Tokyo Stories

currency exchange, yen to yen

2008-08-21T07:08:22Z

Earlier I posted an entry about the importance of new, crisp bills when you give or pay cash to someone in Japan. The fact that bills are unused is quite important indication that you care about the other. Weddings and funerals are crucial cases. And for a person with a profession in research, it is when I conduct interviews or user tests that I need to think about the 'newness' of the bills.

Although Japanese bills tend to be pretty clean, it would still be a mission impossible to acquire bills without any wrinkle in everyday life. So most people go to a nearby bank. Primarily this currency exchange service is used by shop owners, who want to make sure they have enough loose changes for their customers. You can fill in the form they provide and indicate how you want to your cash, in which bills or coins, and how many. But simultaneously you can also mark a check box indicating that you would like all bills to be new.

Exchange up to 50 bills are done for free, up to 500 will cost you 315 yen. Although going to a bank during such busy times like right before your interviews is a hassle, it is certainly nice when you have such clean bills in your hand even if that is for a short time.

I don't know quite well what actually happens to the old bills, but one interesting example I saw was to make a souvenir out of it. My school alumni who works for Bank of Japan showed me that their gift shop sells a pen which fills the cartridge space with old shredded bills. It's true, you won't get such a thing anywhere else!

And speaking of the perceived value of bills, we see that different countries have different perception. In China, quite often I saw bills with scribbles. Some came with numbers, which was obviously a trace of counting; while some came with someone's name... perhaps money was collected from different people and those names indicated the person who paid? The below image is the 100 yuan bill, the biggest bill you find in China.

How are bills in your country treated?

A Classic Female Mag Article - What's Inside Your Bag?

2008-08-13T07:31:04Z

It's funny how typical it is to have the article on what people carry in their bags. Nikkei Woman, a magazine for working women over 30s, titles the article as "A Survey of Bag Contents Among 1200 Working Women." Wow.

Even after seeing such articles for many times, it is still difficult for me to digest the message that they are trying to convey. One thing I've noticed, is that recent article tends to mention the very weight of what they carry (find the number right beneath the bag images). Perhaps this is for another reader like me, who is more confused of the quantity of information. It is for sure, that by looking at the weight, I can associate some people over the other.

The article also explains a few keywords:
- The default work bag should be A4-size. I find this very Japanese, the world of documents seem to somewhat define the size of women's bags.
- Popularity of second bags. They also made sure to cover secondary bags, and they were primarily for lunch breaks. It shows that the default bag is big, otherwise you don't need another bag.

The article was also accompanied by a ranking of what is carried by Japanese women. The essential items they carry are:

- wallet (98.4%),
- mobile phone (96.6%),
- handkerchief (92.8%),
- tissue papers (86.9%),
- cosmetics pouch (82.4%),
- day planner (79.6%),
- pass case (69.3%)

Considering the high ownership (carrying-ship?) of the cosmetics, gadget carrying was fairly low: music player (37.8%), game console (4.2%), laptop (4.9%).

When they are asked what ecological items they carry, the ranking showed:

- eco bag (29.1%),
- lunch box (25.1%),
- water bottle (15.3%),
- a pair of chopsticks (4.4%)

Now what do you make of these? I found it funny that even when it comes to eco-friendly items, it is another BAG that came at the top of the ranking. The purpose is to replace the plastic bags in supermarkets, which typically come for free, but there are some disputes over this because some say this eco-bag trend is generating more plastics than before.

Transform Yourself Exhibition

2008-08-11T01:31:57Z

There may be many sensor technologies commercially available, but there are not many places that explicitly allows you to experience or discover something new; Inter Communication Center, ICC, in Shinjuku, is one of the few places that holds such interactive pieces as both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Transform Yourself Exhibition, is a summer kids program held by ICC this year. One of the people behind this is Masahiko Sato, who blew our minds with TV programs like Pithagoraswitch.

The place does not allow photos "not to disturb the equipments inside", so unfortunately I have no photo. But you can go to their website to see the concept of each work they have exhibited.

My favorite was the Dot Man, Line Man, which allowed us to experience the motion trackers using dot markers place on each joint. Your motions are smoothly captured and transformed into dots, lines, cells, and many other things by adding effects.

My entire family enjoyed Arithmetik Garden. The idea is simple. Here you use your body to make calculations instead of using pen and paper. First you are given a tag with a number written on. A tag has a IC tag behind, which will track what will happen from now on (mine was "4"). Then you enter a dark wooden floor area with large white gates standing. Each gate has a specific formulate written on it at top, like "x3", "/2", "+8", "-4". Your goal is to go through these gates to make calculations and ultimately create a number 73 upon exiting. It's confusing first, but becomes real fun as you learn to move your body as you process information in your brain.

