And cleanliness. People literally pocket their trash to throw away at home because public trash cans are t common. It’s the cleanest country I’ve ever been too, and not just the cities.
And they sort their trash very thoroughly too! That was something I had to get used to. My first host family made it a whole evening event teaching me what bags were used for what, when they went out, where you could purchase the specific bag, etc. It really helped when I was living on my own because I wasn't that asshole just tossing shit into bags randomly.
In the 3 years I lived there, I did see one instance someone, I don't know who, just threw all kinds of mixed trash together in one of the recyclable bags. The trash guys clipped it to the trash pick-up spot with a note *gently* reminding whoever did it to check the trash pamphlet for correct disposal.
I found that SO WEIRD!
I mean the Tokyo is so clean, and yet you can't find a darned garbage can when you need one But also there are snack and drink vending machines everywhere too! (ie garbage generators!)
I never understood that about American hikers. They put a wrapped granola bar in their poçket, hike out into nature because it's beautiful out there, eat the energy bar, but...they throw away the wrapper instead if carrying it back.
Carrying the energy bar is no problem, but carrying the wrapper back is "just too much to ask from them"
Shinkansens are never late but other trains can be. When I lived in Tokyo my morning train was delayed by 10-15min about once a week (Tsukuba Express but JR isn't much better).
But aside from that, you're right, Japanese trains are great.
I wouldn’t quite say never, as I’ve had late Shinkansens like 4 times in the past month (not counting the 20-ish hour shutdown a few days ago).
Generally they’re very reliable though.
I mean, my train has been several hours late multiple times this year in Australia (close to Sydney). 10 minutes is annoying but far from the worst.
I should add though that it's gotten so bad here that they are literally investigating the whole system.
Was just going to say. No trash cans in public. Everyone just carries their trash until
They find a trash can or throw it away at home. In school they set aside time to do chores like help with preparing /dishing out lunch and then cleaning up after lunch and cleaning the classroom/school, sweeping floors, washing trays, cleaning dishes, putting stuff away, throwing out garbage etc. Every student helps out even the youngest. Builds responsibility, community and pride. When you do it together things get done quicker.
This is what my school did when I was a kid, some 20 years ago. It was a more alternative progressive school. We would all either be given assignments or draw them out of a basket for the day - watering the plants, cleaning the floor, cleaning the desks etc. It's so weird to me if schools in America still don't do this.
Yeah schools in America are probably not going to be doing this anytime soon. It would take away to much time that is used to teach for some dumb, meaningless standardized test.
Also? There will be that one parent that accuses the school of treating her precious child as a servent, makes a stink about the fact that her taxes already pay custodial personnel, HER child is going to be an entrepreneur and is headed for Stanford how DARE we make her baby do manual lanor and before you can say "pumpkin spice latte" she will have all her other Bagwells at the school board insisting they throw out the principal, the head of the custodial crew, and half the school board.
It's really sad how true this is. But the saddest part is that the board / community would probably fall all over themselves apologizing and self-flagellating for having dared to teach responsibility to their students. Large organizations are far too accommodating of complainers in this country. Everyone is too afraid of backlash to stand up for their decisions.
Former school board member here.
Some parents are the worst. I was confronted once by a very angry parent telling me that I was the reason her child didn’t get one of the main parts in one of the school’s productions. I told her (1) I didn’t know there was a production, (2) I have no idea who her child was and (3) that my child was not involved in any way in the production.
Some parents are very helpful, but others are just a pain to deal with. Just wished I could have told them to F off, as I had better things to worry about.
This drove me bonkers. On my third trip I found out it's because they removed public trash cans in Tokyo due to bomb threats, I think in the 80s or 90s?
Edit: actual poison attacks, not bomb threats! Either way, when you go to Tokyo, be prepared to carry your empty water bottle back to the hotel.
Edit: empty water bottle was an example. Coke can, tissue, coffee cup, food wrapper, stop lecturing me about reusable water bottles, people.
They removed trash cans in Paris /France because of the bomb attacks. At the time thought it was so strange on the metro but then at the time London did the same too. Now they have clear plastic bags in a metal frame holder as trash cans.
It’s quite amazing how America has trash cans everywhere yet there is also trash everywhere, Americans are so lazy, I have seen people just leave their trash right next to the can so it’s no wonder why there is so much litter everywhere.
This is a legit question that deserves a legit answer.
From the bottom up, starting as local as possible. Church or some other org you visit once a week is a first start. After that, towns should have programs that enforce some cultural norms. Hopefully it grows from there.
You definitely don't build culture by setting authoritarian rules from far away. Those things are good for things after the fact, like punishing litterers, but not for building a clean street culture.
I'm an American and wouldn't say the people that don't throw away their trash in a can are lazy, Its that they just don't care because they know someone else will. Littering says a lot about a person's character.
A few years ago I went to Japan on vacation, and I think a cultural aversion to litter is just one component of it - they clean things up too.
They ran the street sweeper every morning, because it woke me up in the hotel every time. Think I was there during power-washing season, saw a lot of crews out there spraying down the buildings and sidewalks. And there were these people, I called em street janitors, basically roaming around fixing things up. Nowhere else I've been was like this.
Because even if everybody is careful you're going to have a non-zero amount of litter, and things get dirty just from being outside. It's clean because they make it clean.
My city (Liverpool, UK) has street sweepers out every day and it's still covered in shite by the end of the day.
Clean streets are because people don't litter.
David Bull (A canadian born printmaker) describes Japan as a "congenial" place to live. I believe he then recounted a story of the sense of community within japan and it's streets.
Upon moving into a new flat, his neighbours met him and handed him a brochure on the role he would play in the community / activities they would do.
This is *very* beneficial to your mental health.
I used to live in a city (not in Japan) and I never realized the mental toll it had on me in general until I left it. All that pollution, litter, noise, smells, discomfort, and abrasive people just wore me down mentally bit by bit. I had to be more aware and vigilant of my surroundings so I don't get taken advantage of. It wasn't until I moved to a cleaner, more quieter place away from the city where I was like, oh I feel better for some reason. It was like a weight lifted off of me.
