In no particular order:
1. Pedestrian traffic
In Tokyo, pedestrians are good at maintaining their traffic flow. This is unsurprising not only given the population of Tokyo but also the large proportion of pedestrians here. Still, it stands out. Pedestrians are good at being aware of their environment. They walk straight. They keep to one side of the path. They easily hear someone behind them and will quickly move out of the way so that person can pass. That said, there are still lot of people walking while looking down staring at their phones, but keeping to one side of the path and walking straight maximizes predictability for others and minimizes the disruption.
Good pedestrian traffic is important because pedestrians share the sidewalk with bicycles. Cyclists ride carefully and slowly on the sidewalks, but safety is a two-way street, and cyclists rely on pedestrians to keep out of the way as much as pedestrians rely on cyclists to avoid running into them.
2. How Things Get Done
Paper forms are everywhere in Japan. Everything it seems requires you to complete a long form. My husband wanted to add his mobile number to our front desk's contact list, and they told him that he had to first complete a handwritten form. Japan is positively not paperless, and this is one of the things I hope will change.
The first couple of months after we arrived, we felt overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork we had to submit. While there is a lot of bureaucratic paperwork, things generally work as they should. For example, it took a lot of forms for me to obtain my national health insurance card. Once I did, however, the administrative aspect of healthcare was easy. I have been to a handful of doctors so far. Every time, the cost is transparent, and the final bill is settled before I leave. I never have to weigh the necessity of a procedure against the incalculable, unpredictable cost that the insurance company will determine. I don't have to wait for months to find out whether I will be paying nothing or thousands of dollars.
Rarely does your information get lost or reshuffled or misinterpreted. Almost never do you have to take the initiative to unearth a problem and then go chasing after the solution. If you do, you will likely find people who genuinely want to help you solve the problem. All in all, I spend less time doing paperwork than I do trying to retroactively fix problems.
3. Reasonable Prices
For some reason, I had been under the impression that the cost of living was high in Japan. Many fruits are, in fact, expensive compared to those in the U.S.. However, the costs of services in Tokyo is generally less compared to the same costs in Chicago. Yoyogi Park, one of the largest public parks in Tokyo, has a biking pathway and rents both kids and adult bicycles. It is hugely popular and yet costs only about $2 for an hour. I find it interesting that the price is not directly proportional to demand. It may be difficult to attain popular things and services, but the sticker price won't make you gasp.
More often than not in Chicago, the cost of something exceeded its value (to me). I would have in my mind an idea of how much I would pay for something, an expectation, and usually it would end up costing much more. It felt like a lot of businesses charged the highest price they could. That, in turn, made it feel like they cared more about maximizing profit than serving the customer.
In, Japan, I find myself constantly surprised at how reasonable prices are, even when it is something that people line up for. Japan is a capitalist country, but there is something at work in the market that goes beyond pure economics. That something - perhaps culture or custom - acts as a restraint on capitalism.
4. Social Interactions
Japanese people take a lot of pride in their manners. Manners, broadly speaking, is your bearing towards, and impact on, others. Manners reflect as much on yourself as it does on how you consider others. How considerate you are of others is a reflection of how well you were raised - a reflection of not only yourself but your family and community.
In Japan, children, like most other countries, are taught core values, including kindness and consideration. These values are so important that they transcend beyond the individual. In other words, they are more important than individualism. This education begins early. My youngest daughter attends a Japanese nursery school. She is a year and a half and knows to take her shoes off at entrances. She knows to put away her shoes, and to hand her empty plates over after eating.
Adult interactions reflect this as well. People's actions are shaped by how they will impact others. This affects how people dress (well), how they speak (carefully), and how they walk (with awareness of surroundings). Manners are important because it is a matter of self-dignity and respect for others, two concepts fundamental to Japanese culture.
5. Community
There is a real sense of community in Japanese culture, even in a city like Tokyo. I think Japan's ethnic and cultural homogeneity was historically an important part of this. However, there are a lot of non-Japanese living in Tokyo today. This is especially apparent at the moment because the country's borders are closed to foreign tourists. Despite diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, many non-Japanese living here speak Japanese and almost all adopt cultural norms and customs. This provides commonality and facilitates a sense of community.
I commute to E's school every morning via bicycle. It is amazing to see how many people and businesses begin the day cleaning their street. I once saw a gust of wind blow a business's sign down, right into the sidewalk. Immediately, a passerby, an elderly woman on a cane, bent over to prop it back up. I often see people picking up trash even when it is clearly not theirs. Each person is inclined to keep the streets clean because everyone in the community makes the same effort.
6. Conservation
Japan is an island nation. Nature is a dominant force in life and resources are not taken for granted. The geography and environment have shaped the cultural devotion to conservation. Japanese people value efficiency and resourcefulness. Unlike Chinese culture, where excess (especially when it comes to food) is celebrated and even socially necessary, Japanese culture celebrates the idea of having just enough.
Japanese recycling involves cleaning and separating your trash into several categories. Of the non-recyclables, perhaps the largest category of waste is the burnables. Given Japan's small landmass, it has developed incineration plants designed to generate clean electricity from burning trash. The furnaces operate in compliance with strict anti-pollution laws. If you want to read about the details, the Ministry of Environment has published a report.
7. Elevators
I have noticed that people often take stairs by default, unless it is a high rise office building or something similar. People don't necessarily take elevators just because they are there. My building has an elevator and stairs right next to it. While it is open for everyone to use, people only use it if they are on a bike or have a stroller. This is great because it leaves the elevator available for those who truly need it.
Another great feature about elevators is the door close button. It actually works. In the U.S., I never bothered pressing it, because the doors never seemed to close any faster. When I first arrived in Japan, I continued to ignore the button. But other people in the elevator would lean across and press it. Soon, I realized that people expected me to press it after entering the elevator so everyone can get on with the ride. Here, the doors do actually close as soon as you press the door close button.
8. No Tips
There is no tipping in Japan. In some contexts, it can even be impolite to tip. Tip supporters say tipping encourages better service, but I have always received amazing service in Japan.
In Japanese culture, work is a source of pride. Whether it involves real artisanship or manual labor, the shokunin spirit is present. A shokunin is an artisan, an expert craftsman who seeks to master a specific skill. The shokunin spirit can be described as the endless pursuit of perfection.
Work is also a means of demonstrating dignity through hardship, which is highly valued in Japanese culture. In Japanese, (according to Wikipedia) Gaman means enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity. It means persevering, maintaining your dignity and control under distress. To do so is highly admired. Between the concepts of Gaman and shokunin, it is no wonder that tipping is irrelevant to excellent service.
