Japan vs. China

I admit to my own ignorance as a child when I didn't know much about Japan or China except that they were very far away, and I assumed they were pretty similar. I am hoping my children will be much more worldly than their mom. Since by the time we went to Japan they had lived in China for 3 months and had experience with Chinese culture, I gave them the assignment to come up with at least 5 ways that Japan was different from China. So here's what we came up with (it's a collective list):
1) In Japan they drive on the left side of the street like in Great Britain whereas in China (except for Hong Kong) cars drive on the right like America. The kids were extremely surprised that the drivers' seat was also on the opposite side. (It felt very funny for me, not having driven now for 4 months, to be riding on the left front seat of a taxi and be in essentially the driver's seat, but not being the driver...)
2) In Japan, cars yield to pedestrians, whereas in China pedestrians NEVER have right of way. (Okay, the kids stated this a little differently, something like "they're nice in Japan," but this is what they meant).
3) No one asked to have their picture taken with Allison the whole week even at busy tourist attractions (usually her biggest spots in China). Eric notes that the Japanese are much more restrained.
4) I saw only one person spit the entire week (and she was much older and was smoking and gagging at the time).
5) In China, no one in their right mind drinks the tap water. In Japan, the tap water is so good that bottled water is not even sold at a lot of places. At the restaurant at Tokyo Disney Sea (a Disney theme park), there is only tap water. Indeed the rivers looked very pristine.
6) Japan was very clean and orderly. Even the few homeless people we saw living under a bridge along the river bank in Kyoto had neatly laid out uniform cardboard and tarp structures. There was very little pushing and shoving even during Golden Week.


7) Toilets: While the Chinese are content with a hole in the ground, the Japanese like their toilets with all the bells and whistles. Even at the airport, toto washlets are readily available. These are integrated toilet/super-bidets (features include heated seat,

• Gentle Aerated Warm Water
• Front and Rear Washing
• Massage Feature)

. The entire family agreed: "Our buts have never been so clean!"