Early Impressions of Japan: What you see is what you get?

.

Left: "Western", up-right toilet; right: Japanese squat toilet.
-----

Hasn’t your mother ever told you: “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” First impressions may be deceiving. Yet, some might say that everyday decisions are often based on those first emotions—the ‘gut’ feeling, for example. First impressions and how we react to them may be a dangerous thing. Should we be more open and understanding of new encounters in our surroundings or is what you see, what you get?

See the picture above. What did it make you think? Do you agree with the text describing each image in the photo? Why or why not?

From my own perspective, as a "western" foreigner to Japan, clearly I find the upright “western” toilet more comfortable. I dub the squat-style toilet a.k.a. the-hole-in-the-ground very different. This reflects on some of my other first impressions of things unique to Japanese culture that I have found to be out-of-the-ordinary. Driving on the left side of the road and sleeping on the floor are not my idea of normal. That doesn’t mean; however, that it’s wrong. So what does that mean exactly? Despite much thought, anytime I attempted to reflect on my first impressions of Japan, my explanation was simply that it is different.

What do you see?

Left: "Western", up-right toilet; right: Japanese squat toilet.

-----

Conclusion 1: How can I explain all of the new things I am experiencing in Japan as vague as saying that they are different and nothing more? Well, I was asked about my first impression! Maybe after sometime I will be able to elaborate more—after having more time to think about it... But then again, it wouldn’t be my first impression anymore now would it. Confused? So am I.

-----

In particular, after I arrived in Japan; whether at the airport, in the city, or on campus... I noticed that Japan is very clean! This leads me to the impression that Japan has an obsession with cleanliness. Allow me to exaplain... Outdoor shoes are not allowed inside; dogs are kept outside of the house; there are sinks located at public cafeterias; and the roads and sidewalks are ‘litter’-ally spotless! From my personal experience as a student living in one of the Seminar Houses, we must follow recently implemented “rules” when sorting garbage. There are 5 bins for sorting: Burnable and Raw Garbage, Plastic Garbage, Pet Bottles, Cans and Glass, but it doesn’t stop there, raw garbage must be placed in a nylon bag and pet bottle labels and caps must be removed and sorted as well. Furthermore, the garbage must be thoroughly cleaned before placed into any of the bins! We were also told that cleaning staff would have to re-sort the garbage if it was separated improperly, otherwise the garbage would not be collected.

Garbage and recycling bins in Seminar House 3.

Instructions on "How to Seperate Garbage".
-----

What are your thoughts on this?

Conclusion 2: Wouldn't you much rather live in a comfortable, clean environment? Yes, of course! So why not adopt the Japanese way? I honestly think that if I dedicated myself to keeping things super-duper clean, I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy it!

--------------------

Click the following links to read more about Japan’s obession with cleanliness.

• Cleaning the Sidewalk in Japan:

http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/photos/crazyjapan200207/Pages/Image19.html

• An Australian Study: http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/s356312.htm


• A Personal Story:
  http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/1747


• Canadian Perspective on Japan's Cleanliness: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/461415