How I accidentally became a Zen Buddhist during my trip to Japan
Travel Thoughts Volume II (April 2026)
I’ve never had a particularly strong view on Japan.
The few Japanese people I knew were great, beyond that, outside of restaurants and anime my other exposure to the fine folks of Japan was minimal. Mostly being stuck behind crowds of them on vacation as they took thousands of photos; an activity they certainly don’t have a monopoly on.
As I’ve travelled across Japan these past few weeks, I have come to realize that the Japanese as a group are superior. The criteria being how they treat guests in their country.
For a country that receives more than 40 million tourists per year, Japanese residents know how to make you feel like you are their first. Whether you are in a big city or a tiny town, shop keepers/restaurant owners will walk you to the door, morning commuters will go out of their way to bring you to the correct train platform. These are just a few examples of gestures that are engrained in the culture.
The contrast between how kind and thoughtful Japanese are versus tourists are stark. Enter any train station, there can be 50,000 Japanese and you won’t hear a thing. The only noise will be from the 10-20 tourists, running around looking for directions and dragging their rolling suitcases along the pavement.
If you haven’t been to Japan yet, here is a short primer on what you should know and why during the waning days of the golden era of travel, it is still one of the best countries to visit, in spite of the waves of tourists.
Japan is not just cleaner, quieter, and more orderly than the West. It has a deep food culture, a vintage luxury market so good it makes shopping feel like value investing. Even Richard Gere is rumoured to be running around the country these days. Keep reading to learn what makes the country exceptional.
If this week’s article does not interest you, please check out some other recent ones:
The Role of Zen Buddhism in Japanese Culture
An explanation for why the Japanese are so kind to tourists is because they are Zen.
If you are unfamiliar with Zen, it’s a branch of Buddhism that instead of focusing on an abstract doctrine, emphasizes direct experience, discipline, simplicity, and the presence of mind. I experienced this personally.
It was exactly a week into my trip to Japan when I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of calm. Nothing could bother me.
This happened as my wife whisked me from one matcha and ceramic shop after another, an activity that would try any mere mortals patience. Yet I remained unperturbed.
Although I didn’t care for tea or overpriced bowls, I was neither happy, sad, upset, bored or rushed. I simply was.
As I fought boredom and waves of slow moving tourists, I realized I had ascended to a level of Zen I had never previously encountered. My travels throughout Japan had brought me here. How was this possible?
In Japan, Zen Buddhism’s influence runs beyond the religion. It has shaped the country’s taste for minimalism, quiet beauty, ritual, self-control, and respect for practice. You can see this in things like tea ceremonies, gardens, martial arts, calligraphy, architecture, and everyday etiquette.
There is a strong emphasis on process over outcome. The Japanese are deeply conscious of how things are done, not just whether they get done. You see it in the tea ceremony, where every motion matters, in stone gardens where emptiness is part of the composition, in the meticulous wrapping of ordinary purchases, and in the quiet order of train platforms and public spaces.
Beneath all of it is a heightened awareness of the space one occupies, and of the burden one’s noise, movement, or disorder can place on others. Attention is paid not only to function, but to form, rhythm, restraint, and consideration. Even small things are treated as worthy of care.
Tourists not trained in the ways of Zen stick out like a sore thumb. They are focused on achieving their outcome without considering the space, noise or smell they are giving off. This makes the non Zen masters among us, appreciate the locals even more.
The Food Scene: More Than Just Sushi
When Westerners think of Japanese food, they generally focus on Sushi and high quality cuts of beef. Both are exceptional but you can go a full week eating neither and consistently come away impressed. There are plenty of tourist traps, especially in the bigger cities, but when you stumble on legit places, they aren’t just good, they’re memorable. This can come at any price point too. You can drop hundreds of thousands of yen (hundreds of US dollars) at Kobe Beef or high end Omakase restaurants but be as impressed by hole in the wall ramen, donburi or okonomiyak places.
I’ve had friends go who hate fish/seafood, vegetarians, meat heads, picky eaters and everything in between but they all found something they enjoyed. If you don’t like the food in Japan, you are the problem.
Something you’ll commonly see are tiny bars/restaurants with seating for up to 6 people, and only one or two staff working there. It’s an intimate setting, where before you know it you’ll be chatting with the other patrons whether they are Japanese or from other countries all over the world. This might just be a me thing. Apparently I bear a resemblance to Richard Gere, even if he’s more than 40 years older than me.
Part of this can be explained by the limited space in big cities, but also the comfort Japanese have in smaller settings. They don’t need a large foot print, or even a big staff. It’s pretty normal for the chef to also serve you and ring up your bill. It’s not uncommon to see a small dude crammed into a metallic structure barely large enough for him to stand in serving up takoyaki. Of course he will have a line out the door and the octopus balls are going to be incredible.
Something you should know, Japan is still a very cash oriented culture. Outside of big cities, a lot of places don’t accept credit cards, especially if you are going to temples and other sight seeing attractions. Those certainly cost money.
You can always withdraw from ATMs in the 7-Eleven, which are not at all like the ones you see in the US. I hate to say it, but the food quality there is on par with mid-tier American restaurants. Of course these are usually things you can eat on the go, like sushi, onigiri, maybe a Bento box. I would never otherwise eat food from a convenience store but the Japanese 7-Eleven is on a different level.
The Vintage is Better Than Buying New
During the late 1980s, Japan’s economy was ripping. It was the world’s great manufacturing powerhouse, producing everything from cars to consumer electronics, while a population known for high savings also had money to spend. Chanel bags, Rolex watches, and high-end European fashion became fixtures of Japanese consumption.
Then the bubble burst in the early 1990s, and Japan never fully recovered its old economic momentum. The country endured decades of weak growth, recurring deflation, and near-zero interest rates, yet wage gains remained stubbornly limited. The result is striking: many Japanese workers still earn roughly what they did 30 years ago.
One consequence of that era is visible all over the country today. Vintage shops are overflowing with luxury goods. There are plenty of modern pieces too, but it’s not a coincidence that so much of the supply dates back to the 1980s and early 1990s. The Japanese are known for taking excellent care of their belongings, and there is far less stigma around buying second-hand goods than in many Western countries. As a result, locals and tourists alike participate in a lively resale market for designer items, creating an unusually deep supply of high-quality used luxury.
You can walk into a vintage store and find piles of Louis Vuitton bags stacked the way corner stores used to toss bad DVDs into a bargain bin by the door. Japan has strict anti-counterfeit enforcement, shoppers have more confidence that what they are looking at is authentic. That does not mean everything is cheap. In many cases the prices are no better than what you would find online or even buying new. You still need to hunt. Normally I don’t like to spend much time shopping but the value investor in me does appreciate trying to find arbitrage opportunities.
Concluding Thoughts
What makes Japan special is not just the food, the cleanliness, or the shopping. It’s the social ethic beneath all of it.
The Japanese have built a culture that places unusual weight on restraint, order, and consideration for others. You see it in the silence of train stations, the care given to ordinary purchases, and the constant awareness of the burden one’s noise or disorder can place on everyone else.
That is what makes Japan so refreshing, and also slightly humiliating for the average tourist. In a country receiving more than 40 million visitors a year, the locals still manage to treat guests with patience and generosity, while many visitors repay them by being loud, messy, and oblivious.
Japan is worth visiting for many reasons, but the most valuable thing it offers may be the reminder that civilization is built out of small daily acts of discipline and respect.
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