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Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

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Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#21

Post by stonekyx »

WnZ39p0Dgydaz1 wrote: post #6

As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese people being more honest", but rather: - Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S. there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a pol…

The Japanese police are not always the friendly helper though, especially when something not in their daily routine happens.

They're insanely rigid, almost always put arrested people in detention for maximum of 23 days even if they know the people are innocent, and they have a 99% conviction rate.

After living here for a couple of years, I feel that this is also closely linked to the highly homogeneous culture, where people are generally very friendly and kind to those who share the same origin, and can become unconsciously biased against people or things out of the "normal" world.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#22

Post by int_19h »

atonse wrote: post #13
WnZ39p0Dgydaz1 wrote: post #6

As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese people being more honest", but rather: - Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S. there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a pol…

That is what we in the US call "community policing" which is how it used to be. The cultural image of a policeman used to be the overweight donut eating totally approachable "dad" type figure, look at pretty much any hollywood movie or show from the 70s or 80s. And since 9/11 the police have gotten a lot more militaristic. But police departments all over the country are TRYING to return to the idea of community polic…

Militarization of police began in mid-70s, mostly as a consequence of ramping up the "war on drugs". It just took a while for the old stereotype to shatter.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#24

Post by BurningFrog »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #17
tidenly wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umbrella lockers in Japan are always free. They're just a more secure version of the convenience store trypophobia buckets.

Yes, I know that they're free. I was just wondering why such an ubiquitous thing like a usually very cheap umbrella needs to be locked away in the first place. In Japan from all places. Of course, and if it's only a standard bucket, there's a very good chance that you walk away with the wrong umbrella. But are people really that attached to their specific personal umbrella, which is exactly the same as yours, that th…

I don't think it's for locking away.

It's so you don't have to carry around a wet umbrella in the store.

And if you happen to get a different cheap umbrella when you leave than when you entered, it's not a big deal.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#25

Post by [deleted] »

WnZ39p0Dgydaz1 wrote: post #6

As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese people being more honest", but rather: - Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S. there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a pol…

[deleted]

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#27

Post by drak0n1c »

WnZ39p0Dgydaz1 wrote: post #6

As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese people being more honest", but rather: - Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S. there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a pol…

Japan has a 99% conviction rate and indefinite uncharged detention happens often. Despite that people treat police amicably, and there is a trusting relationship.

That's to me a sign that there is a fundamental cultural difference in Japanese attitude, in the US stats aren't anywhere as close to as severe, yet relations/trust is much worse. Goes to show how much of a productivity and effectiveness loss lack of trust is, regardless of how justified.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#28

Post by tidenly »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #17
tidenly wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umbrella lockers in Japan are always free. They're just a more secure version of the convenience store trypophobia buckets.

Yes, I know that they're free. I was just wondering why such an ubiquitous thing like a usually very cheap umbrella needs to be locked away in the first place. In Japan from all places. Of course, and if it's only a standard bucket, there's a very good chance that you walk away with the wrong umbrella. But are people really that attached to their specific personal umbrella, which is exactly the same as yours, that th…

The Japanese release all the energy saved up not committing other petty crimes by being notorious umbrella thieves. Tokyo is the umbrella crime theft capital of the world.

The lockers prevent the "Oh I thought it was mine", excuse, and also places popular with foreigners, who more commonly have actual umbrellas instead of the cheap plastic ones, are more likely to have the lockers I've found.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#29

Post by keerthiko »

unishark wrote: post #15
WnZ39p0Dgydaz1 wrote: post #6

As someone who lives in Japan I believe this is not a result of "Japanese people being more honest", but rather: - Availability. There are police stations (kobans) and officers on the street everywhere, just a few steps away from wherever I may find something. Turning in a lost item has no friction. All it takes is a few extra steps. In the U.S. there is huge friction - I would need to go out of my way to go to a pol…

> The general view of police and government as your "friendly helper" as opposed to enemies. The US has a much more negative and adversarial view of govt in general, but in polls a large majority has a much more favorable view of cops versus other govt agencies. Certainly it's a terrible generalization to say americans view cops as enemies. One import factor here is where specifically you live. Police in the US are l…

It's just as terrible a generalization to use polls that don't consider a great many of the people harassed and oppressed by police forces (immigrants, PoC, incarcerated, poor neighborhoods, homeless people). Yes, people feel both ways about cops, and that lack of uniformly friendly relationship across the populace is the whole point brought up by GP.

To their exact sentiment

> The general view of police and government as your "friendly helper" as opposed to enemies

...the key phrase is "general view" and not "enemies". The general view in america is more varied, as a function of the diversity of people, experiences and opinions, for better or worse.

Re: Japan’s Lost-and-Found System

#30

Post by unishark »

tidenly wrote: post #12
thunderbong wrote: post #5

I've never been to Japan, but whenever I read these articles, I am reminded of the Japanese word 'Kaizen' which means to continuously improve your work. The way I understand it is to step outside of yourself while working and to see your output as to how it will be perceived over time and from an outsider's point of view and ask from that person's point of view what could be done better. I might be wrong, but to me,…

This might come off as somewhat pessimistic but I actually think Japan is one of the worst implementers of Kaizen anywhere. Japanese are famously conservative in how they work, with employees largely avoiding taking on any responsibility and spreading out tasks and checks. The end result being no-one really stands out, but also that no-one is ever really singularly "at fault" as every decision and check is daisy-chai…

I've always felt that Japanese companies were very big on process because their management actually isn't very good otherwise. Promotions and status are much more based on seniority rather than merit.

As for the people at the top, they do seem to have more than their fair share of god complexes. I notice this a lot with their academics too. The average japanese person is so respectful and humble, it's like they overcompensate when they are in charge.

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