Japan Randomness

Just off the top of my head...

Some things I just don't get about Japan...(a.k.a. 'WTF?' moments):

1) Japanese rarely jaywalk. Even when there's not a car for miles, they patiently wait for the light to change.

2) Japanese don't seem to have a sense of things/people/objects around them. For example, while grocery shopping, they career around the aisle as if no one else exists & never seem aware of peoples' presences near/on top of them. Maybe I've got it wrong but I think most people either sense or catch a glimpse out of their periphery that someone's standing near/behind/beside them...then they adjust their positioning accordingly. Japanese people seem to have zero sense of this. They could be backing up their carts into an extremely crowded grocery store center lane, hogging it entirely, & not even notice that they've held up heaps of traffic & generally caused inconvenience. Why is this?

3) Recently, in order to save money, Japan enacted this policy called "Cool Biz" (meant for summer), which essentially meant that companies were not running their AC so their electricity bills would be lower. Hmmm...you mean you can't save money in some OTHER area? You HAVE to sacrifice your employees' comfort first? (that's VERY Japan, let's all "endure" & "suffer" together as a group) Anyways, at the end of summer, everyone was boiling in the office but yet the AC still was never turned on. Continuing with these efforts, it seems that the lights in rooms are being turned off when not in use, including the bathrooms. Ok, fair enough, makes sense. The weird thing is, I've walked into the women's toilet at least 10 times so far when there's been a girl from the office in there, using the toilet, in total darkness. Usually during the day if the sun's out it's semi-light enough for that. But come ON. What're we saving on that, a whole 3 yen?

4) When my own bank charges me to use its ATM. What's up with that?

5) Japanese men & blatant, shameless public urination.

6) The whole "go to work even when you're deathly ill" mentality.


And then there are the things I love about Japan...

1) Hearing loud sing song chimes of "Irrashaimase!" (Welcome!) and "Arigatou Gozaimashita!" (Thank you very much!) in every shop I walk into & out of.

2) Cheap, magically delicious sushi.

3) Planes, trains & buses that are on time 99.8% of the time. Man I'll miss this when I'm gone, oh how I will!