May
04

Dear Tokyo, Where are all the garbage cans?!

Allow me to introduce you to Tokyo

Tokyo is a city covering roughly 2,188 km² (844 sq miles) – metro.tokyo.jp
Tokyo has a population of around 13,189,000 people – metro.tokyo.jp
And Tokyo has roughly 6000 Convenience Stores (or Konbini) – Stats-Japan.com
And depending on the day, it isn’t considered rare to find outdoor food vendors scattered throughout the city.
But how many garbage cans?

Take a minute to imagine… It’s a beautiful crisp spring morning as you walk down the street with your konbini bag in one hand and your niku-man (steamed bun with meat inside) in the other~ The air is cool but refreshing, the birds are singing, and you are enjoying every single bite of this juicy and delicious konbini treat! Until… it comes time to throw out the wrapper.

Yes…  this is yet another post about the lack of public garbage cans in Japan (or Tokyo to be more specific).
And I thought long and hard about throwing together this post because… well… its been done. To speak more accurately, it’s been over-done. After a brief search, I was quickly able to find the following and many more:

From Metropolis Magazine:
http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyorantsravesarchive349/315/tokyorantsravesinc.htm
Suggests using peoples bicycle baskets as trash cans… o.O

Another Metropolis Post (found in JapanToday):
http://www.japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/talking-trash
More in-depth than the first post, and makes some very solid points

From Quora.com:
http://www.quora.com/Tokyo-Japan/Why-are-there-no-trash-cans-on-the-streets-in-Tokyo
Says it all started with an anti-terrorist campaign

From ThisJapaneseLife.org:
http://thisjapaneselife.org/2012/02/08/trash-cans-in-japan/
A lot less about the garbage cans, and a lot more about  the Aum cult and 1995 incident
(Worth taking the time to read)

From TokyoMango.com:
http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2010/01/please-take-your-trash-home-.html
A short post, but one that makes a good cultural point.

 

The point:
Finding a garbage can on the street in Tokyo, is not an easy task.
While there is never a konbini, McD, or restroom far away, you will be hard pressed to find yourself a trash can on the sidewalk, street corner, or train station.

There are a lot of great theories floating around (Anti-terrorism campaign, waste-disposal control, money-saving tactics of the Japanese government, litter reduction, cultural mindset, etc…) and many of them are clearly detailed in the articles above, but when I first noticed this phenomenon (which surprisingly took me quite a while), I asked a close Japanese friend of mine, and without even a second of hesitation he answered,
“Because we’re not supposed to be eating and walking anyways. Not to mention eating on the train. So why would they provide trash cans?! The konbini, fast food restaurants, and shops all have garbage cans. Heck, even most vending machines have bottle and can disposals beside them.”
I guess my opening scenario is a no go…

And as it has for many people at one point or another, this lack of garbage cans bugged me from time to time. But to be completely honest with you, after taking the time to look through all of the articles written about it, talk to a variety of people about it, and gain a more full and complete view, I no longer feel bothered by it like I did before (although I’m sure I will the next time I need to throw out a wrapper or yakitori stick ^_- ).
I guess ignorance isn’t always bliss after all~

And I guess this really wasn’t much of a rant…
Well, I can still always complain about the lack of spatial awareness in Japan!

 

overflowing tokyo trash can

Tokyo Trash Can

 

 

Apr
15

Pushy Japanese Oba-sans

We have all seen it at one point or another. You are getting on (or off) of a train, and a woman ranging from anywhere between her mid forty’s to her sixties, shoves by every single person just to get on the train and sit down.

These older women (or Oba-sans) can seem sweet and harmless, but it is there that the danger lies. Japanese people are known for being passive. They typically don’t show emotion, and they are more likely to walk away from any form of confrontation than to get into an argument, spat, or power struggle (especially in public).
These women have lived in this culture their entire lives and know this. And exploit it.
They are more than well aware that nobody is going to fight them. After all… it’s Japan… and … they’re women.

