Japan has been quite an exciting ride for me in so many ways! I love learning about different cultures, and experiencing it all firsthand is a privilege I honestly never really expected to have. I read about Japanese culture on a lot of blogs before we came, but they all said the same things: bowing is common, you take off your shoes inside, be prepared for the humidity, the Japanese people dress very modestly and take sun protection to an extreme, 100 yen shops are awesome, that sort of thing. Here are a few things that I did not expect to see in Japan and sort of took me by surprise. 1. Boxy cars. Everyone talks about how small Japan is and how crammed everything is, but I never thought this would include vehicles! All their cars are very new and well maintained, because if it doesn't pass inspection, you are not allowed to drive it. And inspection is pretty meticulous. I didn't see one old car on the road, and I rarely saw ones that were not shaped like little boxes! ...