Each piece appears simple because the idea is executed without delay and buggy codes appearing on screen. You can feel something new because technology is invisible. I would even call this a perfected simplicity - it's really fun for both adults and kids. If you happen to be near by this summer, I recommend a visit.

By the way, if you are wondering about the entrance fee, it's all free of charge. A perfect place for a family to be in.

Inter Communication Center (ICC): http://www.ntticc.or.jp

Bath buttons

2008-08-07T04:17:42Z

In most Japanese bathrooms, you will find a control panel like these, equipped with several buttons. The main functionality of the button is to fill the warm water onto your tub. Once the water reaches to the certain level, it will automatically stop.

The reason why you need this button, is because you are most likely not present while you are filling the bath. Japanese bath tubs are relatively deep, and can contain quite a lot of water. So a typical Japanese family will fill up the tub before anyone enters. Once the water is filled, the water is to be used by everyone in the family. Another frequently used button in the control panels is the water reheat button; once the button is pressed, then the system automatically reheats the water that is currently inside the tub up to the defined temperature, e.g. 40C.

The same button is placed in the kitchen, too. This is for filling the water remotely, which is convenient, but a little stupid because the panel is purely for the heating and does not tell you whether the bath lid is open or not. Nowadays, the control panel also comes with a Talk Button, which works like a bad walky-talky.

When I look at this set up, it makes me feel that the manufacturer has a certain stereotype of Japanese homes. In the evening, mom is busy cooking and dad taking a bath with a child in a bathroom. Considering that there are so many single flats, I feel we need a little diversity in these control panels that occupy millions of households in Japan.

Butlers Cafe

2008-08-07T01:35:21Z

Butlers Cafe timetable, showing 80 minutes time slots are mostly full.

First I must apologize - I don't have any photo of what I'll be discussing about - Butlers Cafe.

I am no expert of Otaku culture, in fact, I probably know less than the average Japanese because I was away from japan for a long time. But recently, I had an opportunity to be with two researchers, Mizuko Itoh and Daisuke Okabe, who kindly took this ignorant person to what is called butlers cafe.

First, I have to mention that the cafe was located in Ikebukuro. I have always thought Akihabara is the center of Otaku; what I didn't know, was that Akihabara is a center of male Otaku; If you are a female Otaku, Ikebukuro is the place to hang out.

What is so special about the cafe? The cafe is certainly very popular, because to be in the cafe for 80 minutes, you have to reserve one month in advance. And don't even try to look for phone numbers, because there isn't one; reservation can only be made online. I hear that the cafe is, most of the times, fully booked.

Butler cafe, is literally a cafe with butlers. It creates a situation that each customer is a daughter or a son of a very rich and decent family; the closest thing I can imagine, is Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. In the film, she lived in a huge house and a loyal butler was there to serve. The cafe had the same concept, with very formally dressed men to serve you.

I must say that the place did have some element of what Japanese perceive as richness; chandeliers, gold clocks, chimneys, roses. Unfortunately the place had a low ceiling, just like any other Japanese homes, and with two huge chandeliers hanging, I felt even more confined.
Entering the cafe itself is free of charge. Instead, you pay about three times more for the small portion of food you get. Menus came in exclusive titles, the sandwich menu was called Richard the Third.

For the entire time, you are escorted by a butler who does everything for you. When I say everything, I mean you should not carry bags on your own or walk on your own; you should ring a bell if you want more tea. You should ring a bell, if you want to go to a toilet, too. And do not worry, a butler will escort you to the toilet. And on the way back.

The most important thing, it seems, that these rules, create opportunities for these shy teenage girls to interact with cute guys who have ideal hairstyles and clothings that they dream of. Ideal hairstyle refers to comic books that they read.

What seemed also interesting to me, is that although the situation the comic has drawn refers to many European countries, these girls would probably not even think of visiting those origins. They know very well that there are no cute butlers to serve you, or to stay in such luxurious and traditional homes. They know very well, that the world they fancy, is in two-dimensional world.

"It is time for your horse ride" -- says the butler. He's basically saying that it is time for you to leave.

http://butlers-cafe.jp/

Some photos from Ikebukuro, Girl's Street:

Summer festivals

2008-07-26T23:29:33Z

Tokyo is a horribly humid and hot place to be during this time, but there can be one thing worth the visit: festivals and fireworks. Festivals are held in different scales but any neighborhood has one. People dress in Yukata - a summer Kimono made of linen or cotton - and wear sandals. If you live in an old neighborhood, you might even come across with locals dance they practiced for the day. Fireworks often involve competitions between different firework makers, and it is not seldom to see millions of them blooming in the sky on a single night.