In fact, shortly after first arriving in Japan I was at a supermarket shopping for my dinner. I was young, working freelance, and pinching every penny that I could, so I always waited until around 7pm when the local supermarket discounted the meat! As I arrived in the meat section, I noticed that there was only one package of meat left and that it had been discounted by 50%!! I picked it up and went to put it in my shopping basket as I looked forward to the dinner that would follow, but magically, it never made it to the basket…

I got my first real taste of culture shock on this day as a Japanese woman well into her 40′s pulled the pack of meat right out from my hand and put it in her cart. Without so much as a look, she simply walked away. It was as if nothing happened…
Still in shock, I purchased the contents of my shopping basket and went home to eat a meat-less dinner.

But what happens when someone protests? What happens when someone finally stands up and says “Hey lady! I’m not gonna take that S#@&!” ? What happens when somebody shoves back??

Well… that’s where this post truly begins.
It all started with a seemingly quiet trip to Ikebukuro, a large and somewhat crowded shopping area in Tokyo, on a Saturday morning. I boarded the Yamanote line and managed to get myself a seat near the door. All was well and good until us Ikebukuro-b0und commuters went to get off the train….

As the doors opened, people waited to either side to allow for those exiting the train to do so with at least some ease. With the exception of just one woman. She was in her 50′s and had that crazy look in her eyes!

As people poured out of the train, she did everything she could to fight her way in. Looking like a salmon pushing its way upstream, she shoved past a man who was clearly having a bad day, and that’s when the unimaginable happened.
He shoved back.
It was a gentle shove, barely carrying the scent of frustration and even more barely noticeable to those not looking directly at the two, but what followed was something that will remain in my memory for years to come.

It started with a noise. A noise which at first resembled a grunt but quickly turned into a full and terrifying scream. Followed by what can only be described as nearly-profane language and a quick swing of her purse to the side of his head…

Everyone around stopped. Stunned. None of us could believe what just transpired. But more amazing was the fact that in the brief moment that it took us to recover, this woman had managed to get herself a seat. And not just any seat… my seat, right by the door. A cold shiver went down my spine and the train was gone. The moment had passed and would be remembered by all.

Now… It’s not every day that we get to see such incredible events in the gentle land of Japan, but its for exactly that reason that when they happen, they stand out.

The most dangerous part of it, is that you never know when its coming. Something as small as a sneeze could end up having you harassed by one of these Japanese middle-aged women, or even end up having you dragged to the police box (which if you read the post about what happened when I turned in a wallet, you will realize that as a foreigner, you don’t want to go to a police box for any reason other than perhaps asking directions)

After a quick search on youtube, I was able to find this video of middle-aged Japanese woman who was quite upset at an elderly woman simply for sneezing on her jacket:

I think one of the most common points that comes up when talking to Japanese friends about Japanese culture, is this point about pushy middle-aged Japanese women.
As I write this section, I am sitting in a JAL lounge in Narita Airport and right in front of me there is a Japanese woman in her early 60′s who just pushed her way to the front of the snack counter, and is currently filling her purse with “complimentary” snacks.

Now… I could spend another 500+ words talking about how this pattern could possibly relate to a Japanese female “mid-life crisis”, or how it could be a release or overcompensation for a lifetime of ‘gamman‘ (the Japanese practice of holding back or self control), or even how it could potentially be a back-lash from decades of taking crap…

I could get more into this… But I won’t!

Instead, I am going to open up the floor to all of you~
If you have a story or two, share them in the comments section below!!

Apr
02

The Japan Rants – Official Launch

Ok…

I would like to introduce The Japan Rants. I’m going to start by saying that I am a Japan lover. Always have been and always will be. My posts, are meant to be a source of entertainment, and perhaps give a person or two something to relate to. Japan is a country just like any other, and along with this there is good and bad. We can only enjoy our lives by accepting both of these in the place we choose to live. And the day that you find that you are unable to balance the good with the bad in Japan, is the day you should probably leave the country.

Some of my posts will be just for laughs, and some will be a little deeper.
As the site is just getting started, I welcome and encourage comments and feedback of any kind~

So without further adieu, I would like to introduce you to my first 5 posts:

1. Japanese Gold Diggers
The title might lead you to think its about women… but its not!

2. Japanese People and Spatial Awareness
This post gets into the hidden danger of Walking around Tokyo and the complete and utter lack/disregard Japanese people in this city tend to have for the people and objects around them.

