general life in japan

lots of stuff i forgot to mention...

-post office banking

the only atms that will accept my visa bank card...unfortunately they arent 24 hours though. almost all post offices are closed on the weekends and during the week are only open until 5:30. there are lots of regular banks in japan but some people still keep money in these government post offices.

-the ritual of shopping in japan

as soon as you step foot inside any shop of any kind atleast 1 if not all the store workers will greet you, throughout the store in fact, and when you reach the register the cashier will say welcome, good morning/afternoon/evening, you must be tired etc etc give you chopsticks, spoons, ice for your frozen goods, and then everyone will thank you, bow, and tell you to come back again etc. ive never seen such amazingly clean and orderly stores before. fruits/vegetables are usually pre-wrapped and priced so no weighing. you bag your own stuff unless it`s a small amount and so you never have to wait in line very long. even better there are lots of 100¥ shops sometimes 2 or 3 floors of pretty much anything you can think of.

-public transportation

there are no flat rates. train fare is based on how far you`re going and which lines you ride. you pay fare using a big map (most likely written in chinese characters unless youre in a very large station) showing a price for each stop based on the station youre currently located in. if you get off at a different stop that costs a different price you cant leave the station until you get a new ticket using a fare adjustment machine. the lowest fare is always 160¥ (just about 1.60 at the current exchange rate) and usually you pay this if youre only going 1 or 2 stops away. i ride this old local train line 5 stops (15 min) and then take a 10-15 min. bus ride to the research lab. if the company hadnt bought me a bus and train pass i would have to pay around $10.50 per day to get to/from work. even if i walked to the closet JR (national railway) train station i would only save $3. the bus is also based on where you get on and where you get off. you pick up a ticket when you board and there`s a display showing the prices based on the next stop and the number shown on your ticket. you pay when you get off.

cabs can only be caught at designated cab stations i.e. in front of train stations, hotels, big tourist spots. all are the same price, look exactly the same, and the base fare is a little more than $6, you get exact change back and no tipping. you never tip on anything in japan (not even at the hilton :), and displayed prices always incl ude taxes.

so traveling in japan is really expensive but everything is extremely punctual, clean, organized, and high tech (i.e. ads in tokyo trains are displayed digitally w/ video and audio). you can of course buy all kinds of discounted train and bus passes and save a lot of time and money. on a slightly different note some of the gas stations have gas inside the roof of the station and pumps hang down from the ceiling saving a lot of space.

-hitachi research lab`s fire department competition

the company has it`s own fire department and every year late 20-30somethings train for a month for this special fire station competition btw 6 squads. several men in my department were involved and so i watched some of it a few weeks ago. it reminded me of a military exercise (not that ive seen any in person) and although it was all very serious and im sure a great physical feat, i dont know if it`s because of the huge differences in cultures but it was very hard for me not to laugh. it was truly one of those once in a lifetime experiences.


-2 adult-sized santas in a hair salon front window...i saw them yesterday. the japanese practice shinto and buddhism; a very very small percentage are christian. christmas like other western-borrowed things is commercial with no religious significance at all just like it`s celebrated by most americans. speaking of holidays ive already had 2 days off here. on columbus day i commemorated the olympics in tokyo and last wednesday it was the dance of the white heron. there are lots of japanese holidays and one of the bonuses of working here is that companies have winter, spring, and summer vacations just like the students. it`s great. i also have 13 personal days i can use whenever i want. on the 23rd there`s another national holiday and the mit japan alum association is renting out a trendy lounge restaurant in shibuya, definitely going...thinking about taking off for thanksgiving it`s also my sister`s bday not that i can celebrate either but for the sake of tradition.


-my japanese fans

i discovered last week that i have hairstyle fans at work and on the train (the japanese think im very cute and trendy :). i had planned on cutting my hair at the end of the summer but i got pneumonia and then i decided going to a foreign country with a new, much harder to do hairdo was not such a great idea. and now my hair has grown a lot faster than usual and i actually keep it nice-looking most days of the week. is it possible that my hair is better behaved in japan than in philly? could be the pantene pro-v but more likely the differences in humidity. in any case, compliments sound 10 times better in a foreign language.