whole lotta nothing

Probably don’t read this post if you don’t feel like hearing about things as insignificant as manhole covers!  It’s true–it’s a thing in Japan!  I noticed it right away.  Some are painted and there are different designs for different areas in the city. Here are the ones I’ve seen so far:

In no particular order, here are some other interesting (to me) notables 🙂

Cosmetic Update:

You may recall I mentioned Katie and I doing face masks–she was Squirtle, I was Wonder Woman haha!  Well the cosmetic industry is huge here, maybe bigger than in the US.  I mentioned about prescription colored contacts you can buy at a store; just choose your color and go!

Katie and I have been having fun buying make-up–she helped me select a lip stain, which is shaped like a tiny wine bottle.  We’ve gotten more face masks and pore strips, splitting different options between the 2 of us.  Priscila had given me some to bring with me and with this very dry weather they’ve been quite refreshing.  Anyway, Katie had these pore strips that were black, coal based apparently.  They are like the Biore’ ones at home sort of.  So when hers ran out, I bought some more.  They weren’t as good as Katie’s, but I had one left.  I had done my nose and my chin, so I thought….my forehead.

I noticed once I had it on that it was kinda touching my left eyebrow.  But this brand wasn’t as sticky, so certainly no problem, right?  Turns out, they can indeed pull out eyebrows!  Yep…..I am missing the top half of my left eyebrow, LOL……..I can’t even type it without laughing!  Really what a dope!  Who knew?  Tell your friends!  It’s probably the only time in my life that having blonde eyebrows is a very good thing, otherwise I’d be putting on sunglasses and heading to the store for a waterproof eyebrow pencil!

Police & Service:

The police presence is very subtle here.  In fact, I didn’t notice any for quite a few days.  It is so different than in the US, where police presence is so prevalent.  Or Mexico last year, where the police rode around in groups standing in the back of a pick-up truck, armed with automatic weapons.

I’ve now seen 1 motorcycle cop and another on a bicycle.  I’ve seen 1 police car with someone pulled over.  Other than that, it seems like they are often directing traffic.

When I was in Namba a few days ago, I watched a young officer direct traffic in a busy area where like 5-6 streets intersect and there are many pedestrians.  When the light turned red for the traffic, he walked right into the intersection as a work truck was approaching.  He stopped, put his red baton in his white gloved hands, and bowed.  He moved slowly and stayed low, never looking up.  His body language was complete deference, as though saying, I’m sorry to disturb you, thank you for stopping, your patience is appreciated and I am sorry for the inconvenience.  No sudden movements, no change in facial expression, no whistle or words spoken.  When it was the turn for pedestrians, he would “usher” them kindly with his white gloved hand, extending it thusly as each group walked into the intersection.

Similarly, the clerks and wait staff at every store, restaurant, shop, and theatre provide exceptional service.  It’s almost hard to explain.  When you step up, they greet you with a genuine smile that extends to their eyes.  You set your cash or credit card in the little tray, even at Family Mart.  When they pick it up, they sort of lay it in their hand and acknowledge it with a wave of their other hand.  Then they show you the amount they charged you on the card by pointing to the receipt and the cash register to indicate the amounts match.  They work very quickly and efficiently.  When they hand you back your card or change, it’s like they are on the Price is Right–they offer it back to you and you can practically hear them say “Ta-dah!”  They always bow and say thank you, sometimes several times.

Machines:

On nearly every street corner there is a drink machine with quite a large selection.  Some are positioned in the middle of a neighborhood–there is one right by my apartment doorway.  Seems kind of funny, since you have to hide to drink it, but they are everywhere!  Once in a while, there will also be a cigarette machine.

There are capsule toy machines in many stores, and some stores that is all they have.  You pay 200 yen to get a random piece of candy, or 300 yen to get a Star Wars figurine.  Katie showed me one machine that was spongy pieces of artificial bread–a bagel, croissants, roll.  And her favorite–hats for cats haha!  Yes one machine had all types of ears, caps, and silly hats for your kitty!

TV & News:

On the news, there is usually a man and a woman reporter.  At the beginning, they announce something in unison, perhaps Good Evening…..then they bow.  They bow at the end too.

There are shows teaching people sign language as well as English.  There is one show where they are specifically teaching “News Vocabulary.”  They show a news clip, in this case, the teens protesting in DC for gun control.  Then they dissect the sentence, explaining the nuances of the protesters’ chants.

It’s funny, because it seems like Japan is so tech savvy.  But on the news, they operate from poster boards.  Someone literally pushes in a new poster board and the newscasters refer to it.  And the weatherman uses an expandable metal wand with like a tennis ball on the end to point to the maps.

They show a lot of what looks like government in session.  Just like in the US, mostly men and a few women.  When they took at break the other day, they showed video of the aquarium.  It was peaceful with quiet music and it ran for a long time.  Then they went back to the big chamber where some kind of vote was occurring.

Next to Life Grocery store a couple days ago, there was this van; a woman was talking about something over a loudspeaker for a very long time.  Based on the photo and the man holding a banner, I wondered if there was an election coming up, but I’ve seen no other signs.  They were so low key, not stirring up attention.  Not one person was paying attention, but she kept going!

Road Signage & Traffic:

This is what is painted on the road between me and Katie.  No idea what it means.  There are no “stop signs” like in US, Mexico, Canada, even Europe.  And you’ve already heard me say over and over about the utter lack of street names.  The traffic is moderate–definitely no worse than Orlando and often better.  Katie has been here a year now and says she has not seen an accident, even a fender-bender.  She asked a bunch of her students; they’ve never one or only 1 or 2 in their entire lives.

Today it was 45 and raining very hard all morning.  Finally the sun came out, so I thought maybe I’d pop outside–until I heard a banging.  Turned out my clear plastic umbrella was slamming around near the doorway where we all hang them to dry.  The winds have been blustering at 18 mph and the clouds have moved back in.  I just got my umbrella for 598 yen at the Family Mart–you can see how people leave them in the racks outside nearly every store.  If it’s a clear umbrella, you are free to take it, then you can leave it somewhere else.  At Life Grocery, they have a handy little gadget at the doorway–you insert your umbrella and it slides right into a long thin plastic bag–nifty!

So that’s my Summary of Nothing so far, some of which you guys have asked about, some of which you couldn’t care less about 🙂  My brother recently complained about his movie theatre not even displaying posters anymore.  Here they have posters and fliers you can take to learn about current and upcoming movies (if you read Japanese).

Photo:  Fliers at the movie theatre