ね、知ってる？-- Did you know?

Happy New Year, February... Ok, that's a month fail. I didn't realize I forgot to include that in my last post!

In an attempt to take a break (who am I kidding) from posting about various trips mostly because I can't access my pictures on my work computer, I decided this should be a post of its own.

The fun facts below are randomly assembled from my everyday life and experiences, when I remembered to jot them down, and although some of them can be applied to most of Japan, I'll just add a quick disclaimer: most of these might only apply to Hokkaido and/or the Sorachi prefecture, or possibly just my town.

Did you know that police cars always flash their lights?

(Yes, even when parked and trying to catch people.) I forget the reasoning I was given, but it was something along the lines of "they want you to see them to give you a chance to drop your speed." Well isn't that generous? Think again, because...


Did you know that if you get caught speeding, your boss gets notified, your salary can be reduced, and your name appears in the paper?
That would explain why most people have a radar detector... And in case your eyes just widened in shock, the Japanese are quite serious about driving and driving-related incidents. That is to say...
 
Did you know that Japan has a zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving?
If you have one drink with, say, .04% alcohol, you cannot drive. If you thought getting caught speeding was bad, this is a definitely worse. Don't. Do it.

Did you know that there's a driver service so that you can drive somewhere, drink, and have that person drive you and your car home? (With the driver's driver following your car.)Because Japan is so anti drinking & driving (see above), this is an alternative (albeit slightly pricey) to getting dropped off or taking the bus somewhere only to take a taxi home later. It's basically the same as a taxi with the added convenience of driving yourself there first.

Did you know that if you end up in a car accident where both parties were moving, regardless whether it was your fault or not, both parties have to pay?The reasoning for this being that everyone is a danger while driving/moving and thus responsible. And yes, I can, and have seen, that. A good example would be of a friend whose car got slammed into because the other driver didn't see a red light. Ouch. The way some people drive here, especially on icy winter roads, is quite terrifying. But wait, there's more...!

Did you know that some people hardly ever wear seatbelts in the backseat, but always on travel buses?
I don't understand this anymore than you (hopefully) don't. I'm still flabbergasted (and frequently horrified) at the thought of young kids (generally my students) freely poking their heads forward and roaming around freely in the back while in a speeding car. (The beginning of Spirited Away actually makes (half) the point for me.) For some weird reason, they think the backseat is safer. Let's not mention winter roads again. I suppose at least in Japan, the drivers wear their seatbelts... whereas in Thailand, I've been in cars where even the driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt! And their driving-- by god, deserves a post of its own. So yes, having grown up with the habit of buckling up whenever I sat in a car, this lax attitude surprised still surprises me. I still quite don't grasp why they treat riding in a bus so differently... But keeping on the subject of cars...

Did you know that all cars beep while backing up?This might be increasing abroad too. I'd just come back from a short break in California, but I noticed some of my friends' cars beeped (inside) while backing up. The cars here beep inside and out, like all trucks/buses. I think it's great, especially for cities with a lot of pedestrians and bikers.

Did you know that people flash their lights to signal cops waiting "upstream?"
During my Shiretoko trip, it kept happening and I had to ask. Nice people will flash their lights at you, and it's not because anything's wrong with your car, it's a warning to drop to the speed limit.

Did you know that flashing your warning lights twice is a thank you gesture?Maybe if I was trying to get a Japanese license this would be a "duh" comment, but since I'm not and I don't drive, I found it fascinating. Driving etiquette in another country. ;)

Did you know that all freeways require a toll?To those of you outside the U.S., that might not be much of a thought (more of another "duh" comment, really). According to Wikipedia, about 38 countries use toll roads. In the U.S. though, it's only partial roads, and just thinking of Southern California and that insane traffic makes me dizzy (though not as much as Hong Kong or Bangkok traffic did). But as a result of the tolls, the freeways here are usually uncrowded (except during the holidays) and in impeccable condition. Don't let me digress into the ridiculous number of on/off ramps in the U.S., or the road conditions... or anything really, moving on!

Did you know that students (up through middle school) aren't allowed any kind of food at school?
I still don't really understand the reasoning for this (personally), except I believe it's to 'control' what they eat (which they do anyway by providing the school lunch). I remember one time at the ES, teachers were freaking out because they found a candy wrapper in the trash can. On the rare times that fellow students bring back お土産, presents, from a trip somewhere, students are allowed to eat it after their lunch or take it home. I think that rule is unhealthy... especially for the kids who don't (or can't) eat breakfast before school, because then they have about 4 long, torturous hours of starving through class before being able to eat anything. I don't know about you, but I can't really concentrate when I'm hungry, not to mention starving... :|

Did you know that students aren't allowed cell phones in classrooms or money at school?
This dawned on me only after a little while of chance observation, where teachers' desks (in class or in the staff room) would hold more than one cell phone. One students in JHS would give her wallet and cellphone to her homeroom teacher every morning, and sometimes I'd see a teacher give a student a phone. Huh. The wallet is a pretty rare occurrence (at least in my schools), but they're not even allowed money! I'm not sure of the reason behind that, it's not like there are vending machines on campuses until high school (again, in my town). Thinking back to my own school life, I just remember the good ol' rule of "have your cell phones turned off during class," but not to be able to have them in your possession at all was kind of surprising.
 