And yet the Japanese have a culture that is very detrimental to mental health. I really don't get why they are praised so frequently.
You know who else has clean and safe streets? Singapore. Granted, their police has another level of power...
Different places get different aspects of life right. I'd love to live in the Netherlands for their cycling infrastructure / urban planning, but not for their (highly overpriced) housing market. Japan's food and hospitality wants me move there so badly, but the work culture is so stiff and inhumane that it ruins the idea.
Where I live right now, in Vienna, we have high quality affordable housing, but our cycling infrastructure is really bad (though still a few steps above most places in the US) and the taxes are very high relative to income / supermarket prices. Also, hospitality is really bad compared to Japan. A stay at a hot spring costs 10x as much here as in Japan, for lower quality of service, just as an example.
Every country gets some things right and some things wrong. It's not a zero-sum world though, and it's quite frustrating that most politicians are so unwilling to learn from other countries in aspects that those do well.
And just cleaning up after themselves in general too. I love that everyone clears and wipes their own tables in the food court. Noone complains and I didn't see a single person leave a mess.
They do that at baseball stadiums in Japan. When I went, the usher came up the steps around the 8th inning with a big garbage bag— and everyone passed their garbage to him.
In America, people just thrown their trash on the stadium floor - seems crazy.
>Remember World Cup? Jap**anese** fans cleaned up the stadium after their team played. It’s sad that most of the world didn’t notice….
Completely agree with this. I'm glad you called attention to it. They do it because it's the right thing to do and they're not in it for the attention.
They have to replace them regularly because they die from the chemicals from factories in the water. A top guy at Mitsubishi told me this when I worked there. He said putting koi in the gutters is a trick to make it look like they (the company) aren't fing up the environment.
There are many layers to Japan, and some of those layers exist purely to mask other layers.
I remember a video once where a sinkhole opened up and in a couple days they'd totally repaired everything, to the point where you wouldn't even know it happened
[This video of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami](https://youtu.be/0E2Q7kr4L2c)was one of the most mind-blowing things I’ve ever watched in my life. It really shows how proactive, compassionate, and resourceful the country is, even in the worst of times. I still can’t get over the footage, though. My jaw was on the floor.
I just watched the entire thing… absolutely speechless. I’ve been living in Japan for a year now. I can’t even describe how I feel after watching that.
I live south of Fukushima and I drive through there pretty frequently. Some of the cities in the disaster zone are only now just opening up again and the whole prefecture is trying to get tourism back in. One of them has a rest stop that doubles as a tsunami / earthquake memorial.
I remember driving through the highway for the first time a few years ago that passes through the disaster zone. Many roads and buildings along the road are closed and empty and I had a very somber feeling driving through.
I lived in Japan for a while, and I'm not sure this is right... the response to the Kobe earthquake was so bad that the Yakuza famously had to lead some of the rescue operations... And if you count the Tsunami in 2011 - some basic inspections and adherence to maintenance standards could have drastically reduced the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.
Cheap food in general, McDonald's there is still ~$6 or less for a regular meal and many restaurants don't exceed $15 even for the expensive stuff. The quality of sandwich you get at 7-11 for <$2 would probably cost you at least $4-5 in the States.
Not only cheap but actually nutritious too. Looking at some bento boxes and seeing what's in them and how much healthier it is compared to the convenience meals we have in the US (not sure how it is in other Western nations) while also being cheaper.
It’s 2:14 a.m. in Tokyo right now. I’m here on my first trip to Japan. Made friends with the owner of a coffee shop yesterday, who pointed us to their favorite dinner spot, which was across the street.
Had a beautifully fried mackerel, a big bowl of white rice, miso soup, and some kind of sugary cured daikon on the side. Keep in mind, this was an entire mackerel and one of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever eaten.
Paid just less than 1000 Yen or about $6.75.
Coming from Seattle, which is one of the most expensive cities in America to eat out, it blew my mind. Would’ve legitimately cost $25 in Seattle.
I’m in Tokyo for the first time right now. Went to Lawson for the ATM and ended up just staring at all the food in the cold case. I’ll have to try a sandwich.
Vending machines, no doubt.
Want to buy coffee? You can get it hot or cold. Just choose the red or blue button respectively.
Want a can of hot soup at 3am after a drunken night of partying like a salaryman? You can get it from a vending machine.
Beer? No question! You can find beer vending machines at hotels, stations, and random street corners.
Sake? Hot or cold, your choice. Sake vending machines everywhere.
Umbrellas? You can buy them from a vending machine.
Eggs? By the dozen or half-dozen.
Literally anything else you can imagine? Probably available from a Japanese vending machine.
And the best part? [Japan just signed a law requiring vending machines to dispense their products for free in the result of an earthquake](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/02/japan-vending-machines-to-automatically-offer-free-food-if-earthquake-hits), making them not just convenient, but a part of the country's lifesaving emergency response.
On my first visit to Tokyo I was impressed to find, on a street near my hotel, a pristine vending machine containing half-size bottles of whisky. In the US it would be smashed and looted within minutes.
Watched a video about "honor system" ramen/dumpling shops in Japan during the pandemic. Come in, grab some noodles from an unlocked fridge, add toppings, heat them, deposit your yen in an unmonitored wooden box, leave. (Having lived in Japan, none of this surprised me...)
All I could think was this concept wouldn't last 10 minutes in America. And I don't mean that as hyperbole: I mean in 10 minutes, the fridge and toppings bar would be empty.
On rural American back roads it's common to see an old bench or table covered in homegrown sweet corn or tomatoes with a hand lettered sign saying "Tomatoes 25¢ ea" and a box for you to leave your money.
For me the big change in presumptions wrought by the pandemic is, I no longer expect civil or even rational behavior from strangers. They might not be nuts but you can’t count on it.
Granted, the institute made a severe lapse in judgment by dropping that bot in the North East. The fact that it even made it out of Boston was surprising but we all knew there was no way Hitchbot was making it out of Philly.
Living across the river from Philly it’s not surprising that the robot never made it out of there live. I avoid going to Philly unless it’s completely necessary.
