Every high school kid has an idea for a dream career that probably won’t come true. My friends wanted to be singers or dancers or actors or film directors (I went to a performing arts school, obviously), but my dream was a bit odd. I wanted to move to Japan and live in a little hut and learn how to make swords. Surprisingly, sword-making isn’t easy to learn in small-town Canada, so I made up for it by taking Japanese language courses, reading Japanese history books, and studying Japanese martial arts (stop laughing, I was surprisingly good). At any rate, life happened and my obsession with all things Japan never bore fruit. Of course, I did end up moving to Asia, although for whatever reason I only made it as far as Thailand. But despite this, I’ve always remained interested in Japan, and finally – finally! – I got to go. M’Lady and I booked our tickets, planned an itinerary, and in late December, headed off. Here’s a few observations I made on visiting Japan, and how it compares to Thailand.