Well, two countries in completely different parts of the world, one an island nation sitting between the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean, while the other is a landlocked country neatly tucked away in the middle of Europe, with its southern-most point 160 km from the nearest coast.
One with a population of 8.7 million, growing by 0.7% each year, while the other boasts 15 times as many inhabitants, but is shrinking by half a percent per annum.
One can do the math to try and figure out at which point in time they will end up having an equal population, but to save you time and effort, I have already done it for you: On the current trajectory, in the year 2243 they will both pass the magic number of 41 million, Switzerland on the way up, Japan on the way down...
You and I are probably unlikely to witness this momentous occasion, unless scientists come up with a serum for eternal life soon, but there is no doubt we are heading towards it.
There is, of course, the tiny detail of where Switzerland will house all those additional people, but I guess that will be something for future generations of politicians to worry about.
While almost 30% of Switzerland's population consists of immigrants (I guess that provides a hint of where that population growth is coming from), for Japan it's less than 2% - which, combined with a low birthrate, also gives you a clue as to why the population is shrinking.
The land size of the former can fit nine times into the latter, giving you an indication of the difference in geographical size.
Two countries of very different sizes, with a completely different culture, history, language and religion, cars driving on opposite sides of the road (one being the ‘right’ and the other being the ‘wrong’ side, though opinions will undoubtedly differ on which is which), and the list goes on...
The attentive reader will probably have noticed by now that what I have been listing here are all examples of what sets the two countries apart from each other, rather than what they have in common. But I thought I would get those out of the way.
So what do they really have in common? On the surface it may seem very little. But actually it’s more than you might think...
Let's start with the obvious one: Their iconic mountains, which everyone automatically associates with each of the two countries.
Probably only few people have never heard of or seen pictures of the Matterhorn, the arguably most photographed (though by no means the highest) mountain in Switzerland, due to its unique pyramidal shape.
Legend has it that the famous 'Toblerone' chocolate bar, which is being sold the world over, takes its shape from this iconic mountain. But things are not always what they seem. As it turns out, according to descendants of the inventors of the chocolate bar over a hundred years ago, its shape is actually based on the shape the dancers at a well-known cabaret music hall in Paris (the Folies Bergère) made at the end of their show. If that comes as a huge disappointment to you, then you're in good company. I felt very much the same. It's not always for the best to know the truth...
Similarly, Mt. Fuji is absolutely synonymous with Japan. One cannot think of Japan without instantly getting an image of Mt. Fuji in one's head.
When seeing a picture of the mountain with its perfect snow-capped peak, serene-looking and with cherry blossoms and one of the Five Lakes in the foreground, it may be hard to imagine then that it's actually still considered an active volcano by geologists, with its last violent eruption a mere 300 years ago. Insider tip: Go and visit while you can, as you never know when it’s too late...
But at least the Japanese can lay full claim to their highest peak, while the Swiss - at least technically - have to share their iconic mountain with the Italians, as it stands right on the border between the two countries. The Italians even have a completely different name for it: Ever heard of 'Cervino'? I didn't think so...
That said, despite its ambiguous location, nobody ever seems to challenge the Swiss for claiming it as their own - least the Italians. They probably figured that they got the better deal anyway: A much nicer climate (prompting half of Northern Europe to descend on the country every summer for some guaranteed sunshine), breathtaking coastlines and sandy beaches, one of the fashion capitals of the world (Milan), the eternal city of Rome (even with a mini-state embedded in its centre as an extra bonus) and an abundance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So leaving one single peak in the Alps to the Swiss may seem like a small price to pay.
Ah yes, and that brings us to the Alps - another commonality between Switzerland and Japan.
There are the famous Alps (simply 'the Alps', as they don't need any further specification), stretching 1,200 km across eight countries from France all the way to Slovenia.
And then there are the 'Japanese Alps', bisecting the main island of Honshu. The name was coined by the English archaeologist William Gowland in the late 19th century, when he made the first recorded ascent on several peaks. Obviously, they had been there long before that. It's not as if the Japanese Alps just popped up out of nowhere overnight. In fact, the Japanese had been trying to explore the valleys surrounding the mountain ranges already in the 1600s, but couldn't really be bothered to name them. I guess they had different priorities.
So along came the Englishman, thinking that it would be a good opportunity to put his stamp on them. Actually, when he came up with the name, he was only referring to a mountain range 105 km long. But nowadays the term applies to a 200-km stretch, neatly categorised into the 'Northern Alps', the 'Central Alps' and the 'Southern Alps'.