3. The Little Pervert
I had to stop this post part-way through… A story of a 14 year old boy who tried to sexually harass a girl on the train right in front of my very eyes. The real kicker: The train wasn’t even crowded…

4. N0 ID? No Problem! Its Japan!
Have you ever been ID’d in Japan? If you have, chances are they were just messing with ya~

5. Why I No Longer Help People In Tokyo
 A little story about one of the events that lead me to believe its better just to stay out of things while in Tokyo.
I have spent weeks thinking over when and how to release the site. My biggest concern has been that I constantly have new examples, anecdotes, and  media that I would love to add.
So, I will protect myself right from the start by saying: There Will Be Updates!

Each of the original 5 posts are starting points. And I can only hope that you stick around and grow with us~

I encourage anyone and everyone to subscribe, and if you’re not already, check out my Twitter @TheJapanRants

 

Apr
02

No ID? No Problem! It’s Japan!

For those of you living in Japan, allow me to ask you a question…

When was the last time you were ID’d for something?
And when I ask this, I mean being ID’d for alcohol or tobacco, not being ID’d for just being foreign (^_-) 

In a land where alcohol and cigarettes are served up in vending machine format (mind you the cigarette machines have been ID’ing people lately…), it’s not entirely rare to see a group of 17-19 year-olds sitting in an Izakaya (Japanese-style… bar/restaurant), yelling out ‘Kanpai!” (Cheers!) as they raise their beer glasses in the air. [Just a note... The Japanese legal age of drinking is 20]

And while this isn’t something that particularly bugs me, I couldn’t help but be taken back last night when I went to the local, Konbini (Convenience Store) to grab some alcoholic beverages and was asked by the store clerk (who was about 15) to touch the ‘Yes’ button on a digital screen confirming that I am old enough to drink.
And that was it.
The screen asked me “Are you old enough to drink?”,  I push the button for “Yes”, and I’m on my way.
And while there is slim chance that I look younger than 20 years old, I still cant help but feel that the whole setup nothing more than an exercise in futility…

Now, if I were to think of this from the perspective of an 18-year-old university student living on my own in a city that prompts people to write “ranting” blogs, I would think this to be a wonderful feature of the city and culture that I live in. But sadly, not everyone is going to see it that way..

Now… I have additional anecdotes, and photos that I WILL be adding within the next week or so… But, were off to a start at least!
And so once again I open up the floor to you. What are your thoughts?

Apr
02

Why I Avoid Helping People in Tokyo

I was always raised to believe that we should help our fellow man. If someone is struggling, we should assist. If someone is in trouble, we should help. If someone drops something, we should pick it up for them.
But after years in Tokyo I have learned that this is not the case.

Speaking more accurately, it would be safe to say that this is not the case if you want to live a normal and happy life. Time and time again I have been through experiences that have proven to me that helping other people in Tokyo is more trouble than it’s worth. I have seen countless examples of this in a wide variety of situations ranging from being detained for three and a half hours after trying to help a woman who was suddenly grabbed by a guy on the train (while other ‘Japanese’ who helped were released within minutes), to having the better part of my afternoon eaten away because I decided to turn in a wallet I found on the ground.

And that’s where we will start this post. A seemingly harmless wallet. Sitting on the ground. I see it. I stop. I think. And then I make a terrible decision… I think to myself “whoa… a wallet. That’s pretty important… I better turn that in!“. (stupid, Stupid, Stupid).

It was a Sunday morning around 11 am. I’ll never forget that because I was on my way out to meet some friends that I hadn’t seen in years and we were going to have lunch together at noon. I was on my way to the station when I found a simple black wallet laying on the ground. With the koban (police box) being only about 100-200 meters away, I thought I would quickly drop it off before I hopped on the train. So I picked it up, and swung into the koban.

The initial reaction of the police was to greet me with a smile and to clear off the table where they keep the map, probably assuming that I was there to ask directions .  Anyone who has spent a long enough time in Tokyo, will tell you that the police are always much more friendly if they think you’re a tourist (For more tips on how to deal with Japanese police, please subscribe and wait for my post Japanese Police).

But the moment that I presented the wallet and began to explain (in Japanese) that it was found on the ground roughly 200 meters from here, things changed. For the most part, the majority of the officers were seemingly fine with the situation, however 2 of them stood staring at me as if I had just committed murder.

