DISCLAIMER: This will be one of those lengthy blog posts where the blogger writes up his/her dismay towards his/her beloved country NOT TO BE BASHED, but so people can understand that there is still hope, ONLY, if we are all willing to work for it.
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I was lucky to be given the chance to visit Japan for 15 days. During my stay, I lived like a local, not like a tourist. My Aunt lives in Tokyo for almost 26 years now, she knows the country like the back of her hand. I stayed at her place in Kyodo and upon waking up in the first morning of my stay, I immediately fell in love with our neighborhood — there are lots of trees and plants, people riding their bikes, vending machines, it's peaceful and IT IS CLEAN. Man, the whole country is clean. The only trash I've seen around our neighborhood were fallen leaves and most of the time there were none, as in nothing. Not even a single piece of cigarette butt.
If this is starting to bore you, then let me go ahead and jump into my list.
During my stay there, I made a list of all my observations, as my list got longer I began to feel jealousy towards Japan and anger towards my country. You might want to know why I'm angry. You might want to know why I'd rather post this than post my travel schedule and the places I visited (I would, some other time and because I already made daily photo-posts on my Facebook).
I decided to post this instead because it is important, to me at least. BECAUSE MY VACATION IN JAPAN WAS AN EYE-OPENER. Because if you lived in the Philippines your whole life and you visited Japan, the difference will shock you and it will come to you in waves and you will feel jealous, then sad and then angry. Angry that how come Japan is that clean, that peaceful, that organized, that successful when the very core of their behavior is nothing but DISCIPLINE. A very simple manner that won't take much effort to exercise. Let that sink in for a while..
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Now, my list of observations and I-HOPE-WE-CAN-OBSERVE-THESE-MANNERS-TOO. As you read, I respectfully request you to do the comparison yourself:
1. JAPANESE CABS
- Cabs are the alternative to the main public transportation which are trains. Around midnight, when trains and buses stop operating, the only option you have is take a taxi or sleep in a nearby hotel. Taking a cab in Japan is expensive, ¥730 as soon as you sat in, that's roughly P284 compared to our P35, and about ¥40 additional every minute. But the price speaks up for itself, aside from being very polite, taxi drivers wear suits, a suit, my goodness! And white gloves, the seats have clean, white covers, the car smells nice, the dashboard has a satellite navigation device, cameras, receipt-printer and credit card machine, and this is the best thing: THE DOOR WILL AUTOMATICALLY OPEN AND SHUT FOR YOU. This is very helpful especially if both your hands are occupied. So don't try to open the door or else the driver might be upset.
- Fact, Japanese cab drivers will never decline having you as their passenger, you will never hear them say "Ay hindi po, ma-traffic po doon." (of course in their language, wag ka ng pilosopo). And they don't negotiate their fare, it's regulated and metered, no "Ma'am, padagdag nalang po ng P150 kasi baha po doon". Talaga? Bakit Kuya, mababasa ho ba tayo?
- Another interesting fact, Japanese taxis don't have a uniform color. Each company uses their own, so any time something happens to you inside a taxi (which I think is next to impossible), the culprit will be easy to find because you know the car's color.
2. TRAINS
- I'm sorry if this might hurt a little because of our current, hot and sizzling issues with
MRT. But please read on, because the beauty of riding a train in Japan doesn't solely rely on the powerful companies that run them, but also, the passengers' discipline.
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| I get excited every time I'm riding a train (how ironic right?) so I always forget to take pictures. This is grabbed/borrowed from http://www.allaboutjapantrains.com/203-series.html |
- Trains are Japan's main public transportation, not jeeps, not tricycles, not buses, not taxis, not private cars, but trains. I don't even want to discuss the number of railway stations and train lines because there are LOTS.
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| Tokyo Train Map, imagine this is just around Tokyo. Grabbed/borrowed from www.32worldmapof.xyz |
- Riding a train in Japan is relatively easy because of the Pasmo/Suica train pass, all you have to do is tap this card in the machine and the gate will open. Purchasing a Pasmo card is easy too, you can buy one from the airport upon arrival and machines are available in stations where you can buy a card and just reload it every time is runs out, the machines also has English language assistance. You can load your pass from ¥1,000 to ¥10,000, you can even personalize it to have your name printed. Train fairs vary from place to place, train line to train line, but don't worry if your pass has insufficient funds because you can always pay in the station office. If you're not staying for long, you can still purchase individual tickets in the same machine. It's amazing how loading machines are all working, none of them are tampered, vandalized, destroyed or stolen, why? Because they are disciplined.