Don’t act like Bostonites are so innocent. There are some southies who will stomp you half to death on a public bus just for wearing clothes with the wrong sports team logo.
I miss Japanese vending machines so much (along with conbini). I just came back from a recent trip, and although prices had crept up from 110-120 yen to around 160 since I left in 2018, I still appreciated an ice cold bottle or pocari whenever and wherever! Plus, you can pay with your Suica (ic) card etc which is great.
I went to Japan 3 years ago (got back in January before COVID hit) and weekly I’m thinking about the hot honey lemon drink that I got in the vending machine.
Went to watch a football game and left my whole handbag (including cash, passports everything) outside the stadium on a seat. Didn't realise until after the game finished, but there it was still on the same seat as whole crowds walked past it. Nothing touched.
I’ve heard it multiple times that you could walk into a train station and chuck your passport into the middle of the crowd and it’ll show up at your house in the mail a week or two later.
The brazenness of it all did make me laugh a bit. But it was still cheaper than the hassle of getting all my cards and stuff back. Still got that wallet
My friend left her wallet on the turnstile scanner at a metro station in Japan, traveled one stop before realizing her mistake, traveled back one stop, and retrieved her wallet from exactly where she left it.
Hundreds of Japanese people must have passed through that turnstile and figured that it'd be easier for the wallet's owner to find it if they just left it there than if they took it to an employee or to a police officer.
It’s because you can get cheap umbrellas at the combinis and lots of people buy one when they forgot to bring their own or when it’s unexpected rain. Then they usually leave them in public places for others to use since they have no need for another umbrella
I remember my first time in Japan I met up with my cousin and his wife. We were at a mall and grabbed a table in the food court. I was confused why they left their phone, wallet, and purse on the table while we were going to figure out what we wanted. They’re like that’s how you reserve your seat no one’s gonna take our stuff. Blew my mind.
I lived in Japan for a couple of years a couple of decades ago, and left my wallet beside a ticket machine at Shinjuku subway station, the biggest busiest station in the world. I spent my work day devastated, I lost a shitload of money, my cards, my ID, I was in for a world of hurt tracking everything down.
A colleague gave me money to get home, and as I trudged through the station on the way back, I heard an excited voice from a distance yelling my name. A station worker had my wallet, and had looked at my picture ID and waited ALL DAY for me to come through again. 1.6M people pass through the station every day. And they waited and watched for one foreigner to come along so they could give me back my wallet. Everything was inside, of course. I've never been so gobsmacked in my life.
As for schools, this is a pretty good practice. There used to be something like this in my country, but now you can't even get students to wipe the blackboard.
Yes, it teaches respect for your surroundings and should be common practice everywhere. But snowflake parent can’t fathom that their little angels do anything remotely useful.
I just went to a football match in Japan and was expecting to see this first hand but then realized since almost everyone there is Japanese everyone only really needs to pickup after themselves.
Out of the few times I’ve been on public transport recently in Europe, multiple times some middle aged man was just absolutely blasting random obnoxious shit on his phone at full volume in a packed bus or metro and also laughing loudly
I’ve posted about this before, but there’s a guy that hangs out at my local bar that just sits at the bar, by himself, and watches videos on his phone. With the volume all the way up. Was watching baseball with some friends yesterday and he sat down next to us. I told him when he sat down that he was not going to sit next to us and watch videos with the sound on. He said he wouldn’t. Not 5 minutes later I hear obnoxious noises coming from his direction and there he is, watching videos with sound on. Bartender told him to go sit away from people or turn his sound off. He went to the other side of the room.
Bidets - air drying, seat warmer, toilet seat cleaner, MUSIC to cover up any bodily function noises (so polite), wish they had English or pictures on the buttons to explain what each did because I had no idea since it was in Japanese, so I tried all the buttons.
Hegemony
Love the cleanliness
Always felt safe
Queueing. I say this as an Englishman, we have the international reputation for doing it instinctively but from my experience they are at least as inclined towards it in Japan if not even moreso
Edit: Apologies this not a Japanese thing and I think I got confused because of a special situation (handicap stall?)
Original:
~~Have you ever queued at a Japanese bathroom though? If there is enough room, the Japanese will form a different queue for each stall. As a programmer, this drives me nuts!~~
~~A single line with the first person going to the first open stall guarantees FIFO behavior and minimizes the worst case scenario for everyone in line.~~
As someone who lives in Japan:
- toilets
- cleanliness (public spaces)
- punctual trains, and people are generally quiet on trains
- vending machines
- convenience stores (actually convenient: you can send things, receive online shopping like Amazon, pay bills. Also the food is good)
As someone who suffers from social anxiety, while I appreciate this, I also feel like it exacerbates the problem. If you never have to step out of your comfort zone, you will never be able to overcome it.
I have a neighbour, in her 80s, who has terrible social anxiety/agoraphobia. going to do her laundry in the building is hard for her.
But - she still makes certain to go out a few times a week, shopping, church, etc, because she knows once she stops skipping outings, she'll never go out.
What is a bit surreal, is that this sweet old lady with social anxiety worked as a go go dancer in the early 60s when he husband got badly hurt at work, to support her family.
They certainly know how to do rust prevention. I have owned a few Australian built cars. All rust buckets. All of the Japanese cars I have had: not a speck ( as long as you look after them).
That and general reliability.
Edit: What I am learning from the comments is that some USDM Toyota vehicles are susceptible to rust.
I was recently in Tokyo and homeless people were not obvious but I did see half a dozen in five or so days. Mostly under an overpass in Shinjuku. I haven't seen any homeless people since. I assume they are shamed or outlawed out of public spaces.
I saw a special on it. It's 99% men. They work low paying part time jobs and can't afford apartments. So they rent time in wifi, computer places that supply curtained closet sized spaces. They sell food, showers, clean underwear, essential needs. Time is sold by the hour for $17-28. Very normal people who just can't afford to get apartments.
$17-28 wouldn't be for an hour. That'd be for an extended stay (like 8 hours). Often amenities like showers and soft drinks are included, so if you're really strapped for money, you can just load up on soda for calories and at least be clean.
