Things I'll miss about Japan
Jul. 30th, 2008 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kodalaiToday's Engrish message is brought to you by one of my students. The lesson is about Harry Potter:
JK stands for Roanna Kathleen. She wanked indifferent more story.
That she does, Saeko. That she does.
Things I'll miss about Japan
I said I'd put up the list a little later, so here it is: Things I'll Miss About Japan. Partial list, obviously; just what springs to mind immediately. I'm sure I'll think of more things, that catch me by surprise, especially once I get back in the states, but here goes.
1) Karaoke
The USA does not understand karaoke. At all. A lot of people still have the image of dark and grotty, embarrassing public karaoke bars where you get up and sing in front of strangers. Not so! Modern Japanese karaoke is carried out in a small, well-air conditioned room with you and your best friends, a great selection of tunes, and all kinds of alcohol. Hell, some places serve pretty nice food, too (although sometimes it's pretty laughable; one karaoke place I went to had Pocky on the list. Yes, you could order Pocky, and they'd take it out of its box, arrange it in a wine glass, and serve it to you.)
The USA, insofar as it understands karaoke at all, is many years behind in this respect. :(
2) 100 yen stores
Not equivalent to our cheap and grungy "dollar stores" at all. Hyaku-en stores have pretty much everything you can imagine – and while it's not always the highest quality, it's never been less than perfectly serviceable (to say nothing of cute! See #7.) I do all my non-grocery consumable shopping here (soap, dish soap, sink filters, sponges, toilet paper, et cetera) for considerably less than I’d spend anywhere else.
3) Polite customer service
This is a big one. Oh, it's a big one. The difference between customer service in the USA and Japan simply cannot be expressed in words. I'll summarize by saying that they actually have it, and actually do it. And this doesn't only refer to retail outlets. Now that I'm about to travel again I'm bitterly reminded of the difference between Japanese security/customs agents and USA ones. The Japanese security agents are not one inch less diligent, but they are respectful.
4) Excellent national mass transit
Once I understood how to work the system, I could step on a train at any JR station in the country and be confident of getting anywhere else in the country without much trouble, on time, and in a clean and pleasant environment. Not that I didn't still miss having a car, for various reasons, but once again the mass transit available in Japan simply cannot be compared.
5) Personal safety
This is something that's a little more subtle to identify, because it's an absence of something (danger) rather than a presence of something. But I'll miss it all the same, just the general feeling of being able to assume, for the most part, that the people I meet are not going to haul off and try to mug me. Or that I can leave my front door unlocked for ten minutes while I run down to the conbini. Or that I can park my bike somewhere without double-cable-and-U-locking it to an immovable object, and it will still be there when I get back.
6) Natural beauty
Sigh. Once again something that can't be put in words. All climates and terrains have their own beauty. Even the California desert was beautiful in its own way. But Japan is beautiful in such a green and growing way. Mountains and rivers. And it's not just the natural terrain, but the Japanese lifestyle and aesthetic itself. The Japanese can do things with tiny, space-limited gardens that we can only dream about. Not that everything they build is beautiful, but there's definitely no lack of beauty. I’ll miss walking through a heavily municipal urban area, and suddenly coming across a 3' x 3' stone shrine that's at least 400 years old, carefully swept and adorned with flowers.
7) Cute
You might think that the country that invented Disney would have a monopoly on cute, but once again, like in karaoke, we're a long way behind the Japanese in terms of cute production. I’m not sure I can adequately describe the degree to which the Japanese have developed and integrated cute into their society. I think the best anecdote is this one:
Once, while wandering around in a national shrine complex park in Kyoto, I got a little turned around and wound up in the back maintenance areas where tourists are not supposed to go. I encountered a road which was chained off, with a sign hanging from the chain saying in block, bright red letters, that ACCESS WAS FORBIDDEN, and that TRESPASSERS WOULD BE PROSECUTED (in Japanese, of course.) This dire warning was accompanied by a stylized, adorable, happy-looking drawing of a cheerful young policeman waving a friendly little nightstick in my direction.
Pretty much everything in Japan is cute, and there are entire industries devoted to the production of it (which is why Hello Kitty and her associates at Sanrio are so inexplicable to most Americans, by the way. She's not supposed to do anything, she's not supposed to be anything except what she is – cute incarnate!) and what's really astonishing is that it doesn't grate on me the way that American cute does. I think it's because the ubiquity of cute here makes it plain that cute is not something reserved for children, or for young women, or for mothers with babies – I've seen professional salarymen carrying around industrial-looking cell phones with adorable Rirakkuma charms dangling from them. Cute is for everyone. It is everywhere. And I will miss it. ;_;
Pithy philosophical note to leave on: I don't think I over-idolize Japan. I've encountered a lot of roadblocks in my time here, and I'm not ignorant of the many deep societal problems they have. But nevertheless I think they are strong in many areas where the USA is weak. And vice versa, as well. The 'better' culture in a contest between them would be one that could emerge taking the best qualities of each.
If I'm not quoting Dave Barry here, I'm echoing him, when I say that the USA could learn a lot from Japan about cooperation and respect, and personal responsibility. And the Japanese could stand to learn a lot about individuality, forthrightness and innovation.
Nobody's perfect.
JK stands for Roanna Kathleen. She wanked indifferent more story.
That she does, Saeko. That she does.
Things I'll miss about Japan
I said I'd put up the list a little later, so here it is: Things I'll Miss About Japan. Partial list, obviously; just what springs to mind immediately. I'm sure I'll think of more things, that catch me by surprise, especially once I get back in the states, but here goes.
