<commit_before>---
title: Japan
published_at: 2017-12-24T06:07:33Z
---

![Osaka](/assets/passages/002-japan/osaka@2x.jpg)

In 1992 <NAME> wrote [_Rising Sun_][risingsun].
At the time Japan was seeing a meteoric rise, moving from a
post-war reconstruction project towards becoming the most
powerful economic engine in the world. America invented TV,
cars, film, printers, and denim, but was seeing its
domestic market flooded with Japanese versions that weren't
just cheaper, but better in every way that mattered. At the
time, the US was feeling an existential insecurity similar
to the one China elicits in it today.

Here's an excerpt from the book that's always stuck with
me:

> "If we knew what made Ishiguro behave as he did, we'd
> understand this case."
>
> "I don't understand."
>
> "It's hard for an American to see him clearly," Connor
> said. "Because in America, you think a certain amount of
> error is normal. You expect the plane to be late. You
> expect the mail to be undelivered. You expect the washing
> machine to break down. You expect things to go wrong all
> the time.
>
> "But Japan is different. Everything works in Japan. In a
> Tokyo train station, you can stand at a marked spot on
> the platform and when the train stops, the doors open
> right in front of you. Trains are on time. Bags are not
> lost. Connections are not missed. Deadlines are met.
> Things happen as planned. The Japanese are educated,
> prepared, and motivated. They get things done. There's no
> screwing around."

At the peak of Japan's dominance it was said that the
property under the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was worth more
than the entire state of California. But instead of the
country's economy shooting to the moon, a collapsing asset
bubble in the early 90s left it stagnating for twenty years
(the so-called ["Lost Decades"][lostdecades]). With the
20-20 insight into the past that we have today, _Rising
Sun_'s cautionary theme feels dated.

Even so, the passage is still more accurate than not.
Everyone's heard that trains in Japan are on time, but you
don't see until you visit that it's literally true. Not
only that most trains are on time, but that right up to a
miniscule margin of error, _all_ trains are on time, _all
the time_. Rail infrastructure and technology isn't a
little better than what you find the states, it's three
orders of magnitude better.

Everyone in Japan from Shinkansen conductors to sushi chefs
and store clerks to CEOs practice their professions with
disciplined seriousness. A subway kiosk goes out of service
and an attendant is flagged over and has it fixed in
minutes. You walk out of a bar and the owner follows you
into the hallway, and bows deeply until the elevator's
doors hide her from sight. A train leaves the station 20
seconds early and its operator [issues a formal
apology][twentysec].

## Hello, again (#hello)

Oh yeah, I went to Japan, and for my money, it's the most
interesting country on Earth. Not because its trains are
fast (although you do just have to _love_ the train), but
because of its amazing beauty, long history, unique culture
and technology, and friendly people.

I had the privilege of visiting a variety of its sights --
everything from dense urban jungles to beautiful wild
areas. This letter turned out to be a little long, so it's
coming out in two parts, with the next in early 2018.

As usual, you can unsubscribe instantly [by clicking
here][unsubscribe], but I hope you don't. Thanks for
reading!

## Stranger than fiction (#fiction)

Let's start with a few facts about Japan that I think every
westerner (who's never visited) will find surprising:

* Many have heard the urban legend that if you lose your
  wallet in Japan, it'll be returned to you. It's true. I
  first heard the story from a teacher in elementary school
  who'd left her purse on a park bench. She came back and
  retrieved it the next day.
    
    In a bar in Osaka, I met a guy who'd forgotten his
    wallet on the train just the week before. He filed a
    report, JR found it, and they mailed it to his hotel.
    They called beforehand to make sure it was okay to open
    it and remove a few hundred yen in bills to pay for
    postage.
* Convenience stores (largely 7-11, Family Mart, and
  Lawson) are a cornerstone of society. Unlike almost
  anywhere else on Earth, they're ubiquitous even in rural
  areas, and serve great food like onigiri and pork buns.
* There are vending machines everywhere and they dispense
  everything from hot drinks to fried food. Prices are the
  same as local convenience stores so there's no reason to
  avoid them. <NAME>, a figurehead for Suntory's
  Boss brand, stares back from many of them throughout the
  country.

