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I can't even fathom how those people can survive the heat and humidity let alone walk in it.

filoleg 2y ago
Agreed. No matter how good the biking infrastructure in major cities in Japan is (and apparently it was good enough for me to see someone biking at almost any given moment, so I assume it was pretty good), I cannot fathom how people did it. You open a door to the outside, and you feel like you got blasted with a human-sized heatgun. Just standing outside for more than a few minutes, and you pretty much gotta take a shower after. And no, I am not ultra-sensitive to it, as I managed to survive 90F summers in Seattle with no AC just fine before.
- hammock 2y ago
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9281079/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9281079/ The simple answer is, you adapt (homeostasis)
- presentation 2y ago
  Don’t worry, Japanese people complain about it all summer. You’re not alone!
- cinntaile 2y ago
  Japan is also a very car-centric country. Most of the time you get to bike on the sidewalk, together with the people on foot.
  - hammock 2y ago
    Germany is the same way, the bike lane is often on the sidewalk, however it tends to be a very bike-friendly place
    - filoleg 2y ago
      In Japan it wasn’t the case, it was straight up just people bicycling on the sidewalk in-between people walking. They just somehow figured out how to do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt the pedestrians, and I am still not sure how.
      - brigandish 2y ago
        It does, people just don’t openly complain, much like any other problem - they either put up with it and say しょうがない or they complain in private or (often anonymously) online. I am one of those annoyed people, I want bike lanes and I don’t understand why a place with so many riders is so anti-bike (aside from understanding the natural societal inclination to think that anything worth doing should be difficult, and made difficult if not).
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        I'm a biker and I want bike lanes too, so I don't need to dodge pedestrians. There is some bike infra here, but it's not nearly enough. And there's too many of those stupid painted "sharrows" that no biker with any sense uses because it's either next to too-fast traffic or blocked by parked vehicles. I think the problem is just the politicians: they probably use cars and never bike or walk in these places. I think the thing that makes it work the way it does is, as you say, people don't openly complain. They just get out of the way, or ignore the bikers (I prefer the latter as long as a bunch of them aren't blocking the whole sidewalk). In America, they'd be going full Karen and intentionally antagonizing the bikers, or trying to start fights with them, etc. Here, people seem to just recognize it's an imperfect situation, and put up with it instead of making a big deal out of it.
  - filoleg 2y ago
    You are very correct about biking on the sidewalk, but I am not going to lie, I was madly impressed how it created pretty much zero disturbance for pedestrians ever. Totally despite the fact that it was happening all the time. Meanwhile, had plenty of occasional bicycle/scooter riders in Seattle basically destroying the flow of pedestrians on sidewalks.
drekipus 2y ago
Heat and humidity comes after the decision to not walk and turn everything into roads and parking lots
- vel0city 2y ago
  I can guarantee you Houston was hot and humid well before cars existed.
- horns4lyfe 2y ago
  lol there’s plenty of empty land around Houston that’s just as hot, I assure you
GFischer 2y ago
Humidity is the worst part, when it's hot but not so humid it's OK. And at least here in Montevideo we're literally by the beach. I am two blocks away from being able to swim :) I do complain a lot about the heat+humidity combination and I use A/C a lot.

Agreed. No matter how good the biking infrastructure in major cities in Japan is (and apparently it was good enough for me to see someone biking at almost any given moment, so I assume it was pretty good), I cannot fathom how people did it. You open a door to the outside, and you feel like you got blasted with a human-sized heatgun. Just standing outside for more than a few minutes, and you pretty much gotta take a shower after. And no, I am not ultra-sensitive to it, as I managed to survive 90F summers in Seattle with no AC just fine before.

hammock 2y ago
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9281079/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9281079/ The simple answer is, you adapt (homeostasis)
presentation 2y ago
Don’t worry, Japanese people complain about it all summer. You’re not alone!
cinntaile 2y ago
Japan is also a very car-centric country. Most of the time you get to bike on the sidewalk, together with the people on foot.
- hammock 2y ago
  Germany is the same way, the bike lane is often on the sidewalk, however it tends to be a very bike-friendly place
  - filoleg 2y ago
    In Japan it wasn’t the case, it was straight up just people bicycling on the sidewalk in-between people walking. They just somehow figured out how to do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt the pedestrians, and I am still not sure how.
    - brigandish 2y ago
      It does, people just don’t openly complain, much like any other problem - they either put up with it and say しょうがない or they complain in private or (often anonymously) online. I am one of those annoyed people, I want bike lanes and I don’t understand why a place with so many riders is so anti-bike (aside from understanding the natural societal inclination to think that anything worth doing should be difficult, and made difficult if not).
      - shiroiushi 2y ago
        I'm a biker and I want bike lanes too, so I don't need to dodge pedestrians. There is some bike infra here, but it's not nearly enough. And there's too many of those stupid painted "sharrows" that no biker with any sense uses because it's either next to too-fast traffic or blocked by parked vehicles. I think the problem is just the politicians: they probably use cars and never bike or walk in these places. I think the thing that makes it work the way it does is, as you say, people don't openly complain. They just get out of the way, or ignore the bikers (I prefer the latter as long as a bunch of them aren't blocking the whole sidewalk). In America, they'd be going full Karen and intentionally antagonizing the bikers, or trying to start fights with them, etc. Here, people seem to just recognize it's an imperfect situation, and put up with it instead of making a big deal out of it.
- filoleg 2y ago
  You are very correct about biking on the sidewalk, but I am not going to lie, I was madly impressed how it created pretty much zero disturbance for pedestrians ever. Totally despite the fact that it was happening all the time. Meanwhile, had plenty of occasional bicycle/scooter riders in Seattle basically destroying the flow of pedestrians on sidewalks.

drekipus 2y ago

Heat and humidity comes after the decision to not walk and turn everything into roads and parking lots

vel0city 2y ago
I can guarantee you Houston was hot and humid well before cars existed.
horns4lyfe 2y ago
lol there’s plenty of empty land around Houston that’s just as hot, I assure you

GFischer 2y ago

Humidity is the worst part, when it's hot but not so humid it's OK. And at least here in Montevideo we're literally by the beach. I am two blocks away from being able to swim :) I do complain a lot about the heat+humidity combination and I use A/C a lot.