Man made perfection

Here we are in Shinjuku Gyoen garden. A beautifully landscaped man-made green space in the middle of Tokyo. 

We already know the Japanese to be really proper people, taking pride in everything they do, and boy does it show, especially here where not a blade of grass is out of place.

Yesterday we wandered into the nearby Shinjuku Chuo park, which as we now realize, the difference in nomenclature is because a park is less manicured than a garden... But even so, it is no less pretty.  Sadly, we saw some homeless folks who made the grounds their abode, if temporarily so. Nonetheless, as they camped out there, even they looked prim and proper with neat trolleys and well folded blankets and tents. 

In fact, everything in this society is orderly. My meeting today took place on the western outskirts of the city. The low rise houses were welcome change from the skyscrapers we have been seeing all over Shinjuku and Ginza. 

There is a nice old world charm here but one trait is clearly still in evident. The residents are as proud of this little town as they are of the city and everything here is kept in a state of high order where streets are clean and the people shuffle about quietly, stoically.

It's a remarkable country. Maybe it's the fact they live constantly in a state of emergency (the big earthquake is always 30 years away) or that the homogenous population just highlights the sense of belonging, or the history of being a samurai society. Whatever the cause, the result is clear. It's weird and wonderful simultaneously!