WORLD'S FRIENDLIEST PEOPLE

Last month the New York Times’ Frugal Traveler wrote an article deconstructing the question “Which country has the world’s friendliest people?”, while the World Economic Forum recently published this interesting map (note that South Korea ranks, along with Russia and Venezuela, among the least welcoming countries). Of course, there are good people in every country, and traveling usually results in some kind of connection with the locals. But when a people are extra hospitable/warm/welcoming, it can make a good trip truly memorable.

Such was the case when we visited Japan in February. Everywhere we went, we were overwhelmed with hospitality—from the ryokan owners who lent us snow boots to the innkeeper in Fukuoka who gave us her cast-iron squid ball pan. On our first trip there, in December, a young man went out of his way to help us buy subway tickets and take us to our train in Tokyo (an experience you can read more about in my article for this month’s Global Traveler).

Perhaps the best part about these interactions was that they were completely unexpected. Strangely, the Japanese have a reputation for coldness and xenophobia, but our exchanges were the complete opposite. In fact, I felt more welcome there than I ever have in Busan, where foreigners are a dime a dozen. Maybe that’s the key: places that aren’t overwhelmed by visitors are in the end more receptive to them.