{"id":5319,"date":"2009-12-06T09:35:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-06T00:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=5319"},"modified":"2009-12-06T09:36:39","modified_gmt":"2009-12-06T00:36:39","slug":"sapporo-source-debito-column-dec-2009-top-9-things-i-like-about-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=5319","title":{"rendered":"SAPPORO SOURCE DEBITO column Dec 2009: Top 9 Things I Like about Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>
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Hi Blog. \u00a0Time for a Sunday Tangent. \u00a0My latest tangental column in SAPPORO SOURCE — on the top nine things I like about Japan. \u00a0(It’s a Top Nine because that’s all I could fit within 900 words.)<\/p>\n

Download the entire issue of\u00a0SAPPORO SOURCE<\/a> here in pdf format. \u00a0Cover, scanned page, and text of the article follows. \u00a0Arudou Debito in Sapporo<\/span><\/p>\n

(Click on image to expand in browser)<\/em><\/p>\n

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TEXT AS FOLLOWS:<\/em><\/p>\n

JAPAN’S TOP NINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

SAPPORO SOURCE<\/strong> Column 6 to be published in December 2009 issue<\/p>\n

By Arudou Debito DRAFT SEVEN<\/p>\n

People often ask me, “Isn’t there something you like about Japan?”\u00a0 The answer is, plenty!\u00a0 Nine things I think Japan is peerless at:<\/p>\n

9) PUBLIC TRANSPORT<\/strong>.\u00a0 Overseas I’ve often said, “Drat, I need a car to get around!” \u00a0But even in Hokkaido, I can find a way (train, bus, taxi if necessary) to get somewhere, including the sticks, given a reasonable amount of time.\u00a0 Besides, in urban areas, how many cities the size of Tokyo can move millions around daily on infrastructure that is relatively clean, safe, and cheap? \u00a0Not that many.<\/p>\n

8) SEAFOOD<\/strong>. \u00a0Food in Japan is high quality, and it’s difficult to have a bad meal (even school cafeterias are decent). \u00a0World-class cuisine is not unique to Japan (what with Chinese, Italian, Thai, Indian, French\u2026), but Japan does seafood best.\u00a0 No wonder:\u00a0 with a longer history of fishing than of animal husbandry, Japan has discovered how to make even algae delicious! \u00a0Japanese eat more seafood than anyone else.\u00a0 Justifiably.<\/p>\n

7) ONOMATOPEIA<\/strong>. \u00a0I am a Japanese kanji nerd, but that’s only the bureaucratic side of our language.\u00a0 Now try gitaigo<\/em> and giseigo<\/em>\/giongo<\/em>, i.e. Japanese onomatopeic expressions. \u00a0We all know gussuri<\/em> and gakkari<\/em>. \u00a0But I have a tin ear for pori pori<\/em> when scratching the inside of my nose, or rero rero<\/em> when licking something, or gabiin<\/em> when agape? \u00a0Japanese as a language is highly contextualized (say the wrong word and bureaucrats sit on their hands), but the universe of expressiveness found in just a couple of repeated kana<\/em> is something I doubt I will ever master. \u00a0My loss.<\/p>\n

6) PACKAGING<\/strong>. \u00a0Stores like Mitsukoshi cocoon your purchase in more paper and plastic than necessary.\u00a0 But when you really need that cocoon, such as when transporting stuff, you’re mollycoddled.\u00a0 Japanese post offices offer boxes and tape for cheap or free. \u00a0Or try the private-sector truckers, like Yamato or Pelican, whom I would even trust with bubble-wrapping and shipping a chandelier across the country (for a reasonable price, too). \u00a0If you don’t know how to pack, leave it to the experts. \u00a0It’s part of the service. \u00a0Because as Mitsukoshi demonstrates, if it’s not packaged properly, it’s not presentable in Japan.<\/p>\n

