Building the Gaijin Ghetto

[matsuki]

However, earthquake resistance aside, there is no denying that Japanese homes are poorly built and urban planning here is a joke. Expensive new developments are no exception.

Are there any places in Japan with decent urban planning?? I remember Sendai being pretty decent from what I saw but I wasn't there long.

I still crack up at all the commercials and "j-drama" where the streets are wide and the interiors in the homes are huge. I think you could fit more than a few actual Japanese homes in the size of those studio sets.

[Samurai_Jerk]

However, earthquake resistance aside, there is no denying that Japanese homes are poorly built and urban planning here is a joke. Expensive new developments are no exception.

Are there any places in Japan with decent urban planning?? I remember Sendai being pretty decent from what I saw but I wasn't there long.

I still crack up at all the commercials and "j-drama" where the streets are wide and the interiors in the homes are huge. I think you could fit more than a few actual Japanese homes in the size of those studio sets.

How about the middle class or even struggling artists in American sitcoms living in massive apartments in Manhattan?

There are definitely some places that look nicer than other and have decent sidewalks. However, that has nothing to do with how upscale the area is. Some of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Tokyo are in narrow winding backstreets. If anything, the new suburban developments for people who can't afford to live in town are the types of places 6810 is describing.

[matsuki]

How about the middle class or even struggling artists in American sitcoms living in massive apartments in Manhattan?

While I agree, usually those sitcom apartments are filled multiple roommates, making it a little more feasible. (though obviously even that is a stretch)

There are definitely some places that look nicer than other and have decent sidewalks. However, that has nothing to do with how upscale the area is. Some of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Tokyo are in narrow winding backstreets. If anything, the new suburban developments for people who can't afford to live in town are the types of places 6810 is describing.

Indeed...though I wonder if it will change in the suburbs. Seems like all the empty homes will have to be addressed eventually and it might be a reasonable solution to suddenly push out some decent planning regulations.

Last week or so I saw this documentary on how mold grows in nature and they compared it to the Yamanote line....I think they called it organic efficient chaos but the mold, given a similar base to grow on, basically grew into the shape of the Yamanote line.

[omae mona]

People definitely didn't push like they do in Japan. And the endless shouting of inane rules is probably a reference to the endless announcements like 駆け込み乗車は大変危険なので、お止めください. That shit is annoying and useless.

Really? You don't remember it taking several minutes for the train to pull away from each station on the NYC subway, while the driver begs the passengers to please stop holding the door? Don'T remember the passengers standing on the platform with their arm intentionally wedged inside the partially closed door, playing a game of chicken with the driver, trying to get him to open the door and let them on, while hundreds of people are waiting? No recollection of the driver eventually having to threaten to call the police to get a passenger to take their arm out of the door? I seem to remember this as a daily occurence, and virtually never see it in Japan. So I thought 駆け込み乗車は大変危険なので、お止めください was pretty effective.

[Samurai_Jerk]

People definitely didn't push like they do in Japan. And the endless shouting of inane rules is probably a reference to the endless announcements like 駆け込み乗車は大変危険なので、お止めください. That shit is annoying and useless.

Really? You don't remember it taking several minutes for the train to pull away from each station on the NYC subway, while the driver begs the passengers to please stop holding the door? Don'T remember the passengers standing on the platform with their arm intentionally wedged inside the partially closed door, playing a game of chicken with the driver, trying to get him to open the door and let them on, while hundreds of people are waiting? No recollection of the driver eventually having to threaten to call the police to get a passenger to take their arm out of the door? I seem to remember this as a daily occurence, and virtually never see it in Japan. So I thought 駆け込み乗車は大変危険なので、お止めください was pretty effective.

I remember that (although you're definitely exaggerating and people didn't push each other around the way they do in Tokyo) but the reason people do that is the doors are easy to hold open. Not so on Japanese trains.

