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A Typical Workday at a Japanese Hardware Tool Store [video]
- nervousvarun 1y agoLongtime Paolo fan, he does a great job with his "typical workday" series. Not sure of the exact number he's done, but I personally estimate I've watched at least 20-25 of these across a wide range of industries (majority are in food preparation/service but he also covers construction, tech, animation, airlines, education, politics, and many more) and if there's one overriding takeaway it's the Japanese as a culture are extremely committed to maximizing product quality. It could be selection bias (maybe he only films exemplary people) but it doesn't seem to matter if you're dealing with someone preparing food, fighting fires, or delivering packages these people seem to really care about the overall quality of the service or product they provide. A few others worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0RX59G2jaA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0RX59G2jaA (movers...as someone who only has experience with American movers this is ridiculously better than what I experienced) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8A_Hu_WqeQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8A_Hu_WqeQ (package delivery worker) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsLFm5SSJyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsLFm5SSJyQ (politician) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjCzavpZoZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjCzavpZoZI (fire fighter) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCPZzEbhNJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCPZzEbhNJw (anime director) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m4UxbDgGhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m4UxbDgGhc (car repair shop worker) Honestly if you like any of these you'll likely find they're all worth watching.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- lawgimenez 1y agoMy favorite episode is this [1], the owner is very unique in a way that he is a rare collector of hardcore punk CDs/vinyl. [1] https://youtu.be/ky0YDKvGggo https://youtu.be/ky0YDKvGggo
- terhechte 1y agoI'm also a huge fan. Started watching him after a Japan trip. I like the format so much, I'd love to have something similar (day in the life) for various other countries.
- hbn 1y agoHis videos are well produced and I've watched quite a few of them, but it always weirded me out how much he says "Japanese" like he's figured out the algorithm will favor him more if it detects he's saying that a lot Go to any of his videos with his wife, he'll consistently refer to her as "my Japanese wife"
- babyent 1y agoIt’s not surprising. They have a strong cultural identity and their whole country is far nicer and cleaner than any country I’ve been to. Most immigrants here (I live in SF) are to be completely honest, not from very strong cultural identities. I’m an immigrant too, and my own people aren’t that strong with their cultural identities. After all, we GTFO’d the moment we or our parents could. Whenever I’ve been back I hated the filth and pollution everywhere, and the lack of care considering the litter and trash everywhere. It’s gross and sad. Japanese people are happy with their culture on a broader level. I’m sure they have their problems too. Everyone does. When I visited Japan I was so blown away by how proper and organized people were. It inspired me to live a more organized life. I went all over in both cities and rural areas, never saw trash. People were kind even with the language barrier. Even their homeless (they only have like 20k total) were polite and organized.
- golemiprague 1y ago[dead]
- ok_dad 1y agoIn a collective culture like Japan, you take care of your responsibilities yourself to improve the collective good. It’s basically the opposite of the tragedy of the commons in individualistic cultures, IMO. The nail that sticks out gets hammered not because of a requirement that you conform, but because you’re not doing your responsibilities, so someone else has to do it. America is much more conformist than Japan, it’s just than in Japan you’ll work a mediocre job and enjoy it because that’s your role and you appreciate that you’re a part of a whole. Whereas in America you might be able to theoretically do “better”, but there’s no safety.
- latentsea 1y ago> The nail that sticks out gets hammered not because of a requirement that you conform, but because you’re not doing your responsibilities, so someone else has to do it. Unfortunately, in practice it's ingrained by a tonne of instances of getting told off for minor infractions of seemingly very arbitrary rules, to the point where it's so ingrained that you just stop questioning it because it's not worth the energy to do so anymore.
- 7thaccount 1y agoThe video where he interviews a lawyer on the Japanese "guilty until proven innocent" legal system was pretty scary if I'm being honest. They apparently try to force a confession even if you're innocent as the alternative is to basically let you stay in jail for up to 23 days per infraction. There is no bail and they interrogate you without a lawyer present (lawyer not allowed). It's honestly made me second guess traveling there as a foreigner. I'm incredibly respectful of other cultures, but would be scared something weird would happen and I'd somehow disappear into that administrative nightmare. You can't even talk to your family until that period is over, so you just roll the dice and hope confessing gets you a slap on the wrist. On the plus side, I know the cities are supposed to be super safe.
