Welcome to "Japan for Dummies." This document is an attempt to demystify Japan.

Japan has one of the highest concentration of statues of the "natural human form" outside of Europe. Female statues outnumber the male ones by a huge ratio. Actually, most of the male statues are poor copies of Rodan's "The Thinker" so they don't count. An artist copying a man thinking when he or she isn't is ironic. They're probably churned out to meet some government art regulation for "naked male statue content."

Japan has no shortage of pigeons or cockroaches. Which is a bigger public nuisance, I'm not sure. Cockroaches are simply ugly, dirty and vile. Pigeons are cute but pester you and leave ugly, dirty, vile and hard to clean presents behind. I gave up hating pigeons and "learned to stop worrying and love the bomb".

Look a chain saw! If I take it nobody will notice a white guy walking around with a chain saw in his backpack. Oh wait, maybe they will. Security firms have no shortage of business in Japan. Some shops have as much security as your average bank. Not every Japanese person is paranoid but Japan's police are set up to prevent crime not stop crime.

Japanese people have no great affinity for nature. Japanese houses and businesses are in constant threat of being shaken apart, washed down a river, buried in a landslide, blown apart or all of the above. Japan is at war with nature. Japanese people however are taking the road to victory. Concrete barriers are put up anywhere possible between Japan and mother nature.