The floating world

Where perfection beats dynamism

My wife and I recently spent 18 days in Japan. The following is a highly subjective aesthetic appraisal of what I saw, not a moral judgment or an economic evaluation. So please don’t respond with comments that I’m wrong because you don’t like some aspect of Japanese culture, or you think their GDP is lower than that of some other country.

Almost everywhere I travel, I find things that I like and things that I don’t like. But it’s rare to find a place with as many delightful features as Japan. I suspect that’s partly because I’m a highly visual person, and it’s the visual aspect of Japan that interests me the most. I do not speak the language, so some of my comments will undoubtedly be ill informed.

First a few general comments:

1. The people mostly seem calm, well behaved and competent.

2. Most buildings look like they were built after WWII. Newer buildings look much nicer than older buildings, perhaps because Japan was poor in the immediate post-war years.

3. Recent construction quality seems very high, with a focus on getting details right.

4. The Japanese seem to favor making things more attractive. They often dress better than people in Western countries, the newer buildings have attractive interior design, products are wrapped in a more appealing way, food is displayed in a more appetizing way (especially desserts), and streetscapes often look more interesting than in other densely populated Asian countries.

5. Lots of things seem a bit odd or quirky to a Westerner, but in a way that is often quite appealing. They have lots of novel practices designed to make life more convenient.

When I was young, I preferred the old cities of Western Europe. Now at age 69, Tokyo is probably my favorite city to visit. It’s arguably the world’s largest city, with a metro population of 38 million, so it’s hard to generalize. But the central area has lots of modern architecture (this is a modern art museum on the left):

In general, Tokyo’s newest architecture has a lighter feel than you find in Chinese cities—lots of glass high-rises with white framing (as in Miami). But even their brutalist buildings are surprisingly attractive. In the central areas of Tokyo there are vast numbers of 6, 8 or 10 story buildings squeezed onto very narrow lots, with the newer ones often displaying a quite innovative design. (I know little about Tokyo’s extensive suburbs, but from the train window they didn’t look all that interesting.)

We stayed at the Shiomi Prince hotel in the Koto City area of Tokyo, which is a newer section built on landfill. The lounge outside the public bath shows the Japanese skill at minimalism, at working with simple materials like bare concrete walls and floor:

I’ll try not to bore you with too many prices—almost everything in Tokyo is 1/3 to 1/2 of the price you’d pay in NYC or LA. For Americans, it makes sense to splurge on multi-course meals, such as this stack of 12 appetizers on the 52nd floor of Tokyo’s Mori building (total cost $47 for two people.) The high rise also contains a good art museum, where I saw an exhibit of Louise Bourgeois’ work.

(A Tokyo restaurant called Caveman is also recommended.).

[Update: My wife says I got the price wrong, it may have been $47 per person. Sorry about that. I still think my other reported prices are correct.]

While Tokyo residents tend to dress well, there is also the “cosplay” phenomenon. I know nothing about the whole manga subculture, but I like the fact that younger Japanese people like to be creative and have fun, and don’t obsess about things like “cultural appropriation”:

Unfortunately, I’m no longer in my 20s, and spend most of my time noticing obscure details like the near perfect fit and finish in Japanese construction. This is the base of the wall in our hotel bathroom:

No unsightly discolored caulking. Every seam is perfect. (Yes, I know, this is what happens when you get old.)

Not far from the angelic young lady, and still in Koto City, I looked up at an underpass with baby blue paint, and not a speck of rust or dirt:

Even the manhole covers are kind of attractive:

In stores, items are often wrapped in a very attractive fashion:

Of all the countries I’ve visited, Japan has by far the best postcards. I could spend hours just browsing the postcard sections of their bookstores. (My final MoneyIllusion post, has a good example from the 1920s.)

The Japanese seem to put a great deal of thought into making life more convenient. Smokers are not treated like lepers:

Notice the vending machines on the left. AFAIK, Japan has by far the world’s best vending machines. (I’ve never been to Korea.) Society doesn’t panic at the thought that a young person might be able to secretly obtain some tobacco or alcohol from vending machines. (In America, you need an ID to buy O’Douls.) In our hotel in Nikko, there was a self-serve bar with no attendant watching over you, which had beer, wine, coffee, various nuts and soft serve ice cream:

Speaking of young people, the most enjoyable moment of my trip occurred in the ordinary town of Wakayama, where we stayed due to poor trip planning. (Should have stayed in Osaka.) I saw three tiny little children (2 girls and a boy), perhaps three feet tall, walking home from school with their little backpacks. The were crossing a busy 8 lane commercial street all by themselves. For some reason it made me really happy to know that the world I grew up in still lives on in a few places.

I wanted to take their picture, and it probably would have been fine with the Japanese. But I held back. I realized that my mind had been infected by a sickness in American society, which made me see my harmless interest in these kids as “creepy”. So no picture. (I know what you are thinking, “We already think you’re a creep from that cosplay pic.”)

Some of the convenience of Japanese life is due to a culture of competence and good manners. The trains leave right on time, and people don’t push their way onto trains as others are leaving. No graffiti. Upholstered subway and train seats are clean and comfortable. Some of the convenience comes from things like plentiful public toilets. (Wim Wenders just did a film about a guy who cleaned these Tokyo toilets.) BTW, you often see young women cleaning the men’s toilets. I suspect that gender “bathroom” issues are not a big deal in Japanese elections. And unlike in Europe, there are lots of drinking fountains.

We only had two days in Tokyo, as my wife wanted to see colorful leaves in the countryside. (Isn’t green a color?) In any case, the fall colors in Nikko were “delayed”, and it was also sort of rainy.

