Speculative Realism in Japan

This is great: a SPECULATIVE REALISM article in the Japanese Wikipedia. (Though for all I know, the article could be filled with insults.)

I’m delighted, but actually not too surprised. I’ve been told before that continental philosophy people in Japan and South Korea often have an almost unnerving awareness of what’s going on in the Anglophone world. If you’ve published a SUNY Press book, I am told, then they’ve probably heard of you in Japan.

Actually, what this article really does for me is inspire a powerful wish to return to Japan. I had a really, really great time in Japan, and would be happy to live there for a year someday. EgyptAir has direct Cairo-Osaka flights, so it’s actually pretty easy.

When I went to Japan, however, I flew a more complicated route: Cairo-Dubai-Seoul-Tokyo. That Dubai-Seoul flight was very long, but for me also felt pretty adventurous, since I’d never flown over that part of the Asian land mass before. I had a window seat, and there were major electrical storms over Siberia and Mongolia that night.

On the way back to Egypt from Japan I stopped in Seoul, which I also loved.

In fact, Seoul is among the most surprising cities I’ve ever visited, in the sense of being the least like what I expected:

*it’s in a pretty mountainous area; in fact, there’s a mountain right in the center of the city

*despite being a megacity, it is also extremely nature-friendly; walk 10 minutes from the center of Seoul and you’re in a national park

*that Metro system is great; the trains are fast, coverage is excellent (airport included), and the rides are pretty cheap

As for Japan, it’s hard to name one highlight. I landed in Tokyo but immediately went all the way down to Hiroshima for a conference. On the way back up I used my rail pass and crawled slowly toward Tokyo.

Actually, Tokyo itself was also a surprise. I was expecting a densely packed megacity, but Tokyo is more like a half-dozen nearby medium-sized cities linked by rail. It never felt especially crowded to me, unlike Cairo.