the roads are getting nearer

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

` Wednesday, July 13, 2005

1. There are absolutely no dustbins lining the Tokyo streets nor train stations. C had kindly offered a possible explanation that similar to London, this situation may be attributable to the fear of extremists placing bombs in well-hidden areas a.k.a. in the bins. Ended up lugging pieces of litter in my bag until I returned to the hotel room.
Lesson learnt: Attribute reluctance to litter to overzealous (but strangely effective) anti-littering national campaigns back home. Learn to appreciate the wonders of the omnipresent dustbin in Singapore.

2. Lunching alone is not a phenomenally uncommon activity. Ladies (not just solo business travellers) are happy to sit through 3-course meals without having a companion at hand.
Lesson learnt: Ladies who lunch, you are not alone. Literally.

3. Free expression and creativity can be inspired in possibly repressed children unbeknownst to their clueless parents. Evidenced at Harajuku, where teens decked out in bizarre comic-book transformations linger around hoping to catch the cameras of curious tourists.
Lesson learnt: You'd never know if your kid had milkmaid / gothica / cross-dressing / superhero aspirations. Until too late.

4. Trains (including the Shinkansen and subway) arrive on the dot and rarely stop for more than a minute at any station. People do wait and make way for passengers to get off the trains.
Keep left on escalators or risk getting run over by overzealous office workers at rush-hour time.

5. 100-yen shops contain the most un-useful thingamajigs known to mankind, but somehow abstract rationalisation will ensure that you end up with at least one such item bound for cold storage back home.

Comments:

YES and NO
Yes-- "there are absolutely no dustbins lining the Tokyo streets nor train stations".
No--- AUM Japanese terrorism was an excuse to remove the very VERY few waste bins back in the early 90s. Japanese just throw their trash on the ground or in their pockets. Japanese government has ALWAYS hated things that cost money like waste bins. Store owners and home owners have to chase after litter in fornt of places all the time.

--Taro, who is picking up more litter right now, arrrg
http://news.3yen.com/

# posted by

Anonymous : Wednesday, July 13, 2005 10:42:00 am

Thanks for the interesting insight, although I'm mighty impressed that despite the absence of bins the country's streets are amazingly litter-free.

# posted by

sPuTneeK : Wednesday, July 13, 2005 12:22:00 pm

Haha, for your information, you can take comfort in the fact i ended up with at least 120 such 100 yen items on my last trip from 2 different shops, both in akihabara.

# posted by

cLaiRe : Wednesday, July 13, 2005 1:24:00 pm