It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan

#91

Post by astrange » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 9:35 AM UTC

yaysyu wrote: post #64

tluyben2 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd just dropped it under my bag We (wife and me) had a, now hilarious, run through Melbourne Chasing my iPhone which was ‘stolen’ when we were in a restaurant ; we used the Apple find my phone feature and the phone kept moving all through Melbourne. We had told hotel staff to open up a room we ‘knew’ it was in (luckily they did not), we chased a truck, etc etc. It was in our hotel room, under my bag all that time;…

As a resident of Melbourne, I have the same bad experience with GPS signals in the CBD. Something to do with the narrow laneways as well as the tall buildings obscuring the GPS signal

Tall buildings do block GPS, but being near an outer wall inside a tall building also confuses wifi location because you get pings from far away networks.

Re: It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan

#92

Post by astrange » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 9:40 AM UTC

haraldooo wrote: post #16

Can confirm. I once lost my three week Japan Rail Pass (green car) somewhere in Tokyo station which has > 3 million passengers per day and is just huge. This was my first day in Japan with rides planned through the whole country. These rides would have cost a fortune to replace as you cannot buy a JRP in Japan. It took less then an hour to get it back. I assume nowhere else in the world this would have played out the…

Btw, you can buy a rail pass after you get to Japan now. I mean… they won't let you into the country, but besides that.

Re: It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan

#93

Post by astrange » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 9:47 AM UTC

aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #77

_dh54 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is just a particular case of their general propensity to follow rules. Fair enough but this just kicks the can down the road. Why does Japanese culture have a propensity to follow rules? How can we duplicate that in America?

For better or for worse, it doesn't seem difficult to attribute them treating everyone like family to the fact that they are essentially a homogeneous population.

They aren't really. 98% of them are Japanese citizens but that doesn't mean they're "Japanese people" - the government doesn't track that.

Also, the concept of "Japanese people" was invented in the Meiji era as part of their approach to resisting Western colonization by pretending to already be a Western nation-state.

And of course, some of them are Ainu or Ryukyuan.

Re: It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan

#94

Post by astrange » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 9:49 AM UTC

cko wrote: post #24

I loved Tokyo when I visited especially because of the safety. A coworker happened to be there with me at the same time and we even joked about moving there. I understand they have a tough immigration system. Short of getting a job there, how can a US citizen live there?

It's much, much easier to immigrate to Japan than the US; you just need a 4-year college degree and someone to sponsor your work visa.

The main issue for Americans is that wages are lower, might not be able to pay student loans or save up for that house.

Re: It’s almost impossible to lose anything in Japan

#95

Post by ilrwbwrkhv » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 8:19 PM UTC

LatteLazy wrote: post #65

I lost my passport, my copy of lonely planet, my rail pass and about 400usd in yen. For less than an hour. I left it at a station. Boarded the train, realised I didn't have it when I got to the other end (and couldn't find the pass to exit). The station staff offered to give me some cash to help me get to my destination and it was no problem I didn't have the pass because I was "obviously respectable". Then they came…

Huh.. my jaw drops.. Even though this is an anecdote, I don't think this could ever happen in America.