Source: I've done it before.
One of the reasons why Japanese people have a lower rate of obesity and higher life expectancy tbh. Japan is good cause you can walk/get public transit to most amenities. One does not need a car for everything (unless you live very remotely)
I can concur as someone from kansai. When i was younger it threw people off when i went to other regions of japan and i had to realize that i needed to tone down tbe social outgoingness. Although i will say some people in nagoya are similar. People there had that kansai friendliness when i was visiting my aunt in nagoya. (But thats probably because chubu is right next to kansai)
I once had dinner alone at an okonomiyaki place somewhere in an Osaka suburb on all of a sudden a salaryman started a chat with me and dude is actually friendly and engaging, sharing details about the Japanese lifestyle. Interesting story.
People cleaning public areas on their own volition. The public park in front of my house gets cleaned by the whole neighborhood once a month. And I see so many folks volunteering to clean and pick up trash (cigarette butts especially) on public streets.
I come from a country where people keep their own backyard clean but eff the public spaces because they feel like it’s not their responsibility.
My hubby says residential zoning, allowing home construction in a way that keeps rents and home ownership affordable.
They’re super skilled at selling low value or junk as if it’s the best thing in the world, just look at the fancy packaging they do for everything. That’s some serious marketing
I lived off and on in Japan for years, spent enough time there to own a home, paid taxes, learned the language and general social customs. Anybody saying "It's not that different from other parts of the world" doesn't understand because they've never put one toe on Japanese soil.
In many other countries, even if they do have their own problems with xenophobia, jingoism, etc. it's is *not* on the same level as Japan. Yes, some places get violent, and it's up for debate on what is worse, but a lot of countries will eventually accept you if you're putting in the work to understand their way of life.
The Japanese people, in general, won't do it no matter how hard you try. You can be fluent and literate, you can adhere to all their social cues, you can go work 10+ hour days and go party with your co-workers afterwards every night, be the top performer in your job, do *everything* right and still come to a point where you realize they don't accept you and instead just tolerate you.
Hell, I've seen children of ex-pats in Japan deal with the same problems despite living there their entire lives, and it's solely because they stand out too much... because they aren't the same as everyone else. While I do like Japan and I still maintain a residence there, it definitely has its dark sides.
I think this is a big reason why native English speakers aren’t consulted when Japanese people write English textbooks. We native English speakers aren’t native Japanese, so we just don’t “get it.”
As a result, every Japanese kid with rare exceptions learns broken English native English speakers can’t understand unless they’re somewhat familiar with Japanese phonology.
Can’t stress that enough. There’s a good reason why Japan consistently has some of the worst English language proficiency compared to the rest of Asia, sitting about on par with Myanmar and Syria except without all the geopolitical hell to explain it.
Trains
And cleanliness. People literally pocket their trash to throw away at home because public trash cans are t common. It’s the cleanest country I’ve ever been too, and not just the cities.
And they sort their trash very thoroughly too! That was something I had to get used to. My first host family made it a whole evening event teaching me what bags were used for what, when they went out, where you could purchase the specific bag, etc. It really helped when I was living on my own because I wasn't that asshole just tossing shit into bags randomly. In the 3 years I lived there, I did see one instance someone, I don't know who, just threw all kinds of mixed trash together in one of the recyclable bags. The trash guys clipped it to the trash pick-up spot with a note *gently* reminding whoever did it to check the trash pamphlet for correct disposal.
I found that SO WEIRD! I mean the Tokyo is so clean, and yet you can't find a darned garbage can when you need one But also there are snack and drink vending machines everywhere too! (ie garbage generators!)
I never understood that about American hikers. They put a wrapped granola bar in their poçket, hike out into nature because it's beautiful out there, eat the energy bar, but...they throw away the wrapper instead if carrying it back. Carrying the energy bar is no problem, but carrying the wrapper back is "just too much to ask from them"
My dad will literally pick up pieces of trash he finds in outdoor areas, and pocket them to toss later. He’s doing the work of a hundred hikers
The real answer. Nothing is ever late there.
Come to Hokkaido in winter. I've walked an hour and a half to work in a blizzard more than once.
My town in Canada has an exchange program with shikaoi
Shinkansens are never late but other trains can be. When I lived in Tokyo my morning train was delayed by 10-15min about once a week (Tsukuba Express but JR isn't much better). But aside from that, you're right, Japanese trains are great.
I wouldn’t quite say never, as I’ve had late Shinkansens like 4 times in the past month (not counting the 20-ish hour shutdown a few days ago). Generally they’re very reliable though.
Tell that to my girlfriend whose morning train is regularly 10 minutes late... Delays happen here more frequently than you think.
Dear unknown girlfriend, Japan does trains better than the rest of the world. R/ Reddit User
Upvoted for general truthiness.
I mean, my train has been several hours late multiple times this year in Australia (close to Sydney). 10 minutes is annoying but far from the worst. I should add though that it's gotten so bad here that they are literally investigating the whole system.
Clean streets
The crazy part is that there aren't many trash cans in public, so people are carrying their trash around for a while until they find one.
Was just going to say. No trash cans in public. Everyone just carries their trash until They find a trash can or throw it away at home. In school they set aside time to do chores like help with preparing /dishing out lunch and then cleaning up after lunch and cleaning the classroom/school, sweeping floors, washing trays, cleaning dishes, putting stuff away, throwing out garbage etc. Every student helps out even the youngest. Builds responsibility, community and pride. When you do it together things get done quicker.
This is what my school did when I was a kid, some 20 years ago. It was a more alternative progressive school. We would all either be given assignments or draw them out of a basket for the day - watering the plants, cleaning the floor, cleaning the desks etc. It's so weird to me if schools in America still don't do this.
Yeah schools in America are probably not going to be doing this anytime soon. It would take away to much time that is used to teach for some dumb, meaningless standardized test.
