Hop on the bus

Japan is different. If not, you wouldn't be reading this blog.

Many Japanese consider Japan to be different from the rest of the world. Even those who have never been outside of Japan. They believe that Japan’s soil has unique humidity, Japan’s snow is not suitable for foreign skis, Japan’s gangsters are less dangerous than the odd pickpocket abroad, Japan’s language is the most difficult to learn, abroad is very dangerous, there is no translation for wabi sabi…
Most foreigners wholeheartedly agree on finding Japan different. When they arrive they think their airplane inadvertently landed on a different planet. But then we all know that many things are exactly same as at home. Let’s be honest. And mainly for reasons of political correctness we prefer to use the word different over better and worse. Could something as utterly ordinary as a bus stop be different then?




Apparently it can!

At home in Europe our bus shelters have their supports somewhere in the side walk and their open side towards the street. In Japan bus shelters are positioned 180 degrees opposite.

Differences: the side walk is kept free of obstacles, the sign pole of the bus stop can be read under the shelter, a small fence provides extra safety and the bus can stop with its front door on exactly the right spot. Imagine the fence would be a nice glass panel. It would protect us from a spray of dirty rainwater from the gutter when the bus comes to a halt.

I’d surely prefer the word better over different in this case.

Ride, ride, ride your bike, gently down the stream...

Sometimes I forget the most daily items deserve attention and should have a posting in this blog.
Today a small monument for the bicycle.


Every city has the super fast express cyclists. You know those tough guys...


And ordinary people of course.


Take care! Drive left but stop right as that car will turn left etcetera....



Parking cars (illegal) prevent cars from actually driving on the left lane.
The remaining space serves very well as a bicycle lane.


Sometimes the left lane is so narrow that the parked cars are pain in the a** for cyclists as well.

So let's take the sidewalk. Absolutely normal here. It is a strange feeling apparantly not to exist here as a cyclist. You are eiteher a pedestrian or a driver and in both cases there is traffic area you may use. Are you a cyclist you are none of them or a bit of both. Cycling is allowed everywhere but nowhere really convenient.

In some places you can find bicycle lanes. Better said, a reserved part of the sidewalk. A truly seperate bicycle lane I haven't seen yet. Differently than in the Netherlands, marking the cycling lane is not done by marking the lane but by painting the remaining pedestrian area. Can be red, white, yellos, or any color. The dark asphalt can be for cyclists but further ahead it might be meant for pedestrians again. Ah, and did you notice the sign indicating two directional cycling? And mind the parked bikes please...

I am lucky not to be the only one who gets confused. The sign says how it should be. Reality is totally the opposite. I am riding the pedestrian area as most people are walking on the bicycle lane...

Maybe that is not so bad after all.

Here the bicycle lane runs directly into the metro DOWN THE STAIRS!

Kyoto is nicer than Tokyo. Also when it comes to pratical jokes with bicycle lanes.

We start with a narrow sidewalk, two directions and an advertising sign.

Aha, "bus stop ahead" it says .

Right! And the bench of the busstop is mounted in the center of the bicycle lane.

Joining the real pedestrians may not be the fastest but at least the safest option.

At zebras a special section for cyclists is available.

Bicycle = djitensha

The making of a bicycle lane at zebras apparantly goes on autopilot...

Building

Of course every architect's dream is about building. After one hundred postings about all and nothing in Japan it is about time to show how building is done here.
Construction workers wear a very elegant head cover here. A neat clean white towel is worn like a turban. Ideal in hot conditions when sweat has to be wiped off. When the towel is worn loosely over the head the hard hat will fit normaly and the towel will also serve as a sunscreen.


Safety is probably invented here, considering they don't no where to stop with it. As you know all electric cables are hanging from poles along the streets here and of course that is far from convenient while hoisting around with your crane. To prevent crane drivers getting entangled in wires, the cables are wrapped in thick yellow plastic tubes. (click on the image to enlarge).


Also for minor diversions all means are rolled out. As Harold once wrote about man with torches also here a uniformed man is channeling the traffic. To safeguard the safetyman's safety, a 10 meter in front of him a mechanized safety colleague is installed. That one in his turn makes little chance of being run over by all kinds of pilons, fences, lamps, lorries an lights. And for those who missed the point: the sign says 'roadworks ahead'.


To ensure safety for passers-by all building sites are always closed of with neat fencing.
By the way there is no construction possible in Tokyo without demolishing first.


As all fences are always clinically white, things tend to look a bit dull.
Good flower wall paper is most welcome then. Like this ivy version.


Even better is this touchable fake greenery.

And how about this wall paper with silhouette?

Together with a tree that actually grows in these streets.

Construction start with demolishing. And also demolishing sites are shielded off with fences. As you see it reaches really high.

And then of course the real construction work. The skeleton of the building is nearly always made of steel. It is a curious sight to see a brand new structure already rusting a bit.

The teamplay of structure and nets creates nice images.

Then in one go the final façade is mounted. Most times the parts are hoisted in directly from the lorry. There is no space available for storage on the site. De trucks come exactly on time as parking is not allowed either. Any delay in this logisitic chain is a major drama.

After completion the window cleaner may hang about...