![Boss](/assets/passages/002-japan/boss@2x.jpg)

* There are no public trash cans. If you have something to
  throw away, you pack it out until you get home or come
  across a convenience store. You'd think this would lead
  to runaway littering, but Japanese cities are the
  cleanest places you'll ever find. Everyone follows the
  rules.
* Corndogs are called "American dogs" and sold at every
  convenience store along tiny condiment packets that
  dispense the perfect amount of ketchup and mustard.
  They're _delicious_, and now rank amongst my favorite
  foods.
* Train conductors speak and motion with their hands as
  they're driving (gesturing symbolically to the track
  ahead, lights they pass, their timetable, etc.). They do
  it even when they're alone. The technique is called
  [pointing and calling][pointcall] and has been shown to
  reduce mistakes by about 85%.
* Every taxi in the country has a robotic passenger door
  that can be opened at the push of a button.

## Kanazawa (#kanazawa)

Kanazawa's a city of about half a million parked on the
coast northwest of Tokyo along the Sea of Japan. After a
brief layover at Narita to board a new plane, it was our
first stop.

Kanazawa's a great place to visit because it has the beauty
and history of Japan without the density of its major
metropolises (which can be a little overwhelming for
visitors). Houses in the city were once taxed based on the
width of their street frontage, which led to the
development of picturesque streets packed with houses that
are narrow in the front, but which stretch deeply into
their block.

Every few minutes you stumble across a shrine as you're
exploring, and most of them are inconceivably beautiful
(there's one depicted below). They're part of Japan's
Shinto religion, and it's common for the otherwise secular<commit_msg>Clarify doors<commit_after>---
title: Japan
published_at: 2017-12-24T06:07:33Z
---

![Osaka](/assets/passages/002-japan/osaka@2x.jpg)

In 1992 <NAME> wrote [_Rising Sun_][risingsun].
At the time Japan was seeing a meteoric rise, moving from a
post-war reconstruction project towards becoming the most
powerful economic engine in the world. America invented TV,
cars, film, printers, and denim, but was seeing its
domestic market flooded with Japanese versions that weren't
just cheaper, but better in every way that mattered. At the
time, the US was feeling an existential insecurity similar
to the one China elicits in it today.

Here's an excerpt from the book that's always stuck with
me:

> "If we knew what made Ishiguro behave as he did, we'd
> understand this case."
>
> "I don't understand."
>
> "It's hard for an American to see him clearly," Connor
> said. "Because in America, you think a certain amount of
> error is normal. You expect the plane to be late. You
> expect the mail to be undelivered. You expect the washing
> machine to break down. You expect things to go wrong all
> the time.
>
> "But Japan is different. Everything works in Japan. In a
> Tokyo train station, you can stand at a marked spot on
> the platform and when the train stops, the doors open
> right in front of you. Trains are on time. Bags are not
> lost. Connections are not missed. Deadlines are met.
> Things happen as planned. The Japanese are educated,
> prepared, and motivated. They get things done. There's no
> screwing around."

At the peak of Japan's dominance it was said that the
property under the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was worth more
than the entire state of California. But instead of the
country's economy shooting to the moon, a collapsing asset
bubble in the early 90s left it stagnating for twenty years
(the so-called ["Lost Decades"][lostdecades]). With the
20-20 insight into the past that we have today, _Rising
Sun_'s cautionary theme feels dated.

Even so, the passage is still more accurate than not.
Everyone's heard that trains in Japan are on time, but you
don't see until you visit that it's literally true. Not
only that most trains are on time, but that right up to a
miniscule margin of error, _all_ trains are on time, _all
the time_. Rail infrastructure and technology isn't a
little better than what you find the states, it's three
orders of magnitude better.

