Point Cards
Beautiful point cards from Winged Wheel Stationary. I must say I am not quite sure of the purpose, the shop explains such cards are used before in French schools as some kind of rewarding system for kids.
Archive for May, 2010
Train Behavior Norms
How do you define an asocial behavior? Taking several seats and lying down can be considered ill-mannered, yet looking at how people place shoes differently, make you feel one is more well-mannered than the other.
How about this one? Another sleepy couple in Tokyo? In fact they were strangers. Typically when the train becomes empty and strangers are seated next to each other, the one who sits further from the corner stands up swiftly and change one’s seat to give more space to the one at the corner. However, this time the lady was too sleepy; She started to lean her heads on the young man instead of standing up and making any space. He seemed confused, but decided that he will just let go. For another few stations, she leaned to his shoulder until she realized it was her stop and left the train.
Living in a dense city is about creating your own comfort zone and letting others to have one. And although it is in a small level, it seems that people are practicing this in their everyday lives.
Messages from the Shop
A shopkeeper of a Chinese traditional costumes fiddling with her mobile as she kills time. A few blocks away from Houhai, Beijing, where bars and restaurants bring bright lights until late. An interesting contrast between the lady poster next to the entrance.
Sugar for Tea?
The answer for the question in Japan for Japanese tea, would definitely be a no.
But here in China, the answer depends. Like here, in a home style, everyday use restaurant in Beijing, Chrysanthemum tea is served with sugar crystals. Although not every tea is served with sugar, it is certainly an optional flavor you can have.
This subtle difference in how tea are consumed make a huge difference in products. While ready-to-drink (RTD) tea will never come with sugar flavor in Japan, here in China, you will find both options for the same brand, sugared, and non-sugared. In fact, it is the one with the sugar which attracted the consumers more.
Both culture enjoys tea, but the final product can be in different taste.
Miners
Very powerful. Miner series by 宋朝 Song Chao, 2002. Cards from Beijing Artron Colour Printing Co., Ltd.
The Internet Device for Japanese Children
Nikkei BP online released a survey results concerning the children’s Internet usage in March 2010. According to the release, the very first Internet device children own are:
- Nintendo DS, 62.9%
- Other game devices, 20%
- Play Station Portable, 6.9%
- Nintendo Wii, 5.1%
Mobile phone in fact comes as 5th, 4.1%. PC comes at the very last of this list as 6th, 0.7%.
While adults in Japan utilize the mobile phones excessively, from emails, browsers, mobile TVs, and e-wallets, the penetration of mobile phone used as an Internet device for children, is extremely low.
So when do children start owning mobile phones? According to the government’s survey in 2007, 31.3% of the primary school student (< age 12), 57.6% of of junior-high (up to age 15), and 96.0％ of high-school students own one.
The primary reason for this low penetration of mobile Internet use is naturally the data cost. In many cases parents will pay for their phone bills and accessing online can be costly. Features like Wi-Fi is a feature yet associated with relatively new, smart phones, which will be too expensive to give away to their kids. Beyond that, the survey focuses on the ownership of the device, it fails to explain how much these devices are used to access online, and for what.
Game devices, they are simply the very first electronics that most kids own. Whether Nintendo DS or PSP, they both come with Wi-Fi feature by default. When I met quite children between ten and 14-years-old, they mentioned that they cannot recall anyone in the class without Nintendo DS. When they can name one, they always explained me the reason why: “His/Her parents are very strict, they are school teachers.” Somehow, children had good explanation why these kids did not have one.
When most start their portable gaming with DS, but as boys reach to the age of 10 or 11, some start to feel DS is not exciting enough: They want games to be more real, and in some cases, more violent. That is when they turn to PSP.
From what I gathered, children did not seem too enthusiastic about radio communication. It was quite a contrast, considering how adults went crazy last year with the classic Dragon Quest game, enabling passers-by to exchange virtual items on the street. Children do use radio communication, but from the way they have described, it was only an occasional and perpetual act: they spend far more time on their own fiddling with the game by him/herself, and they did not feel that they are so dedicated to wireless interaction.