Did you know that students clean their school every day?
If you're familiar with Japanese culture, feel free to skip this non-surprising fact. For everyone else, yep, students clean their schools every day, it's part of the schedule. Classrooms, hallways, stairways, toilets, emptying their trash... the whole shabang. I think it's a fantastic idea. Students then know exactly how easily everything gets dirtied and think twice about making a mess (granted, they usually clean up after themselves anyway). Of course, the whole indoor vs outdoor shoes culture factors into this, but-- arguments can be made.

Did you know students serve their own lunches?
Again, if you're familiar with Japanese culture skip on over! There are variations of this, but I feel that in general, students don't prepare the food, it's prepared in an inspected facility and dropped off at the school mid-morning. To better explain, allow me to elaborate: classes are divided in groups, usually five if size allows, and are assigned tasks and cleaning areas for the week (or months, or however long, I'm still not sure how those calendars work). In any case, a group is always assigned lunch duty. They wear aprons and bandannas and divide the food as evenly as possible, and another gives milk to everyone while students go up with their trays to get the food. Yep, they eat in their classrooms. They do their own cleaning, remember? ;) Other random fact: A plus to teaching here is-- students are also responsible for cleaning the board at the end of classes! Doesn't happen all the time though, but I can just waltz out of class if I'm busy.
 
Did you know that students have club activities every day (from JHS on)?
That's right, every day! That includes weekends! I'm not sure how it is where you're from, but just based off my experiences in HS and college in California, students can join as many clubs as they want (and are able to, I guess), because most of them don't meet on a daily basis - save sports. I knew of this before I came to Japan, but the reality of it sank in only when I started teaching. JHS is three years in Japan, and first years get maybe about a week-ish to try all sorts of clubs before settling on one. Now, once they pick one, they stick with that one for the whole year. Technically, they're allowed to change clubs after a year, to change it up. But think about this, if your first year of JHS you enter the basketball club, and you're given all the duties of an 'underclassman' and only start getting better towards the end of the year. Do you really want to quit and start over in the ping pong club? Chances are... nope. I feel sad for them, maybe because I like to try a lot of things. They can't try a bit of everything, they choose one thing and work hard at it. That's not a bad thing at all, I just feel like they're missing out on so much when they're so young... :|

Did you know if 30% of a class is absent, the whole class will be sent home for a days?
It's called 学級閉鎖 gakkyuu heisa or 学年閉鎖 gakunen heisa. The first being only for a class, the other being for the whole grade. This is mostly during bad flu seasons and such, and yes, both my ES and JHS had half their students at one point during the week. The reason being that if classes continue normally, the absent students will fall behind on their studies and not be able to catch up. Different mentality, huh? They were as surprised as I was when I first encountered that, when I told them that in the West, there's no such thing. It's the student's responsibility to catch up, no matter what (in general).

Did you know that Japanese people loooove meetings?
Every morning at school is a staff/teacher meeting, and it feels like there are other meetings after classes at least once a week, sometimes more! There are a ton of "maybe"s I could list as to why I think they're a waste of time and don't really help, and another ton as to why it might just be me that fails to see their brilliance (please enlighten me if you fall in this category). And it's not just the meetings, it's the paperwork that's associated with it, beforehand, and after. The report of the meetings, the blahblahblah of the meetings, and they're killing trees! But that's another topic.

Did you know that there's a designated side to stand on the escalator? And in Osaka, it's backwards.
It makes sense that if you drive on the left, you stand on the left. Which is what most people do in shopping centers, they prefer standing rather than walking up the escalators. And before I forget, I should mention I'm perpetually amazed at the unbelievably loooong lines people stand in to stand on the left stand rather than walk up the right! Around Christmas it got so bad though, people just started standing on both sides to speed it up a little... As for Osaka, it's reversed. You stand on the right and walk up the left, but not the roads, just the escalators. Go figure.

Did you know that performing on the street/near stations is illegal?
This is an inference rather than a statement, but I saw cops walk up to a singer, cutting her short, while the other two waiting on the side got accosted by four more cops to pack up house and leave. They had to pack up electric pianos, mics, pamphlets, sample CDs, etc. I just found that... slightly odd-ish.

Did you know it's perfectly acceptable to wear socks and sandals/cute shoes for girls?
Not that there's a fashion police, but from my experience most people in the West avoid that look. I'm not sure what it is - except maybe Japanese fashion - but they love cute socks, frilly, bows, shiny, whatever. The disproportionate quantity of sock design for girls/women is frankly scary. Although the quality of the "3 pairs for 1,000 yen" should be argued (if not in general).

Did you know that the majority of the female population (I observed) wears heels?I was waiting for a friend at Osaka station (where I saw the performers being shooed) and since I had time, paper and pen-- took a mini 'survey' of women walking past and what they were wearing. Obviously it's not an accurate survey, this is the funnest 'fun fact' of the list and is by no mean a representation of every single Japanese women. But based on my ticks under 'heels' vs 'no-heels,' heels takes the easy win. It'd be kind of interesting if there was an official survey about this, although totally pointless... (hah, how punny!)

Did you know that the names for the Hana Kimi manga characters came from station names in Osaka?
I didn't, I love that manga, and was really surprised when I was told. But upon further examination-- it's completely true!!
Feedback much appreciated, but even better, let me know what you want to read! What are you interested in? How did you come across this blog? :)

Edit: I might periodically add more tidbits as I encounter them, unless I gather so many more they require their own post. Just a heads up. ;)