Mata Ferzos: 1 Japan Year
“Japan never considers time together as time wasted. Rather, it is time invested.” — Donald Richie (American Author)
It’s been a year since I lived in Japan. I want to share my perspective after living here — what Japan is in my eye. That’s why this story is named “Mata Ferzos” (en: from the eye of Ferzos). “Mata” is a double pun cause “Mata” means “eye” in Indonesian 👀. But it also means “again” in Japanese cause I will still stay here (again) after writing this. Genius, right? Oh, shut up 😊
In this story, I will talk about some things that I found fascinating after living my life for a year. Not only the good ones but also the shocking — unexpected ones. Let’s go!
1. Automation
There’s lots of automation here, I think Japanese people love efficiency. From the robot that brings you dishes in restaurants, to motion sensors in bathrooms that turn on the lights when people come in.
You can set your dryer to start at a certain hour and finish within certain hours. Say, “Turn on the dryer 2 hours after, and turn it off after 1 hour”. Then you can just go to the gym or something, and you get your dried clothes when you come back. I love it.
It’s such small things that people can easily ignore. But if you look at it more deeply, these things have many compounding benefits. By using robots, you can reduce the number of employees. Hence, reduce expenses for your business. By installing a motion sensor, you can save the electricity bill of your school, apartment, or building. I’m so impressed cause Japan is paying attention to these small details, acknowledging them, and realizing that these small improvements can lead to a better life.
2. Disability Friendly
All the sidewalks in Tokyo have yellow blocks to guide the visually impaired. Almost all the gateways and entry points to the subway or train stations have elevators and ramps. There will be a jingle on the zebra cross to mark that it’s time to cross for visually impaired people.
I feel like people with disability will get by easily when traveling here in Tokyo. It’s so common that I see people with wheelchairs just traveling by themselves. Getting to the station, go to the restaurant, with zero hustle whatsoever. I appreciate what Japan is doing meanwhile in other parts of the world, these kinds of things sometimes get ignored.
3. 上の人 Culture
上の人 means “people above you”. For example: elders, bosses, .etc. It’s a culture to switch your way of speaking to people who are socially above you. They use a polite form of Japanese called 敬語 (respectful language) to communicate. While this kind of language pattern also exists in my mother tongue, the level of “humility” is different.
The Japanese language has this pattern of elongating the words. For example, if you wanna say: “Ok to ask (a question)?”, in respectful language it would be like: “I would, however, be delighted if I may be permitted to ask (a question).” Sometimes it’s hard for me to keep up cause they use this language to customers in a restaurant 😅 While I think it’s good for hospitality, It was still a culture shock for me.
4. Too Many Drinking Party
They have lots of drinking parties here: 忘年会 (year-end drinking party), 新年会 (new year drinking party). Hell, my company even has TGIF parties where we toast and drink alcohol literally at the office every month. It’s pretty normal here for people to drink up to the point of passing out. In Shibuya, people lying down on the streets are common view.
One takeaway: Japan loves their 酒 (alcohol). It is so many up to the point that I feel insecure about my guts and decided to do a 5-minute abs workout every morning just to keep up with the culture.
5. Outdated Banking System
Banks in Japan are especially annoying, especially for foreigners. It feels so… ancient. Imagine having to transfer money across banks on the weekend, but the balance will only be reflected on Monday. Not only that, you need to have an exact 片仮名 name on your bank account. Otherwise, other services will deem you “you’re not the person”. This is especially annoying if you are a foreigner who has no Kanji name. Bank processes such as linking your account to pay your credit card — are often done using a postcard which is inefficient and time-consuming.
No virtual account. You have to go to the bank office if you want to manage or activate some of its features, like for example automatic withdrawal.
6. Trapped in Time
Some things feel like they should never be done in this current digital era. For example, the flyer culture here is still prominent. At least once a week, I got random flyers in my mailbox.
While in Tokyo many small shops can receive electrical payment — if you go to the countryside, you can easily encounter that you can only pay by cash. I’m not talking about small shops like the ones on the side of the street. I’m talking bout a proper restaurant, with AC and all, and they still only accept cash.
7. Extreme Weather Change
One day is sunny and hot, the other day it is pouring rain. When I say it is so extreme, I mean it 😂 In Winter it can get so cold that my hand could freeze. While in Summer it was so hot I wished I could take off my clothes.
8. Foreigners-Unfriendly Websites
This one is one of my personal experiences. If you’re coming from non-kanji countries, you can say goodbyes to online registration. It’s not often that your 片仮名 (Katakana) name will hit the ceiling of maximum characters. It’s frustrating cause that is your name, and you have to register with your proper name. Leaving you so baffled, that you don’t know what to do.
9. Cleanliness
I’m so impressed with how they manage their trash. Even though there are no trash cans on the street, almost no trash lying around.
Everyone complied with the trash sorting. Even in big events like festivals (お祭り) or fireworks festivals (花火大会), there are no visible scattered trash lying around in the area at all.
10. Reservation, reservation everywhere
Japan loves its reservations. You can make reservations at almost any restaurant, even small ones! There’s even an app that provides a reservation management system. Isn’t it crazy?
You also have to be precise when you book your reservation, down to the number of people. You can’t show up with fewer or more people to the venue; you have to call before your visit. Otherwise, you will end up paying a cancellation fee or no additional table, and you will have to cramp yourself up at the table.
11. You Can See Foreigners Almost Everyday
I don’t know if it’s because of my environment, but every day when I go out in Tokyo — there’s always a guarantee that I will see foreigners whether they are just here to travel or working residents just like me.
12. Next Level Toilet
I think it’s already become a “common secret” that the toilets here are on the next level. I mean c’mon… I got a toilet in my apartment that can blow dry your a**ho*e, how fantastic is that? The first thing I will ever build if I ever have a house outside of Japan, is a Japanese toilet.
13. Drying Clothes Inside Your House
In times of season when you can’t dry your clothes outside, Japan has the solution: Inside House Drying System. Isn’t it genius?
14. Quiet Starts At 9 PM
I came from a neighborhood where it’s still lively up until midnight. Small shops are still open on the side of the street, people are still hanging out at cafes. While here, at least where I live, shops are already closed at 9 PM. Even supermarket! Then it got quiet… so quickly. The only noise you can hear is the rumbling engine of vehicles that pass by. That’s it! No children playing around. No 大路さん chatting. No nothing.
That’s wrapped up all the things that I’ve observed so far in Japan. Here’s to another year living in this beautiful country 🍻
またね — 光（ヒカル）
