Korea and Japan

I was asked several times on my trip what I thought of Korea vs. Japan. What I liked more, didn't like etc. Both Japanese and Koreans have asked me and frankly, I don't get it. I found Korea to be MUCH more like Taiwan or Hong Kong than I did like Japan. I also found Fukuoka much more like Vancouver or Sydney than I did Busan (the obvious comparison). It's not really fair to do a comparison having lived in Korea for three years vs. only visiting part of one Japanese island for a week so take it in that context.

As a group the Japanese are fantastic. Quiet, very polite, disciplined and exceedingly helpful. Koreans seem to have few problems with yelling at each other at three feet apart, chewing loudly and spitting, lighting up a cigarette, cutting in line at any opportunity or just being loud. At first glance the Japanese are, well more polite. However, I found have found that Koreans are friendlier, or at least more willing to just walk up to someone who is lost or confused and help them out. I have been clearly looking for something in Korea and had Koreans come up to me to ask me if I needed help, show me around and generally go out of their way to make sure I enjoyed my time or found what I needed to find. The Japanese were amazingly kind as well, IF I approached them and asked for help. That could just be cultural, but that comparison could also be made between Taiwanese/Japanese.

That kindness to foreigners in Korea is extended to transportation, which Koreans do amazingly well. Signs everywhere in four languages, easy transfers and one fare card works in most major cities. The intercity trains are well labelled and idiot proof. If you get lost on the Seoul subway you are clearly not paying attention or just not that bright. In Japan you'd better read Japanese or you are in trouble. I have never been lost in Korea the way I was lost on my Saturday in Fukuoka, not once.

If I had to sum up the difference it's this: Japan opened to the west in 1868. They studied abroad, allowed westerners in and by 1900 were the envy of all of Asia, having ended their brief period as the victims of colonialism (but before undertaking their own). In contrast Korea's place as a G20 member and among the leaders of the world is new, like the last 20 years new. Go back to 1982 and Korea was a third world country. While you (or perhaps your parents) were listening to Blue Oyster Cult and Supertramp and watching the MASH finale Koreans were working 12 hour days, six days a week for maybe $200 USD a month. There wasn't much cash or time left over for records and T.V, which were was highly censored under a military dictatorship anyway. In contrast the Japanese, who admittedly were also working 12 hour days, were also listening to B.O.C and Supertramp (or their Japanese equivalent) and watching their own T.V and movies comparable to MASH. Deep Purple made live records in Tokyo in 1973, that would not have been an option in Korea (or really anywhere else in Asia at the time). This isn't to, say that Japan doesn't have its own culture, because of course it has an amazing one stretching back over 1500 years, but Japan seems more integrated in to the modern global world, probably as a result of being integrated in the modern world for so long. In contrast Koreans have only been allowed to leave their country without permission of the government since 1986. In that context it makes sense that Fukuoka is more like Sydney than Busan.

But after some time in Japan, an amazing country that I will visit again many times I am sure, I am happy I chose Korea to spend these few years of my life.