Missing Japan

A few months ago, if asked, I would have had a hard time listing off some things I would miss about Japan. I guess living somewhere helps you lose sight of those sorts of things. Our recent trip to Portugal was a good chance to bring these things to light again.

One thing I missed was the easy open, well-designed packaging in Japan. Although they over package virtually everything including things that don’t need any packaging at all, they really have packaging down to an art. Most people can think of a time that they met with a difficult to open bag of chips that resulted in chip fireworks and a return to the store for another bag. Or a packet of sugar that you try to tear along the line, that doesn’t tear along the line, and then you try tearing another spot and that just stretches the package but it won’t tear, and in the end you have sugar in your lap. Well, these things don’t happen in Japan. There is always a clever spot that it designed to open easily and elegantly when you apply pressure in just the right way. I admit, there was a learning curve associated with this system and I messed up plenty of packages by not being patient and looking carefully for the directions, but now that I understand the system there is no replacement.

The efficiency of travel in Japan was also something that I missed. In Japan you know that the trains will arrive and leave on time, practically to the second. It is really amazing and easy to get comfortable with once you have it. While we were in Portugal, we waited for a bus that was supposed to be arriving on a 15 minute frequency for over 30 minutes – something that is unimaginable in Japan. Another incredible efficiency in Japan is air travel. Here, we can arrive at the airport 15 minutes before our departure, walk right through security (who allow water bottles on domestic flights – hooray) and to our gate and directly onto the plane. The security checks are quick and the boarding is like clockwork. In other places, boarding a plane takes a while (think about how long in advance of the flight boarding starts – usually 20 minutes or so), but in Japan they knock it off in about 5 or 10 minutes. They don’t mess around with checking photo id at the gate, but that can’t be the only time saver, and I still haven’t figured out how they do it so fast, but it sure is nice.

Another thing I missed about Japan was the way that people seem happy to do their jobs. I can imagine that some people don’t actually like their jobs, but the customer won’t know it. Japanese workers do their job with as much pride as they can muster regardless of what that job is. You can go to the 7-11 counter and ask for a green tea and the clerk will hop the counter and run (no joke – they run) to the back shelf and grab you an assortment of chilled and hot choices with a smile. In Portugal, you can pay top dollar for a hotel room and the staff at the hotel will give you an annoyed eye roll and reluctantly answer your query of how to access internet with a terse “only in the lobby” before they go back to checking their email on the reception computer. I shouldn’t make it sound like that was the case everywhere, but it certainly stood out to us when we dealt with disgruntled employees in Portugal because that is something that you just don’t see in Japan.

We have arrived back to Japan now, and I am sure that I will continue making comparisons and considering the things that I miss about Canada while living here and quickly forget all of these things that I praised while I was on holiday.