Posts for category 'Personal'

Rare jongens, die Japanners - Theft

[The title of this post comes from the phrase "Rare jongens, die Romeinen", which is the Dutch version of Obelix's catch phrase "Ils sont fous ces romains" ("These Romans are crazy")]

Having been in Japan for slightly more than a month, I think it's time to reflect on some of the Japanese habits that struck me as strange. Now I'm aware that this has been done to death by pretty much everyone who's been in Japan for more than five minutes, but that's not going to stop me! I will make several posts on this subject, but I will make no guarantees as to when or how often these posts appear (because if I did, I'd probably not be able to keep to it anyway :P ).

The first thing I want to look at is theft, or actually the lack thereof. The Japanese seem to put an enormous amount of trust in their population, since security tends to minimal. I've heard it said that this is because the idea of stealing is so dishonouring that they wouldn't even consider it. Maybe it's because they make it so easy to do that any self-respecting criminal would be ashamed to do something with so little challenge attached.

For example, back in the Netherlands getting into my apartment building was a fairly involved procedure. You needed to use a keycard at the main door (twice, if it was after 23:00; once for the outer door and once for the inner door). The building had four main entrances, but the keycard only worked on the entrance you were supposed to use. Of course there was camera-surveilance too. Then there's the key for the hall containing your room (which can also be used for the mailbox), and finally the room key.

Here, there's no hall keys. No outer door keys. And while there is a guard at the main entrance, all the fire exits are kept open most of the day and may be used for entry without any kind of supervision. This means that if you feel like raiding one of the public areas, such as one of the kitchens, there's not really anything to stop you from doing it.

Stores are even more amazing. In the Netherlands, there are those electronic security devices attached to items. or in a supermarket the only way to leave is through the cash registers. Here, I've yet to see a store with any kind of anti-theft device. In the nearby Seiyu supermarket, because I use the side exit, I have to cross through the vegetable section, with my already purchased items, so it's not only possible to leave the supermarket without passing the registers, it's required.

My bike has a laughable excuse for a lock which would guarantee theft within minutes if this was used at a Dutch train station. But here it's common; I've yet to see the heavy chains that are common in the Netherlands.

Speaking of train stations... the Japanese use a system similar to the Paris subway: you have to use your ticket to get through gates at the entrance and exit (pretty much the only way, since Japanese trains tend to be so crowded you can't even move (and no, this is not an exaggeration), so it would certainly be impossible for someone to check the tickets on the train). In Paris, it is fairly impossible to pass these gates without a ticket. Here, it'd be fairly trivial (except for the enormous number of people who typically dwell at stations; while you could do it, it'd be hard to do unnoticed :P ).

And then there's the enormously crowded trains and stations. Which really is rediculous; for my Dutch readers, you might've been in a train that was so full the driver refused to leave. These are even more crowded than that. Whenever I'm boarding such a train, there's always the point where everyone is so squeezed together that I think it's not humanly possible to for anyone else to come on board and still close the doors. At that point, usually at least five more people manage to get in. The only consolation is that because I'm relatively tall, at least I can still breath.

But I digress. In most Western countries, such conditions would be a prime ground for pick-pockets. Here, it doesn't happen. You can just put your bag on the luggage rack and forget about it until you get out. There's no need to watch your belongings at all (it is then also not surprising that many Japanese tourists in Western countries get robbed quite easily; they're not used to having to watch out for there stuff).

Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of places in Tokyo where walking around at night is not safe, but overall Japan is living up to its reputation as one of the safest countries in the world. :)

Categories: Personal, Japan
Posted on: 2007-05-09 14:13 UTC. Show comments (0)

Earthquake!

I just had my very first earthquake (not just in Japan; the first earthquake of my entire life). I was at home, in my room, when I noticed the room shake. It was very weak, and lasted only a few seconds. In fact, it was so short that I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it or not.

But according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, there was an earthquake at 21:01 JST, May 8th 2007. It had a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter schale, but the epicentre was quite a bit away from here, which explains why I barely noticed it (and hardly anyone else here noticed it at all). The JMA uses a scale called the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale. By that scale, the quake was intensity 3 at the centre. According to their breakdown by location, the intensity in this area (Setagaya-ku) was only 1.

The JMA has information about the most recent quakes here. The information about this quake will be on there for about a week (it appears there has already been a more recent quake so this one is off the front page; you can find this one by clicking on of the buttons at the top and then selecting it from the list; that approach should work for a week, then it's gone).

UPDATE: MSNBC writes about the quake.

Categories: Personal, Japan
Posted on: 2007-05-08 13:22 UTC. Show comments (1)

Justice at last!

Pretty much from the moment I arrived in Japan I had to listen to friends and family on MSN and Skype saying what beautiful weather it was in the Netherlands, while at the same time it's been fairly hit and miss over here (a few nice days, a few very rainy ones too).

So to everyone who felt the need to remind me of that, I'd just like to say: nyah, nyah, serves you right. :P

Weather in Tokyo and the Netherlands

Categories: Personal, Japan
Posted on: 2007-05-08 09:30 UTC. Show comments (0)

Finally, Internet!

Finally, I have Internet in my room here at the dorm. No longer do I need to use the slow wireless connection in the lounge.

On the downside, it'll probably kill my social life. :P

Categories: Personal, Japan
Posted on: 2007-04-26 13:17 UTC. Show comments (0)

Forms

I think Dr. McCoy said it best in Star Trek 4: "The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the Universe". The Japanese definitely seem to have taken it to an art form. In the past few days, I had to fill out more forms than I think in my entire prior life (ok, probably not really, but you get the point).

Forms for the dormitory, for alien registration, for health insurance, for the University, for the internet account, for the Japanese courses... it's gotten so bad I pretty much know how to write my own address by heart. In Kanji.

But at least it's almost over. I think there's just one more major form-signage session coming up, which should be for a mobile phone. Unfortunately Dutch mobile phones don't work here at all, so mine is currently serving as a glorified alarm clock. I've been given two different explanations for this; the first is that the networks in Japan all use 3G, so regular GSM phones don't work, and the second is that foreign providers are banned from the Japanese network. I don't know which is true; it might be both. At least all the phones I've seen in shops are 3G.

Not having a mobile (or "keitai" as the Japanese call them) is a bit of a bother since I also don't have a phone on my room or anything so the only way for people to contact me is by e-mail or postal mail.

Yesterday I signed up for the Japanese courses. I just barely made it to the sign-up office in time because I got lost on the Hongo campus. It's just huge. According to the placement tests I'm level "pre-3", which is what I signed up for. I hope that's okay since the test was just a simple "if you can read this, you can enter level X", and my reading skills are better than my conversation skills. But we'll see; worst case I'll have to work a bit harder the first few weeks. The classes are three times a week at the Hongo campus, which is about one hour travel from here. Fortunately the classes start at 13:10 so I can avoid the morning rush hour.

All this travel is getting quite expensive though. At least when I get a bike I'll be able to get rid of the bus fare everyday. As for the rest, I wonder if they have something like a monthly pass (this is however made more difficult by all the different railway companies in Japan). If not, I'll just have to deal with it. In that case I should at least get a "pasmo", a new type of electronic, rechargable ticket that works for almost all trains and buses. It's not cheaper, but at least it would be easier.

Categories: University, Personal, Japan
Posted on: 2007-04-10 09:53 UTC. Show comments (0)

Latest posts

Categories

Archive

Syndication

RSS Subscribe

;