Everyone in Japan from Shinkansen conductors to sushi chefs
and store clerks to CEOs practice their professions with
disciplined seriousness. A subway kiosk goes out of service
and an attendant is flagged over and has it fixed in
minutes. You walk out of a bar and the owner follows you
into the hallway, and bows deeply until the elevator's
doors hide her from sight. A train leaves the station 20
seconds early and its operator [issues a formal
apology][twentysec].

## Hello, again (#hello)

Oh yeah, I went to Japan, and for my money, it's the most
interesting country on Earth. Not because its trains are
fast (although you do just have to _love_ the train), but
because of its amazing beauty, long history, unique culture
and technology, and friendly people.

I had the privilege of visiting a variety of its sights --
everything from dense urban jungles to beautiful wild
areas. This letter turned out to be a little long, so it's
coming out in two parts, with the next in early 2018.

As usual, you can unsubscribe instantly [by clicking
here][unsubscribe], but I hope you don't. Thanks for
reading!

## Stranger than fiction (#fiction)

Let's start with a few facts about Japan that I think every
westerner (who's never visited) will find surprising:

* Many have heard the urban legend that if you lose your
  wallet in Japan, it'll be returned to you. It's true. I
  first heard the story from a teacher in elementary school
  who'd left her purse on a park bench. She came back and
  retrieved it the next day.
    
    In a bar in Osaka, I met a guy who'd forgotten his
    wallet on the train just the week before. He filed a
    report, JR found it, and they mailed it to his hotel.
    They called beforehand to make sure it was okay to open
    it and remove a few hundred yen in bills to pay for
    postage.
* Convenience stores (largely 7-11, Family Mart, and
  Lawson) are a cornerstone of society. Unlike almost
  anywhere else on Earth, they're ubiquitous even in rural
  areas, and serve great food like onigiri and pork buns.
* There are vending machines everywhere and they dispense
  everything from hot drinks to fried food. Prices are the
  same as local convenience stores so there's no reason to
  avoid them. <NAME>, a figurehead for Suntory's
  Boss brand, stares back from many of them throughout the
  country.

![Boss](/assets/passages/002-japan/boss@2x.jpg)

* There are no public trash cans. If you have something to
  throw away, you pack it out until you get home or come
  across a convenience store. You'd think this would lead
  to runaway littering, but Japanese cities are the
  cleanest places you'll ever find. Everyone follows the
  rules.
* Corndogs are called "American dogs" and sold at every
  convenience store along tiny condiment packets that
  dispense the perfect amount of ketchup and mustard.
  They're _delicious_, and now rank amongst my favorite
  foods.
* Train conductors speak and motion with their hands as
  they're driving (gesturing symbolically to the track
  ahead, lights they pass, their timetable, etc.). They do
  it even when they're alone. The technique is called
  [pointing and calling][pointcall] and has been shown to
  reduce mistakes by about 85%.
* Every taxi in the country has a robotic passenger door
  that can be opened at the push of a button (and it's not
  a sliding door like a minivan, but one that swings
  outward like a normal car's).

## Kanazawa (#kanazawa)

Kanazawa's a city of about half a million parked on the
coast northwest of Tokyo along the Sea of Japan. After a
brief layover at Narita to board a new plane, it was our
first stop.

Kanazawa's a great place to visit because it has the beauty
and history of Japan without the density of its major
metropolises (which can be a little overwhelming for
visitors). Houses in the city were once taxed based on the
width of their street frontage, which led to the
development of picturesque streets packed with houses that
are narrow in the front, but which stretch deeply into
their block.

Every few minutes you stumble across a shrine as you're
exploring, and most of them are inconceivably beautiful
(there's one depicted below). They're part of Japan's
Shinto religion, and it's common for the otherwise secular
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