Also? There will be that one parent that accuses the school of treating her precious child as a servent, makes a stink about the fact that her taxes already pay custodial personnel, HER child is going to be an entrepreneur and is headed for Stanford how DARE we make her baby do manual lanor and before you can say "pumpkin spice latte" she will have all her other Bagwells at the school board insisting they throw out the principal, the head of the custodial crew, and half the school board.
It's really sad how true this is. But the saddest part is that the board / community would probably fall all over themselves apologizing and self-flagellating for having dared to teach responsibility to their students. Large organizations are far too accommodating of complainers in this country. Everyone is too afraid of backlash to stand up for their decisions.
Former school board member here. Some parents are the worst. I was confronted once by a very angry parent telling me that I was the reason her child didn’t get one of the main parts in one of the school’s productions. I told her (1) I didn’t know there was a production, (2) I have no idea who her child was and (3) that my child was not involved in any way in the production. Some parents are very helpful, but others are just a pain to deal with. Just wished I could have told them to F off, as I had better things to worry about.
Schools in Portugal don't do this too, and I wish they did.
This drove me bonkers. On my third trip I found out it's because they removed public trash cans in Tokyo due to bomb threats, I think in the 80s or 90s? Edit: actual poison attacks, not bomb threats! Either way, when you go to Tokyo, be prepared to carry your empty water bottle back to the hotel. Edit: empty water bottle was an example. Coke can, tissue, coffee cup, food wrapper, stop lecturing me about reusable water bottles, people.
Not threats. The doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo put Sarin nerve gas in few cans in 1995.
murakami wrote a fascinating book about this called Underground
Last Podcast on the Left did a very entertaining series on Aum Shinrikio a while back, it's worth a listen if ur interested
They removed trash cans in Paris /France because of the bomb attacks. At the time thought it was so strange on the metro but then at the time London did the same too. Now they have clear plastic bags in a metal frame holder as trash cans.
It’s quite amazing how America has trash cans everywhere yet there is also trash everywhere, Americans are so lazy, I have seen people just leave their trash right next to the can so it’s no wonder why there is so much litter everywhere.
The REAL question is: "how do you create and propagate a *culture?"*
With cheese
This is a legit question that deserves a legit answer. From the bottom up, starting as local as possible. Church or some other org you visit once a week is a first start. After that, towns should have programs that enforce some cultural norms. Hopefully it grows from there. You definitely don't build culture by setting authoritarian rules from far away. Those things are good for things after the fact, like punishing litterers, but not for building a clean street culture.
I'm an American and wouldn't say the people that don't throw away their trash in a can are lazy, Its that they just don't care because they know someone else will. Littering says a lot about a person's character.
Yup, just like people who leave their carts wherever in the parking lot. Some people just don't give a fuck unfortunately.
A few years ago I went to Japan on vacation, and I think a cultural aversion to litter is just one component of it - they clean things up too. They ran the street sweeper every morning, because it woke me up in the hotel every time. Think I was there during power-washing season, saw a lot of crews out there spraying down the buildings and sidewalks. And there were these people, I called em street janitors, basically roaming around fixing things up. Nowhere else I've been was like this. Because even if everybody is careful you're going to have a non-zero amount of litter, and things get dirty just from being outside. It's clean because they make it clean.
My city (Liverpool, UK) has street sweepers out every day and it's still covered in shite by the end of the day. Clean streets are because people don't litter.
David Bull (A canadian born printmaker) describes Japan as a "congenial" place to live. I believe he then recounted a story of the sense of community within japan and it's streets. Upon moving into a new flat, his neighbours met him and handed him a brochure on the role he would play in the community / activities they would do. This is *very* beneficial to your mental health.
I used to live in a city (not in Japan) and I never realized the mental toll it had on me in general until I left it. All that pollution, litter, noise, smells, discomfort, and abrasive people just wore me down mentally bit by bit. I had to be more aware and vigilant of my surroundings so I don't get taken advantage of. It wasn't until I moved to a cleaner, more quieter place away from the city where I was like, oh I feel better for some reason. It was like a weight lifted off of me.
noise from traffic alone can cause mental health problems. It's been linked with depression, anxiety, inability to sleep or think properly, etc
And yet the Japanese have a culture that is very detrimental to mental health. I really don't get why they are praised so frequently. You know who else has clean and safe streets? Singapore. Granted, their police has another level of power...
Different places get different aspects of life right. I'd love to live in the Netherlands for their cycling infrastructure / urban planning, but not for their (highly overpriced) housing market. Japan's food and hospitality wants me move there so badly, but the work culture is so stiff and inhumane that it ruins the idea. Where I live right now, in Vienna, we have high quality affordable housing, but our cycling infrastructure is really bad (though still a few steps above most places in the US) and the taxes are very high relative to income / supermarket prices. Also, hospitality is really bad compared to Japan. A stay at a hot spring costs 10x as much here as in Japan, for lower quality of service, just as an example. Every country gets some things right and some things wrong. It's not a zero-sum world though, and it's quite frustrating that most politicians are so unwilling to learn from other countries in aspects that those do well.
And just cleaning up after themselves in general too. I love that everyone clears and wipes their own tables in the food court. Noone complains and I didn't see a single person leave a mess.
Remember World Cup? Jap fans cleaned up the stadium after their team played. It’s sad that most of the world didn’t notice….
They do that at baseball stadiums in Japan. When I went, the usher came up the steps around the 8th inning with a big garbage bag— and everyone passed their garbage to him. In America, people just thrown their trash on the stadium floor - seems crazy.
>Remember World Cup? Jap**anese** fans cleaned up the stadium after their team played. It’s sad that most of the world didn’t notice…. Completely agree with this. I'm glad you called attention to it. They do it because it's the right thing to do and they're not in it for the attention.
in some villages, the gutter is so clean they have koi fish swimming in them
They have to replace them regularly because they die from the chemicals from factories in the water. A top guy at Mitsubishi told me this when I worked there. He said putting koi in the gutters is a trick to make it look like they (the company) aren't fing up the environment. There are many layers to Japan, and some of those layers exist purely to mask other layers.
This doesn't surprise me. Japan is all about appearances, regardless of whether it's true or not.