[matsuki]

people didn't push each other around the way they do in Tokyo

Cause maybe they would push back? I know I do when some dumb fuck is trying to force is way in and stand on my toes. I never hesitate to make room if at all possible but after having a jacket swiped away and my bag ripped open (wallet, sunglasses, etc all over the place) I have less tolerance for random assholes trying to give you the muriyari crush.

[Samurai_Jerk]

people didn't push each other around the way they do in Tokyo

Cause maybe they would push back?

Word. Or start throwing punches. Though maybe not in current day boring gentrified NY. I never thought I'd miss the crime and filth but it really sucks now.

Anyway, besides the fact that NY subway doors are easy to hold open, another reason people hold them is they slowly squeeze into the cars instead of slamming themselves into the crowd.

[omae mona]

More than fair points SJ. I just think that the "treat everybody like a 3 year old" approach in Japan actually bears fruit sometimes. Reminding people constantly that It's Not Nice To Do Bad Things actually does seem to cut down on some antisocial behavior. Obviously they haven't ever launched a campaign about pushing and shoving, though.

[matsuki]

More than fair points SJ. I just think that the "treat everybody like a 3 year old" approach in Japan actually bears fruit sometimes. Reminding people constantly that It's Not Nice To Do Bad Things actually does seem to cut down on some antisocial behavior.

At the very least, some of it is amusing...

[Yokohammer]

Man, this fool has released some serious fury ...

Outrage grows over Sono ‘apartheid’ column

Public outrage over what is widely seen as a pro-apartheid column penned by conservative author Ayako Sono has shown no sign of abating more than a week after its publication.

As of Friday morning, 111 university professors and scholars nationwide had expressed their support for a letter of protest by some members of the Kyoto-based Japan Association for African Studies in which they called for the column to be retracted.

The letter, submitted to Sono and the Sankei Shimbun on Monday, argues that the author’s stance that immigrants should live in segregated communities is tantamount to defending South Africa’s apartheid policies and deserved international condemnation.

“The idea that people should live apart from each other according to their races constitutes the very foundation of apartheid,” the letter says.

Sono’s column represents an “intolerable” affront to efforts made by global society to battle racism, the letter says, adding that the Sankei’s decision to run the piece “damages Japan’s reputation” as a trustworthy member of the international community.

Her response to the criticism, briefly outlined in the article, is just a mess: refuses to retract article on the grounds that it would be forfeiting her freedom of expression .... never meant to condone apartheid ... but different races should be segregated anyway ("by choice" she says). WTF? Methinks the fool is losing/has lost her mind.

[Russell]

If only they would have separate carriages for foreigners on the trains.

Would make my commute much more comfortable.

[wagyl]

If only they would have separate carriages for foreigners on the trains.

Would make my commute much more comfortable.

Would it be any different? If the gaijin meme is correct, surely nobody sits next to you already....

[Russell]

If only they would have separate carriages for foreigners on the trains.

Would make my commute much more comfortable.

Would it be any different? If the gaijin meme is correct, surely nobody sits next to you already....

Maybe they don't recognize me as a gaijin then, notwithstanding my blue eyes and dark blond hair.

The only way I can discourage people from sitting next to me is by making my body appear larger than it actually is. But even that works only part of the time.

Nope, hail the apartheid trains!

[kurogane]

If only they would have separate carriages for foreigners on the trains.

Would make my commute much more comfortable.

Would it be any different? If the gaijin meme is correct, surely nobody sits next to you already....

I got that just after New Year's on the Ginza Line. 5 or 6 Obvious American Exchange Students avoiding the open row of seats beside me and moving down to the much fuller car beside and standing the whole way to Sheebooya.. I had snagged the corner seat, cause that's what you do when you get on at the first station. I was even reading a Japanese newspaper at the time. Maybe that freaked them out? I'm with Russell. I can see it now:

THIS CAR FOR FILTHY FOREIGNERS ONLY

with cutest anime pics of white pigs in GABA suits and snaggly toothed black men in ball caps drooling at Japanese high school girls