- latentsea 1y agoWell... in Japan perception is more true than reality, and its legal system is a manifestation of that facet of the culture.
- chris_st 1y agoThe kindest of interviewers.
- aredox 1y agoNHK World is full of such interviews and documentaries: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/programs/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/programs/ Highly recommended - even live (no ads).
- Calwestjobs 1y agoExcellent example how population density can make even reuse/second hand markets viable.
- nemomarx 1y agoPopulation density and I believe relatively business friendly zoning to make it easier to be close to apartments and etc?
- mitthrowaway2 1y agoReuse and repair is also encouraged by having relatively more expensive, high quality but lower-production-quantity goods. When it costs less to buy something new, more gets discarded.
- jandrese 1y agoIt's hard to ignore the labor costs to repair things like hand tools. For someone doing it for themselves it's not an issue, but when it is your day job it can be a lot harder to do the repairs without driving the price of the tool beyond the cost of a new one. Not if you want to keep current on the rent and have money for groceries. As the price of goods drop you will observe the subsequent decline of repair shops for said good. TV repair shops used to be in every medium size and larger city. They are now extinct. Vacuum cleaner repair only exists for specialty brands. Computer repair is sometimes a side business but it's also dying out. Cell phone repair is still a thing, but mostly because screens break a lot and batteries are wear items so there is at least a good volume of customers. Appliance repair is still a thing, but the spare parts situation has gotten so bad that even they tend to be closing shop. Cheap goods kill repair industries.
- rightbyte 1y agoI would guess that low yield businesses per storage area is more viable in sparsely populated areas?
- potato3732842 1y agoWe have a used tool store like this near where I live. While technically being within city limits of the county seat it's located in the kind of population density that HN turns up its nose at for being unsustainable. But it's fairly easy to get to off a couple major highways so in practice it's more accessible to the kind of people who tend to need rebar tying guns and chain come alongs than it would be if it were downtown. It's possible it couldn't even exist downtown because its inventory might not turn over fast enough to pay the rent.
- ape4 1y agoYou can see how those workers would have a good job satisfaction.
- TrackerFF 1y agoPaolo has a bunch of cool vids on this topic, I've watched them all. I binged through them for hours when I first discovered the channel...my initial reaction was: Damn how long people in Japan work. Most people seemingly woke up, went to work, went out to eat and drink, and then get maybe a couple of hours at home before it all repeats. But on the other side of the spectrum, you have: https://www.youtube.com/@salarymantokyo https://www.youtube.com/@salarymantokyo
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- philosophty 1y agoThe most interesting part of this video to me is when the repair guy with 20 years of experience says tool quality has improved over time.
- dfxm12 1y agoI have used some hand-me-down tools from my father and recently bought new tools. I don't have 20 years experience, so take my opinion for what it is worth, but I concur with the repair guy.
- potato3732842 1y agoPick up anything with a power cord or a battery from 2000 or 1980 and it becomes pretty obvious.
- tristor 1y agoTool quality has definitely improved over time, but... and this is a big but... many people buy lower quality tools now than were available previously because of their low cost. I would put any of my Japanese or German/Czech hand tools up against any of the big brands of the past (many of which I also own thanks to yard/garage sales) and say they're better, not just from an ergonomics and design perspective but from an actual strength/reliability perspective. Most people, at least in the US, though are only familiar with low-quality China/Taiwan made tools which have lower quality metals and a lot of plastic content when it comes to hand tools. If you invest a bit of effort into finding good hand tools, the options are much better these days but you have to be willing to pay.
- haiku2077 1y agoOn the flip side, the cheap tools are great when I need to use a tool rarely- sometimes once.
- stronglikedan 1y agoWhat was so interesting about that? Seems so obvious as to be mundane to me, so I'm curious as to what I could be missing.