The island of Naoshima is worth visiting if you like modern art/architecture:

Most of the Naoshima museums are bare concrete works by Tadeo Ando, not the more classical glass style I associate with his work in places like Fort Worth.

If neotraditionalists were to compare all the cool modern architecture being built in Japan with some of the mock-European edifices being erected in China, they might slightly adjust their views. (And I’m not hostile to neotraditionalism—I love California’s Spanish style public buildings, and the Tuscan-style houses in Irvine.)

In Naoshima, it was interesting to see female Japanese tourists languidly bicycling around the island while wearing long elegant dresses. They don’t seem to go for sports apparel.

Here I need to mention one negative about Japan. While they are more open to cash than most countries, Naoshima museums insisted on online reservations, which is a bit difficult for foreigners. In Okayama I tried to stop briefly at a business that allowed you to relax (as my back was giving me a lot of trouble), while my wife did some shopping. But the online reservation was so complex that even my wife couldn’t handle it (and she knows a bit of Japanese writing, which uses some Chinese. characters.)

Japan has a weird mix of the ultra-modern and old-fashioned. I like the fact that there are still phone booths, that cash is widely accepted, and that hotels often use regular keys, not those plastic cards that often don’t work. You still sign credit card receipts for purchases as small as $2 or $3. Even coins are still widely used. I’m no expert on Japanese culture, but the country had a bit more of a traditional Victorian vibe than does modern America. More polite and formal. The (excellent) taxis, phone booths and mailboxes looked British. But there’s also all those video games, neon lights and bullet trains. So it’s hard to generalize.

This post is just the tip of the iceberg. Any observant person walking around Japan will see something that catches their eye almost every 5 minutes. It’s a paradise for tourists that like to notice things. This post has focused on the visual attractions, but there is also the excellent cuisine, the relaxing '“onsen” (public baths), the fact that Japan is fairly quiet compared to most places. (They wisely banned cell phone conversations on trains.) In other words, Japan is also excellent in terms of the “other four senses”, beyond the visual.

The term “floating world” was used to describe life in 18th century Edo (now called Tokyo.) It still matches the feeling one gets visiting Tokyo, which feels far less abrasive than New York. Sort of like the feeling you get reading a Murakami novel, or watching an Ozu film. A certain lightness.

I have no interest in discussing all of the pros and cons of Japanese cultural practices. I simple enjoy seeing a way of life that is very different from America, and at least in some respects seems highly successful. It turns out that 38 million people can live in a dense urban area without driving themselves s crazy, as long as certain rules are followed.  Who knew? I was born in the USA, but my personality feels more in tune with Japanese culture. In some respects (not all), Tokyo seems like the peak of human civilization.

And it’s now even cheaper than a month ago. What are you waiting for?

A few other things I liked:

1. Unlike in America, eggs and meat are not overcooked.

2. My wife liked the restaurant baskets to set your purse in.

3. Magazines are meant to be read back to front. (I’ve always read them that way, perhaps because I’m left-handed.)

4. In Wakayama our 3-star hotel cost $46, and a delicious nine-course dinner for two at a quality restaurant cost $54. That combination would easily cost $300 in America.

5. The food in convenience stores like 7/11 is actually not that bad. In other words, the floor on food quality in Japan is higher than in the US.

6. Tough looking young males in black leather jackets will stand patiently at a side street crosswalk with no cars in sight, while waiting for the walk sign. (I notice that the Germans and Japanese are the only people who take don’t walk signs seriously; is that related to being good at making reliable cars?)

7. Imagine a Faberge egg the size of an African bull elephant. That roughly describes a cement truck I saw pass by in Nikko. It was painted intense high gloss lime green and glistened in the sun with enough chrome to cover a dozen 1959 Cadillacs. Clean enough to eat off. This link gives a hint, but it was prettier than even the violet one shown there.

8. In the platform at the Kii Katsuura train station, you can expect to hear birds chipping. How do I know? They are mechanical, and hence more reliable than real birds.

9. Every city seems to have a peppermint-striped red and white Eiffel tower, like something out of a Godzilla movie.

10. When train employees walk through a train car, they always turn and bow to passengers before exiting the car. Train employees on the platform bow to welcome the train as it arrives.

11. When the train is braking, a screen in each car shows the battery recharging:

    

PS. More people watched the World Series in Japan than in the US, despite the US having almost 3X more people, and despite the fact that Japan has its own professional baseball league. (The Shohei Ohtani effect.) In pure “utility terms”, you might say that Japan won the World Series.

Germany’s performance in the Olympics has declined sharply in recently decades. Over the same period of time, Japan’s medal count has increased sharply. I wonder why these two countries differ so markedly in that regard?

PPS. I did see many signs of an aging population. Some of the hiking trails in the rural areas were so overgrown they were impassable. One tiny little restaurant was run by an old man and woman. We spent $30 for dinner, and there was only one other couple that evening. Hard to imagine how they could survive with $60 in gross revenue for an entire evening, even before subtracting out the cost of all the fresh seafood and beverages, as well as the capital cost of the business. In California, an elderly couple would net $160 just for working a 4-hour shift at McDonalds. Lots of really old men drove taxis. My sense is that the inefficiency of the Japanese economy does not come from the workers, who are highly competent, but from the system, which seems somewhat tradition bound and perfectionist.

PPPS. Well, it took about 10 days for this pre-election prediction to be confirmed:

He has promised to be far more reckless the second time around, not relying on RINOs for advice. His advisors will be incompetent fools.

But even I didn’t have Matt Gaetz on my bingo card!