Why do some places develop more culture than other places? I’d say, reverence to the connection to our ancestors, predecessor masters, and our excellent peers. The respect for a collective value system for art, everyday aesthetics, well made crafts, living as part of nature and congruently with each other, are some of the deeper values of Kyoto. The ubiquity of tea and fine wood work is on one end of the spectrum, all the way to the most convenience available for hassles, and cleanest civic places, are on the other end. This can only happen to a culture that has respect and accountability built in. There are a lot more ways to say ‘I am sorry’ (15 ways without even counting conjugations) in Japanese than we say WTF in English, for example. But I felt a sense of success in introducing a context to my tour group at the very least….
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