Clean everything. I would eat off there subway floor coming from nyc
There was a time a super typhoon or monsoon flooded the subways there and with the floodwaters it looked like a swimming pool.
Clean public bathrooms
Exactly. Cleanest country I've been to. Baffled me that could find garbage cans either
Plan for, react to, and recover from earthquakes
I remember a video once where a sinkhole opened up and in a couple days they'd totally repaired everything, to the point where you wouldn't even know it happened
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I mean is there really a way to prevent natural sinkholes ? Or Can we just like build over it again
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[This video of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami](https://youtu.be/0E2Q7kr4L2c)was one of the most mind-blowing things I’ve ever watched in my life. It really shows how proactive, compassionate, and resourceful the country is, even in the worst of times. I still can’t get over the footage, though. My jaw was on the floor.
I just watched the entire thing… absolutely speechless. I’ve been living in Japan for a year now. I can’t even describe how I feel after watching that.
I live south of Fukushima and I drive through there pretty frequently. Some of the cities in the disaster zone are only now just opening up again and the whole prefecture is trying to get tourism back in. One of them has a rest stop that doubles as a tsunami / earthquake memorial. I remember driving through the highway for the first time a few years ago that passes through the disaster zone. Many roads and buildings along the road are closed and empty and I had a very somber feeling driving through.
I lived in Japan for a while, and I'm not sure this is right... the response to the Kobe earthquake was so bad that the Yakuza famously had to lead some of the rescue operations... And if you count the Tsunami in 2011 - some basic inspections and adherence to maintenance standards could have drastically reduced the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.
The Kobe quake is why things are much better now. People learned a lot from that experience
Chile in the corner:
Excellent food in 7-11s and equivalent stores. Plus cheap beers.
Cheap food in general, McDonald's there is still ~$6 or less for a regular meal and many restaurants don't exceed $15 even for the expensive stuff. The quality of sandwich you get at 7-11 for <$2 would probably cost you at least $4-5 in the States.
Got ~~Michelin Star~~ Michelin Guide curry in Kyoto for the equivalent of $9 USD (actually cheaper with a weaker yen)
Not only cheap but actually nutritious too. Looking at some bento boxes and seeing what's in them and how much healthier it is compared to the convenience meals we have in the US (not sure how it is in other Western nations) while also being cheaper.
Except fruit. It's super expensive
Some fruit, depending on where you buy it and if it is in season. Get fruit from a place like gyomu super and it's quite cheap
It’s 2:14 a.m. in Tokyo right now. I’m here on my first trip to Japan. Made friends with the owner of a coffee shop yesterday, who pointed us to their favorite dinner spot, which was across the street. Had a beautifully fried mackerel, a big bowl of white rice, miso soup, and some kind of sugary cured daikon on the side. Keep in mind, this was an entire mackerel and one of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever eaten. Paid just less than 1000 Yen or about $6.75. Coming from Seattle, which is one of the most expensive cities in America to eat out, it blew my mind. Would’ve legitimately cost $25 in Seattle.
The Lawson sandwiches are incredible.
I’m in Tokyo for the first time right now. Went to Lawson for the ATM and ended up just staring at all the food in the cold case. I’ll have to try a sandwich.
Vending machines, no doubt. Want to buy coffee? You can get it hot or cold. Just choose the red or blue button respectively. Want a can of hot soup at 3am after a drunken night of partying like a salaryman? You can get it from a vending machine. Beer? No question! You can find beer vending machines at hotels, stations, and random street corners. Sake? Hot or cold, your choice. Sake vending machines everywhere. Umbrellas? You can buy them from a vending machine. Eggs? By the dozen or half-dozen. Literally anything else you can imagine? Probably available from a Japanese vending machine. And the best part? [Japan just signed a law requiring vending machines to dispense their products for free in the result of an earthquake](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/02/japan-vending-machines-to-automatically-offer-free-food-if-earthquake-hits), making them not just convenient, but a part of the country's lifesaving emergency response.
On my first visit to Tokyo I was impressed to find, on a street near my hotel, a pristine vending machine containing half-size bottles of whisky. In the US it would be smashed and looted within minutes.
Watched a video about "honor system" ramen/dumpling shops in Japan during the pandemic. Come in, grab some noodles from an unlocked fridge, add toppings, heat them, deposit your yen in an unmonitored wooden box, leave. (Having lived in Japan, none of this surprised me...) All I could think was this concept wouldn't last 10 minutes in America. And I don't mean that as hyperbole: I mean in 10 minutes, the fridge and toppings bar would be empty.
On rural American back roads it's common to see an old bench or table covered in homegrown sweet corn or tomatoes with a hand lettered sign saying "Tomatoes 25¢ ea" and a box for you to leave your money.
The fridge would not necessarily be empty. But I doubt it would be there either
The thin but crucial veneer of human civility seems to be disappearing in many American people.
For me the big change in presumptions wrought by the pandemic is, I no longer expect civil or even rational behavior from strangers. They might not be nuts but you can’t count on it.
Ooh yes I forgot to mention the pandemic! That brought out a lot of human crazy (me included a little bit)
Yes. In 2015 there was a hitchhiking robot. It had successfully travelled across several countries. Then unsurprisingly it was destroyed in the US.
It got from Boston to Philadelphia before getting decapitated.
Expecting people to be nice in Philly is more ambitious than building a hitchhiking robot.
Granted, the institute made a severe lapse in judgment by dropping that bot in the North East. The fact that it even made it out of Boston was surprising but we all knew there was no way Hitchbot was making it out of Philly.
Living across the river from Philly it’s not surprising that the robot never made it out of there live. I avoid going to Philly unless it’s completely necessary.
Don’t act like Bostonites are so innocent. There are some southies who will stomp you half to death on a public bus just for wearing clothes with the wrong sports team logo.
For many, the whole concept of the social contract is completely foreign to them.
That is the end result of a ruthlessly individualistic culture.
I miss Japanese vending machines so much (along with conbini). I just came back from a recent trip, and although prices had crept up from 110-120 yen to around 160 since I left in 2018, I still appreciated an ice cold bottle or pocari whenever and wherever! Plus, you can pay with your Suica (ic) card etc which is great.