Freedom and Speech

A Japanese client asked me to design a Dutch house for a location in Tokyo. When the first sketches showed a clearly non-Japanese house it became a learning experience. The design could stand out too much in the neighbourhood. Neighbours might start complaining. On the normally suitable Dutch question "So what?" a magnificent reply came:" In Japan we care a lot about other people."

It is tempting to think at such an answer that we westerners are apparently considered anti social barbarians. But that is certainly not the case. The underlying theme is the fear of an other's opinion.

Maybe that is why the Japanese are always so polite and apologize for everything. It takes them no effort to do so. An apology is easily made. Where a westerner cannot overcome his pride, the Japanese steps aside skillfully. It is a deep rooted mechanism. For centuries everything that stood out was squashed. To do something outside the rule of law was punished relentlessly and it was pure survival to make apologies even before anything had happened. The punishing has gone long ago but apprently the habit is still inside.

Openly critisizing is therefore very uncommon amongst Japanese. A meeting Dutch style is gently said not done. The Dutch bring the topics to the meeting to discuss them extensively. It is the purpose to find out snags and resolve them. In a Japanese meeting pointing out a snag might be risky already. Implicitely you might offend somebody. Therefore most issues are dealt with outside the meeting and the meeting is mainly used to formalize everything. It is allowed for superiors to indicate that things are not worked out sufficiently yet. But it is a no no for a minor to openly dispute the input of a superior. There is a risk when a spuerior does not understand something and the minor is trying to explain it again. Then how is communication possible? In private. Between the two many things can be said. Even to a hot shot. Therefore lobbying is the way to manage things.

So "In Japan we care a lot about other people" has a certain taste. To care about others can come from compassion. Or...fear.


P.S. The design of the Dutch house in Tokyo can be seen on http://eiichinouchi.blogspot.com/

Emergency

There is no need to worry about your safety while in Japan. Maybe in traffic you should and then mainly when you are already inside the ambulance. How is that?

As everything is done very carefully also the ambulance will make the ride to the hospital utterly prudently. Of course a strong siren is aboard which is never switched off. Even not at night in a totaly empty street. Over that the voice of the co-driver can be heard through a loudspeaker calling warnings for -might be- other traffic members. In front of every crossing the ambulance will brake and only when the entire crossing is empty it will cross over in walking pace, loudly giving thanks through the megaphone and apologizing for the derangement caused. From behind the windscreen an appropriate bow is made.

As in every big city Tokyo drivers are used to drive swiftly. And between the cars the ambulances clearly stand out. They drive so carefully that there remains only one thing to fear for: the patient's life.

Playground

Playful learning sounds like sweetening the bitter. As if playing and learning are so different. Although we mainly play to learn. To try out things. To discover that what we see of the world around us is worth doing again. To practise social skills. To try is showing off works well. To try if being overly self confident is as effective as loyalty. If initiative is as rewarding as discipline.

The world we play in is the world we live in. When we are still young the playground is our entire world. And probably the playground is a miniature of society. Is the play of children in Japan different from the west? There is a story on an expat parent talking with a teacher. The parent is addressed for the behaviour of his child on the schoolyard. The kid happened to run all directions in the yard. When the parent said that all children were doing so, the point became clear. "Japanese children all run the same direction together. You child doesn't".

Near the expat flats of Roppongi Hills.

Hanami 花見

Cherry blossom. Finally. In Japanese: sakura 桜. The last week of March the trees in Tokyo are in bloom. And again this year, notwithstanding the smooth winter weather, exactly on time.


It is really being lived towards. It starts with stores putting decorations in the window.


De Pachinko does it bigger.

A single tree already starts. The trees bloom for one week. Then blossom falls and green leaves take over. And thus the blossom announces the start of spring. Very clearly. It is worth a party. Hanami　花見 (litteraly: flower watching) is the festival of flower watching. The steerability of nature is limited of course so normally the timing is a surprise. And perhaps it is because of the Law of No Surprises that this is an exciting phenomenon. Though, it is on exactly the same moment every year, so it is a bearable case of surprise

Then again the rules of the game are explained. The idea is to have a nice pick nick under the blossoms. The blue sheets are spread out. Everybody brings food and drinks. And then it is pure joy. The beautiful view and the scent. The whole city smells like it, even down under in the metro!

A few days before commencement of hanami.

First blossom is spotted. Picture taking and sending it to friends. Conveniently with a cell phone that can take and send pictures. Also the big camera’s are rolled out.

A familiar thing is the bento お便と, the lunch box. The man on the right has a beautiful box with partitions with sushi, rice balls, vegetables, omelette etcetera. It is the most common lunch here. And as fish should be eaten fresh, bento is sold daily in the street by vendors. For 500 Yen you will have a good lunch (€3,-).

Another very familiar scene is fumbling a packing with the inevitable pedantic nosy comments by the wife. 

Hanami is utterly Japanese. And as we all know, it is advised to leave a party at the best moment.

How convenient... we are leaving tomorrow to the Netherlands.

Even the workers in the street ( and on the right the odd regulator with torch) participate in Hanami.

And of course the good bye lunch with Eiichi and his students was a very good opportunity for Hanami.