Grass

As any coffee table book will tell you, Japan is a beautiful country -- especially when you get away from the concrete zones. That's not as easy as it sounds because even at the ocean for example, there is a lot of concrete, supposedly to stop waves from devastating towns, but more likely to keep construction companies and hence local politicians well funded.

Those kind of problems can be hard to fix. In the US for example we seem addicted to new highways, suburban subdivisions and so on. Non-Americans wonder why we can't just snap our fingers and solve problems related to guns, drugs and so on. But it's hard and takes political commitment.

Well, anyway what I'm getting around to slowly is that I appreciate that anywhere you go, there are some entrenched problems that even locals don't like but no one seems to be able to get rid of. That being said, there are also other situations that seem like they'd be a breeze to fix and yet nobody does. For example, it's our own damn fault in the USA that there are so many huuuuuuuuge people. Solving that wouldn't be like eliminating corruption in Africa. Just don't have coke for breakfast.

What about Japan? Well one of the wierd things for me is that even though it is a lush forested country with ample rainfall, there is greenery everywhere **except on school sports grounds.**

I'll include a photo later. But it's a rule. Schools don't have grass. When they make a school, they follow a set pattern that includes a big patch of rock hard dirt in the middle for kids to play baseball and even rugby on. Ouch. If any grass sprouts up, get this, the kids have to go out and "weed" it.

People sometimes ask me "is there anything that strikes you as odd in japan" and I mention this. Everyone is surprised.
"You mean you have grass in America?"
"Sure. Probably just about every school" (Mind you I'm from NJ where it's snows in winter, yet we manage to have grass.)
"Isn't it dirty?"
"Dirtier than dirt?"
"Well, it must be dangerous."
"Why? That's what pros play on."
"Well it's too expensive."
"Yeah but every Japanese school has a pool and it's own gardener, often with a carp pond.And you have to replace the washed away dirt every year."

This gets people thinking. So usually the last explanation people come up with is (drumroll please......)

"Grass doesn't grow in Japan."

Yeah!