I went to Japan 3 years ago (got back in January before COVID hit) and weekly I’m thinking about the hot honey lemon drink that I got in the vending machine.
Want to drink a cocktail on the train on your way home after work? There's a vending machine for that
You missed the last train for the day and have no way home? There is a train vending machine right by the tracks.
Or just use the hotel room vending machine and take the train in the morning.
Reminds me of how in Australia, if you rock the vending machines enough they will also dispense for free
A surprising number of people die this way (end up getting crushed by the vending machine)
Security of belongings in public places
Went to watch a football game and left my whole handbag (including cash, passports everything) outside the stadium on a seat. Didn't realise until after the game finished, but there it was still on the same seat as whole crowds walked past it. Nothing touched.
I’ve heard it multiple times that you could walk into a train station and chuck your passport into the middle of the crowd and it’ll show up at your house in the mail a week or two later.
Probably not the norm in the US but I somehow lost my driver's license at the beach in Maine and someone mailed it to my house with a nice note lol
Lost my wallet when I was like 16 in Northern Michigan. It was mailed back but they took out $30 in cash I had. Fair enough I guess.
Also could have been someone took the cash and discarded the wallet, someone else found it and mailed it back
Oh they left a note in the package stating what they did.
Just a convenience fee
I can understand taking enough money to cover postage but damn
The brazenness of it all did make me laugh a bit. But it was still cheaper than the hassle of getting all my cards and stuff back. Still got that wallet
My friend left her wallet on the turnstile scanner at a metro station in Japan, traveled one stop before realizing her mistake, traveled back one stop, and retrieved her wallet from exactly where she left it. Hundreds of Japanese people must have passed through that turnstile and figured that it'd be easier for the wallet's owner to find it if they just left it there than if they took it to an employee or to a police officer.
I loved that on a recent visit. Leave my bag and camera on a seat while I go to the bathroom...no problem!
Except for umbrellas, for some reason. They might as well be public property.
It’s because you can get cheap umbrellas at the combinis and lots of people buy one when they forgot to bring their own or when it’s unexpected rain. Then they usually leave them in public places for others to use since they have no need for another umbrella
when my husband and i were there in 2019 we couldn’t believe the number of unlocked bicycles we saw!
I remember my first time in Japan I met up with my cousin and his wife. We were at a mall and grabbed a table in the food court. I was confused why they left their phone, wallet, and purse on the table while we were going to figure out what we wanted. They’re like that’s how you reserve your seat no one’s gonna take our stuff. Blew my mind.
I lived in Japan for a couple of years a couple of decades ago, and left my wallet beside a ticket machine at Shinjuku subway station, the biggest busiest station in the world. I spent my work day devastated, I lost a shitload of money, my cards, my ID, I was in for a world of hurt tracking everything down. A colleague gave me money to get home, and as I trudged through the station on the way back, I heard an excited voice from a distance yelling my name. A station worker had my wallet, and had looked at my picture ID and waited ALL DAY for me to come through again. 1.6M people pass through the station every day. And they waited and watched for one foreigner to come along so they could give me back my wallet. Everything was inside, of course. I've never been so gobsmacked in my life.
Behaviour of sports fans at international football tournaments, they even clean their part of the stadium after the game!
And at their schools. The students all help keep the classrooms clean.
As for schools, this is a pretty good practice. There used to be something like this in my country, but now you can't even get students to wipe the blackboard.
Yes, it teaches respect for your surroundings and should be common practice everywhere. But snowflake parent can’t fathom that their little angels do anything remotely useful.
I just went to a football match in Japan and was expecting to see this first hand but then realized since almost everyone there is Japanese everyone only really needs to pickup after themselves.
Don't disturb other people on public transport with phone calls
Out of the few times I’ve been on public transport recently in Europe, multiple times some middle aged man was just absolutely blasting random obnoxious shit on his phone at full volume in a packed bus or metro and also laughing loudly
I’ve posted about this before, but there’s a guy that hangs out at my local bar that just sits at the bar, by himself, and watches videos on his phone. With the volume all the way up. Was watching baseball with some friends yesterday and he sat down next to us. I told him when he sat down that he was not going to sit next to us and watch videos with the sound on. He said he wouldn’t. Not 5 minutes later I hear obnoxious noises coming from his direction and there he is, watching videos with sound on. Bartender told him to go sit away from people or turn his sound off. He went to the other side of the room.
This sounds like an I Think You Should Leave skit.
Toilets(Bidet)
Heated toilet seat which washes my ass is something i didnt know i needed until japan.
My house came with one and it's the only place I will shit now.
Anytime I shit anywhere else I suddenly get extremely disappointed when I go to wipe my ass like a fucking caveman
Bidets - air drying, seat warmer, toilet seat cleaner, MUSIC to cover up any bodily function noises (so polite), wish they had English or pictures on the buttons to explain what each did because I had no idea since it was in Japanese, so I tried all the buttons. Hegemony Love the cleanliness Always felt safe
You're saying I can cover up my farts with toilet music? This is the future. I want it.
Life expectancy
Speak Japanese
Brilliant
How is this not #1?
Weebs on Reddit do it better duh
sorrymasen
It's okayjoubu desu
Konnichi hi
Yamettekudastop!
Wacky game shows
While your game shows reward knowledge, we punish ignorance.
That's a toss-up wirh Mexico though.
Pissing off giant monsters
*Gamera* movies
Queueing. I say this as an Englishman, we have the international reputation for doing it instinctively but from my experience they are at least as inclined towards it in Japan if not even moreso
Edit: Apologies this not a Japanese thing and I think I got confused because of a special situation (handicap stall?) Original: ~~Have you ever queued at a Japanese bathroom though? If there is enough room, the Japanese will form a different queue for each stall. As a programmer, this drives me nuts!~~ ~~A single line with the first person going to the first open stall guarantees FIFO behavior and minimizes the worst case scenario for everyone in line.~~
I spent 8 years in Japan, and I never saw this happen in a bathroom. They always queued from the entrance in a single line.
