Today The 7 Odd Things I’ve Missed About Japan was published and this prompted me to think back to my stay in Japan. I didn’t like many things, but I try to be fair and have to agree that I also liked a great deal of things.
1. Public toilets
Not so much the toilets themselves, I can do quite well without a heated toilet because in Germany bathrooms are usually warm enough. But I loved the fact that Japan had toilets accessible to the public everywhere. Every train station had a toilet, every combini had a toilet. And these toilets were free. And I mean free with a capital F, no black woman sitting there trying to guilt-trip me into paying for a toilet at a restaurant where I eat. No I mean really free - go there, use it, leave. For me free public toilets are a cornerstone of a great civilization. If we can manage to have free toilets everywhere, all other issues can be solved eventually :) In the end, I think combinis profit a lot from the free toilets, I was much more inclined to pay their markup for the product for all occasions where a combini saved be.
Well, I should also add that these toilets are clean. Or well, clean enough. German public toilets are most of the time totally awful.
2. Opening times
This only applies to shops not to banks or the dreaded ATM opening times, but here in Germany, especially in Bavaria shops close at 20:00 (22:00 in other states). And they are closed on Sundays. In Japan, I had no problem to go shopping on Sunday and I was aware of this good fortune so I went shopping on Sundays. And Aeon was open till 23:00, so go to a party, leave earlier, go shopping, go home. Super-convenient.
3. Combinis
I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t just love these. For the uninitiated: they are small supermarkets that are open 24/7 and usually have a rather great choice of products. Food is fresh, there is always a curious selection of softdrinks and a perhaps even more curious selection of alcohol. You can get your Amazon packages delivered there or pay your Amazon stuff there as well as order tickets. They also offer fast-food as well as food that you can prepare with a microwave or water cooker. I think I ate countless breakfasts at combinis, sometimes because I was out camping and sometimes because I didn’t feel like making food.
In the end, you pay maybe 30% markup on the products, but in my experience it is usually even less. I think this is very good deal.
Visiting a combini at night with a bunch of friends to buy some beers also became a cool ritual. That is the one occasion where you don’t mind the ridiculously high beer prices.
4. Trains
Oh how I loved the subway system in Nagoya. It is a number of lines crossing through the city and one ring line that enables you to reach every place in a decent time. In munich, to go anywhere, you have to go into the city and then ride out again. This takes ridiculous amounts of time and is incredibly inefficient.
And Japanese trains are never late. Never. There is this joke: “In Heaven: the cooks are French, the policemen are English, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and the bankers are Swiss. In Hell: In Hell: the cooks are English, the policemen are German, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss and the bankers are Italian.”. No idea what the Japanese would be in Hell, but in Heaven they would certainly run the trains. I suppose, they would also do a decent job of running trains in Hell.
5. The Logistics
I could set the delivery date and also the desired time. Back in Germany I have to be happy if the delivery-man even bothers ringing our door. For me it is quite ok still, but if you live in a dorm, too bad because getting a package delivered to a dorm is near impossible.
Added bonus: Amazon delivers just about everything for free, without the need for Amazon Prime.
6. Cheap Sushi!
I had a friend from Japan over and she was surprised how horribly expensive sushi in Munich is. And yeah it is, because everything Japanese in Munich is automagically 20% more expensive. No more cheap “50% off” sashimi from Aeon, sigh. Of course, expensive sushi is probably more expensive in Japan, but cheap sushi is cheaper in Japan, too (and also pretty tasty!).
7. The all-you-can-eat-sweets
Haha, I’m a glutton. Sweets Paradise offers a deal where you can eat as much cake and sweets as you can for 1480 Yen (about 14,80€) for 90 minutes. Turns out, 90 minutes are enough to eat enough sweets until you won’t be able to eat anything sweet for the next two or three months.