Betteridge.
Not in this case. Fire your urban planners and get a national zoning code and you can do it.
Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
101–110 of 183 posts
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Singapore's achieves "harmony" in their diverse city-state through severe authoritarian control. There's harmony because the state dictates their vison of harmony which all must abide by.
Make no mistake. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Eventually the outcome of authoritarian harmony comes actual harmony as people become used to the rules and follow those rules regardless of whether or not they exist. The freedom to shit on the street in San Francisco shouldn't be a freedom that is valued At all.
Let's not conflate people being clean because the government is notoriously lethal and is tracking your social standing with people being clean because they've been taught from a young age to be respectful to the environment.
Authoritarian 'harmony' doesn't imply any sort of longevity.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And if you want data, look no further than https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_United_States_in... for why your take is absolutely bonkers. This doesn't refute the OP's claims, and I think could support them. OP is saying (to paraphrase) that Japan's tough on crime stance is a deterrent, and so there is less crime, and so fewer people incarcerated. Also, I don't think a reasonable person is worried about ge…
I met multiple individuals on my last trip to Australia who commented on how they felt extremely unsafe in the USA (hearing gunshots at night, seeing shootings on the news). Some were native Australians, others were from places abroad, such as Japan.
Have you been to the US? Do you feel that way? Definitely the news tries to frightened everyone into watching more. I don't think that's too reflective of reality.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#104Tokyo today is unusually liveable— safe , clean, functional and vibrant—for a megacity of its size: 37m in its greater metropolitan area, including 14m people in the central wards. Safe streets are the key.
Japan is also one of the least diverse developed countries with well over 90% of inhabitants being Yamato Japanese. It is unsurprising that it would be safe, clean, and functional.
Japan was just as monoethnic as it is now when it was sending their own soldiers to die in the Philippines, when its guards murdered a British merchant for not yielding the way[1], or when it executed christians by thousands. Any long-lived country ends up with a list of great or terrible achievements, regardless of its ethnic makeup. It's a silly argument.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this implausible after just having visited Japan. The Japanese and Japanese culture are a lot of great things but I would never ever describe it as individualistic.
They’re not showing it to you. They keep it private but it’s still there. (that’s called “honne and tatemae”) You’re welcome to look through used fashion/music stores in Tokyo if you want to see how good their soft power is. Meanwhile the stereotypical suburban American thinks every nearby city is a hub of crime and won’t let their children walk anywhere until they’re 25. Vs: https://twitter.com/patio11/status/159632…
You should read the replies to that tweet:
https://twitter.com/keccers/status/1596324554095595521
https://twitter.com/robinkunde/status/1596325433653559298
It is very common for American schools to have student art shows.
I don't know where you get your perception of the US from, but it sure isn't reality. Your other two "observations" are similarly divorced from the real world.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Japanese people are significantly more individualist than Americans. You can have any weird hobby you want and they’ll ignore you. They produce more cultural exports per capita than the US does too. The stereotypical collectivist society is a better description of Korea. A better way to explain Japan is it’s like England but Asian.
I find this implausible after just having visited Japan. The Japanese and Japanese culture are a lot of great things but I would never ever describe it as individualistic.
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Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#107Yeah but then you need something that people seem to get upset over. Culture. And that doesn’t mean getting stoned or acting weird or being narcissistic af, but having some basic moral and virtuous behavior. You see old people come out and start cleaning the stairs after a rain. I saw it first hand and thought wow this would never happen in the US. You see people get in line and let the people onboard the train out b…
Most US cities are like this. Not the burbs or the rural areas which in my experience is all about me me me.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's largely the major cities where you cannot find it. I would argue differently, and say that it's entirely a factor of density. The more people that are crammed into a small area, the more you will see the spectrum of human behavior in any given situation. So, in the midwest you might see people clearing sidewalks and driveways for each other - I'm more familiar with the HOA that sends threatening letters to peo…
> I would argue differently, and say that it's entirely a factor of density. The more people that are crammed into a small area, the more you will see the spectrum of human behavior in any given situation. Then why are New York and Chicago so much worse in this regard than Tokyo? They’re all big, dense, highly populated cities.
Manhattan sucks but NYC has great neighborhoods
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this implausible after just having visited Japan. The Japanese and Japanese culture are a lot of great things but I would never ever describe it as individualistic.
They’re not showing it to you. They keep it private but it’s still there. (that’s called “honne and tatemae”) You’re welcome to look through used fashion/music stores in Tokyo if you want to see how good their soft power is. Meanwhile the stereotypical suburban American thinks every nearby city is a hub of crime and won’t let their children walk anywhere until they’re 25. Vs: https://twitter.com/patio11/status/159632…
> They’re not showing it to you. They keep it private but it’s still there. (that’s called “honne and tatemae”)
There is in my opinion a direct conflict between everyone being highly individual and noone being willing to show it. What does individualism even mean if it isn't visible?
I'd never deny Japan has a lot of great culture and soft power however my definition of individualism contains a key component that an individual is willing to hold an alternate opinion and display it prominently and assertively to a crowd of others in their society. Basically in defiance of what they think and at least in some circumstances to piss them off.
This type of individualism is virtually none-existent in Japan from what I can see/saw there/know of the country and was told by people.
An individualism that isn't on public display is in my opinion not a particularly strong form of individualism. I'd agree that Japanese people probably have as much variation in thought etc as in the West however if we are looking at the overall culture, individualism is not a prominent strain of it.
Re: Can Tokyo’s charms be replicated elsewhere?
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a feeling you've never actually been there. They do have an issue with forced confessions, but you're much more likely to be arrested or worse (shot) in the USA for no reason. But beyond that, this is an over simplification of something that stems from multiple things, not some singular root reason. And if you want data, look no further than https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_United_States_in... for w…
I don’t think any place in the world comes close to the USA in terms of its prison(labor) camps. It has the highest per capita rate of incarceration on the planet. So I don’t think his comparison is warranted. But I’m actually in Japan right now, and while I definitely did fetishize Japan to some extent this trip has not been pleasant. Last night I went out for a call in front of my Airbnb so I wouldn’t wake up my ba…
If it was a residential area (houses) police generally know everyone who lives there, so yes, they will consider someone they haven't seen before talking on the street at night suspicious.