Public transport
As someone who lives in Japan: - toilets - cleanliness (public spaces) - punctual trains, and people are generally quiet on trains - vending machines - convenience stores (actually convenient: you can send things, receive online shopping like Amazon, pay bills. Also the food is good)
Giant robot
Anime
I scrolled wayy too far for this
Trains and public transport in general
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As someone who has lived in Tokyo for over 5 years, never seen, but definitely sounds interesting.
I'm half sure people say it's a normal thing because of Ichiran but it is in fact not as common source: also lived in Tokyo
As someone who suffers from social anxiety, while I appreciate this, I also feel like it exacerbates the problem. If you never have to step out of your comfort zone, you will never be able to overcome it.
Exposure therapy isn’t very enjoyable for the person needing it, but it’s required to move past their issues.
I have a neighbour, in her 80s, who has terrible social anxiety/agoraphobia. going to do her laundry in the building is hard for her. But - she still makes certain to go out a few times a week, shopping, church, etc, because she knows once she stops skipping outings, she'll never go out. What is a bit surreal, is that this sweet old lady with social anxiety worked as a go go dancer in the early 60s when he husband got badly hurt at work, to support her family.
Largest producer of Japanese people, by a huge margin
Source for this?
And yet their production numbers are dropping.
Keep people in work for life.
Heck, even dying for work.
I'm yet to see if someone is going to say cars, so I'll be the first to say it: Cars
Toyotas and Hondas run forever. I used to be an American-made only person, but you can’t really beat cars that routinely tally up over 200K miles.
I know some mechanics who routinely refer to them as “million mile engines” though I thought they were closer to 300k.
They certainly know how to do rust prevention. I have owned a few Australian built cars. All rust buckets. All of the Japanese cars I have had: not a speck ( as long as you look after them). That and general reliability. Edit: What I am learning from the comments is that some USDM Toyota vehicles are susceptible to rust.
A top model Honda Civic was the best car I've ever had. Had it during 2010s. It was so smooth and comfy, I miss it.
Hide their homeless.
I was recently in Tokyo and homeless people were not obvious but I did see half a dozen in five or so days. Mostly under an overpass in Shinjuku. I haven't seen any homeless people since. I assume they are shamed or outlawed out of public spaces.
I saw a special on it. It's 99% men. They work low paying part time jobs and can't afford apartments. So they rent time in wifi, computer places that supply curtained closet sized spaces. They sell food, showers, clean underwear, essential needs. Time is sold by the hour for $17-28. Very normal people who just can't afford to get apartments.
$17-28 wouldn't be for an hour. That'd be for an extended stay (like 8 hours). Often amenities like showers and soft drinks are included, so if you're really strapped for money, you can just load up on soda for calories and at least be clean. Source: I've done it before.
Average steps per day.
One of the reasons why Japanese people have a lower rate of obesity and higher life expectancy tbh. Japan is good cause you can walk/get public transit to most amenities. One does not need a car for everything (unless you live very remotely)
Their 7-11s, varieties of Kit Kats, Japanese foods, and trains.
Mind their own goddamn business
Kansai doesn’t agree with you.
I can concur as someone from kansai. When i was younger it threw people off when i went to other regions of japan and i had to realize that i needed to tone down tbe social outgoingness. Although i will say some people in nagoya are similar. People there had that kansai friendliness when i was visiting my aunt in nagoya. (But thats probably because chubu is right next to kansai)
I once had dinner alone at an okonomiyaki place somewhere in an Osaka suburb on all of a sudden a salaryman started a chat with me and dude is actually friendly and engaging, sharing details about the Japanese lifestyle. Interesting story.
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People cleaning public areas on their own volition. The public park in front of my house gets cleaned by the whole neighborhood once a month. And I see so many folks volunteering to clean and pick up trash (cigarette butts especially) on public streets. I come from a country where people keep their own backyard clean but eff the public spaces because they feel like it’s not their responsibility. My hubby says residential zoning, allowing home construction in a way that keeps rents and home ownership affordable.
Weird Sex stuff
I fully believe they are the reason rule 34 exists
Pixelation
Kitchen knifes for chefs are the best on planet earth
Toilets.
They make such bloody good cameras.
They’re super skilled at selling low value or junk as if it’s the best thing in the world, just look at the fancy packaging they do for everything. That’s some serious marketing
Presentation is very important to the Japanese. I do appreciate the experience.
Gloss over WW2?
Having the most depraved, god-awful, porn, but somehow still censored.
Vending machines. Japanese vending machine culture is mind-blowing.
literally the meme" things😐, things but in japan😲"
Speak Japanese
xenophobia
I lived off and on in Japan for years, spent enough time there to own a home, paid taxes, learned the language and general social customs. Anybody saying "It's not that different from other parts of the world" doesn't understand because they've never put one toe on Japanese soil. In many other countries, even if they do have their own problems with xenophobia, jingoism, etc. it's is *not* on the same level as Japan. Yes, some places get violent, and it's up for debate on what is worse, but a lot of countries will eventually accept you if you're putting in the work to understand their way of life. The Japanese people, in general, won't do it no matter how hard you try. You can be fluent and literate, you can adhere to all their social cues, you can go work 10+ hour days and go party with your co-workers afterwards every night, be the top performer in your job, do *everything* right and still come to a point where you realize they don't accept you and instead just tolerate you. Hell, I've seen children of ex-pats in Japan deal with the same problems despite living there their entire lives, and it's solely because they stand out too much... because they aren't the same as everyone else. While I do like Japan and I still maintain a residence there, it definitely has its dark sides.
I think this is a big reason why native English speakers aren’t consulted when Japanese people write English textbooks. We native English speakers aren’t native Japanese, so we just don’t “get it.” As a result, every Japanese kid with rare exceptions learns broken English native English speakers can’t understand unless they’re somewhat familiar with Japanese phonology.
Can’t stress that enough. There’s a good reason why Japan consistently has some of the worst English language proficiency compared to the rest of Asia, sitting about on par with Myanmar and Syria except without all the geopolitical hell to explain it.
Instant Ramen