One of the nicer officers pulled out a form and asked me to take a seat. He had me fill out the form with my name, number, address, and details about where the wallet was found. All of this was simple enough, but part way through, one of the less-than-happy-to-see-me officers came up and picked up the paper. He took a good long look at my name and asked me to present my foreign registration card. As I went to hand it to him he quickly and aggressively snatched/swiped it out of my hand, bent it back and forth, checked the hologram, and then proceeded to call in a check on me.

Needless to say I was shocked. But since I knew nothing bad was going to turn up, I sat back and waited.
And while I waited he went into the back. He still had the lost-item-form that I had filled out, and was looking through a shelf of binders. Finally he pulled one out, and pulled it down. He then asked me if the address I had written down was my real address. I told him it was, and he replied with “Then…. if that’s the case, please point out your house to me on this map”. I did this with ease, and he proceeded to drop the binder on the table in front of me and flip through the pages. Finally he stopped at one that seemed somehow familiar.

“Is this your house?”. he asked.
“Yea”, I responded.
“Then which one of these rooms is yours? hmm?”, he said with a bit of a sarcastic tone.
“My room number is on the damn registration card. Figure it out for yourself.”, I replied with just as much attitude as he gave me (in retrospect, probably not one of my better ideas, and there’s a good chance I made things more difficult for myself by doing so)
“So you don’t know? You can’t point it out?”, he snapped back at me. Clearly frustrated with the attitude I had fed him.
“It’s this one, ok.”, I said pointing to my room.

He spent the next 5 or so minutes filling out some form from that binder, while looking at my alien registration card. After which he spent the next 10 minutes on the phone with the binder, the paper, and my card in front of him. Needless to say, I was getting pretty stressed out.

I had already been in this koban for about 20 minutes now, and I was pretty sure I was going to be late.

Finally, he came out from his desk in the back, and dropped a form that had a series of empty boxes and a pad of black ink in front of me.

“One by one, put your fingers in the ink, and then mark your fingerprint in the corresponding box”, he said as if I had just been arrested or something.
“Is this necessary? Do I really have to do this?!”, I responded as I got more and more irritated by the situation.
“Are you trying to hide something?”, he shot back in an antagonizing manner.
“Whatever, this is BS”, I mumbled as I started to mark my finger prints on the page.

At this point I was about as upset as I could be, and to make matters worse, he didn’t even bring me a tissue to wipe my hands with.
Finally, I asked him to get me a tissue, and he laughed with a “hmmphh” and walked away…
After 2 minutes of wondering if he was coming back, he came back and dropped a single tissue onto my lap.

“I need to confirm that you don’t have any dangerous items on you. Would you empty your pockets and allow me to pat you down?”, he asked in a tone that made it clear that I didn’t really have a choice.
“Yea yea, whatever. Just hurry up”, I said trying to stop my hand from clenching into a fist with frustration.

I emptied my pockets, and even let him empty out my wallet onto the table (which he later mad me clean up).

“You don’t have your passport on you?”, he asked as he patted me down.
“Do you? Who carries their passport with them 24/7!?”, I spit out without a thought.
“What type of visa are you on?”, he asked. Now looking me right in the eyes.
I told him my visa type and pointed out once again, that such information can be found on my alien registration card which he still held in his hand.
“But you don’t have your passport on you?”, again he wasn’t even looking at me.
“Are you kidding me?! Like seriously. Is this how you treat everyone who turns in lost property?!”, I practically yelled at him.
“So then where is your passport?”, he asked completely ignoring my explosion.
“Hmmm… I wonder where it could be. Maybe… Home. Where the hell else would I leave it!?”
“Ok. Well, you claim to live around here, so why don’t we go get it.” he said back to me.
“Why the hell do you need my passport anyway?”
“Because I need to see your visa stamp and verify that you are here legally”,  he said with a bit of a grin on his face.
“Listen, I need to go. I am already late for meeting someone”
“I need your passport. So let’s go” he said, gesturing towards the door as he exited the koban.

I figured that sitting here arguing with him wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I decided to get up and walk with him to my place. Another officer accompanied us, and as I walked down the street, I couldn’t help but wonder to myself what my neighbors would think if they saw me being escorted by 2 uniformed officers.

