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Eh, you see the same kind of romanticism about the French, Italian, Greek, Swiss countryside, to list just a few. It’s more so that US small towns are deeply u
by bobthepanda 2y ago
Eh, you see the same kind of romanticism about the French, Italian, Greek, Swiss countryside, to list just a few.
It’s more so that US small towns are deeply uninteresting since many have been hollowed out to have the same chains. Japan has followed the opposite model and promotes obscure regional specialties like an obsession.
- gambiting 2y agoDoes it? Even in this article you see that Japan is dominated by a bunch of big chains. Even in a small sleepy town you find a 7-11 open all night, few other well known convenience stores, a big chain gym, a popular hotel chain as well as a nation wide karaoke parlour chain.
- bobthepanda 2y agoare there chains? sure. but there are also tons of local small businesses and government initiatives like the roadside stations (https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/michi-no-eki/ https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/michi-no-eki/) to promote regional specialty. they're not present in this article because they're generally not open 24 hours, which is the focus of the article. Here in Washington state a lot of the small towns don't have a whole lot of small businesses outside of super tourist oriented towns.
- pezezin 2y agoI strongly disagree. I am an European guy living in the inaka (Japanese countryside), and to me small Japanese cities and towns look like small US towns: a few big box stores here and there, a bunch of konbinis around the corner, and a million houses scattered around in awful urban sprawl. Also, michinoeki are cool the first few times, but afterwards they are all the same: a bit of local produce, and the usual assortment of locally-branded senbei / ramen / printed cookies.