It’s been a long while since my last post, for which I can only apologise. A lot has been going on. I went on a long trip in April to Japan, for which I pre-scheduled three pieces to be published both while I was away and immediately after I got back. But then once I had got back, I moved to a new city — a process that has taken a lot more effort than anticipated. The last few weeks have thus given little opportunity to get back into the usual rhythm of research and writing, instead being a blur of long drives, cardboard boxes, and flat-pack furniture. I’m finally pretty much settled, however, in remarkably sunny Edinburgh.
Very interesting! Your comment about the Japanese bathrooms made me think immediately of Chris Arnade‘s recent column about why we can’t have nice things. The Japanese society is terribly different from America. (disclaimer: I’ve never been to Japan).
Chris Arnade characterizes societies along dimensions of trust and regulation. Because the US, and presumably the UK, are high-regulation+low-trust societies public services like Japanese style bathrooms cannot work.
It's an interesting point. Within that framework I'd call Japan a high-regulation, high-trust society. But then I also think of the US as being absurdly high-trust in many regards, for example when it comes to consumer banking - the way people leave their cards in a restaurant and just sign, rather than using chip and pin or tap pay, is in Europe essentially unheard of!
One thing I'm very interested in is how one can create a high-trust society. I don't think it's just a matter of "it's cultural and leave it at that", but that culture can be changed for the better. The UK certainly would have been characterised as high-trust only a few decades ago (and perhaps still could be), but it seems to me that these things can change. Or be changed.
Anton! I was wondering when I'd read your next piece. Withdrawal symptoms were emerging. Regarding worlds' fairs, I can't imagine how amazing these would have been to experience first-hand.
Phew! Glad I posted before the withdrawal symptoms fully kicked in! Yes, it must have been incredible. Nearly every report I've seen of them is essentially of being totally overwhelmed.
I had a miniature experience of this attending TED in Edinburgh in summer 2019. I was immersed in a cohort of people of various intellectual pursuits. Had a very interesting conversation about the nature of consciousness, with someone who I later learned had a bet with Francis Crick about the nature of consciousness. So this, on a grand scale, I could imagine would be overwhelming... :-)
I just happened to return from Japan today, and saw your article while trying to both fight jet lag and dig myself out from a mountain of interesting articles.
With regards to Japanese toilets, it’s not the technology, which has existed for at least a couple of decades, but the sheer ubiquity and near-perfect maintenance of public toilets that amazed me. In most of the West, you really need to plan ahead when it comes to using a toilet in public. But not in Tokyo or Kyoto, which I just visited. There, toilets just seem to be wherever you happen to need one. Clean. High tech.
I was chatting with a bartender and he mentioned that this was not always the case, and that he was old enough to still be surprised about it.
Another aspect that surprised me was the virtual absence of trash bins, combined with the spotlessness of every corner of the country I saw. Paris has bins everywhere, people visibly cleaning everywhere, and results far below that of Tokyo. Again, the bartender said this happened in response to terrorist attacks (9/11?), and people just dealt with it.
My first stop in one of the WCs in the Brussels airport went about as poorly as you can imagine... And the, ahhh, convenience of the overflowing bin on the train had me wondering if Brussels manages anything at all on the level of Tokyo. Beer, perhaps.
Brussels for you must have been just like Frankfurt on the way back was for me!
That's very interesting about the bartender saying it was not always thus - sounds like we have something to learn from how to do public information/persuasion campaigns!
Yes, the absence of rubbish bins was very noticeable, though actually quite annoying for a traveller drinking coffees or eating food on the go. One of the few annoyances, though as you say, it made the cleanliness of the streets all the more shocking by contrast.
Very interesting! Your comment about the Japanese bathrooms made me think immediately of Chris Arnade‘s recent column about why we can’t have nice things. The Japanese society is terribly different from America. (disclaimer: I’ve never been to Japan).
Chris Arnade characterizes societies along dimensions of trust and regulation. Because the US, and presumably the UK, are high-regulation+low-trust societies public services like Japanese style bathrooms cannot work.
https://open.substack.com/pub/walkingtheworld/p/why-the-us-cant-have-nice-things
It's an interesting point. Within that framework I'd call Japan a high-regulation, high-trust society. But then I also think of the US as being absurdly high-trust in many regards, for example when it comes to consumer banking - the way people leave their cards in a restaurant and just sign, rather than using chip and pin or tap pay, is in Europe essentially unheard of!
One thing I'm very interested in is how one can create a high-trust society. I don't think it's just a matter of "it's cultural and leave it at that", but that culture can be changed for the better. The UK certainly would have been characterised as high-trust only a few decades ago (and perhaps still could be), but it seems to me that these things can change. Or be changed.
High trust requires a mechanism to punish those that break it.
Anton! I was wondering when I'd read your next piece. Withdrawal symptoms were emerging. Regarding worlds' fairs, I can't imagine how amazing these would have been to experience first-hand.
Phew! Glad I posted before the withdrawal symptoms fully kicked in! Yes, it must have been incredible. Nearly every report I've seen of them is essentially of being totally overwhelmed.
I had a miniature experience of this attending TED in Edinburgh in summer 2019. I was immersed in a cohort of people of various intellectual pursuits. Had a very interesting conversation about the nature of consciousness, with someone who I later learned had a bet with Francis Crick about the nature of consciousness. So this, on a grand scale, I could imagine would be overwhelming... :-)
I just happened to return from Japan today, and saw your article while trying to both fight jet lag and dig myself out from a mountain of interesting articles.
With regards to Japanese toilets, it’s not the technology, which has existed for at least a couple of decades, but the sheer ubiquity and near-perfect maintenance of public toilets that amazed me. In most of the West, you really need to plan ahead when it comes to using a toilet in public. But not in Tokyo or Kyoto, which I just visited. There, toilets just seem to be wherever you happen to need one. Clean. High tech.
I was chatting with a bartender and he mentioned that this was not always the case, and that he was old enough to still be surprised about it.
Another aspect that surprised me was the virtual absence of trash bins, combined with the spotlessness of every corner of the country I saw. Paris has bins everywhere, people visibly cleaning everywhere, and results far below that of Tokyo. Again, the bartender said this happened in response to terrorist attacks (9/11?), and people just dealt with it.
My first stop in one of the WCs in the Brussels airport went about as poorly as you can imagine... And the, ahhh, convenience of the overflowing bin on the train had me wondering if Brussels manages anything at all on the level of Tokyo. Beer, perhaps.
Brussels for you must have been just like Frankfurt on the way back was for me!
That's very interesting about the bartender saying it was not always thus - sounds like we have something to learn from how to do public information/persuasion campaigns!
Yes, the absence of rubbish bins was very noticeable, though actually quite annoying for a traveller drinking coffees or eating food on the go. One of the few annoyances, though as you say, it made the cleanliness of the streets all the more shocking by contrast.