- bityard 1y agoMan, I would love it if this kind of thing existed in the US. Unfortunately, shopping for used or refurbished products is increasingly seen less as something smart people do and more as something "poor people" do. I've heard more than one co-worker or family member refer to buying pre-owned goods as "buying someone else's problem." The closest thing we have around here to a used tool store would be thrift shops that maybe have one broken drill, pawn shops with varying degrees of sketchiness, or rolling the dice on eBay.
- Loughla 1y agoI've never had a problem with used tools on eBay. If the seller isn't absurdly correct in their posting, eBay will take your side. The only thing that has ever gone wrong on eBay for me was when a seller claimed I didn't return an expensive item that the regular price had dropped on by the original company (he was selling multiple of this item that was now $200 less than his asking price from the main supplier website). He was going to eat a couple hundred dollars so he tried to screw me over. I sent pictures and videos of me packaging and mailing the item to eBay and got my refund. They didn't let me review the seller, though. It would've been an amazing review of that human turd.
- FireBeyond 1y agoeBay let someone scam me out of $700. I sold a Mavic 2 Pro drone with 5 batteries. The whole process was a mess. Scammer initially complained that it didn't come with the CrystalSky tablet in one picture (that was only added AFTER after start of bidding BY the scammer, to show Flight Logs, andwas explicitly disclaimed as not being a part of the package, nor was it in the receipts I sent the buyer). After pointing out those details, silence. Then, three weeks later: "The batteries don't work. I want a refund." "Batteries? Any of them? All of them?" "All of them, none work. I want a refund." Note that two of the batteries were less than 4 months old, still in warranty. He then stated he wanted a refund of $800. Realize that five brand-new batteries would only be $670. No evidence was shown, despite multiple requests (like a video of a battery on a charger, or on the drone, failing to power up). I stated I'd like to get the original batteries back, as at least I'd be able to get them replaced under warranty or possibly repaired and recoup some of my money (I was skeptical there was -any- issue, but still, good faith). He "happily" agreed. I asked him to send me a message on eBay (so it was tracked and not avoiding their system) acknowledging that offering a partial refund was contingent on his sending me the batteries back and that he accepts me disputing the refund if not. He sends a message indicating all of the above. Refund is sent (for about $700, to include his return shipping costs). Thirty-five minutes later, I get a message, "USPS says they don't ship damaged batteries, so I will not be returning them". (35 minutes? So what, you sat around waiting for the refund, and then the moment I sent the money, you jumped in your car, got to the post office, had this discussion, got home, and were able to send me this message? When your home address shows you about 15 minutes from the nearest post office?) I then suggest we meet in person to exchange them (I live a few hours away, not convenient, but still, $700...). He umms and ahhs, "How will I be able to prove that I gave them to you in person?". I suggest we do it in a police station and point out that his local PD even welcomes people to use their lobby for CL, etc. on their website. More umms and ahhs. "I need to contact eBay support to see if they allow this." I point him to eBay's specific FAQ page describing exactly this and how they recommend doing in person sales, and refunds, documentation thereof, and how they support it. But he ignores that and says, "I never heard back from eBay support, so I'm not sure what to do". I point this page out again, and he goes silent. I opened a dispute. No evidence was provided for damage or faulty goods, referenced the multiple requests for video, or of anything.) Multiple instances of the buyer trying to show something was problematic with the listing, not abiding by the agreement and refusing/avoiding any method of returning damaged items. Overnight, no further inquiries. "We have closed your dispute. Based on our review, the buyer is entitled to keep the partial refund for damage. He is also not required to return the damaged items". So he ended up with a Mavic 2 Pro, with less than 20 hours flight time, 5 batteries, for in the order of $950, all told.
- zawatyea 1y ago[dead]
- geoffbp 1y agoNice. Thanks for sharing!
- usernamed7 1y agonice! Paolo is one of my favorites and this series he's doing is genuinely interesting and documentary of life in japan. Brilliant series.
- 1-6 1y agoIt seems that shops like this in Japan are only possible because of a government model that doesn't interfere.