Today, after spending a mere fifteen days in Japan, I feel I have left a part of my soul there. In general, technology is far more advanced in Japan than in Europe. It was confirmed that such values as humility, high work ethic, attention to detail, are an integral part of Japanese culture. Shops in central Tokyo are open until late at night so that people do not have to rush during their lunch break to do their shopping, vending machines are everywhere offering the possibility to buy a diverse selection of the most banal items, and there seems to be a 24-hour store at every corner street in Ginza. Young women in Tokyo are extremely stylish, demonstrating that modernity and traditionalism can coexist.
Safety can exist in huge fast-paced cities.
Japanese work hard, but know how to relax. Our first visit was the orientation program at the Japan Foundation where we found out what was expected from us and what the goals of the foundation were. A subsequent visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs further enlightened us on how the Summit would be carried out. It was important to make things clear from the very beginning, so that we could also better organise our time. The visits at the Diet, the Tokyo Stock exchange, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, the University of the United Nations, the Institute for Advanced Studies and the Delegation of the European Commission provided us with the necessary background information on Japanese economy and politics, EU-Japan relations, and offered new perspectives on the issues that would be tackled during the Summit, i.e. global environmental issues and sustainable social development.