We finally arrived at my house, and they followed me right into the building. In fact if it wasn’t for a slightly similar incident several months before, they would have managed to step right into my room. But this time I knew that they didn’t have the legal right to enter my actual room and managed to hold them at bay with the fact that I knew that.
I stepped into my room and closed the door behind me, and yet our fine officer had the nerve to open it right back up.

“Close the f***ing door! I’m not cooling the whole building!”, I snapped at him from inside. Hoping that he wouldn’t notice that I didn’t even have the cooler on right now.

It’s not that I had anything to hide, but rather I just couldn’t bring myself to a point where I didn’t want to piss him off at least a little.

I quickly emerged from my room with my passport, and before I could even present it to him, he reached down and snatched it out of my hand.
We made our way back to the koban, and he kept my passport in his hand the entire time.
When we got back, he asked me to take a seat, and he went into the back, sat down, opened up my passport, and picked up the phone.

For the better part of an hour I sat. He spent 5 minutes on the phone, 40+ minutes talking to the other officers and looking through binders, and then another 2 minutes or so on the phone.
Finally he came out and literally tossed my passport and foreign registration card onto the table in front of me and then pulled up my lost-item-form.

“What was in the wallet when you found it?”, he asked as he stared right at me.
“I don’t really know. I only looked briefly to check if it was discarded or dropped”, I said calmly.
“So you didn’t take anything from it?”, he asked, absolutely flooring me with the directness of his question.
“You checked my pockets right?!? You even went through my wallet. Does it look like I took anything?! SERIOUSLY, What the hell is wrong with you?!”, I practically yelled.
“hmmph. haha. relax relax”, he said with a condescending laugh. He was obviously pleased that he had gotten the better of me.

After about another 10 minutes or so of confirming my story of where and how I found the wallet, he finally told me that I was free to go in a tone that would imply that the whole thing was no big deal.

 

Now… For the sake of getting The Japan Rants up and running, I will stop this post here for now and add my personal thoughts and reflections at a later date. But Don’t let that stop you from tossing in your thoughts now~

 


Apr
02

The Little Pervert

It was that hour of the day where the sun is painting everything in the city a beautiful shade of orange as I boarded the train. All of the seats were taken, but the train wasn’t what I would call crowded.  I stood in the middle of the area where the doors were, and put in my headphones. I had just finished an interview with a fairly famous musician about an hour before, and was looking forward to getting home.
Standing 2 or 3 steps away from me to my right was a girl of about 23 in a short skirt and tall boots. Deadly combo. She had a sweet face, but I guessed she probably worked as a hostess somewhere. I shifted my focus off of her and onto the recording of my interview.

At the next station, a young boy of about 14 years old wearing a school uniform boarded the train.
And this… is where things started.

As the kid boarded the train, he stood behind her at a distance that couldn’t have been more than a few centimeters. This stood out. The train wasn’t all that crowded and he was in plain view of everyone. And everyone noticed. But this is Japan, which means that just as quickly as they noticed, they switched to pretending that they saw nothing.
You know what they say… Ignorance is bliss.
But the girl noticed and she took about 2 steps closer to the door. It would seem that she couldn’t maintain the same blissful state as the other passengers. And if this had been any normal day, or any normal 14 year old Japanese kid, the story might have stopped there.
But instead, the young guy waited about 10 seconds and reached up to grab the handle near the do0r. As he did this he ever-so-slyly moved himself back into position, almost pressed up against this girl.
Much to my surprise, she did nothing. For almost a full minute she remained exactly where she was with this little Japanese boy pressed up against her. But as we arrived at the next station, she took this as an opportunity to maneuver herself into the corner space created by the intersection of the doors and the seats.
As soon as the door closed, he moved in again. Just as sly as last time. But this time, pressed right up against her.

Now… From the moment this started, everyone on the train noticed. And yet nobody reacted. Nobody said a thing, and nobody did a thing.  In fact, I started to wonder if I was going crazy or completely misreading the situation. In fact the little f***er even had the balls to not only make, but hold eye contact with me several times in the reflection of the glass.  His face and eyes carrying an expression that would imply that nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
I was confused.
Was I really seeing this?! Should I say something?! Do something?!

And that’s when the situation changed a little. He started to bend his knees and actually rub up against her, and this was when I caught a glimpse of her face. It was no longer sweet, but instead she looked furious, and was pouring sweat.

