Construction Site

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

This is a photo I took from my hotel room in Tokyo of a construction site of a new building. It is a simple example of how clean and safe Japan is. Please pay attention to the following details, marked with red arrows on the photo. I’ll work from bottom up:

• The site is completely sealed off from the street with a spotless white partition, so that passerby are not inconvenienced in any way.
• The entrance to the site is closed, with a combination lock.
• All the belongings of the working crew are placed in a dedicated area. (Rest assured that their mobile phones are in the bags throughout the day).
• The construction plans, progress charts, regulations, etc. are posted up clearly and neatly.
• A windsock is installed on a high pole, to indicate wind direction and speed.
• Ladders and other equipment placed on top of the construction trailers are secured with a rope, so they don’t fall off accidentally.
• All workers walk around with safety helmets at all times. No exceptions.
• A temporary electricity pole is erected inside the site, pulling electricity off the main line on the street.
• Construction tools and other materials are stored in a dedicated area, and blue tarpaulin sheets are readily available (folded) to cover the area in case it rains.
• The entire building surrounded by nontransparent sheets.

What you cannot see in the photo is how the workers begin their day, by gathering around their manager, listening to the day’s plans, reviewing safety instructions, and then cheering loudly and encouragingly to each other before commencing work.

 

Free Umbrellas

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

Rainy season (tsuyu) has just begun in Japan. This is the season when leaving home without an umbrella is likely to result in getting drenched by a sudden rainstorm. This is also the season when staff at subway and train stations collect countless forgotten umbrellas every day.

A new initiative by Dydo, a vending machine company, connects and solves these two problems. They are offering free umbrellas, many of them received from rail companies and refurbished, for rent. You can simply pick up an umbrella from any Dydo vending machine, and when done, return it to any Dydo vending machine.

I know what you’re thinking: this won’t work because people will simply take the umbrellas and won’t bother returning them. Well, you forget this is Japan. Dydo trialed this scheme in Osaka and found out that close to 100% of the umbrellas are returned. The scheme has now been expanded to more than 500 vending machines nationwide.

The Sniffling (-)

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

This series is about Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise. But even in Paradise there is, occasionally, some trouble.

It is winter, and I want to talk about the sniffling.

Blowing your nose in Japan is considered very rude. Actually, not only rude, but extremely disgusting. Even if you do it as discreetly and silently as possible, it is still a big no-no in public. The result is the ubiquitous and unavoidable sniffling. Japanese with a runny nose will continuously sniffle, drawing in the phlegm instead of blowing it out into a tissue or a handkerchief.

Nowhere is this more noticeable than on crowded trains. During daytime (less so at night, when the alcohol makes their tongues looser), Japanese are very quiet on trains. Usually, this as a blessing. But in winter the result is a constant background “music” of sniffling. At a rate of a sniffle every 10-15 seconds per person, and with about 100 people in a crowded train car… you do the math!

I got used to the noodle slurping. I got used to the unbelievably slow pace of walking. But I don’t think I will ever get used to the sniffling. It is unbearable.

Almost No Crime

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

Ask any foreigner who has been living in Japan for a few months what is his/her impression of the country, and most likely the first answer will be: safe.

Japan is a very safe place. According to latest figures it is also getting safer. Only one gun murder in 2015. Only 0.3 homicides per 100,000 people (US: 4; Russia: 10). Robberies are almost unheard of. I regularly leave my bag, phone, wallet, etc. in public places (coffee shops, trains) for a short while, not giving it a second thought.

Does this mean less policing? No. Japan has one of the highest ratios of police per capita. The Economist published an article this week about the inventive ways Japanese police find things to do, because they are bored out of their minds most of the time. Here are some examples:

 

 

Trumpet Safety

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

Japan is one of the safest places on the planet, which is another reason it is the closest place to paradise.

In a recent report by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks in the 4th place, but that is mostly because it is a country prone to natural disasters. Ask any tourist in Japan what they like most about Japan and many of them will say safety.

Safety is ingrained in the culture here, sometimes to what may seem a ridiculous level. Here is a recent example. This 15-second ad, from a soft drinks company, has been pulled off the air after numerous complaints from viewers. Can you guess what the complaints were about?

 

Check out what happens at 0:08. The trumpet player on the rooftop is surprised by her friends, who rush up and bump into her. For many viewers, this behaviour is considered to be very unsafe. Tragedy is narrowly averted. Her teeth could have been slammed against the trumpet and broken. Or she could have dropped and damaged the trumpet. Or, worst case scenario, she could have tumbled over that fence (reaching to her chest, mind you) and plunged to her death.

We are Japanese; we cannot tolerate such reckless behaviour! Safety first!

Pointing and Calling

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

Japan’s rail system is known worldwide for being efficient and punctual, probably the best transportation system on the planet.

Visitors to Japan are sometimes baffled by rail staff standing on the platform and pointing with their fingers in various directions, gestures that are sometimes accompanied also by shouting.