5) CALLIGRAPHIC GOODS<\/strong>. \u00a0I’m used to crappy American Bic ballpoint pens that seize up in the same groove (and inexplicably ONLY in that groove, no matter how many times you retrace).\u00a0 But in Japan, writing instruments combine quality with punctiliousness:\u00a0 People prowl stationery stores for new models (with special buttons to advance the pencil lead, twirl cartridges for multiple colors, or multicolored ink that comes out like Aquafresh toothpaste) that they spotted in specialty stationery magazines (seriously!). \u00a0Maybe this is not so mysterious considering how precisely one has to write kanji — but I know of only two countries putting this fine a point on pens: \u00a0Germany (which has a huge market here), and Japan.<\/p>\n

4) GROUP PROJECTS<\/strong>. \u00a0Yes, working in groups makes situations inflexible and slow, but when things work here, they really work, especially a project calls for an automatic division of labor.<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0 In my former hometown of Nanporo my friends and I were politically active, and\u00a0we’d rent a room at the choumin<\/em> center for a town meeting.\u00a0 Before the meeting, people would show up early to set up chairs and tables. \u00a0Afterward, attendees would help put everything back before going home. \u00a0I’ve done presentations overseas and the attitude is more: \u00a0“Hey, you proles take care of the chairs — what are we paying you for?” \u00a0Sucks.\u00a0 Nice to be here, where pitching in often goes without asking.<\/p>\n

3) PUBLIC TOILETS<\/strong>.\u00a0 Sure, public conveniences exist overseas, but they are frequently hard to find (I think shoppers overseas must have enormous bladders) — and when found, look like they’ve been through Lebanon or Somalia. \u00a0Japan, however, generally keeps its toilets clean and unstinky.<\/p>\n

And pretty comfortable, too.\u00a0 Sure, I hate it when I’m turtle-heading and can only find Japan’s squatter-types. \u00a0But I also hate being trapped overseas in a stall where strangers can see my bare ankles under the door. \u00a0Besides, whenever I’m on the road in Japan and need a time-out, I head for the nearest handicapped toilet and bivouac. \u00a0Ah, a room to myself; it’s a love hotel for my tuchus.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0ANIME<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’ve read comic books since I was two years old, and I’ve long admired Japanimation and comic art.\u00a0 I can’t resist anime’s clean lines, sense of space and forcefulness, and storyboard style of storytelling.\u00a0 Once underrated overseas, Japan’s comics are now one of our largest cultural exports.\u00a0 Resistance is futile:\u00a0 Knockoffs are all over Cartoon Network (I love POWERPUFF GIRLS and SAMURAI JACK).<\/p>\n

Consider one knock-on benefit of a society so consumed by comic art:\u00a0 Japan’s average standards for drawing are very high. \u00a0I come from a society with an enormous standard deviation in artistic talent: \u00a0you either get stick figures or Pat Oliphants. \u00a0Here, however, consider this example:<\/p>\n

I once gave an exam at a Japanese university testing spatial vocabulary.\u00a0 I drew a room on the answer sheet and said, “Under the table, draw Doraemon.” \u00a0Amazingly, 98 of 100 students drew a clearly-recognizable Doraemon, most complete with propeller, collar bell, philtrum, and whiskers.\u00a0 Try getting people overseas to draw a recognizable Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, or even just Snoopy, and you’ll see how comparatively under-practiced drawing skills tend to be outside Japan.<\/p>\n

1) \u00a0ONSENS<\/strong>.\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 If you can get in.\u00a0 Ahem.<\/p>\n

900 WORDS<\/p>\n

================================<\/p>\n

\u25a0<\/strong>Arudou Debito<\/strong> is a columnist for the Japan Times and author of three books:\u00a0 Japanese Only: The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan<\/em> (English and Japanese versions), and Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants<\/em> (co-written with Akira Higuchi).\u00a0 His website, updated daily, is at www.debito.org<\/a>.\u00a0 An expanded version of this essay is at www.debito.org\/?p=2099<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time for a Sunday Tangent. My latest tangental column in SAPPORO SOURCE — on the top nine things I like about Japan.<\/p>\n

Download the entire issue of SAPPORO SOURCE here in pdf format. Cover, scanned page, and text of the article follows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,22,47,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-cultural-issue","category-food","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}