SuperLambanana

I've been touring the city (cities, Liverpool included) for the last couple of days and it occured to me that the best and probably an arguable way of describing British Culture is that it is an American version of Japan. Now, that is not encompassing by any means, nor does it favor one over the other. Remember that I've only been here for less than a week, but even then I've noticed enough to compare the two. To better illustrate, I've given my own list of the similarities and differences between UK and Japan... so far.

1) Crossover between then and now

In Japan, I remember seeing either temples or shrines virtually everywhere. Replace that with elaborate medieval and victorian architecture, you have the UK. Pictured below is the Manchester Cathedral, built around the 13th century.



The picture above is a view from the wheel (see previous entry). The triangle is actually a mall, but they kept the original structure and built into it.



That's Urbis, a museum of contemporary arts. Of all exhibits, guess what they had inside:

2) They love arts (even Manga!)



The two pictures below were taken from the Liverpool Art Museum and the Manchester Art Gallery. Free admission to a hundred years of history.



You know I'll eventually find these...


Exhibition of Matthew Williamson's 10 Years of Fashion. I didn't see any gothic lolitas or crazy Japan street fashion but I did see something totally unrelated, which brings me to my next point.

3) The Japanese and British love them some teas. And Soft Ice Cream.



4) Men are not shameful of their murses, man-purse, whatever you want to call them. They're darn useful.


5) Trains and buses are the easiest way to get around.



6) Both countries are quirky/beautiful.

Quirky. The famed Lambananas, mostly decorated by kids, scattered around the city of Liverpool.


Beautiful. Albert Dock.



7) The Japanese go crazy for baseball, the British swear by their football.

I was surprised the tour let us inside even the players' locker rooms (and showers - I thought I'd throw it in).



8) Japan's biggest boyband was SMAP. Of course, though not necessarily a cheesy boyband, the UK had...





I was hoping they had kept the Strawberry Field, well, clean, to say the least. They didn't even have anything that pointed to it aside from the map for visitors highlighting where all the "Beatles locations" are. Though there was the The Beatles Story Museum over at the Albert Docks, which was 8 pounds well spent.


There you have it! My initial comparisons between Japan and the UK. You have to realize that this is all for blogging's sake. I do believe in aspects of what I said though, about the UK being the "American" version of Japan. In case you're still buggered, both histories of England, or the UK for that matter, and Japan are deeply rooted within their cultures. Then you have modernism and technology trying to compete or stimulate it - hence, an explosion of beautiful cultural display. Other than that, just like between any cultures, everybody has their share of diversity and uniqueness. That's what makes it wonderful.

My next destination is the Isle of Man for five days. If you don't hear from me soon, that means I didn't bring my laptop - I'll say hi using my cousin's. I can't upload my pics to the computer until I get back here at Manchester. From what I've heard, I get to see some real (raw) country landscapes, meaning more photos! And it'll be nice to relax before school starts in less than two weeks.