Here’s an example:

 

This seemingly mysterious ritual is there for a reason. Japan invented a system called shisa kanko (“pointing and calling”) which has been proven to reduce errors by up to 85%. This started more than a century ago, with train drivers calling out signal status, and was later expanded to include all rail staff. Even the Shinkansen (bullet train) cleaning staff – known for the 7-minute miracle – use this system.

Apparently, the physical movement and the vocalization of the task help in raising the worker’s focus and consciousness about the task at hand, thus reducing the possibility of making mistakes

This system is unique to Japan, where the culture permits workers to behave like this in public without feeling self-conscious or silly and without being laughed at by others. I am not aware of other countries where such a system would work (a limited version of it is supposedly used by New York’s subway drivers).

 

Lost Property

What happens when you lose something in Japan? Say you drop your wallet, or forget your laptop, or neglect to take the cash from the ATM. In most cases, you get it back.

What you do is call the place you misplaced or lost the item. Chances are someone found it and turned it over to the police. You go to the police station, fill out a report, prove the item is yours – and you get it back. If the item has not been found, you still file the report and wait. In most cases it will be found and handed to the police within a few days.

Yes, that includes lost cash. You don’t believe me? Read this recent article from the Japan Times. Granted, sometimes the bureaucracy of proving the item is yours can be a little irritating, but you do get your property back at the end of the day.

A few personal experiences. Many years ago, my son left his favorite baseball cap in a taxi in Tokyo. We called the taxi company, they located the driver, and he drove to our home and handed us the cap. Around the same time I forgot my coat on the subway. The station called the last station of the line and the coat was put on a train heading back to where I was waiting. A couple of years ago I forgot my mobile phone on the Shinkansen (bullet train). A colleague called Japan Railways, the phone was located at the end stop, hundreds of miles away, and was hand-delivered to my home a couple of days later for a fee of $5.

This works because most Japanese are honest. It also works because there is a reward for those who return property, and the owner must pay out that reward. In most cases the finder declines the reward.

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

 

Oversized Garbage

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

I took these photos on one of my morning walks in Kobe last week:

 

In Japan, garbage that doesn’t fit into the standard 45-liter garbage bags is defined as oversized garbage (sodai gomi).

In most places, to dispose of this garbage you need to call a special number and get a specific pick-up date. In busy times, such as after the new-year cleaning, there can be a 2-3 weeks wait… After the date is fixed, you need to go to a government office or an authorized shop (usually a convenience store) and buy a sticker in the amount appropriate for the garbage you are throwing away. In the photos above, the disposal cost for the piece of furniture is 900 Yen (about $7.5) and for the suitcase 300 Yen (about $2.5). The sticker goes on the garbage, which is taken out on the morning of the appointed date (and not earlier).

Now, while this may seem a little burdensome (and it is), the end result has two main benefits: the streets are free of garbage people just throw away, and most of this garbage gets recycled.

An interesting twist to this policy is that nowadays most prefectures do not allow people to simply take this garbage from the street if they like it, unless they get permission from the person who threw it away. Rest assured that the one of the ever-watchful old ladies of the neighborhood will catch you trying and reprimand you. In the bubble days of the 1980s this policy did not exist, and many people furnished their houses by picking up sodai gomi furniture and appliances from the street…

Train Schedule

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

I took this photo at Shinagawa station in Tokyo. It shows the upcoming Shinkansen (bullet train) departures.

At the bottom is a notice, in Japanese and in English, about a planned suspension of service. The trains will stop for 1 hour on Dec. 18, for safety checks.

The interesting part is that I took this photo on Nov. 29. Fully three weeks in advance (and probably longer) of the planned 1-hour suspension in service.

This is a great example of the almost impeccable train service in Japan, especially the Shinkansen lines. Punctuality is of utmost importance, so meticulous planning – such as this scheduled safety check – is de rigeur. Sometimes this fervor for punctuality can lead to tragic consequences, but mostly it leads to unparalleled predictability in train schedules. In fact, the average annual delay in Shinkansen trains, country-wide, is less than 1 minute (!). That’s on a network that transports more than 350 million passengers annually over almost 3,000 kilometers of lines.

Restaurant Seats

(This is a post in the series “Why Japan is the Closest Place to Paradise“)

This is a photo I took at a Tokyo restaurant yesterday, Sunday lunch time:

People line up to order their salad, pay, pick up their order and then, if they choose to eat in, they take a seat at one of several tables. So far so good.

Now note the two empty seats at the table, near the end of the line. The restaurant was full, and these were they only seats available. With about eight people standing in line, it is clear that those at the end of the line will likely not have a seat by the time they finish the ordering process.

What would typically happen in such cases? Those people at the end of the line, conveniently standing next to the empty seats, would try to first grab these seats, putting their coat or bag on the chairs, and only then proceed to order. Right?

Well, not in Japan. The people standing next to the two empty seats will (mostly) not grab them. Other people got there first, so it’s only right those people should have the seats. It’s called good manners.