Monthly review #2 | 23.05.2019

Japanese are super determined

I do attend some sports circles. It seems that in Japan spots circles are not too competition focused and organized by students themselves. Still i met people who train 5 times a week besides studying and having a part-time job. Not all but the graduate students i met are really into their stuff having highly set goals and already are active in research. Although i have been assured that not everyone is as determined and most students just enjoy their student life it is at least what i witnessed.

About waste

You can’t really see cigarette buds anywhere around. However they don’t really (or they really do ?) seperate their waste. At least where i am at  they distinguish between combustable (plastic and biomass) and non combustable ( glass, carton,…). I have just recently learned though, that the food industry is bound by law to recycle at least some percentage of their waste, which is why recycling becomes a really important topic here in Japan.

Not really efficient

Looking at people working in the service industry they are not really efficient. Once i was at the office to extend my commuter pass, there were at least 10 people – 5 of them just standing around. There are apparently also many pseudo jobs for elderly people like overseeing (semi-)busy streets or entrances where vehicles enter. As i heard from a local it is still the case, that you get wierd looks when you leave your job early/before your boss. That’s how many office jobs are not working efficiently because they aim to overstay instead of getting work done.

The trains

In rush hour times the trains are getting full as it can. At first i was hesitant but you really have to dig your way into the train. Everyone is literally touching each other. In the morning hours woman get separate wagons but its mostly not enough for them. I read that a high percentage of woman indeed get groped in trains.

Toilets and accessibility

So again the availability of toilets are astonishing. Additionally to that they are  all mostly clean. Accessibility in Japan and especially toilets is quite high. There is always at least one sink and urinal which has some kind of supporting mechanism. There are always never doors and ramps are provided for people in wheelchairs.

My room in comparison

My room is around 6 sqm and now that i got the chance to ask around many people in Tokyo don’t really have much more room. Although having an apartment seems to be cheaper than a sharehouse in the long run, this kind of accommodation was in retrospective a very good choice because it is near an important train station (Ueno station) and has the Chiyoda line connecting it to many important districts.

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