It has been exactly one week since I left the United States, sat through an 11-hour plane ride, and landed on the island of Japan. My first time out of the country in six years, and my premier trip to Asia left me with so many questions before I left, and so I have dove into this country’s culture headfirst, completely devoid of expectations. I had only the knowledge imparted to me by my travel partners who invited me on the trip in the first place, my close family friends (my second family).

Leading up to my departure date when I would tell people that I would be traveling in Japan for two weeks during the summer, I received a plethora of varied responses -- the worst of which was a concern over whether I had received my vaccines, and an inquiry about where Japanese people stand when it comes to eating dogs.

I always knew that when travelling, especially to places so vastly different from the United States, that I could never wrap my head around all of the differences between our ways of life. Even more difficult is explaining to other people these experiences that you can’t explain with pictures and stories -- the understanding only comes from it happening in front of your eyes.

I know that when I return home, I will have a lot of questions to answer about my travels in Japan, and there is no easy way to answer them all. So, I’ve come up with one simple and easy metaphor:

Japan is Disneyland.

Japan is not owned or operated by the Disney corporation, but there are more similarities between the two places than there are differences between them, and here is why:

1. Ice cream is everywhere

Japanese people take their soft-serve ice cream very seriously, and it is accessible at all times. More frequent than Starbucks in California, there are places that serve ice cream almost every block—we even found a stand on a remote hike on a peninsula in rural Hokkaido. The second most convenient place to get ice cream is Disneyland.

2. Service

I have never in my life experienced a person who can genuinely put on a happy face at work and truly thrive in their job. There are days where I don’t just do my job, but really enjoy it and succeed in some solid customer service, but it pales to the helpfulness and friendliness I have experienced in Japan. Store owner, waiter, hotel bellboy -- you name it -- goes above and beyond what I would expect any of them to do as they provide me a service. You would think these people work at the happiest place on earth, (a.k.a Disneyland), which I am slowly starting to believe is actually Japan.

3. Cleanliness

Japan is pristine, and even in a sprawling city like Tokyo, the only trash I’ve seen has been in the single junkyard we drove past outside the city. The country has this incorporated into various aspects of their culture. There are few trashcans, so if you have a can of soda or food wrappers, you have to carry it with you until you can dispose of it properly. Most people carry around small personal hand towels to use after they wash their hands in the restroom to cut down on paper towel usage. There is also a high standard for personal hygiene -- warm, wet hand towels are given to you before every meal to clean your hands, and it is common practice to take a shower and then soak in a warm bath. The only other place I have seen this level of cleanliness is at Disneyland.

5. Music and other sounds

Sitting in hotel lobbies or restaurants waiting for food and walking through airport and subway stations in Japan, you’re overcome with a sense of relaxation and happiness. This is because there is always some kind of upbeat and happy music playing softly in the background of almost any public situation -- similar, if not the exact soundtracks that they play while you wait in lines for rides at Disneyland.

6. Adorable children everywhere

All right, so granted you can finds kids everywhere, and there are especially a lot of small children at Disneyland. What makes Japanese children remind me of Disneyland is that they are always dressed in adorable uniforms, and because it is a very safe country, they often roam by themselves.

2. Friendly people

It is not only people you are providing business and a profit for that are kind; I am convinced this extends to all Japanese people. In the city, or in more rural areas, almost everyone I have seen greets you with a smile and a short bow. People are very understanding of tourists and the language barrier, and I have found it easy, even with a Japanese vocabulary of just seven words, to still communicate and be included. If they were dressed up in costume, they could just as easily be the Disney characters themselves walking around a theme park, greeting everyone.

7. Tourist attractions

I went to a cookie factory in Sapporo and it looked no different than a building out of Fantasyland. There were flowers everywhere, and all of the people working there were in fancy uniforms, no different from the dapper costumes Disney personnel have to wear. Much of Japan is also extremely high-tech and electronics-centered, and Tokyo is the epitome of Tomorrowland.

8. Actual Disney products abound

Japanese culture really enjoys Disney movies and characters, which is apparent in almost any product they sell. Anything from makeup to socks to car seat covers and the personal wash cloths I talked about earlier has a Disney version, and any of these things are used by Japanese adults as much as the children. In fact, I think Japan offers and sells more Disney products than Disneyland itself.

9. Wi-Fi 24/7

In the seven days I have spent in both cities and rustic parts of Japan, I have only gone two hours without Wi-Fi. The only place I can think of that would offer this kind of luxury? Disneyland.

10. Vending machines everywhere

More numerous than soft-serve ice-cream shops are vending machines, which occur almost five at a time every block, and even the most bizaar places, like a pit stop along the Sea of Japan, two hours outside the city of Otaru. Once again, this level of convenient consumption can only be matched by none other than Disneyland.

In conclusion, I have found that Japan is not only just like Disneyland, but is actually better at being Disnyeland than Disneyland itself.