People must have thought that the original stretch was not quite living up to the 'real thing' in Europe and felt the need to upgrade it a little.
Needless to say, the Japanese Alps are impressive in their own right, with several peaks exceeding 3,000 metres in height. And as with Mt. Fuji, the Japanese don't have to share them with anyone else, unlike the Swiss, who actually 'own' a mere 13% of the entirety of the Alps, whereas Austria and Italy are taking the lion share. Shocking, right?
Nor can the Swiss pride themselves of being host to the highest peak in the Alps. That accolade goes to the Mont Blanc (the 'White Mountain'), which is located in France - or in Italy, depending on who you ask...
Apparently, over the centuries, the issue of ownership of Mont Blanc has spurred many debates, with maps being frequently re-drawn and putting the summit alternately either on French or on Italian territory. Why did they have to put those mountains slap bang onto country borders, I ask? Oh wait, the mountains may actually have been there before humankind came up with the concept of borders...
The optimal solution to the argument over its ownership would obviously be to simply give it to the Swiss. After all, it's not all that far from the Swiss border anyway, and Switzerland is a famously neutral country and would take good care of the summit, I'm sure. Besides, many people in Japan think that Mont Blanc is in Switzerland anyway. If the small Alpine nation boasts the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau (made famous by a Bond film), why not also Mont Blanc? That would make sense, wouldn't it?
But looking at the map and how the borders were drawn, I can see how anyone can get easily confused - Japanese or not.
The Japanese don't have those problems, being an island nation. For many Japanese, the concept of land borders is a foreign one (pun intended). Well, there is the tiny matter of some disputed islands. But I won't get into that...
The esteemed reader may have noticed that I have spoken quite extensively about mountains, wondering why that may be the case. I'm most certainly not the mountaineering type, although summer holidays as a little boy were almost invariably spent in the Swiss mountains. While other families joined the masses on the annual summer exodus to the south - France, Italy, Spain; basically anywhere with a proper beach and guaranteed sunshine -, my parents felt that they wanted their offspring to experience the immaculate beauty of the Alpine scenery. And by 'experience' I mean long hikes up and down mountains, for hours on end, with the result that the next day I had muscles hurting that I didn't even know I had.
No, the reason I probably felt compelled to talk about mountains at length is simply because they feature largely in the geography of both countries. An estimated 60% of Switzerland is covered by mountains, while a staggering 73% of Japan is mountainous!
Not that I grew up anywhere near mountains, though. Switzerland may be of small size, but it takes about a two-hour drive from where I grew up, to get to the Alps. There are some other, also quite respectable mountain ranges a shorter distance away, but my parents obviously felt that second-rate peaks closer to home were not good enough for their children and thus dragged my brother and me to far-flung places - well, as 'far-flung' as you can go in a country that stretches a mere 220 km from north to south, and 350 km from east to west.
So I can tick off quite a few spectacular places in the Alpine wonderland.
Matterhorn: Check. Well, obviously not anywhere near the summit, but near enough to have the full grandeur of the mountain right in front of our eyes.
Aletsch Glacier: Check. And before you ask: Yes, I did traverse it, tied to a rope, and having come pretty darn close to some of the dangerous crevasses dotting the icy landscape. That was at a time when the glaciers were still of an impressive size. But climate change is - sadly - gradually putting an end to that. Last year alone they lost more than 6% of their volume!
Jungfraujoch: Um... no sorry, I have to pass on this one. Despite the ease to get to the so-called 'Top of Europe', by way of a railway leading through a tunnel at a mind-boggling altitude of 3,000 metres and through the rocks of Mt. Eiger, I've actually never managed to make that trip. I leave that to foreign tourists - and to James Bond.
So mountains definitely feature largely in both countries. The one big difference is probably that almost on every summit in Switzerland you find a massive Swiss flag - probably just to reassure visitors that they are indeed still in Switzerland and haven't inadvertently climbed an Italian or French peak instead, which could happen so easily, as we have already established. Climb a Japanese mountain, and you will be hard pressed to find a flag. Probably because the chances that you have ended up on foreign soil are pretty remote.
To be continued...
Impressively well described and entertaining 🤣 and yes... I think we Italians might as well leave Cervino to the Swiss😁 🤣🤣🤣