From France to Japan

Henry had been in France for a week. After he had finished his shopping and information gathering, he had mostly travelled around Paris. He had visited both muggle areas and wizard settlements. Muggle areas were no different from what he knew in his past life. Even though he had not been to Paris in his past life, he knew enough about the place.

On the other hand, the wizard area was very interesting. Unlike the English wizards, the superiority of purebloods here was much less defended. Although the purebloods were conservative about their cultural heritage, their attitude towards wizards who were new to the magician world was much warmer. Henry found an interesting park while travelling through the wizard compounds. The park contained many non-aggressive magical animals. Although there was a lot of security in the area, it was a sight to see.

Henry had been in this world for almost a year, but he still had not changed his world view. He thought of wizards as an addition to the world he knew. Although he knew that dragons and many magical animals and monsters existed, he did not understand their existence in the world. Noticing this park was like a wake-up call for him. He had seen and interacted with many animals in the park. Since the park was for sightseeing, they chose most of the animals in it as friendly.

In addition to animals such as diricawl, niffler, bowtruckle, there were many magical animals in the park that Henry thought were mutated versions of the animals he knew. Although the park resembled a normal zoo, wizards were allowed to interact with the animals. Of course, under the supervision of security guards in each animal area. Henry's curiosity and excitement increased as he visited the park. The idea of travelling the world and discovering different magical animals seemed nice.

Henry had read many books on the subject at Hogwarts. He was aware that most magical animals developed natural stealth because muggles hunted them. Not only were they good at hiding, they instinctively used their magic to hide. This made the discovery more exciting. Although predatory magical beasts could be very dangerous, they could be overcome if approached with caution. Henry had made the right decision not to devote his summer holidays exclusively to training and practice.

Anyone new to the wizarding world needed to experience it to change their worldview. Henry spent the rest of the week exploring different cities in France. With time running out, he returned to Paris and went to the French Ministry of Magic. After submitting the necessary documents for his trip to Japan, he made an appointment to use the portkey.

He was in Japan on Monday. Japan was very different from both countries he had seen in terms of culture and administration. He had watched a lot of anime in his past life. He was not a stranger to muggle cultures. He had also tried their food, although he had not had the chance to come to the country before. He had plenty of information. He had no knowledge about the wizard community here from his past life. Henry was not very surprised because he knew a little about France. Japan, on the other hand, made Henry feel that the transmigration he experienced was real. His perception of reality had deteriorated with his death in this world, but this journey changed him completely.

The wizard community in Japan was much more attached to their culture. They wore kimonos, not robes. Thanks to Jarvis, Henry learnt the language very quickly and was able to communicate with people. So he learnt what most of the kimonos they wore meant. Here, the wizard children went to Mahoutokoro (Japanese wizarding school) at the age of seven and that was when they started to wear their first kimono. These kimonos were specially developed. Besides being comfortable, they grew with the growth of the wearer over time. They changed colour according to the student's school year and magic skills.

Not only that, most wizards continued to wear this kimono, even after graduation. The kimono gained new properties with the magic of the wizard. In his past life, Henry thought that the Japanese were practical people. On the first day he spent in Japan, he came to the conclusion that Japanese wizards were like that. Henry liked Japan very much. Both the attitude of the wizards he communicated with, the architecture and the atmosphere of the society were very beautiful.

He especially liked the magic street. Although the magic streets of England and France were beautiful, it seemed very depressing to Henry. The Japanese magic street, or rather the village, was very beautiful. It was like a medieval Japanese village. The village consisted of traditional Japanese houses, minka. There were trees around each house, some of these trees were cherry trees.

The houses with cherry trees around them were the best shops in the village. Japanese wizards were very honest and cultured people. In their culture, the cherry tree represented honour and dignity. The minka in the village had signs written in calligraphy. It was not only a place with shops, hotels, and stores. There were many houses in the neighbourhood. The atmosphere was very pleasant. One felt one was in a peaceful medieval village. The houses were at most two storeys high, so there was a very spacious atmosphere.

After Henry found a hotel to stay in, he immediately went to a clothes shop to fit in. He bought a black kimono. The kimono was very expensive, but it had many charms on it and was made of acromantula thread. The second place Henry went after leaving the shop was the bookshop. As he wanted to go to the best shops and stores first, he preferred the cherry wood minka. The minka where the bookshop was located had two floors. Henry almost froze with astonishment after he entered the door. The inside was as wide as a football field.

There were rows and rows of bookshelves, each at least ten metres long. Henry stood in the doorway, looking at the view. "Welcome to Shitajiki," a woman who looked to be in her late twenties said to Henry in English.

Henry looked at the woman. She was wearing a pink and white kimono with floral decorations. As she spoke to him, Henry realised that the people behind him were blocking his way. "I'm sorry, your shop is very impressive inside. I was so surprised that I forgot I was standing at the door," Henry said in Japanese, smiling at the woman.

They surprised both the woman and the wizards behind Henry that Henry was speaking in Japanese. Although Henry had physically grown a lot in the last year, he was still a child. She said in Japanese, "That's all right, young man. Shitajiki fascinates everyone who comes for the first time," the woman said, smiling.

"It's really fascinating," said Henry, approaching the table where the woman was sitting. After talking to the woman a little more, Henry started to search the bookshelves for the books he wanted to buy. He decided to come here every day to buy books so as not to attract too much attention. After leaving the bookstore, he was a little hungry. Since he was in Japan, he decided to eat ramen. He had eaten good ramen in his previous life, but he always wondered, "Does ramen in Japan taste different?" Henry wondered.

After eating two bowls, he learnt the answer. Henry then decided to go for a walk around exploring the village. He was very happy to discover that there was a park here, like in France. In this park, there were not only harmless magical animals but also wild ones. It was more like a zoo, but the habitats of the animals were enchanted. So they were protected, not caged. Henry decided to explore this park later.

As he travelled around the village, he found several dojos. When he learnt that these dojos were not tourist attractions but taught martial arts, Henry wanted to dance for joy. One of Henry's reasons for coming to Japan was to learn martial arts. Henry thought he would learn from the muggle community because wizards were not interested in physical fights, but these dojos proved him wrong. Henry went to the dojo with the cherry tree right next to it and applied for training.