131–140 of 187 posts
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The pachinko parlors are particularly quiet and serene.
Huh, my pachinko encounter was the complete opposite. My friend wanted to go to one while we were walking around once. As soon as the doors opened I was accosted by DEAFENING noise and the oppressive smell of cigarette smoke (as if chain-smokers were hot-boxing the place). I told him nope. This is one experience you'll have to try without me.
Most first-time visitor to Paris are struck by how dirty the city is.
The cleanliness is impressive, but what impressed me even more was the efficiency. One morning in Tokyo, I saw construction workers starting to dig up a street. It was a large operation, they were exposing some massive pipes, and there were a few policemen, politely pointing pedestrians to a way around the site. In the evening I went the same way again, to see how far they had gotten with the digging. However, there…
You don't know if it was: A) just an inspection B) regulated to the same degree as in Germany (i.e. digging a hole and covering it up is easy if don't have rules) C) succesful D) done properly
Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…
I live in Japan as well. Hiking.. have you actually hiked anywhere in else in the world? Most places you can fill a garbage bag in an hour just walking on a trail. Took my climbing friends from Canada on a long Hike in Kita Alps, they brought a garbage bag as they always do to gather other peoples trash. We managed to find 2 empty water bottles in 3 days having covered close to 50km. See the campsites near huts after…
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> Turns out, strangely, that it actually reduces throughput compared to just having everyone stand Wait, what? How can this be true? Imagine an escalator w/ both lanes filled with people just standing. Now imagine the left lane starts walking: clearly, higher throughput. Now, maybe you're imagining a scenario where people don't want to walk. Now everyone stands on the right, and the left lane is completely empty. OK,…
Article on the London experiment: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/16/the-tube-at-... It's a long escalator, so few people walk (40% according to the Guardian article). And then during rush hour there's a crowd in front of the escalator. This blog post estimates walking is 26 seconds and standing is 40 seconds: https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/2016/04/would-standing-on-th... The optimal policy is to have e…
Undiluted orientalism. I was in Osaka this weekend and litter is everywhere. By far one of the dirtiest major cities I’ve seen in East Asia. In the city I live in in Japan, the rice fields are full of coffee cans, plastic bottles, and bento packaging thrown out from cars. Streets are covered in cigarette butts and somehow I see natto containers in the middle of nowhere. Going hiking, I see tea bottles and plastic bag…
I live in Japan as well. Hiking.. have you actually hiked anywhere in else in the world? Most places you can fill a garbage bag in an hour just walking on a trail. Took my climbing friends from Canada on a long Hike in Kita Alps, they brought a garbage bag as they always do to gather other peoples trash. We managed to find 2 empty water bottles in 3 days having covered close to 50km. See the campsites near huts after…
Japan's Alps really are quite something. Leaving the area cleaner than you found it is taken quite seriously by Japanese hikers.
I've hiked in the Southern Alps, including up Kitadake, Japan's second highest mountain, during my stay there as a graduate student. The occasional views you get of Mount Fuji standing far out in the plains are breathtaking! I joined a hiking group at the university I was staying at, which proofed a rewarding way to get to know Japan's hiking culture.
To be fair though, as soon as you leave the family-friendly day-trip hiking trails leading from the valleys to mountain hotels/restaurants well below the treeline in Europe's Alps behind and get to the trails that require at least a minimal amount of preparation and gear the story is much the same. People clean up after themselves, and pick the incidental wrapper or bottle lost by others along the way. People who hike up a mountain are on the whole a lot more respectful of nature and personal responsibility.
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I live in Japan as well. Hiking.. have you actually hiked anywhere in else in the world? Most places you can fill a garbage bag in an hour just walking on a trail. Took my climbing friends from Canada on a long Hike in Kita Alps, they brought a garbage bag as they always do to gather other peoples trash. We managed to find 2 empty water bottles in 3 days having covered close to 50km. See the campsites near huts after…
San Francisco Bay Area hiking areas seem really clean to me.
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i see every country has its own florida
Osaka holds a strange place in Japanese culture. It is considered distinctly “un-Japanese,” but still at the same time is famous for producing all kinds of creative types (comedians, musicians, artists). And its accent is generally considered charming, if “inappropriate” for formal discourse. As an American, I’ve always felt more comfortable there because it’s way less uptight and rule-bound than other parts of Japan…
Still very Japanese IMHO, it certainly has its own vibe.. The craft beer and brewpub scene is great, and people generally seem more friendly and open to strangers and foreigners. Cycling culture seems stronger. An outsiders observation; people are much more likely to cross a crosswalk early or otherwise outside the proper time in Osaka!
Hanami is also spectacular in Osaka and Kyoto.