- Trains in Japan are never late because most employees rely on it. So the excuse "Sir sorry po, na-late ako kasi traffic tas late po yung train." is unacceptable. Their rush hour is different than ours even if they accommodate more people. THEY DON'T PUSH, CURSE EACH OTHER OR SQUEEZE SOMEBODY'S BUTT. Passengers give way to those who will alight so they can go out before the rest can get in. Train doors don't close immediately allowing everyone to enter. Nobody chats or laughs as if they own the train car (while this is none of my business I think keeping our voices down on public places means politeness), most passengers, when they get in will either check their phones, read, listen to music or sleep. Drunk people are also allowed to ride the train since this is probably the only way they can get home, aside from taking a cab which is expensive. They're not really someone you'll worry about because they just sleep, they don't make weird noises or stare around with their bloodshot eyes or catcall.
- Because these trains are efficient and so organized (it hurts), you will never experience a traffic jam in Tokyo (not unless there are vehicular accidents or road constructions, which are rare).
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE
- Customer Service is A+ in Japan, highly commendable and award-winning (yes, believe me). No matter what time of day, they will greet you with a smile and enthusiasm. Even if it's already late, restaurant personnels are still alert, not slouching, not grumpy, always ready to help you out and your food will arrive on time, hot and not soggy, very well-prepared. If you ask them a question, they will tell you everything you need to know about the product or service. WHICH GIVES WAY TO THEIR NEXT REMARKABLE CORE BEHAVIOR, DILIGENCE, THE JAPANESE ARE NOT LAZY. Disciplined and diligent. That's also why you will notice a lot of self-service facilities.
- Store/shop counters have a tiny plastic tray where you'll place your payment. They will give you your change/items using BOTH hands! How polite is that!
- On some shops, after checking in your items, the cashier will hand you a plastic for YOU TO PUT YOUR STUFF ON, not them. I personally think that's really neat and because everyone understands that the line queue is building up. Nobody gets upset or annoyed or complaints. The Japanese are considerate like that.
- YOU DON'T GIVE TIPS IN JAPAN. If you get good service, that is expected because employees are decently paid to do their tasks, they don't rely on tips and they make take it as an insult.
4. SECURITY AND SAFETY
- You will only see security guards in banks, temples and shrines. Let that sink in for a while..
- Bicycles are parked pretty much anywhere and some of them don't have locks. Let that sink in for a while..
- During my stay in Japan, whenever I go out, I only put my phone in the side pockets of my bag-pack for easy access. When I got home in the Philippines I have to constantly remind myself to avoid putting my phone in the said area. People who ride their bikes or walk late at night don't fear for their safety. I know because of the numerous times I took that 15-minute walk from the station to our house. Again, let that sink in for a while..
- KOBANS are substations located around transport stations and residential areas. They are manned by a small number of 3 to 5 policemen.
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| Not much for a police station right? Because it's not. It's just a substation and yet there's few to 0 crimes each day. Photo grabbed/borrowed from https://seidenpriester.files.wordpress.com |
- There are very few traffic officers because NOBODY DEFIES TRAFFIC RULES. They stop on a red light, nobody's a Daredevil. Vehicles GIVE PRIORITY TO PEDESTRIANS AND BIKERS. If you plan to cross a street without a stoplight, approaching cars will stop to let you go through.
- As of February 2015, TOKYO IS RANKED NUMBER 1 AS THE SAFEST CITY IN THE WORLD.
5. CONSIDERATION IN A MUCH BROADER SENSE
Though Japan is very strict with their rules, legal and business regulations, they are considerate in a much larger sense, like, they're considerate for everybody's convenience. A few distinct examples:
- In escalators, those who are taking their time stand on the left side leaving space on the right for those who are in a hurry. (This is the other way around in other places because pretty much everything is reversed in Japan, i.e right-hand drive)
- In public bathrooms, a lavatory is reserved for the elderly or handicapped, it's got railings for support. And toilet papers are ALWAYS available.
- Most establishments have automated doors with censors, very helpful if you're carrying a lot of stuff.
- Allotted seats for the elderly, pregnant women or with children in EVERY train car.
- This is my personal favorite: UMBRELLA PLASTIC BAG DISPENSER. When it rains, most establishments and restaurants have this, put your umbrella inside the plastic and pull so you won't walk around the area with a dripping wet umbrella.
- When there are roadworks and you have to walk along that area, workers will stop what they're doing, stand up and guide you where you can walk.
- If somebody sees a trash, he/she picks it up and throws it in a trashcan.
- No stray cats or dogs.
- There are bike rentals.
- When your shopping bag is too heavy, the cashier personnel will put a foam support on the plastic bag handle.
- Vending machines EVERYWHERE.
- Konbinis like 7-Eleven, Lawson, Ministop and Family Mart have self-service xerox, fax and ticket machines.
- Garbage areas (where everybody in the building puts their garbage in) are covered with a net which is supported by four containers filled with water. They have discipline on how they dispose their garbage so if you pass by a trash bin keep breathing because you won't smell anything nasty.
- Their VAT (value added tax) is 8%.
- Train seats have cushion and under those seats you may find metal grates, during winter, those are heaters. There are printed reminders about it too for foreigners.
