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which makes me think I might enjoy living in Japan Tokyo will disabuse you of this notion fairly rapidly. If you want pin-drop silence you have to either get

by patio11 12y ago

which makes me think I might enjoy living in Japan Tokyo will disabuse you of this notion fairly rapidly. If you want pin-drop silence you have to either get out to nature or pay for private space. The substitute for silence that much of Japan uses is a social bubble. There's a polite fiction that things outside one's own bubble don't exist, and polite society is extraordinarily reluctant to impose itself upon others' bubbles. It's basically both required for sanity in daily life and an answer to the question of how many people in Tokyo are confronted with overpowering loneliness when it is one of the most densely populated places on earth.

jvagner 12y ago
and 45 minutes outside any US major/minor city you can buy a cheap/er house on a plot of land and have the best of all words. i get tired of the over-romanticization of taking a given personal quality and taking it beyond the extreme. you could just say you want a house a little ways out that's nice and quiet, but that has to become "living in Japan". Japan.
personlurking 12y ago
"There's a polite fiction that things outside one's own bubble don't exist" I've seen this (via documentaries) where Japanese rail service is involved, and how even speaking on one's cell phone is considered rude. Even more so, when something negative happens to someone near you, how pretending to not see it is the norm. Another thing I heard is that if a guy gives a girl a cat-call, if she responds negatively, she's leading him on in a sense (causing further interaction). There are other examples, such as stopping a thief running away from the scene of a crime, etc.
josai 12y ago
Obviously Tokyo would be pretty low on anyone's list if they're seeking peace and quiet. However, I think Japan, and some european countries with good high speed rail, can indeed offer viable "living close to nature" scenarios - you can be quite far away from the big cities but still be within an hour by train. I have actually been semi-seriously considering buying a place in Karuizawa - a beautiful small town in Nagano prefecture, yet you can be at tokyo station in 45 minutes. There's also some lovely, quiet small towns along the akita shinkansen line. Best of both worlds! And internet is ubiquitous, fast and cheap.
- rsync 12y ago
  You can find this right in the bay area. West Marin in general, and the pt Reyes nat. seashore in particular. I am currently 13 miles as the crow flies from the transamerica pyramid, and I am looking at 360 view, to the horizon, with no trace of humankind. It's silent.
  - darklajid 12y ago
    If I may: How does your social life work? Is the train _that_ good to reach civilization and other people? How do you reach the train if you don't see any trace of humankind (maybe my English-as-a-second-language skills fail me, but I read that as 'the station is far away')? That sounds like you're absolutely dependent on your car, at least until you reach a station? Is anything leaving from that station after - say - 21/22 in the evening? I'm seriously curious. This way of life is so completely different from what I'd choose. I'd like to understand how that "works"..
    - personlurking 12y ago
      I can answer some of the logistics questions. In Marin, for public transport, there's bus and ferry to San Francisco. For Bart (regional metro service), one would have to go over the Richmond bridge or the Golden Gate bridge (and far enough into SF that you'd be downtown already). Getting to Bart stations via either bridge is really quick as long as you have a car. Bus and ferry are quick enough. Also, you can bicycle to the ferry or even across the Golden Gate from Marin.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
  - MadMoogle 12y ago
    How expensive is rent out that way? I remember looking into it a few years back and found it was more expensive than living in the city, considering I would have had to buy a car.

by patio11 12y ago

jvagner 12y ago

and 45 minutes outside any US major/minor city you can buy a cheap/er house on a plot of land and have the best of all words. i get tired of the over-romanticization of taking a given personal quality and taking it beyond the extreme. you could just say you want a house a little ways out that's nice and quiet, but that has to become "living in Japan". Japan.

personlurking 12y ago

"There's a polite fiction that things outside one's own bubble don't exist" I've seen this (via documentaries) where Japanese rail service is involved, and how even speaking on one's cell phone is considered rude. Even more so, when something negative happens to someone near you, how pretending to not see it is the norm. Another thing I heard is that if a guy gives a girl a cat-call, if she responds negatively, she's leading him on in a sense (causing further interaction). There are other examples, such as stopping a thief running away from the scene of a crime, etc.

josai 12y ago

Obviously Tokyo would be pretty low on anyone's list if they're seeking peace and quiet. However, I think Japan, and some european countries with good high speed rail, can indeed offer viable "living close to nature" scenarios - you can be quite far away from the big cities but still be within an hour by train. I have actually been semi-seriously considering buying a place in Karuizawa - a beautiful small town in Nagano prefecture, yet you can be at tokyo station in 45 minutes. There's also some lovely, quiet small towns along the akita shinkansen line. Best of both worlds! And internet is ubiquitous, fast and cheap.

rsync 12y ago
You can find this right in the bay area. West Marin in general, and the pt Reyes nat. seashore in particular. I am currently 13 miles as the crow flies from the transamerica pyramid, and I am looking at 360 view, to the horizon, with no trace of humankind. It's silent.
- darklajid 12y ago
  If I may: How does your social life work? Is the train _that_ good to reach civilization and other people? How do you reach the train if you don't see any trace of humankind (maybe my English-as-a-second-language skills fail me, but I read that as 'the station is far away')? That sounds like you're absolutely dependent on your car, at least until you reach a station? Is anything leaving from that station after - say - 21/22 in the evening? I'm seriously curious. This way of life is so completely different from what I'd choose. I'd like to understand how that "works"..
  - personlurking 12y ago
    I can answer some of the logistics questions. In Marin, for public transport, there's bus and ferry to San Francisco. For Bart (regional metro service), one would have to go over the Richmond bridge or the Golden Gate bridge (and far enough into SF that you'd be downtown already). Getting to Bart stations via either bridge is really quick as long as you have a car. Bus and ferry are quick enough. Also, you can bicycle to the ferry or even across the Golden Gate from Marin.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
- MadMoogle 12y ago
  How expensive is rent out that way? I remember looking into it a few years back and found it was more expensive than living in the city, considering I would have had to buy a car.