Daytime is unbearable but in the evenings, can be nice with a light wind and so much excitement in the air.

IC Card - Another Cause of Confusion

2008-07-07T04:53:18Z

Note says: You cannot use TASPO for payment here.

Such an obvious consequence.

Taspo, the identification card for purchasing cigarettes from vending machine, was introduced on July 1st in Tokyo metropolitan area.

Card comes with a cash top-up feature, and obviously, people thought they could use this just like other IC cards, like Suica, Pasmo, Edy.

A new demand for a photo ID

2008-06-26T06:57:06Z

A pop-up sticker has been added on instant photo machines near the Iidabashi station. It reads, "You need passport size photos for Taspo". Taspo, an identification card for cigarette vending machines, require your photo ID, there seems to be an increasing demand on these machines as well.

Taspo, ID card for purchasing cigarettes

2008-06-18T21:00:00Z

Tobacco Institute of Japan has introduced a card called Taspo - a card using near field technology (NFC) which can only be issued to adults (in Japan's definition, that is over 20 years old). The card is mandatory for purchasing cigarettes from vending machines. The service is gradually introduced from south of Japan since last year, and completes its introduction as of July 1st.

Acquiring this card requires some tedious process - another form filling - which I consider as the way to keep Japanese feel busy all the time. In addition, you should attach your identification to prove that you are over 20 and a photograph. After doing all these, you will get a card in two weeks. I am not a smoker, but I imagine no one has got time for this. Smokers, have you made yourself a Taspo card?

According to the association, there are 26 million smokers in Japan; and only 24% of them have purchased the card.

Naturally, many people shifted their point of purchase from vending machines to supermarkets and convenience stores. According to Mainichi online news, some say vending machine profit decreased by 20%. This could be a serious issue for small shop owners since they typically place these vending machines in front of their shops.

Because this is simply due to the tedious process of Taspo card issuance, many shopkeepers have started obvious solutions like hanging the card from the vending machine (see image below).

If the system does not work, what should they have done instead? In Germany, they have managed to use chip-integrated credit/debit cards instead of issuing a complete new set of cards. It is true that most Japanese cards do not contain chips -- but hey, Japan is a country with so many sophisticated NFC card systems. Many vending machines have already integrated Suica system, too, why couldn't cigarettes be the same?

The more you think about it, the way this card works is very similar to Suica and other transportation/top-up cards. The machine not only reads the information on the card to allow you to buy a pack, but also writes data - so you can walk to the vending machine to top up the card and later you can purchase cigarettes with this card alone.

In essence, Taspo is another card that does the same thing. What is beyond comprehension from a mere consumer is all these similar technologies introduced under different companies and names. SUICA card issued by Japan Rail is well known, but in fact, there were times this technology only worked for Eastern Japan. Western Japan Rail introduced ICOCA, and they were not compatible with each for some time after the technology being introduced. A railway company called Tokyu also introduced Pasmo last year, and it took some time before many of us understood that both SUICA and Pasmo pretty much does the same thing - enables us to ride on most of the public transportations in metropolitan area.

What we are experiencing is the repeated history of what we have already seen with the flood of credit cards. Different department stores and supermarket chains issue their own credit cards with point system which seem beneficial if you purchase things from their shops. In some sense top-up cards are worse because on top of the NFC card you need to subscribe to a credit card which allows you to automatically top it up. I hope that someone realizes that in many other countries, things are way simpler because of debit cards. What I need, is a NFC card with debit services, that directly remit cash from your account. Nothing more, no points and possible benefits I could get.

The website explains that once you purchase everything is easy. I hope the smokers feel the same way about obtaining and carrying another card.

Instructions on ID cards for vending machines (in German, info from my colleague Ti): http://karte-rein-packung-raus.de/infos_zur_geldkarte/kartencheck.php

Taspo Official website (English): http://www.taspo.jp/english/index.html

Mobile payment and Japanese men

2008-06-17T21:00:00Z

"I cannot live without mobile Suica," says a male friend in 30s. He said he basically stopped carrying coins, which used to occupy his trouser pockets.

This sounds like a great success story. Mobile Suica service enabled him to use his mobile phone for small payments and have replace his heavy coins. But how widely is this phenomena spread?

According to Ke-tai White Paper 2008's survey report, 60% of their respondents told they have a phone capable of the feature. Among them, 15% actually uses mobile payment. That is not really high. Partly I blame this to the tedious registration process that you have to go through. Considering how easy it is to get one of those Suica cards in JR stations, I clearly see that there is a room for improvement.

