Tangentially related to the spiritual thing were the crows. There's pigeons there (they're everywhere), but the bird that stood out the most for me where the crows (or maybe they're ravens?). They seem to be in every city, and they give a more civilized vibe than pigeons, that's for sure.

>>196807
>scary gaijin
I think the thing they're most scared of is having to speak English. Outside of the tourist service industry (and even then), their English is surprisingly severely limited. If you look like a fucking American chad, you will be instantly stereotyped as someone who will behave like a dumb pigeon trampling everything while you shit all over the place, but otherwise you just need basic Japanese and showing you're as language-vulnerable as they are, and they relax. Coming from a non-English speaking country, this was easier for me. In my country, people who know English are proud to display it, but those who aren't are terrified of speaking to tourists. Just don't assume English is the lingua franca of the world (even if it is).

I was hoping to get the perspective of other anons who have been to Japan to help me make sense of my experiences.