I’d say meeting Toeps can easily go into the unlikely-encounter-box as the first time I saw her (as a cover on her book) in Amsterdam (or was it Copenhagen?) airport. Despite not understanding a single word of the title, I was immediately interested (hello pink on pink on pink!), so I snapped a picture and joined my cousin to board our plane back home.
Weeks later, when I went through my photo folder, I found the picture and Googled the book and found Toeps, her Instagram, and her blog – and her love for Disney (me too!) and Japan (me too!).
From then on, we became one-sided internet friends until I recently pinged her for the below featured, which she said yes to. So with that long intro, meet my fellow self-proclaimed train nerd.
KK: Confession time, I haven’t read your book, but it’s on my (very long) list. Would you please share a bit more about your book? Is Japan in it?
BT: Oh yes, it starts with Japan. In the intro, I take the reader on an imaginary trip to Japan, where everything is different (if you’re not Japanese), and you break all the social rules. But luckily, you have an excuse: you’re not Japanese, and everyone can see that. But what if you DO look Japanese? It’s an intro to the autistic experience for someone who “doesn’t look autistic at all” (I also explain later why that’s not a compliment; because it’s basically saying that you’re good at masking/pretending, which can be exhausting).
KK: Imaginary trip to Japan… I am already hooked! I just downloaded “But you don’t look autistic at all” on my Kindle. It will be my weekend read 🙂
KK: What is the Japanese festival that you love the most or are most curious about?
BT: I’m not really a festival type; I find them to be too noisy and crowded. But I once went to the Penis Festival, which was interesting.
KK: Are there any similarities between Dutch and Japanese culture?
BT: They sure love their bikes! The only difference with bikes is that the Japanese tend to bike on the sidewalk, and I’m still not used to that. Even when bike lanes are on the road, many people deem those too dangerous, and it’s legal to bike on the sidewalk, so they just come and cut right past you when you’re walking. I’m often a bit dreamy when I walk, so I’m often surprised by them, giving me a mini heart attack.
KK: I want to start a new project called #ForeignFridge for fun. The premise is to share a snapshot of what’s inside people’s fridges (basic, I know, but it makes me happy, so the project must go on, or at least start, I guess). Please share a picture of the current situation inside your fridge. What are all in it?
Literally nothing.
I go to the convenience store every day, so currently, the fridge is empty. It’s a tiny small hotel-size fridge in my office. In the apartment on the 10th floor (where I live), I don’t have a fridge at all. The kitchen is super tiny; if I put a fridge there, I’d have no place to put my trash cans. But Japan has big eating-out culture, and convenience store food is actually tasty, so that’s fine.
KK: Aside from people, what is the one thing in the Netherlands that you wish you could transport to Japan?
BT: I still need to transport four huge boxes full of clothes, haha. And my KLM trolley.
Even though, when it was still in use, it flew around the world hundreds of times, now that it’s no longer in use for its original purpose, it would be difficult to transport. So I think it needs to stay in the Netherlands.
Other small things that I miss are things like deodorant and tampons. The Japanese brands are just different, and I don’t like them. I recently ordered a tray of six deodorants on Amazon; they came from Hungary. Sometimes western brands can be ordered from Hong Kong. I don’t know, but I just can’t get used to the Japanese versions of these things.
KK: What Dutch food would you want Riemer/your friends from the Netherlands to bring you for their next visit?
BT: The orange Tony Chocolonely (even though you can buy those in Tokyo, I’ve heard, but for like 750 yen per bar?!) and liquorice.
KK: You are a self-proclaimed train-nerd (me too!) – Tell us about the most prized train-related thing in your house.
BT: I have a Keio line route map that shows all the stops and used to hang above the door in an old train. I still need to put that up on the wall. I also have a piece of Shinkansen rail, a tape dispenser in the shape of a Keio train and a stapler in the shape of a hanging monorail. It has a magnet on the top, so it can stick to the frame of my table, haha!
KK: I am burning with envy!
KK: What’s the best Japanese street food you love to eat?
BT: Sweet potato, I think. And Taiyaki, the fish-shaped cakes.
KK: I also love Taiyaki, but the ice cream version, which used to be on the menu of Indonesia’s Sushi Tei restaurant, so probably not the most authentic version.
KK: What Japanese traditions have you adopted into your daily life so far?
BT: I have become very diligent in sorting and separating my trash.
My trash calendar has the most complicated schedule, with like five types of trash that need to go out on specific days. So I rinse out pet bottles, remove the tape from cardboard and tie it together with special rope that you can buy at every convenience store, use the right colour garbage bags etc. etc. I also like to be a good citizen and pick up other people’s trash when I see it. It doesn’t happen very often, though; most Japanese people care about their environment.
Other things I already did, and I just love how the people in Japan are more like me than the Dutch in that sense. For example: being quiet on trains, not minding other people’s business, etc.
KK: Please share some Japan recommendations – market, neighbourhood, or small town!
BT: It all depends on what you want, but I personally love to go on Google Maps, look for an Off-House (thrift store) and just go there. Even if it’s a 25-minute walk, you’ll see so much more of the “real” Japan when doing that – not that Shibuya and Shinjuku aren’t real, but there is so much more than that.
If you like trains, I’d like to suggest the Sunrise Izumo/Seto, it’s a sleeper train. I took it to Takamatsu a few years ago and visited the nicest thrift stores there.
KK: Tell us about a Japanese/Dutch or Japanese-Dutch woman whom you admire.
BT: I don’t know if I currently admire anyone?
I do want to give a shoutout to my friend Maan; she introduced me to Japan in 2008. She also comes here and recently made a book, The Lost World, about abandoned places in Japan.
We just discovered that we photographed the same abandoned motorbike in Namie, a formerly abandoned town close to Fukushima. We visited that area a year apart and had no idea we photographed the same bike until we compared the pics and were like OMG.
KK: Where is your next travel to Toeps?
BT: I’ll go to Sapporo for the PokĂ©mon GO event. I’ll fly there, spend three days in Sapporo and then take the train back. It takes about 9 hours by train, so I intend to get a Tohoku rail pass and take it easy, make a few (hotel) stops across the area.
KK: Sounds like a fab travel plan Toeps, especially the 9 hours train rides with multiple stops over part. I will vicariously live through your Insta posts.
Toeps writes and photographs beautifully, read her book, follow her on IG and check out her blog – here are some of her blog posts to start internet-fan-ing her: curveballs (relatable), koreantaine (it feels like I was there with her), Korea for the gram, The Biggest KonMari Misunderstandings and Who wants to go back to Namie, Fukushima?
All pictures, except the one I mentioned in the intro, were taken from Toeps’ blog with her permission 🙂
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