Now, I have a standing promise with myself to not get involved in other peoples issues here in Japan. In Japan (especially in Tokyo) making an attempt to help someone out, can often turn around on you and make for a very long and stressful day. (See “Why I No Longer Help People in Tokyo“). But this was a little more than I was willing to take.

I lightly grabbed him by his back pack and only meant to pull him backwards, but when I noticed, I had partially lifted him off the ground to the point where his toes were barely touching. I thought to myself that I should stop, but for some reason I just didn’t care in that moment. There I stood in front of everybody holding this boy who now looked like a cat being held by the scruff of its neck, and I just couldn’t care less that they were all staring. I remember myself thinking “A girl is getting felt up on the train, and you all do nothing, but NOW you stare?!?“.

With him still in the air, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. I gave him 2 options, neither one particularly attractive, but the later of the 2 at least allowed him to escape without any real damage being done.
He froze and said nothing. People were still staring and I was becoming increasingly more aware of my situation and the number of people watching me.
And then, he finally gave in (and I let go). He went with the second option (which was a very public-style apology). Right there in front of everyone in the train, he dropped down on his hands and knees and apologized to the girl (which in retrospect was not as good of an idea as I had originally hoped considering this only served to embarrass her further >_<). After his apology, he remained in his bow for what felt like an eternity (but in reality was probably less than 15 seconds)

As the doors opened at the next station, the young boy got off and disappeared at a speed that I can only describe as impressive considering his size.
He was gone, but I was still stuck on the train with this girl and all the witnesses. I really should have gotten off with him. Hindsight is always 20/20…

As the train finally arrived at its last stop the girl turned to me over her shoulder and took a moment to thank me. We are friends to this day, and it turns out that I was right about her job (^_-). (I still think her choice of outfit that day was… well… problematic to say the least. But that’s for another post).

At the end of this I was left feeling shocked, flabbergasted, and having a lot less faith in humans than I did when I left home that day (which is pretty bad considering that those numbers are already running pretty low…).
I found myself truly concerned with this country and what it’s coming to.
Honestly, what does it say when a kid of that age is already taking part in these type of activities?!

This incident was actually one of the main moments that inspired this website.
I wonder what that little 14 year old is doing now… On second thought, probably better not to think about it.

Apr
02

Japanese People and Spatial Awareness

I’ll start by admitting that the name for this post technically should read “Japanese People and Their Complete and Absolute Lack of Spatial Awareness”.
And if Japan (especially Tokyo) were a place filled with wide open spaces and plenty of room to frolic, I probably wouldn’t be writing this post. Yet alas, it is not.
And by this point, you probably already have a fairly good idea of what this post is about, so I’ll jump right into it…

Two Words: Excuse Me (or sumimasen in Japanese … technically.. one word in this case).
The words you will very rarely hear and soon give up on saying when walking the streets, train stations, hallways, or even bathrooms of Japan’s ever-so-crowded Tokyo.

I challenge you. Each and every one of you here in the city of Tokyo to go out for a day and take a count at the number of people who bump into you, or would bump into you if you didn’t make a point of getting out of their way.
Heck, if you want a real spatial awareness in Japan challenge, try running around the imperial palace in Tokyo!
Or at the very least, take some time to sit down almost anywhere in the core of the city and watch the number of people who bump into each other.

And while on one hand, Japanese people’s complete and utter lack of spatial awareness seems to fade into the background and become something that you may not even take not of, on the other hand it can really get on your nerves after a while. When I first came to Japan, I thought for sure that this was something that I was either imagining or something that I would get used to with time. Most Japanese people don’t even seem to notice.

I have seen cameras and cellphones broken, elderly people knocked down, and children hit in the face on more occasions that I can count. It’s downright dangerous.
In fact the other day I was talking to one of my Japanese friends, and while talking to me he backed right into some poor old woman and nearly knocked her over.

The problem is so tied into the Japanese lifestyle (at least in Tokyo), that major train lines such as Tokyo Metro, even put up posters reminding people to be a little more careful.

Tokyo Metro Poster - Japanese Spacial Awareness

Tokyo Metro Poster - Japanese Spatial Awareness

This particular poster (above), comes from a fairly common issue of people with rolling bags. If you have ever been to Tokyo station, you will be able to relate to this pretty easily.

