{"id":388,"date":"2007-02-26T00:30:27","date_gmt":"2007-02-25T15:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-02-26\/388"},"modified":"2007-02-26T00:30:27","modified_gmt":"2007-02-25T15:30:27","slug":"japan-can-be-so-behind-the-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-02-26\/388","title":{"rendered":"Japan can be so behind the times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

A couple of things of late has made me notice just how behind the times\nJapanese can be. It's not like<\/span> I didn't<\/span> already know, but sometimes, even\nJapan can shock one desensitized to shock.<\/p>\n\n

The first event was at a restaurant the other day. Not long after<\/span>\nsitting down at the counter, a smartly<\/span>-dressed 20-something woman came in,\nsat near me, and (of course, this is Japan) lit up a cigarette.<\/span> I'm used to<\/span>\ninconsiderate smokers in any country, and so it wasn't shocking that she\nignored the fact that I was<\/span> a mere<\/span> five feet to one side, and a toddler<\/span> and\nhis dad were five feet to the other, and that no one else in the entire\nrestaurant was smoking. It was her<\/span> legal right, and so to her, that made it\nright.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I moved<\/span> away and ignored her, until I heard<\/span> someone congratulate\nher, to which she smiled, patted her belly, and said “about four\nmonths, now.” Now, I'm sure that<\/span> a lot<\/span> of people do stupid things\nwhen they're pregnant, such as smoke and drink and do drugs and have\nanonymous unprotected sex, but I normally<\/span> don't mingle in the circles where\nsuch people might be, so I was<\/span> genuinely shocked.<\/p>\n\n

When she lit up again later, I had to<\/span> ask how she could do something so\ndangerous for her own<\/i> child, to which she smiled between puffs and\nsaid “not everyone believes that.” I wanted<\/span> to cry for the poor\nkid, getting stuck with a mother<\/span> who is not only inconsiderate, but\nshockingly stupid.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

The other event had to do with an automotive test drive. Taking a test<\/span>\ndrive in America is pretty simple: just show a driver's<\/span> licence, let them\nmake a photocopy<\/span> of it, and you're off. In Japan, it's even easier: just\nshow up.<\/p>\n\n

In initially shopping for a car<\/span><\/a> a few<\/span>\nyears ago, we did a number<\/span> of test drives, and was always in wonder how\nthey just let me drive. Having just moved here, I don't<\/span> even know whether\nwe had a real<\/span> phone yet. I know that<\/span> I didn't<\/span> have a Japanese<\/span> driver's\nlicense yet, or even the alien registration card<\/a>\nthat would indicate I was<\/span> here for a longer<\/span> term than, say, a vacation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

We ran into the same thing the following year when looking for a second<\/span>\ncar<\/a>. Often, they'd ask us for our contact information so that they\ncould follow up later, but that's it. (Japanese car salesman can be very\npersistent; they'll travel all the way across town to drop additional sales\nliterature into your mail slot the following day.)<\/p>\n\n

So, fast forward to earlier this month when Fumie gets wind of an\nuber-cute car, a Peugeot 1007<\/a>, and just\nhad to try it.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm —\n1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/5.6, ISO 500 — full\nexif & map<\/a><\/span>Fumie checking\nout a Peugeot<\/span> 1007<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Parking spaces can be really cramped in Japan, so the dual sliding doors are very appealing. Anyway, it turns out that they had\na “24-hour test drive” kind of thing, where you can use the car for a day.<\/span> That's a really<\/span> excellent way to get to know a car,<\/span> so we did it. The\nguy drove<\/span> it from the dealership to our place (a 45<\/span>-minute drive), the three of us drove around\nour area for a bit,<\/span> then we dropped him off at a train<\/span> station.<\/p>\n\n

The shocking thing is that he knows nothing about us other than what we told him. He knows<\/span> that we\nwere waiting outside when he arrived at the address we gave him, and he knows that we respond when he addresses us with the name\nwe told him, but that's it. He just let<\/span> us drive off with a $20,000 car on the basis of a smile<\/span> and a bow.<\/span> This harks back to the time in America — a time<\/span> I've heard of in countless country-music songs — where one's word and a\nhandshake<\/span> was all that was required in conducting business.<\/p>\n\n

Yup, Japanese can sure be behind the times sometimes, in this case, for\nthe better.<\/p>\n\n

Car Epilogue<\/h2>\n\n

Fumie decided against getting the Peugeot because its funky\n“2-tronic” semi-automatic transmission<\/a> really lurched when switching\nfrom first to second gear, and even I couldn't<\/span> get it much smoother when\ntrying in manual mode.<\/p>\n\n

Then she heard about another cute car, a Lancia Musa<\/a>. I'd never<\/span> even heard of the maker, Lancia; it's apparently Fiat's higher-end brand.\nThey're not officially sold in Japan, but some places import them. We took the<\/span> occasion of seeing one today to take a pleasant<\/span> drive two hours north\nthrough the mountains to the city of Fukui.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 20mm —\n1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 — full\nexif & map<\/a><\/span>Fumie test\ndriving a Lancia<\/span> Musa<\/span><\/div>\n\n

She also decided against this car, both because it also lurched a bit,<\/span>\nand had a generally<\/span> “cheap” feeling (not to mention not having sliding\ndoors, and having the steering wheel on the wrong side). I was happy<\/span> to\nhear this, because I think<\/span> it's a bit<\/span> pricy at $25,000.<\/p>\n\n

When it comes to Peugeot and Lancia, Peugeot wins hands down in one category: kid appeal.<\/p>\n\n

The Peugeot dealership in southern Kyoto had a nice<\/span> little kid's area,\nand Anthony was more than happy to spend his time here while we looked at\nthe cars.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 +\nNikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/6.3,\nISO 500 — full\nexif & map<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Peugeot Kid's\nArea<\/span><\/div>\n\n

In sad comparison, the Maserati dealer selling the Lancia had squat:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/div>\n\n
<\/a><\/div>\n\n

While waiting, Anthony didn't have much to do but to play with a sticker<\/span>\nbook we brought along, and lick the window glass.<\/p>\n\n
\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of things of late has made me notice just how behind the times Japanese can be. It's not like I didn't already know, but sometimes, even Japan can shock one desensitized to shock.<\/p>

The first event was at a restaurant the other day. Not long after sitting down at the counter, a smartly-dressed 20-something woman came in, sat near me, and (of course, this is Japan) lit up a cigarette. I'm used to inconsiderate smokers in any country, and so it wasn't shocking that she ignored the fact that I was a mere five feet to one side, [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}