Interesting Bullets on Tokyo

1.  I have seen more cats than dogs on the streets of the city.
2.  Tokyo is clean - very little garbage on the streets (only visible in the early morning), few cigarette butts and no freaking gum wads stuck to sidewalks.  No graffiti either.  Anywhere.
3.  I have seen some homelessness, especially around Ueno, but no panhandling.
4.  What they say about making slurping sounds when eating noodles is true!  Slurp...LOUDLY.
5.  Those Pachinko Slot businesses are loud and brightly lit, holy cow.  A flood of noise comes out when the automatic sliding doors to one of those shops opens up and the street floods with white fluorescent light
6.  Dental Floss is real expensive for those small 50 yard boxes - 598 Yen
7.  People don't lock their bikes when they go into a shop
9.  People jay-walk - I found that surprising given my stereotypical view of the law abiding Japanese
10.  Seven year old kids walk or bike to school alone.
11.  Passengers are asked to not talk on their mobiles on the Yamanote Line, and to put them on vibrate.  Guess what?  I have not heard one phone ring nor a conversation.  It is a very quiet place that railroad.  Even when you are packed like a sardine.
12.  Sidewalks have yellow strips embedded in them to allow the blind to feel their way around.  You can feel these trips through your shoes.  Sort of a Braille for your feet.  How cool is that?  They are just about everywhere not just the major arteries.  Beer cans have Braille on their tops as well!
13.  I haven't seen any anger.  No raised voices.  People look thoughtful, in their world, polite, calm.
14.  The doors to the cabs open and close without the passenger needing to touch them.  The driver has some sort of mechanism, while remaining seated, to open and close them for you.
15.  Some restaurants have a button on the table used to call the waitress over.  She will not bug you unless you call her over.  No small talk like we are used in other countries.  Even if there is not one of these gadgets on your table they'll only bug you to take your order or if you call them over - "sumimasen!"
16.  Some street corners have a sign painted on them asking you not to smoke and walk.
17.  I felt safer in Tokyo, a city of 38 million in its metro area, than in Vancouver a city with 2 million or so.  Says something about the two places.
18.  I did not hear any sirens in Tokyo (police, ambulance or fire).  Contrast to Kyoto where I heard them regularly.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Comments

Sleepwalker said…
Those thoughts are like pearls - little pieces of a conversation we could be having. I really enjoyed this. I love everyday tidbits. It says a lot about a country and its people.
November 7, 2008 at 6:59 PM
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