One of my personal favorite examples of this lack of spatial awareness has always been the people who stand beside the seats on the train. Whether it be their arm, their jacket, their back, or simply their a$$, they are usually hitting the person sitting on the corner seat, in the head with something…

On account of all of this, trains can be a pretty unsafe place if you really think about it.

More often than not I stop to think about how difficult, not to mention outright dangerous it must be for pregnant women to simply go out or even get on a train…

I originally believed that living in a place surrounded with people at all times would heighten one’s spatial awareness and strengthen the use of their peripheral vision and the senses that they use to monitor their surroundings… But Nope.

Now, I’m not going to go into this big long post about cultural and psychological elements that factor into this (although I do possess both the necessary knowledge and linguistic capabilities to do so…), but rather open up the floor to you, the readers to give me your thoughts, opinions and experiences on this.

Or… I’ll go ahead and do an..

————-
UPDATE!:
————-

Ok, so I decided to do what I should have done in the first place, and actually looked online for peoples thoughts on this. And of course, with absolute minimal searching I manage to find several forums with people posting and ranting about just this issue~
You can find a few of them here:
http://www.outpostnine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6782
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?64631-Utter-lack-of-spatial-awareness-in-Japanese-people

In addition to this, I was able to find a video that got me laughing pretty good.
It’s worth watching clear through till the end (the last 2 are probably the best)

But the video really got me thinking…

A video like this shows a perfect and quite interesting point: There IS a lighter side to everything that bothers us. (^-^)

In this case, the lighter side is that people can be used to conduct a modern-day pavlov’s dog experiment with surprisingly definitive results!

But this video also brings up a point that I have thought to be true for quite some time. It’s not so much that Japanese people have a lack of spatial awareness as it is that Japanese people (primarily in Tokyo) just don’t care anymore.

Have you ever tried to apologize every time you bump into someone, step on someones foot, lightly knock someones bag, etc…? When I first came to Japan, I did! For about a week…
And by the end of that week, I started to think of how incredibly senseless it was to apologize for everything.
In anticipation of updating this post, I searched through my things this morning and pulled out my old journal…
In the last 3 days of my apologetic week, I had roughly kept track of how many times I apologized per day… and it was… well, a lot.
And this got me to thinking,
Let’s say on average, each person in Tokyo, bumps into people or makes accidental physical contact a minimum of 5-10 times a day.
And now, let’s imagine that each and every one of these people apologizes for this each and every time…
Can you imagine how noisy this would get?! Or how tired you would get of hearing and making apologies?!?

And so… we give up. We stop apologizing.
In fact, most of us gaijin gave up on this in the first month (if not the first week).
But I think that the difference lies in one point: Most of us… still care.
Most foreigners I know, will go out of their way to make sure that they don’t bump into people, or take up too much space on a train seat.
But you get people who have lived in Tokyo since birth, and bumping into people becomes a part of daily life. They become desensitized, and bumping becomes much more than just bumping…
In fact, a few of the other gaijin I have spoken to, say that they make a very clear effort not to bump into anyone, simply so they don’t end up in a koban with a Japanese person claiming the foreigner hurt them..

I could honestly sit here and keep writing about this for pages and pages, but more than anything, I would love to get your thoughts on this. So please take the time to drop in a comment below!

 

Feb
20

Hello from Japan

Hello to all of you in and outside of the land of Japan.

Allow me to start by making one thing clear. I Love Japan. I always have and I always will.
But like anyone who has spent any amount of time in Japan will tell you, there are things that bug, bother, annoy, shock, disturb, and enrage those who hold this country dear to their hearts (this includes Japanese and non-Japanese alike).

Like many, I have been in love with this land of mystery and beauty for pretty much as long as I can remember, and not for a single day has that changed.

But…
From time to time… stuff… well.. bugs me.

And so I introduce you to The Japan Rants.

I cant promise they will always be pretty, and I cant promise you will like or agree with every post.
But I can promise they will be honest, often controversial, and full of heart!

Chances are, as time goes by, posts will be edited, updated, changed, and injected with additional anecdotes, photos, and videos.

So sit back, grab a snack and join the fun.

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