Japan observations

Over the term 3 school holidays, we (my family) spent 11 days travelling in Japan, and I’d like to share some observations.

• Osteoporosis is common among the elderly, far more prevalent than Australia for example. Despite the (relatively) higher consumption of soy products in Japan, this comes across as a little surprising
• People are generally taller in Tokyo compared to Kyoto. I thought this might be related to nutrition. However, I was reminded that the northern Chinese were taller than the southern Chinese. Perhaps there is a genetic basis as well?
• I was surprised eating out wasn’t much more expensive than eating out at comparable places in Australia.
• Fruits like nashi was cheap compared with Australia. In Japan, a nashi costs 120 Yen (AUD 1.60), while in Australia it costs $3.80 yesterday (imported from China). Rockmelons were 1000 Yen (AUD 14.00), while here in Toowoomba, we just bought one for AUD 2.50.
• Meat was expensive, and there is a lot of batter and frying to bulk meat up. What surprised me though is how expensive vegetables were, particularly beans. There was a kind of broad bean which sells for around 300 Yen for what looks like 100 g
• I enjoyed trying out the different kinds of mushrooms. In Australia, anything other than the basic white mushrooms command premium dollars
• Relatively little waste is generated. Waste is tied up in white plastic bags and placed on the kerbside for pick up. At Nagoya, it is twice a week. Australian waste is held in large wheelie bins, and is picked up by a truck operated by a single person. However, the Japanese are more serious about recycling than Australia, with waste sorted into PET, bottles, paper and the rest which is suitable for incineration. I wondered what the Japanese would do with old batteries though.
• The Japanese love their mobile phones. On any bench on the subway, one could count three people texting or surfing. I looked over the shoulders of a few, and these appear to be text applications. There was the occasional person who plays the PSP (one was a female in her 30s playing some kind of hacking and slashing FPS).
• I have read about how common vending machines were in Japan, but I was still surprised. In Kyoto, near where we stayed, I found one nearly on every street corner. These were little backstreets, and don’t get much foot traffic. I wondered how this can be justified economically… unless Kyoto folks were especially thirsty.
• Japanese women walk fast, even in heels, even on staircases. It is a remarkable skill.
• There seems to be a lot of elderly men working as traffic police. On one relatively quiet intersection, I counted four.
• I had a quick glance at the prices over at McDonalds, and they seem roughly in line with Australian prices. They had 100 Yen deals, which is a bit cheaper than the AUD 2.00 deals here (AUD 2.00 = 150 Yen).
• The coins were a little confusing at first, but probably no more confusing for a Japanese visitor figuring out the Australian coins. There were as many denominations as in Australia, but the size of the coins were all over the place. Copper coins were used for 10 Yen and 5 Yen (5 Yen coin has a hole in it), but they were similar in size to the 100 Yen and 50 Yen coins. There is also a 500 Yen coin, about the size of a 50 cent coin in Australia. It feels odd to have a coin that’s worth nearly 7 dollars. (In Australia, the $2 coin is smaller than the $1 coin, which in turn is smaller than the 50c coin)
• My wife thought women were more heavily made up in Japan compared to Australia, but I think it is an observation bias. I noticed plenty of women who applied little make-up.

That’s all for now, I’ll update if I think of anything else.

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