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| Commuter trains are normally full so this image is grabbed/borrowed from nipponloverabroad.blogspot.com |
- Tactile pavings. When you walk around Tokyo you will notice yellow tiles (mostly) with different textures on it — truncated bars or truncated domes. These are placed along pavements, train stations, parking lots and almost everywhere, TO ASSIST THE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEDESTRIANS as they touch their walking sticks on it. Truncated domes mean the person has to stop or slow down while truncated bars serves as walking guide. Thank you Uncle John for teaching me this, at first I thought these are for people to step onto when roads are wet and slippery.
- Banks have at least 8 ATM MACHINES for balance inquiry, passbook update, remittance, deposit and withdrawal transactions.
- This is another favorite, I learned about this from Johann. Johann is a young fashion artist in the Philippines focusing on footwear, 4 years ago he decided to move in Japan and continued his business there instead, he got his own brandname now and one if his clients is the art director of Nine West. I got the chance to talk to Johann and he fully understands how it's like to be an artist in the Philippines. He told me that what he loves most about Japan when it comes to being an artist is: THE JAPANESE APPRECIATES INDIVIDUALITY. They appreciate art, doesn't matter where you're from, you exerted time and effort in making your craft so it has to be appreciated. And if an artist puts up an exhibit, he/she is required to have exhibition catalogs for sale (or for free), because if the visitors can't buy his/her art yet, at least buying the catalog will lead to further exposure and clients. Then Johann told me the comparison between his clients from the Philippines to the ones in Japan in terms of his shoes' price, his designs are really rad, form and function and quite expensive because of the material and they're handmade.
PH clients: "Ang mahal naman nito, may mabibili naman akong ganitong mas mura pa sa (insert place here.) Remarks like this is common simply because not everyone understands craftsmanship and hard-work. I also understand the matter of practicality, but you can at least say something less rudimentary.
JPN clients: "This is a bit expensive though I think it would be better if you use this kind of material instead." Always room for improvement. They will say it's expensive, they can't buy it yet, BUT they won't slap it on the artist's face.
Beyond all these, Johann still wants to give something back to the Philippines, he respects and buy artworks from our local artists and participates in collaborations. He definitely loves our country but he opted to showcase his craft where it is (more) noticed and appreciated. I'm really proud of Johann, it gives me pride to know and meet a Filipino artist who's already making a name for himself in a very fashion-forward country like Japan.
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Honestly, I think this lifetime is never enough to list down reasons why I admire and envy Japan so much. It hurts that what makes that country perfect is something ALL FILIPINOS CAN DO TOO, effortlessly, and yet we choose not to, just ignore it and go with the flow. Aside from that, I think MOST FILIPINOS ARE AFRAID OF CHANGE, we are satisfied with our current situation that any change feels either strange or offensive to us, no good intentions are good enough. Yung ugaling, "Okay lang, pwede na yan." And I understand this is a 2-way matter — (a) WE HAVE INCOMPETENT LEADERS. Oh yes, we do. Leaders are supposed to guide their members, THEY SHOULD BE TRUST-WORTHY, HONEST, COMPETENT, FAIR AND FIRM ENOUGH to gain people's respect. How would you respect leaders that put your hard-earned money to their pockets? To their mistresses? To their townhouses? To their cars and lavish lifestyle? How would you respect leaders that allow bribery get the better of them? How can you respect leaders that can't discipline their jurisdiction? These questions can go on forever and I bet you've already read this some place too. But isn't that the truth?... And then there's (b) US. The ones with boiling rage inside our hearts BUT AREN'T BRAVE ENOUGH TO DEFY OR FIGHT "THE MACHINE". Why? Certain reasons, mainly, we are afraid, we don't know where to start, we don't know who to trust, we don't know if anybody is willing to help, we don't know if our efforts will ever be enough and most importantly, WE DON'T KNOW IF OUR COUNTRYMEN WILL BE READY FOR THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGING THEIR LIVES. And you know, it doesn't even have to start big, START WITH YOURSELF. You can do small things that when people who care notices, will follow the same example.
The Philippines is such a rich country and it holds a promising future, ONLY, if we'll act today and save it from the poison of its own people. We are the roots of this society, the bloodline of this nation, LET'S CARE ENOUGH. We are known for our warm hearts and hospitality, but ADD MORE discipline and diligence to that, then, it's going to be a whole lot better.
Many of you may think that this blog post is romanticizing Japan. It is not, would I benefit from doing that? All these are just my observations (and angst). Of course, Japan is like any other country that has its own set of drawbacks too, like earthquake, radiation, typhoons and such, but overall, the country is organized, safe and peaceful, and to me THAT IS NEW. I've only been in Japan for 15 days and it isn't enough to explore its rich culture and vast civilization, but 15 days is all you need to fall in love with that country and think twice on how you can build your motherland better.
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Thank you for reading, I understand this is pretty long. And hey! Let the bashing begin. I'm ready for you, the truth hurts doesn't it?...
