Toto the Toilet and Other Tokyo Tidbits

A couple of years ago when I was still living in Asia, I had the chance to work for a Japanese start-up company that assigned me to Tokyo for almost a year. As a “gaijin” (which means foreigner in Japanese) I was able to observe the rich and sometimes kitschy culture that was unique to Japan. Below are eight juicy tidbits I bet you didn’t know…

Tidbit #1
It is the norm in Tokyo to have Toto the Toilet. If you refer to their U.S. website you will get an idea of how it looks like. I believe this hi-tech toilet goes by a proper name - the washlet. It has an electronic menu on the side or on the wall that lets you select the temperature of the seat and the volume/pressure of water for “washing.” Now that’s a throne fit for a king!

Tidbit #2
“Free-ters” are mostly young people who give away corporate advertising freebies such as flyers and tissue packets. They are actually paid 800 yen an hour to do this (at least back in 2005). I was almost tempted to moonlight as one!

Tidbit #3
There are more people per square inch in Tokyo than any other city in Asia, or the world for that matter. According to a study by Demograhia,Tokyo ranks number 1 as the world’s largest urban area in population (34,250,000), land area (7,835 square km) and density (4,372). New York only ranks 3rd! Maybe that’s why they call it a megalopolis.

Tidbit #4
Japan has a vast, yet, very efficient public transportation system. When I went on a backpacking trip, I just downloaded the train schedule from this website and I never got lost. The trains were always on time!

Tidbit #5
In this country, the people are very trendy and prefer a lot of signature brands. I would see at least one person per square inch carrying a Louis Vuitton bag as if it were, let's just say, an ordinary Jansport bag. Oh yes, and this includes men who were very metrosexual.

Tidbit #6
Japanese people need a seal to conduct official business. They don’t sign with a pen; they stamp their own “jazzed up” registered seal.

Tidbit #7
Local prime time television consists mostly of shows with a big group of people discussing or featuring a certain event, object, or person…it’s mostly comical. For example, my favorite show when I was living there features a series of single people finding their perfect mate. The series usually ends with the person traveling somewhere with a significant other and a grandly proposing ex. A trip to Italy “Roman Holiday” style. It’s sweet and funny without needing to understand Nihongo! I like the way they perfectly insert subscripts, sound effects and small freeze/repeat frames to emphasize or point out funny things captured by the camera.

I still watch some clips of different Japanses show over at this really awesome website called www.japanprobe.com. Catch this hilarious one of a Japanese fangirl interviewing the cast of Harry Potter.

And finally,

Tidbit #8
Japanese people are very visual. Diagrams and illustrations are everywhere, especially in documents! Thus, the birth of anime and A3-size paper. They always have big copier/fax machines that are considered an office standard!