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The article appears to be the opposite of this.

by kgc 9y ago

Razengan 9y ago
Yes, but I was referring to the tendency of a few simplistic memes for showing up in most discussions about Japan: "but what about their suicide rates!", "but their economy isn't growing at a billion dollars an hour!", "but their declining birthrate!" and so on.
- SCHiM 9y ago
  I think the west can learn a great number of things from Japan. For example their streets (in Tokyo) are the cleanest of any major city I've ever visited. It is a huge sign and deserving of respect that a society can make sure their streets are clean. The fact that the bidet/spray toilet is used is imo a big indicator of sophistication and significantly superior in every way to toilet paper. But then again, there's dumb things too: they plant trees underneath powerlines ^^ Maybe that subsides jobs? Awesome country.
  - Razengan 9y ago
    I think all countries could learn from each other, and indeed will have to if humanity is to move forward as a whole, but people sadly seem to fixate on the bad points of “others” or are too arrogant to adopt the good points from others.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    The West is a big place. Bidets are actually mandated by law here in Portugal (and also Italy, according to Wikipedia).
  - NetOpWibby 9y ago
    YES! It is so. Damn. CLEAN. I’ve hated the concept of littering since I was a little kid and it pisses me off to see peope who don’t respect their environment. I was able to spend two weeks in Japan last year and boy, it was glorious. I also like how it’s illegal to smoke while walking. You have to go to a designated smoking area.
    - Razengan 9y ago
      Indeed. A place where people in general actually don't WANT to litter to begin with, instead of one where the government has to continually pick up after them and cleanliness has to be enforced by fines etc., must be so refreshing to live in just for that alone. It's even more admirable when you consider that Tokyo has been the world's largest metropolis by several metrics (at least until recently, but even now it's #2 or thereby), and compare it with the state of other densely-populated cities: [0] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+New+Delhi http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+New+Delhi [1] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+Karachi http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+Karachi
      - NetOpWibby 9y ago
        Those pics look terrible. Oh my god.
        Razengan 9y ago
        They don’t nearly convey how bad it is to actually live there, which I have. It’s depressing how so relatively few places really care about keeping a clean environment.

The article appears to be the opposite of this.

by kgc 9y ago

The article appears to be the opposite of this.

Yes, but I was referring to the tendency of a few simplistic memes for showing up in most discussions about Japan: "but what about their suicide rates!", "but their economy isn't growing at a billion dollars an hour!", "but their declining birthrate!" and so on.

SCHiM 9y ago
I think the west can learn a great number of things from Japan. For example their streets (in Tokyo) are the cleanest of any major city I've ever visited. It is a huge sign and deserving of respect that a society can make sure their streets are clean. The fact that the bidet/spray toilet is used is imo a big indicator of sophistication and significantly superior in every way to toilet paper. But then again, there's dumb things too: they plant trees underneath powerlines ^^ Maybe that subsides jobs? Awesome country.
- Razengan 9y ago
  I think all countries could learn from each other, and indeed will have to if humanity is to move forward as a whole, but people sadly seem to fixate on the bad points of “others” or are too arrogant to adopt the good points from others.
- icebraining 9y ago
  The West is a big place. Bidets are actually mandated by law here in Portugal (and also Italy, according to Wikipedia).
- NetOpWibby 9y ago
  YES! It is so. Damn. CLEAN. I’ve hated the concept of littering since I was a little kid and it pisses me off to see peope who don’t respect their environment. I was able to spend two weeks in Japan last year and boy, it was glorious. I also like how it’s illegal to smoke while walking. You have to go to a designated smoking area.
  - Razengan 9y ago
    Indeed. A place where people in general actually don't WANT to litter to begin with, instead of one where the government has to continually pick up after them and cleanliness has to be enforced by fines etc., must be so refreshing to live in just for that alone. It's even more admirable when you consider that Tokyo has been the world's largest metropolis by several metrics (at least until recently, but even now it's #2 or thereby), and compare it with the state of other densely-populated cities: [0] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+New+Delhi http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+New+Delhi [1] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+Karachi http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=garbage+in+Karachi
    - NetOpWibby 9y ago
      Those pics look terrible. Oh my god.
      - Razengan 9y ago
        They don’t nearly convey how bad it is to actually live there, which I have. It’s depressing how so relatively few places really care about keeping a clean environment.