Two-wheeled common denominator

Do I alter the places that I go?  How can I be sure that I'm getting a pure experience if I change them by my presence?  Or do I live as myself no matter where I am, the changing landscape simply providing a new backdrop for my videogame life?

Japan is starting to feel more and more like home.  Much to do with that is having a busy day off, like I normally would, one full of productive things (getting my bank card, online tasks, practicing Japanese and cello, doing laundry, shopping for a bike) and well as explorative socializing.  I went for a bike ride for the first time in Japan, borrowing a friend's in lieu of the one I will be purchasing tomorrow.  Four of us ventured to the Nakayama Temple in Takarazuka and then dined on conveyor belt sushi.

Along the bike path that we took to the temple

The temple was purported founded by Prince Shotoku in the 6th century but the buildings as they are today are from the 17th century.  Juichimen Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy is worshipped here and she is thought to help in the ease of childbirth.  For this reason (perhaps?) there are elevators and escalators to ease the visit for the many pregnant woman who come.

My friend Melcorka at conveyor belt sushi.   The belt moves through the entire restaurant,  a yummy train of fish and rice deliveries.  

It was great to be on a bike again, something very familiar to me.  I was reminded of solitary rides through Cincinnati's hills and along Madison's lakes while I was in high school, college, and grad school–a way of exploring and claiming independence.  And even more so I was reminded of social rides with friends in Madison, biking 15 miles for ice cream, apples, conversation, fields of butterflies, and learning more about the surroundings of the city and one another.  This is a way of exploring to which I am accustomed.  It's something that I've brought with me, just like my sense of productivity and proactive curiosity.  What would the Japanese do if they newly arrived in Japan?  How would they explore their own country?

But in the end I'm not Japanese.  Perhaps I'll come to understand a little better and have some idea of answering that question, but for now the world looks beautiful from a bike.  And it's something that Japanese people do- they bike.  Perhaps they do it to run errands and perhaps they have a slightly slower pace, but even if our motives are different, I like to think that I'm one step closer to appearing to blend in.