Japan compared to the West
I will try to point out here some of the differences between Japan and the West, both bad and good, that I've noticed during my travels in Japan.
For starters, much of the Japanese TV programming is incredibly cheesy, even compared to our unspectacular programming here. Much of their local programming consists of cheesy game shows, poorly made TV shows that often seem like soap operas shot on a digital camera, discussion shows and pop idle like shows.
What's really amazing about Japanese people is the self-motivation and the unmatchable quality of service they provide. Just like here, many people in Japan work hard and long hours, but from what I'm told, the most amazing thing is that they are NOT forced by their managers to work harder/longer hours as employees are here; they are self-motivated to succeed and try to be as good as they can be at their job; hence, they choose to work long hours!
In addition, the quality of service you get at a Japanese restaurant, convenience store, etc is quite amazing and unlike in North America people are sincere when they thank you and seem to truly enjoy their job; even in a fast food restaurant like McDonalds the employees are incredibly friendly and kind. Imagine for a second that you come to a convenience store or a supper market to ask for directions and the servant leaves his store and walks for a 1km to show you the place you are looking for, that just doesn't happen here! But in Japan this happened to us on several occasions.
Despite this, there are also a lot of inefficiencies. There are a lot of people who just stand around sometimes looking pretty and sometimes just doing unnecessary jobs; the good thing about this is that in a highly populated country a lot more people are employed. I was told a joke about this: "How many Japanese people does it take to screw a lightbulb? ... 5 people ... 2 to hold the latter, 1 to screw the light bulb and 2 to stand and make sure that no one disturbs the others".
I got the impression that it is extremely safe in Japan and I felt safe there day or night no matter where we were, which is a lot more than I can say for most places in North America. Even when walking among the many drunk businessmen or in sketchy areas like the red light districts, etc you feel very safe. The impression I got is that the modern day Japanese are very nonviolent, nonconfrontational and self-controlled people.
Some of the technology there is much more advanced than ours; they have in-car navigation systems (even in cheaper cars) and a TV that comes in the car w/ basic channels. The mobile phones are extremely advanced; you can watch TV on them, find out where a product in a supermarket was made, and not to mention an extensive train system so precise and so advanced that you won't believe your eyes.
The vending machines in Japan are amazing; there are vending machines w/ drinks practically every 10m and there is an enormous amount of choices unequal anywhere else I've seen before. In addition to that they have specialty vending machines where you can buy hot food (fries, etc), hot drinks, ice cream, underwear, toilet paper, noodles, etc.
It seems that Japan has a really poor banking system. I was astonished to find that it is extremely difficult to find an ATM in Japan to accept foreign cards! The entire time there, we were using the specially designated Post Office ATMs and foreign bank ATM machines. In addition I was told that the local banks don't even have a communication network between each other; so a person w/ a bank card from bank A will not be able to withdraw money from bank B! If I remember correctly from my Econ class, the Japanese banking system was cited as one of the main reasons for Japan's economical problems in the 90s and now I see why.
Tags
Japan West Travel the West Bank System Self motivation Vending Machines technology service cellphones safety
Inefficiencies train system
TV
For starters, much of the Japanese TV programming is incredibly cheesy, even compared to our unspectacular programming here. Much of their local programming consists of cheesy game shows, poorly made TV shows that often seem like soap operas shot on a digital camera, discussion shows and pop idle like shows.
What's really amazing about Japanese people is the self-motivation and the unmatchable quality of service they provide. Just like here, many people in Japan work hard and long hours, but from what I'm told, the most amazing thing is that they are NOT forced by their managers to work harder/longer hours as employees are here; they are self-motivated to succeed and try to be as good as they can be at their job; hence, they choose to work long hours!
In addition, the quality of service you get at a Japanese restaurant, convenience store, etc is quite amazing and unlike in North America people are sincere when they thank you and seem to truly enjoy their job; even in a fast food restaurant like McDonalds the employees are incredibly friendly and kind. Imagine for a second that you come to a convenience store or a supper market to ask for directions and the servant leaves his store and walks for a 1km to show you the place you are looking for, that just doesn't happen here! But in Japan this happened to us on several occasions.
Despite this, there are also a lot of inefficiencies. There are a lot of people who just stand around sometimes looking pretty and sometimes just doing unnecessary jobs; the good thing about this is that in a highly populated country a lot more people are employed. I was told a joke about this: "How many Japanese people does it take to screw a lightbulb? ... 5 people ... 2 to hold the latter, 1 to screw the light bulb and 2 to stand and make sure that no one disturbs the others".
I got the impression that it is extremely safe in Japan and I felt safe there day or night no matter where we were, which is a lot more than I can say for most places in North America. Even when walking among the many drunk businessmen or in sketchy areas like the red light districts, etc you feel very safe. The impression I got is that the modern day Japanese are very nonviolent, nonconfrontational and self-controlled people.
Some of the technology there is much more advanced than ours; they have in-car navigation systems (even in cheaper cars) and a TV that comes in the car w/ basic channels. The mobile phones are extremely advanced; you can watch TV on them, find out where a product in a supermarket was made, and not to mention an extensive train system so precise and so advanced that you won't believe your eyes.
The vending machines in Japan are amazing; there are vending machines w/ drinks practically every 10m and there is an enormous amount of choices unequal anywhere else I've seen before. In addition to that they have specialty vending machines where you can buy hot food (fries, etc), hot drinks, ice cream, underwear, toilet paper, noodles, etc.
It seems that Japan has a really poor banking system. I was astonished to find that it is extremely difficult to find an ATM in Japan to accept foreign cards! The entire time there, we were using the specially designated Post Office ATMs and foreign bank ATM machines. In addition I was told that the local banks don't even have a communication network between each other; so a person w/ a bank card from bank A will not be able to withdraw money from bank B! If I remember correctly from my Econ class, the Japanese banking system was cited as one of the main reasons for Japan's economical problems in the 90s and now I see why.
Tags
Japan West Travel the West Bank System Self motivation Vending Machines technology service cellphones safety
Inefficiencies train system
TV
posted by Alex Pilchin at 2:35 PM
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