Aaah, atlasobscura, where every time I visit I get: "We value your privacy[1]" with one button saying "accept!". [1] "we clearly don't"
And if you just hide the popup you have an unscrollable page.
Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
31–40 of 81 posts
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#32Love Live manhole covers: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveLive/comments/a2a0yi/found_the_...
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
While it occasionally happens, in Japan they still have a sense of civic responsibility. They wouldn't do that. There's also the fact that you could (statistically) also forget your Macbook Pro in a crowded public park in Tokyo and come back 2 hours later to find it there untouched (and unstolen).
> in Japan they still have a sense of civic responsibility Tell me if I'm wrong. But, I see your "still" as if things were better in the past. In litte towns, as everybody knows everybody, the rules are different. As more and more people moved to cities there was no family presure to behave. So, things were worst because family pressure desapeared and there was no substitution to get good behaviour. Big cities were a…
The thing is, Tokyo cities are some of the safest in the world. There are small towns, villages, (and certainly suburbs) much worse crime-wise in most western countries. So it's not just a village vs city thing.
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow. Was this ever (anecdotally) tested?
Absolutely. In Japan most bicycles are left unlocked. You can leave your cellphone to hold your seat in a coffee shop. Things you lose get returned. My father lost his passport there and when he called, the embassy already had it.
No they’re not. Most bicycles are locked by the device that is builtin. Also bike registration exists for a reason: bike stealing is one of the most common crimes.
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#35The Mouth of Truth from ancient Rome was likely a manhole as well:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-mouth-of-truth-rome-...
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I wish there was more of this artisanship in the everyday city-life around us, to keep remind us how lovely life can really be. It's easy to forget sometimes. Modern cities and buildings are all about quick bucks and ROI. Even our costly monumental works (museums and such) are built by inflated-ego architects for the bucks, and with no sense of public beauty -- just their modernist or post-modernist personal ideolo…
Yes, this is very true and I think hints at the reason why those manhole covers can exist in Japan, whereas they'd be unthinkable in North America. The notion would be laughed out of any city budget here.
>The notion would be laughed out of any city budget here.
An ironic thing is that, not caring about immediate ROI and budget justifications in the past (and investing in public parks, nice buildings, etc), is what makes some cities tons of money (from millions of tourists every year).
Will ever a new city (born under the "quick ROI is everything/who cares for beauty" mindset) be as nice as to attract visitors in the future? I seriously doubt so.
(Shanghai, which is largely built lately, was also an treasure of a city for many centuries, and spends a lot in the impressiveness -if not construction quality- of its modern buildings and skyline).
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> in Japan they still have a sense of civic responsibility Tell me if I'm wrong. But, I see your "still" as if things were better in the past. In litte towns, as everybody knows everybody, the rules are different. As more and more people moved to cities there was no family presure to behave. So, things were worst because family pressure desapeared and there was no substitution to get good behaviour. Big cities were a…
The thing is, Tokyo cities are some of the safest in the world. There are small towns, villages, (and certainly suburbs) much worse crime-wise in most western countries. So it's not just a village vs city thing.
> There are small towns, villages, (and certainly suburbs) much worse crime-wise in most western countries. So it's not just a village vs city thing.
My comment was about comparing past and present, and how some times people overstimates how good the past was. I agree with you that it is not only about big cities vs little towns.
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#38Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, this is very true and I think hints at the reason why those manhole covers can exist in Japan, whereas they'd be unthinkable in North America. The notion would be laughed out of any city budget here.
> The notion would be laughed out of any city budget here. An ironic thing is that, not caring about immediate ROI and budget justifications in the past (and investing in public parks, nice buildings, etc), is what makes some cities tons of money (from millions of tourists every year). Will ever a new city (born under the "quick ROI is everything/who cares for beauty" mindset) be as nice as to attract visitors in the…
With cities I don't think it's 'ROI' so much utility and pressing budgetary needs.
There is always a war over budget. There are 10 projects that 'they'd like to do but can't'.
Every city wants more buses, has potholes, has sewage problems, needs infrastructure.
'Pretty manholes' might not make it to the top unless someone really, really cares. Or it's part of a secondary budget.
Re: Japan’s elaborate, colorful manhole covers
#40Is Japan a benevolent dictatorship (psuedo-imperial corporate fascism and guaranteed political monopolies) in exchange for social cohesion. Is there an equivalent concept to a zaibatsu in a republic or democracy? Monopolies here are hidden behind the trident of usury, corporation and government spending; beyond terms like corporate capture, manufacturing consent, military/health/tech/energy industrial complex, conspiracy... With the American Republic at least it seems stability was replaced by extremes, and an active tension is rather encouraged in the population in order for dialectic opposition thesis+antithesis->synthesis. This rule by fear tends to sacrifice a lot of civility and social harmony, as an outsider it appears tiring, but Americans must prefer it or it would have never sold in the post ww2 era as the new normal.