1) Karaoke
The USA does not understand karaoke. At all. A lot of people still have the image of dark and grotty, embarrassing public karaoke bars where you get up and sing in front of strangers. Not so! Modern Japanese karaoke is carried out in a small, well-air conditioned room with you and your best friends, a great selection of tunes, and all kinds of alcohol. Hell, some places serve pretty nice food, too (although sometimes it's pretty laughable; one karaoke place I went to had Pocky on the list. Yes, you could order Pocky, and they'd take it out of its box, arrange it in a wine glass, and serve it to you.)
The USA, insofar as it understands karaoke at all, is many years behind in this respect. :(
2) 100 yen stores
Not equivalent to our cheap and grungy "dollar stores" at all. Hyaku-en stores have pretty much everything you can imagine – and while it's not always the highest quality, it's never been less than perfectly serviceable (to say nothing of cute! See #7.) I do all my non-grocery consumable shopping here (soap, dish soap, sink filters, sponges, toilet paper, et cetera) for considerably less than I’d spend anywhere else.
3) Polite customer service
This is a big one. Oh, it's a big one. The difference between customer service in the USA and Japan simply cannot be expressed in words. I'll summarize by saying that they actually have it, and actually do it. And this doesn't only refer to retail outlets. Now that I'm about to travel again I'm bitterly reminded of the difference between Japanese security/customs agents and USA ones. The Japanese security agents are not one inch less diligent, but they are respectful.
4) Excellent national mass transit
Once I understood how to work the system, I could step on a train at any JR station in the country and be confident of getting anywhere else in the country without much trouble, on time, and in a clean and pleasant environment. Not that I didn't still miss having a car, for various reasons, but once again the mass transit available in Japan simply cannot be compared.
5) Personal safety
This is something that's a little more subtle to identify, because it's an absence of something (danger) rather than a presence of something. But I'll miss it all the same, just the general feeling of being able to assume, for the most part, that the people I meet are not going to haul off and try to mug me. Or that I can leave my front door unlocked for ten minutes while I run down to the conbini. Or that I can park my bike somewhere without double-cable-and-U-locking it to an immovable object, and it will still be there when I get back.
6) Natural beauty
Sigh. Once again something that can't be put in words. All climates and terrains have their own beauty. Even the California desert was beautiful in its own way. But Japan is beautiful in such a green and growing way. Mountains and rivers. And it's not just the natural terrain, but the Japanese lifestyle and aesthetic itself. The Japanese can do things with tiny, space-limited gardens that we can only dream about. Not that everything they build is beautiful, but there's definitely no lack of beauty. I’ll miss walking through a heavily municipal urban area, and suddenly coming across a 3' x 3' stone shrine that's at least 400 years old, carefully swept and adorned with flowers.
7) Cute
You might think that the country that invented Disney would have a monopoly on cute, but once again, like in karaoke, we're a long way behind the Japanese in terms of cute production. I’m not sure I can adequately describe the degree to which the Japanese have developed and integrated cute into their society. I think the best anecdote is this one:
Once, while wandering around in a national shrine complex park in Kyoto, I got a little turned around and wound up in the back maintenance areas where tourists are not supposed to go. I encountered a road which was chained off, with a sign hanging from the chain saying in block, bright red letters, that ACCESS WAS FORBIDDEN, and that TRESPASSERS WOULD BE PROSECUTED (in Japanese, of course.) This dire warning was accompanied by a stylized, adorable, happy-looking drawing of a cheerful young policeman waving a friendly little nightstick in my direction.
Pretty much everything in Japan is cute, and there are entire industries devoted to the production of it (which is why Hello Kitty and her associates at Sanrio are so inexplicable to most Americans, by the way. She's not supposed to do anything, she's not supposed to be anything except what she is – cute incarnate!) and what's really astonishing is that it doesn't grate on me the way that American cute does. I think it's because the ubiquity of cute here makes it plain that cute is not something reserved for children, or for young women, or for mothers with babies – I've seen professional salarymen carrying around industrial-looking cell phones with adorable Rirakkuma charms dangling from them. Cute is for everyone. It is everywhere. And I will miss it. ;_;
Pithy philosophical note to leave on: I don't think I over-idolize Japan. I've encountered a lot of roadblocks in my time here, and I'm not ignorant of the many deep societal problems they have. But nevertheless I think they are strong in many areas where the USA is weak. And vice versa, as well. The 'better' culture in a contest between them would be one that could emerge taking the best qualities of each.
If I'm not quoting Dave Barry here, I'm echoing him, when I say that the USA could learn a lot from Japan about cooperation and respect, and personal responsibility. And the Japanese could stand to learn a lot about individuality, forthrightness and innovation.
Nobody's perfect.
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 07:00 pm (UTC)My icon is from CuteOverload, which totally bows down to Japan and its superior production of cute.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 04:24 am (UTC)It’s also hard not to notice the bright, cheerful colors of cartoon signs everywhere, particularly in business logos. I was already aware of the popularity of manga in Japanese popular culture; but I cannot imagine American businesses doing this (they might use cartoon figures to sell, but not as the very symbol of the product. I am left wondering if there is a preoccupation with innocence, with the juvenile. Manga and anime might be new, but the sacred symbolic color of Japan is red, and the particular shade of red is a very bright, cheerful orange-red; and that has been around for a very long time. Even the sound of the spoken language (particularly by women), seems pitched to be cheerful and optimistic. Is there something to this?
This doesn't necessarily conflict with the idea that this is part of the painstaking efforts not to offend.