One interesting finding was the usage rate differences between genders. Men using mobile payment reached 20% while women 10%; in particular, for men between 10 and 19, the usage rate reached 30%.

The same report also talks about how much they spend per payment. 80% told that a typical payment is below 1000 yen (about 6 EUR). Since in Japan the smallest bill is 1000 yen, it exactly confirms my friend's earlier comment: These cards replace coins.

Lunch - a quick stand or a proper table?

2008-06-14T21:00:00Z

Different cultures have different pace of having lunch. In Japan, it seems that people are quite busy on weekdays, that they prefer a fast-serving stands over a proper service and a table.

There can be many reasons why they have quick lunch, but the primary reason is because they have a fixed lunch break. Restaurants are super busy between noon and 1 o'clock, simply because many companies do not allow employees to go out otherwise.

This very strict lunch break is typically not only for having lunch, but also to do your personal chores. Going to the bank, make a few personal calls, they should all be done within this one hour.

In addition, I heard from several sources that companies also restrict the Internet access. Many Japanese companies monitor Internet usage, and you are not allowed to browse freely, except during the lunch hours. One Frenchman told me, "it only takes 15 minutes for my colleagues to finish eating." They are basically in a terrible rush to make sure they have time to access Internet.

Can a workplace really draw a clear line between what is personal and what not? When we built house and had quite a strict requirements for the built-in speakers, our architect suffered from the lack of free Internet access: Basically he couldn't check the website that we wanted to him to check.

And another aspect I find irritating, is how do they explain the fact that many Japanese bring work at home, if they are concerned of how people spend time at workspace, shouldn't families have a right to complain the invasion of their personal space?

I obviously lack a fair viewpoint. After all, I have never worked for a Japanese company.

Please do it at home

2008-06-13T21:00:00Z

Another interesting poster from Tokyo metro. The text says not to make calls inside the train, but the image goes further by saying why you shouldn't. It describes that in a confined space, people are forced to hear other people's conversation and can be irritating.

Some people say it is annoying because you only hear one side of the conversation. But I doubt if that is the case? I lived in Finland for five years and during the time, I traveled back to Japan once or twice a year. Every time I took trains in Japan, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information I was forced to digest. High school girls talked about boy bands; boys talked about characters that appeared in computer games. So perhaps it is a matter of whether you share a same amount of knowledge, which is naturally a reflection of your interest, to the topic of discussion?

The most recent conversation I could not stand inside the train was by three young businessmen.

A: "I didn't know what is Lotus 1-2-3, what kind of name is that? Is that a joke?"
B & C: (laugh)
A: "I didn't know Excel either, I thought it's a name of a country."

Call me short-tempered. I don't know if you will be annoyed with this conversation, at least I was. Firstly, because I felt so old for knowing Lotus software, and second, because I am a Excel geek. But the final blow was his ignorance about the geography. I do hope he was simply joking in front of his close colleagues. From where I stood, I didn't hear the second laugh coming.

Ambulance Or Not?

2008-06-12T15:21:06Z

"Call 119" is what we have been taught at school, in case you need an ambulance. Nowadays, it seems that widespread knowledge is not appreciated, and they are encouraging you to think twice.

The poster basically promotes an alternative toll-free number, which you can consult the operator if your case is truly urgent.

The primary reason for this campaign is that the average time for the ambulance to arrive to the destination is increasing. In 1999 the time was 5 minutes 24 seconds; in 2004, 6 minutes and 18 seconds (see image below, which is an odd mixture of comedy and seriousness).

Traffic jam is obviously one factor, but officials also point out that there is an increase of misuse for the ambulance. Some odd cases include a businessman late for his important meeting.

Confined Parking Space

2008-06-11T15:09:36Z

Public Reading Glasses

2008-05-27T15:25:52Z

You can find reading glasses in many public places, like post offices and police stations. Most places just have a single degree of strengths, but here, I saw three: strong for 60 year olds, weak for 40s, and somewhere in between for 50s.

According to my mother, who is already old enough to need reading glasses (sorry mom), following are the motivations to use them:
- Within your hub. These places are typically placed near your homes, you do not bring all your belongings with you.
- Only for a short while. You need reading glasses to quickly fill some forms, quickly borrowing them is handier than bringing a pair of your own.
- Tedious to take out. Even if you had one with you, it is tedious to take one out, especially if your hands are full.

Once you hear why, it totally makes sense. I wonder, is this the solution taking place in other countries as well?