Some photos of more traditional Japan, as seen from a whizzing bullet train.

What It’s Like At The World’s Busiest Intersection in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, Japan.

(Tokyo, Japan) Since I left Iowa in August of 2006 to circle the globe, I’ve slept on numerous types of beds, couches, cots, futons, and other sleeping amenities, but so far Japan has offered the must memorable: a capsule hotel. Spread throughout Japan, capsule hotels offer small, clean, efficient and cheap places to stay (about $US40/night).The actual sleeping part isn’t much to write home about, but the most memorable part of my stay happened well before I nestled into the bristly hotel sheets, as I paraded around stark naked with a half dozen fat, hairy Japanese business men pampering myself with oils, shampoos and UV sanitized hair combs.

“To the uninitiated, harajuku style can look like what might happen if a 5-year-old girl jacked up on liquor and goofballs decided to become a stylist.” It’s possible there were some goofballs and liquor in one of the about half dozen crepes I ate when I visited Harajuku, but I loved the whole scene.

Travel constantly reminds me that we must always have a sense of humor. To help provide you a few laughs, may I present the first of an ongoing series, called “Things That Make Me Laugh.” Here is Part I of the Japan edition.

In traveling, sometimes the simplest things offer a window of insight into the way a culture thinks and can offer some reflection on one’s own culture. In the case of Japan, they don’t have public trashcans.

The logic goes like this: If Japan invented sushi, then they must have the best sushi in the world. To find the best sushi in Japan, you must find the best fish. To find the best fish, you must find the best fish market. And thus if you find the best sushi bar at the best fish market in the country that invented sushi, then you would therefore be eating, “The Best Sushi In The World.”

What country is full of young people drowned in work, awash in money, obsessed with fashion, equipped with the hottest mobile gadgets, consuming excessive amount of alcohol and fried foods and displaying a relentless obsession with all things cute?