@drkaylaclarke: I keep saying “Japan feels safe”, but it’s more than just the bikes. Now of course, crime still exists. This isn’t a paradise and I’m not going to pretend it is. But it does allow a slowing down of that low level alertness that is always just “on” when I’m in America. The background hum of watch your bag, stay aware, everyone has a gun, be careful, is quieter here. In the US, a stranger is seen as “other”. Here, for the most part, the baseline assumption is respect. It’s embedded in the culture so deeply that it changes the social texture of moving through a space. This morning in Tokyo I walked past a forgotten Nintendo Switch sitting alone on a park bench. This afternoon it was still there waiting for its owner. In Kyoto last month a friend forgot his expensive camera in a coffee shop, and as we left a man literally chased him down the street to return it. I see little kids walking to school alone. Elderly people ride the subway and when they get on the elevator someone ALWAYS makes sure to hold the door. Women walk alone at night, not as an act of bravery, but as a completely unremarkable Tuesday. I feel safer in the busiest city in the world than I do in a moderately busy city in America. And like I said earlier I know it’s no utopia, but it’s been a nice change of pace. #japanvsamerica #japan #nervoussystemregulation

Dr. Kayla Clarke, ND

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Thursday 16 April 2026 13:01:54 GMT