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Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

bbc.com

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Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#161

Post by rangestransform »

languagelearner wrote: post #154
enaaem wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore is a multi-culturial society and it is also known to be very safe and clean like Japan. You can definitely make people behave with top down rules, and eventually it just becomes 'culture'.

>You can definitely make people behave with top down rules, and eventually it just becomes 'culture'. If by people you mean the particular type of people that live in Singapore, who are known across the world to be supple and tame. Now try this logic in the United States with certain subpopulations who are chronically misbehaved and see where it gets you. Hint: it's been tried for a long time and it doesn't work.

That was what singaporeans were like too when it split off from Malaysia, if enough people wanted to we could beat order and rule of law into the US. The problem is that too much of the US are bleeding hearts who oppose any law that even slightly inconveniences anyone unfortunate, and the other part of the US is stuck in a frontier mentality of the 1800s

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#162

Post by giwook »

testing22321 wrote: post #79
giwook wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of American cities have this. I have three big grocery stores within a 2-7 minute walk. Myriad restaurants, bakeries, and cafes literally on the same block and within walking distance of me. Vancouver is great, just wanted to call out the bias and massive overgeneralization in your statement.

What a shame you don’t have good public transit, horrible crime and pollution, poor schools and a police force that is actively against you. The US does not have a single city in the top 20 worlds most livable for a reason. (Many, actually)

And yet many people continue to choose to live in the US or actively try to immigrate here. "Most livable" is highly subjective and such rankings are but one lens to evaluate where to live.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as utopia and there are always pros and cons.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#163

Post by giwook »

pibaker wrote: post #82
giwook wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One key difference that jumps out at me between various cities in Japan and Vancouver is that the COL seems significantly better in Japan. When I visited Vancouver I couldn't afford to stay in or even near the city, I had to find a place about 20 minutes away and even then it was pricey. Whereas in Japan I had no problem finding affordable stays in city centers in all of the major cities I visited, including Tokyo. I…

Affordable to you or affordable to the locals? The yen has devalued a lot in the past decade or so, giving foreigners a lot more spending power in Japan and causing the current tourism boom and backlash.

Affordable to everyone.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#164

Post by languagelearner »

rangestransform wrote: post #161
languagelearner wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You can definitely make people behave with top down rules, and eventually it just becomes 'culture'. If by people you mean the particular type of people that live in Singapore, who are known across the world to be supple and tame. Now try this logic in the United States with certain subpopulations who are chronically misbehaved and see where it gets you. Hint: it's been tried for a long time and it doesn't work.

That was what singaporeans were like too when it split off from Malaysia, if enough people wanted to we could beat order and rule of law into the US. The problem is that too much of the US are bleeding hearts who oppose any law that even slightly inconveniences anyone unfortunate, and the other part of the US is stuck in a frontier mentality of the 1800s

[dead]

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#165

Post by testing22321 »

dismalaf wrote: post #160
testing22321 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So this means I'm paying tens of thousands of dollars per year for healthcare that I haven't been able to use. Yep, that’s how it works in every country with healthcare for all. Remember you’re paying less than Americans pay, and you’re getting better outcomes. [1] I also pay for police and firemen and a ton of other stuff I’ve never used. But I’m happy my community gets that safety net, and it will be there if I e…

> so pay for police and firemen and a ton of other stuff I’ve never used. But I’m happy my community gets that safety net, and it will be there if I ever need it. That's what you think... My previous home also burned down in a wildfire that claimed 2000 other people's homes... A wildfire that was warned about for 20 years and for which zero precautions were undertaken. This year other people's homes have burned down…

You’ve made it very clear you think it’s a joke of a country.

I’m happy to hear you agree with my original comments, and the point of this entire thread. Canada is not “just like” the US.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#166

Post by wpm »

timr wrote: post #21

I had to laugh when they put a quote from a wheelchair user at the top of the article. Japan is many good things, but friendly to wheelchair users is not one of them. As western tourists always seem to find out when they land with their gigantic suitcases, many Tokyo train stations require stairs to enter or exit.

In fairness to Japan, (unfortunately) most transit systems are not friendly to wheelchair users.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#167

Post by wpm »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #16
sys32768 wrote: post #2

#4 "Maintain Manners" is hardly simple.

It needs critical mass, but then it cascades. If you read through the description, what they talk about is that the culture is built around the idea of the individual being part of something bigger, and that consideration and respect for that something bigger (other people), is core to your own identity. That's not hard for a lot of cultures, but it's almost impossible for most cultures in the Western hemisphere, and…

The West used to. It's not impossible.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#168

Post by snovymgodym »

testing22321 wrote: post #79
giwook wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of American cities have this. I have three big grocery stores within a 2-7 minute walk. Myriad restaurants, bakeries, and cafes literally on the same block and within walking distance of me. Vancouver is great, just wanted to call out the bias and massive overgeneralization in your statement.

What a shame you don’t have good public transit, horrible crime and pollution, poor schools and a police force that is actively against you. The US does not have a single city in the top 20 worlds most livable for a reason. (Many, actually)

It's a big country. Even today there are wonderful places to live in the USA, and also terrible places.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#169

Post by jankcorn »

Many comments point to "monoculture", but I think that a more useful lens to look at this is "the importance of maintaining society vs the importance of individual rights". In Japan, if you maintain society, my experience is that everyone is welcome (in my experience).

It seems like many times "society vs individual" discussion comes down to a cartoon like straw man discussion, but, living in Japan a long time, the difference in balance point feels quite tangible every day. I won't claim that this is a good tradeoff for everybody, but each society has quite serious benefits as (at times grating) restrictions.

It can be quite difficult to do something too outside the norm in Tokyo, but I am always surprised by the kindness, thoughtfulness and humane-ness I have been shown over the years. In places like San Francisco, a wild variation of individual expression is encouraged, but it sometimes interactions with other people can feel quite jarring and little recognition for simple, calm coexisting humanity.

It really comes down to personal preferences.

Re: Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities

#170

Post by dismalaf »

testing22321 wrote: post #165
dismalaf wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so pay for police and firemen and a ton of other stuff I’ve never used. But I’m happy my community gets that safety net, and it will be there if I ever need it. That's what you think... My previous home also burned down in a wildfire that claimed 2000 other people's homes... A wildfire that was warned about for 20 years and for which zero precautions were undertaken. This year other people's homes have burned down…

You’ve made it very clear you think it’s a joke of a country. I’m happy to hear you agree with my original comments, and the point of this entire thread. Canada is not “just like” the US.

I never thought it was "just like" the US. It's worse. It has all the downsides of both the US and EU with none of the upsides of either. We get taxed like EU for healthcare that is inaccessible and we still have to pay for drug/dental all while making far less than the US and not getting any of the benefits of the EU.

The only reason anyone at all moves to Canada is that the US has per-country immigration quotas...

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