1 swimming pool, 48 lifeguards

[Taro Toporific]

Safe and secure in Japan?
AFP/travel/asia -- Aug 5
The swimming pools at Meguro Community Centre near the heart of Tokyo, which include an Olympic-sized pool with a maximum depth of just 1.2 metres, are manned at any one time by around 20 lifeguards from a potential team of 48. By comparison, the three pools at a fitness club in London where Hopkins used to work had only four guards keeping watch.
"Japanese people, unlike Westerners, do not have a sense of danger because we think our country is so safe," said Meguro's head lifeguard .."We are jealous when we see how pools operate in other countries. They are deeper and sometimes have only one person on duty. It is great but we can't do that in Japan, people can't cope."

[groovewonder]

Man, that's too funny!

[WarlocK]

Exaggerated safety precautions, by the standards of most other countries, around a nearby hole in the road also leave foreigners scratching their heads. "Take care! Construction in process. Please keep to the pavement," call out a group of security guards waving flashing red sticks at bemused pedestrians who are already on the path and presumably have no intention of diverting towards the perfectly obvious and well-cordoned off hole.

This is probably the silliest thing I've seen while walking (or riding my bike) in Osaka. Usually they are just taking up space standing around waving their red sticks. If you want to have a bit of evil fun, you can try to walk around them from the back. They get really confused and turned around. I just can't see another pedestrian being like "Oh no, the security officer stopped waving his stick. How am I to avoid the huge gaping fucking hole over there!?"

He was spot on with the ambulance stuff too. I don't ever want to be in a serious accident here.

[Taro Toporific]

[GomiGirl]

Oh yes - I went to a public pool once and made the mistake of diving off the *gasp* diving blocks.. then I got in trouble as I was wearing my diving watch in the pool..

I couldn't understand why then we all had to get out for a rest every half an hour.. I told them that it was more than 30 minutes from my last meal so I wouldn't get cramps.. but to no avail.. I was all-but frog marched out of the area.

[Crispy]

How much are those lifeguards paid? Is a normal lifeguard's pay split 48 ways between them all? I just love those crazy Japanese rationalizations for bureaucratic tomfoolery, they make my day every time.

[Taro Toporific]

Pool lifeguard]IHT/Asahi: August 20, 2005
..... This past Sunday, Tokyo Summerland welcomed 23,000 visitors, although the daily average in mid-August is closer to 15,000.
So many bodies in one place make work a challenge for water-quality experts controlling pool temperature and pH levels. The attendants, meanwhile, have to deal with the customers' tempers.
"They come here to have fun and cool off, but some people, even before they get in, are already seething," says Endo. "First the roads are crowded, then there's a jam getting into the parking lot. There are already people arguing out there. Finally, when they get in they find all the lawn chairs are taken and they can't sit down. You have to be as polite as possible, for example, when you tell people they can't wear their eyeglasses in the pool-the smallest thing can set some of them off.".....
....Our job is like being at the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya when the light turns green and everyone starts crossing the street-except that you have to keep an eye on what everyone is doing."...more...

[dimwit]

My wife refers to this as a 'Potato Wash'.

[sirwanksalot]

You'd have to be out of your mind to want to go there.

[Naniwan Kid]

The water still looks blue, how is that possible? Unless they are filtering urinal cakes in there....

[Taro Toporific]

....my wife calls this "Potato Wash" ....

<---Today 6pm Kujukurihama

Today I thought I was going the beat the "Potato Wash" problem by going to Kujukurihama, Pacific side of north Chiba to enjoy the longest beach in Japan for the a few days. I arrived at the beach at 4pm and and there were only a dozen people for as far as I could see down the 60km "long beach."
I was just getting into the water when the arse-reaming loudspeakers started booming crap music and announcements. I dove in and got underwater to beat the the noise pollution and the 1-2m breakers.

I was off-shore a couple hundred meters when real cute girl in matching orange tank suit and longboard finally caught up to me. Hot damn, I thought scored.... until I realize she was lifeguard.

She starting whining to me about the fact that the, "beach 'closes' at 4pm.

I sputtered, "Say what?! The Pacific ocean closes at 4pm on the hotest day of the summer...you're joking right?"

--- "No sir, this the last open day for swimming."

I quip that, "I'm not swimming--I'm pull-buoy surfing" and quickly caught a wave to show her my invented-on-the-spot surfing style since surfing is always legal but swimming isn't, go-figure-this-is-Japan.

Long-story-short: It took six life guards to "rescue" me, hee, hee.
Best line: "Really? I wanna see your badge and gun."


<--swim-pull-buoy

[Taro Toporific]

..."beach 'closes' at 4pm...

At 5:15 this morning I found a sign saying that the "No swimming -- Beach is closed for the END of the season."
I cannot read Japanese so the water was nice.:P

[Mike Oxlong]

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Or the classic.

"Notice there is no P in our ool.
Please keep it that way"

[Taro Toporific]

Biggest outbreak of 'swimming pool fever' in decade feared
Crisscross News - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:42 EDT
TOKYO ---The National Institute of Infectious Diseases is warning of the biggest outbreak in a decade toward summer of a virus-caused fever that primarily hits toddlers sharing swimming pools and towels...Since the start of this year, the average number of patients with pharyngoconjunctival fever, commonly called "pool fever" in Japan....more...

[kamome]

Gives me the chills]http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1399&stc=1&d=1148316451[/IMG]

[dimwit]

[B]

TOKYO --- [/URL]The National Institute of Infectious Diseases is warning of the biggest outbreak in a decade toward summer of a virus-caused fever that primarily hits toddlers sharing swimming pools and towels...Since the start of this year, the average number of patients with pharyngoconjunctival fever, commonly called "pool fever" in Japan....more...

Ain't it cute that they never mention onsens in their story which I suspect are far more effective disease vectors.

[Taro Toporific]

Ain't it cute that they never mention onsens in their story which I suspect are far more effective disease vectors.

Hey, ask your doctor friends if there are any published stats on that in Japan like what the CDC does, hee, hee.