The Voice of the People

At breakfast and dinner I have the opportunity to watch some Japanese TV with my host family. Often we watch the news, but sometimes we watch one of the many variety shows that are some mix between American game shows and reality shows. Every once in a while they would invite the viewers at home to vote on some topic and 4 primary-colored boxes would appear. I noticed that those colors were lined up in the same order on the TV remote. It apparently costs extra to activate, but this voting system is built into just about every Japanese TV set. 

50th post!

Wow, this came up pretty fast. I've learned quite a bit about what it's really like to live in Japan, but I've definitely got a lot more to learn in the months to come. I've really enjoyed making these blog posts and I intend to continue to do so in the future. I really appreciate your feedback, if you find a post especially interesting or have a question about anything related to Japan or photography, please let me know.

This blog has received around 2.5k views so far which is pretty cool if you ask me. It's also cool to think that so many of you take time out of your day to read this. I've heard that even my grandmother reads my blog as part of her morning routine. Hi Grandma!

I hope I can continue to provide great content for you guys. If you know anyone else who is interested in all things Japan, please point them in my direction! Thanks!

Sincerely,

Scott S.

The Toyota Logo(s)

I assume most people in America have become familiar with the Toyota logo. The logo clearly marks a car as one produced by Toyota Motor Company of Japan and distinguishes it from other brands. That is typically the function of a product logo. In Japan, most auto manufacturers have a unique logo which they place on all of their cars. Toyota, however, has numerous logos, some associated with a particular model and others associated with an entire line of vehicles. The rear logo of all Toyota cars is the same as the logo used in America, but the front logo is quite often different depending on the model. Here are some logos that I've encountered since coming to Japan.

These are all cars produced by Toyota and they all feature the standard Toyota logo on the back. A few models have the standard logo on the front including the Prius line, but this is uncommon. Toyota produces an extremely large number of models for the Japanese market so the different logos may be used to help differentiate models by level of luxury or sportiness.

Some Like It Hot

At a few vending machines you can purchase coffee drinks that are hot. I don't think this system was thought out very well though as hot liquid in a metal can is not the best idea. Also, the coffee is dispensed immediately suggesting that it is kept hot all the time. The drink I tried had milk in it and it didn't taste quite right. It's a pretty impressive technological achievement in any case.

安全は第一

I've seen sets of screens like this at most train stations and I didn't realize until recently what they are for. These screens display areas further down the boarding platform. The man at the end of the train as described in this post checks these screens and ensures that everyone has boarded before he closes the doors.

I would also like to make a correction related to the above-mentioned post. Previously I suggested that the front and rear of the trains were identical, this is not usually true. I've seen some special trains where this is the case, but for most trains like the one pictured in the post, the front actually has considerably more controls.  

Knuckle Warmers

In Japan, gas costs around $5.77/gal meaning that driving can be seriously expensive. Because of this, many people drive scooters and sometimes motorcycles. The items pictured here appear to be designed to shield the driver's hands from the elements. I can't say for sure, but this seems rather unsafe.

Safety First

On busy roads through residential areas, you often see plastic signs in the shape of children asking drivers to look out for kids in the road. This is an older, probably homemade version and I find something terribly ironic about the fact that it appears to have been hit by a car at some point in the past.