Day 14: 14 April 2009 (Osaka)

LOCATION: OSAKA
MOOD: EXHAUSTED
LISTENING TO: JAY-Z – 03 BONNIE AND CLYDE

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

I was up quite late last night, and given the amount of walking that I had done yesterday I slept in until around 10 this morning. Upon waking I took a look out the window and saw that it was raining heavily. Those two facts combined with the fact that I had a bit of admin stuff to cycle through (this blog, postcards, arranging accomodation for the next leg of my trip) led me to decide to spend the day in my hotel resting up and clearing the decks.

However once I had finished with the work I started reflecting on the past two weeks. It's normal for travellers to wax lyrical about the country they're visiting; after all, you're on holiday and you're in a good mood, and furthermore it's only polite to be complimentary about your hosts. However, in a break from tradition, the dreary rain-drenched concrete scene outside of my window has inspired me to come up with a list of things that suck about Japan. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here (I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be), but there's no point in pretending that there aren't aspects of Japan that drive me up the wall.

1. Cyclists:

Put it simply, I hate cyclists. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't mind cyclists in parks or velodromes, but bicycles in an urban environment are an endless source of irritation for me. Climate change be damned, I can't stand them. And Japan has plenty of them. Footpaths are especially broad in Japan, but even then the congestion is such that there's always bicycles blurring past you and careening head-first towards you. I've worked out the best way to ensure your safety is to just ignore them; try and move out of the way and you end up with that problem that you end up with walking down long corridors – you inevitably both evade in the same direction.

Nothing makes a statement like rocking up to the spot on two wheels. Right?

2. Lack of seats:

Put simply, unless you pay for a coffee or a meal there's literally nowhere to sit in Japan. It doesn't matter whether you're walking the street or walking in a shopping centre, you should keep moving until you get wherever you want to go and not stop for a rest. At points I found myself looking forward to train rides because I could finally have a seat (if I was lucky). There's a reason why homeless people flock to parks – they're the only damn places with benches. I would understand if there's not enough room for benches, but Japan places such a premium on broad public spaces that it's really difficult to understand who would be inconvenienced by placing seats at the sides.

Would it kill you to put in a bench?

3. Lack of trash cans:

This follows in a similar vein from number 2. I was told last time in Japan that the reason for the lack of bins is that this country doesn't really have much of an 'eating outdoors' culture. Perhaps that's true in the country (where I was last time), but in the city I see people eating outside all the time. Fair enough, they say that there's a positive correlation between the amount of bins a city has and the amount of trash on its footpaths, but in a convenience-obsessed country you would expect there to be a better way to dispose of your garbage than having to carry it with you to your destination.

I didn't have a random photo of garbage, so you'll have to put up with this photo of my bemusement instead.

4. Lack of street signs:

Navigating in Japan is usually pretty easy if you stick to the beaten tourist path; signs in English will usually point the way. Either that, or you can just follow the white people. However once you head off on your own navigating can become a tremendous pain. None of the cities I've been in so far have been planned cities; buildings have literally sprouted up wherever there has been room. Organic cities make for fantastic photos and create an amazing 'concrete jungle' atmosphere, but they're hell to find your way through. This is not helped by a lack of street signs; even on major roads, they don't print the road name, the signs just tell you which suburb you're in.

The problem with travelling alone is that you can't use the "I was following you" excuse.

5. Public obliviousness:

Japan is renowned as a polite society, and a Japanese friend once told me that Japanese people usually have the problem of thinking too much about others. In a relationship sense this is usually true; a lot of the communication is subtle and unspoken, with Japanese people preferring that you get their drift rather than having to say it plainly. However, in general movement on the street there have been a number of instances where the locals have been either oblivious or just plain rude. Walking directly in front of a person with a camera is one example, cutting directly in front of you in a queue for train tickets is another. Perhaps it's just because I'm in the big city, but it's just something I didn't really expect in Japan.

Camera rage. It's only a matter of time before it explodes.

6. Cash Money:

This is one of the stranger aspects of Japanese society. I cannot understand why Japan has been so resistant to both credit cards and cheques. Apparently it's preferable to carry around the equivalent of thousands of dollars in currency rather than install card readers. The height of this ridiculousness becomes apparent when you're booking accommodation online. You'll be charged a non-refundable deposit and booking fee (which has to be paid by credit card), but when you arrive you can't actually pay by card.

Sometimes it feels like I'm carrying this much currency.
(Cheers to Henry for this photo)

But those are really my only complaints about life here. Having studied Japanese society for a couple of years at uni I know that there are much deeper societal problems, but as a foreigner these are really the only things that irk me. But I've only been here two weeks – there's plenty of time for more irritants to service over the next 67 days.