It took me a while to figure it out too, but it's those little umbrella holders with locks on them that you can often see in the library or onsen. I've never o

It took me a while to figure it out too, but it's those little umbrella holders with locks on them that you can often see in the library or onsen. I've never once locked mine, but I live in the countryside :-) But I don't even lock my front door. I've had drunk neighbours come into my apartment in the middle of the night by accident. It's almost stereotypical. Sometimes I think living in the Japanese countryside is like living in a time machine... Edit: Funny story. When I first moved to Japan, I lost 33 umbrellas in 3 years. I couldn't figure out where they were going. Then at the morning meeting at work they said, "We have this huge pile of umbrellas in the back room. Can people please claim them?" They were all mine... Apparently in the morning after the staff arrive, they would put them in the back room so that it wasn't a nuisance to visitors. Since I live in Shizuoka where it barely rains, by the time I was ready to go home it was usually sunny and forgot about my umbrella. I never ever realised that it was just getting moved. Of course, by then I was indoctrinated enough in Japanese society that I was way too embarrassed to claim my umbrellas!