The japanese saint

I said goodbye to my friends at the hostel and rushed to the metro to get a train to the most agitaded area of Kyoto, where I would meet a japanese friend. I was late. At the station, I started looking at the metro map and had a really hard time finding my way. Some japanese stranger probably noticed that and asked me: "excuse me, do you need help? where do you want to go?"; "I want to go to Shijo" I replied; "no, where do you want to go?" he asked me again. I had no clue what the hell this guy was up to. Luckly, rape didn't cross my mind at the time, otherwise I would've ran straight away. "I want to go to Bar Ing to meet a friend" I answered; "oh, ok, come!".

So this stranger bought a ticket as well, started walking and making signs to follow him. When we were at the metro he tried really hard to have a conversation with me, but honestly his english was poor, so we exchanged a limited amount of information. Anyway, he loved when I told him I was from Brazil; "good football!" he said with a big smile in his face.

When we arrived at Shijo station, he asked me to follow his lead and we walked all the way to the bar, where my friend was waiting for me.

That was it. "ok, goodbye", he said. My japanese protector then returned to Shijo station, without asking anything back (and yes! I didn't get raped). He was truly a saint.

Coming from the West, where everybody is so selfish and individualized, this was a very interesting experience for me, chocking not to say the least. This stranger paid for a ticket to go to a place he wasn't going at first, just to help a disoriented foreigner and, afterwards, left without asking anything in exchange.

This is a very simple story, but it makes me think a lot everytime I remember it. I guess that's the magic of travelling, specially if you visit a place where there's a relevant amount of cultural chock involved.

So maybe is time you rethink your next travel destination and try something different! You will be surprised.

Picture: Kyoto subway map

Picture: A "do not rape" sign at the Kyoto subway