I tend to forget, but children are very busy. Simply, they do not have time to see friends any more. Many children start preparing for the junior-high exams around the age of 11, and the ones they do not, tend to be engaged in football practices or ballet lessons, if not both. “I used to see my friends a lot more, now we just don’t have time.” The way they described sounded as it was one of the big changes in their life. By the age of 12, they are already looking back how things were when they were 10.
Turning back to the question on mobile phones, what is the situation? Mobile Internet has been publicly labeled as evil for youth. For a past decade or so, the very nature of personal device made children to access Internet behind parental control, which led some children to engage in accidents and crimes. One unfortunately common tragedy associated with mobile phones, is children committing suicide. Bullying others can be observed in many youth culture, but because these activities shifted from physical to virtual, it seems became even harder for teachers to spot before too late.
Although parental controls and filtering services took place, that did not appear sufficient to the government. Ministry of Education has officially announced that compulsory educational institutions forbid children to bring their mobile phones to school. Many schools individually set rules about what children should or should not bring to school, but mobile phone is the very first device the government itself has defined the rule. One city even have a slogan: “Do not possess, do not bring, do not let them bring.”, which follows the tone of the nation’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
If educational institutions kick out the technology, then it will eventually become individual household’s responsibility to discuss and think of how to use the technology. That seems like a challenge, as I encountered difficulties to follow what children spoke of during the research. I personally would hope to see something in line with this for a change: Here a history teacher in Massachusetts utilizes mobile phones for his class, the message seems quite different from the government here in Japan.
A Glove for Food
There is something stimulating about eating with hands. Here in Beijing, you can grab and eat lamb chops/legs, as the waitress provides you a plastic disposable glove.
This to my eyes quite a radical solution makes complete sense once you use it. You still eat the meat with your hands as the shape encourages you to, yet makes you worry less about your hand sanitary, or the grease on your hands that might prevent you from eating other dishes requiring chopsticks.
Please be informed as we (un)change the design
The blob-shaped sticker placed above sample bottle in the vending machine reads: “Please be informed that we are currently changing the package design and you may have different design from the sample.” It took me some time to notice any difference, even after comparing the two next to each other.
To what extent do people notice and willing to notice the packaging design? Often packages, characters, and brand logos, they change so subtle that we do not notice at once. It is only in a time span of decades that we see how far they have changed along the trends.
With that in mind, perhaps you might be interested in seeing the 2 minutes video here, showing gradual transformation of the famous Hello Kitty character along its 35 year history.
Little faces
A matchbox purchased in Yamagata. Every little match stick has a small smiling face drawn. I bought a box because it was kawaii, cute in Japanese. But it is that kawaii-ness that prevents these sticks to fulfill its original purpose.
Subtle Signs
From Ginzan Onsen, an traditional hot spring town.
Visiting sento, public baths or onsen, hot springs is the favorite pastime of the Japanese. According to the survey conducted by Japanese tourism association, visiting Onsen has been the most popular activity upon travel for leisure consistently.
I believe there are not many places more suitable than such where you can see how people behave. Here in a typical Ryokan, Japanese traditional accommodations, would remind private bath users to place their sandals in front of the door as an indication that you are inside. There is a key but it is only a metal hook which does not quite serve the purpose. Ryokan knows that items like sandals are more obvious and natural ways to indicate that there is someone inside.
And for a public bath area, where you meet people naked, these baskets are here to indicate if there are people inside before you. Baskets are placed upside down by default in the area where you undress yourself; Once you get in, flip them back, put your clothes and towels. The flipped basket with the clothes inside will give the next customers how crowded or even whether there is anyone inside before you. And what is the impact of this? You will know whether you could go inside, just like in your home completely naked, or whether you should hide a few parts of yourself with a small towel, which you will use inside to wash yourself with.
