Thoughts on China and Japan

I just got back from vacation. This trip was my 2nd time in China, and my 1st time in Japan.

Being in China feels like being in the future,
while being in Japan seems like being in the past.

That’s not to say that either of them are good or bad necessarily, just way more different than I’d expected. I’d somehow expected Japan to feel futuristic, but it was the exact opposite of that. Just off the top of my head, here are some of the things that felt really odd about Japan.

In Japan, there are almost no public trash cans or restrooms. You’re culturally expected to take your trash with you back home, and throw it away there. That’s great in theory, but doggone difficult when you buy a takeaway coffee, drink, or food item. I just got to the point where I stopped buying takeaway items, and carried a backpack with me. China, in contrast, has public trash cans and restrooms everywhere.

In Japan, a lot of places still only take cash. This absolutely stunned me. I’m not talking holes in the wall, either – I’m talking about large restaurants and shops, in tourist-oriented districts. For example, at a lot of ramen shops, you have to buy a ticket in a cash-only vending machine, then hand the ticket to the cook. Wat?

By contrast, in China, nobody requires cash, and often, you don’t even have to see or talk to a human being to order stuff. You scan a QR code with your phone, order stuff from the menu, pay via WeChat, and food just shows up at your table.

In Japan, restaurant reservations are a mess. Online reservations rarely work, and almost never work for same-day reservations. When you call in via phone, you’re told to just show up and see if there’s space – and there never is. On one particular evening, Yves and I went to two restaurants in a row that  only had one occupied table, and yet the staff told us sorry, no tables are available. That does kinda lead me to my next point…

Japan is politely racist. I was taken off guard by how many restaurants had signs like “Reservations are for locals only” or “No English menu.” In the day and age of smart phones and ubiquitous translation apps, I’ve never needed an English menu – I can just point my phone at a Japanese menu, and get instant translations. There’s no excuse for this – well, there’s one excuse, and that’s racism, and that’s kind of a bummer. We got to the point where Yves would go in first, because she at least looked Asian and could make more progress than I could. The whole thing gave me a 1950s US vibe, and not in a good way.

In Japan, cars & scooters are all gas. As a result, the streets are loud, like even louder than America. In contrast, China’s cities seem wildly electrified, and even at rush hour, they were silent. It’s eery to see a street full of cars and scooters going by, yet being able to have a quiet conversation.

Tokyo Disneyland’s capacity management was outdated. In every other park, you can buy fast passes to shortcut lines, and they’re good about redirecting crowds to areas with less lines. Tokyo had some rides that were 15-minute lines at one point in the day, then 2-hour lines at another point. They didn’t seem to understand how to even out the demand. China’s parks were so much smoother at getting you through and maximizing the number of rides you could take.

Both countries were interesting to visit, and I’d go back to both. I was just surprised at how backwards Japan seemed compared to my expectations – and how much more futuristic China seemed to be. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed China, and how much I look forward to going back. (Now, hopefully nothing weird happens politically to make that hard in the next few years…)