki

Tip # 21 Use Google Translate!
Not yet 100% accurate and yet... an extremely useful travel assistant in Japan.

Let's try it on your phone.  Once you've downloaded Google Translate from you APP Store,  key in a term like:  Which way to find a taxi? 
Screen A pops up.  Look for and tap the round blue dot with an inset arrow ->

A.




Having tapped the blue arrow,  see Screen C below.

Next press the icon showing 2 microphones " (Con...sation) ... to turn on CONVERSATION mode.

When you say:  "Which way to find a taxi?" the app translates this into Japanese,  listens for the  Japanese response and translates it to English on your screen making possible an informative conversation!!!


 B.  


Press the speaker icon the translated Japanese blue zone when you are ready to:
Hear it...  and ...  Say it. 
I believe your earnestness shows well when you try to speak the language.
Worry not that your pronunciation needs work...  your extra effort will be appreciated.

Explore the two additional icons in the lower right corner of the blue field.

What do Blue Zones have in common?

The first principle of 120 and Beyond, and Blue Zones is...  Community. The Venn diagram above includes the terms Healthy Social Circle and Social Engagement.  But Community means much, much more.  Communities are social units with something in common, eg. norms, values, that share a sense of place (village, town), often with a common cultural and historical heritage.  Communities have durable relations beyond immediate genealogical ties, and have members who often share, intents, beliefs, needs, preferences, resources and some measure of cohesiveness.

So let us now build our own 120 and Beyond or Blue Zone Community.

Maybe it's the people of Japan, or is it their culture, or their ancient history?

Or maybe it is something else, but ...

you are about to embark upon

“a journey where the signposts are unfamiliar, and where the new worlds you see reveal elements in yourself that you never even knew existed.”                     
Rick Ridgeway and Italian anthropologist Fosco Maraini

"A Japanese legend says that if you can't sleep at night,

it is because you are in someone else's dream."

Reading and Writing Japanese 

The first thing Japanese kids learn in school ... 2,000 Kanji (characters) of the 50,000 that make up their language. This is enough for them to get by on the road to full literacy.  

More coming soon.