It's the Little Things

As I traveled through Japan, I would often encounter really interesting or really smart ways of doing things.  This post will show most of those things I was impressed with.  The first is that in Japan, you can rent a pocket WIFI for $40 a week.

The public parking lots have moving gates that flip up when you park.  When you have paid up, the gate comes down and you can drive away.

Brilliant!  Is this done anywhere else in the world?

The Japanese love their beverage vending machines.  You are never more than a few hundred meters from quenching your thirst.

 

At a restaurant, to call the service person you press a button and a sound is chimed.

Toilet seats that are heated and wash your butt.  They are so common (even in public restrooms) that you are slightly taken aback when you have to use a regular toilet seat.

Ok, yes, we went to McDonald's once.  But here was a cool package for dressing where you didn't have to fumble with tearing the packaging and getting the dressing on your fingers.  In Japan you squeeze the two ends together and the dressing comes out the middle.

In Kyoto, we saw a bunch of these baskets with nets attached to poles throughout the city.  Onions and I could not figure out their purpose.

Zippers for the cords of your headphones!  I wanted to buy them but I forgot to.

Outside most restrooms is printed a map showing the locations toilets and sinks. 

Ever accidentally pour too much soy sauce?  This soy sauce bottle requires you to pump the button on top and it delivers a discrete amount of soy sauce.

Semi-trucks with doors that open out sideways!

Enclosed smoking areas outside!

On the crowded Tokyo rail lines and subway, during the morning commute, there is always a car designated for women only.

Coin lockers are EVERYWHERE.

At many restaurants, you pay buy purchasing a ticket from a vending machine outside the restaurant.

Makes the mayonnaise look prettier.

Being a non-Japanese, we were able to ride the trains on a pass. Simply go to the ticket counter, show them the pass and you get a reserved seat ticket.

Safety outlets in which the circular part rotates to align with the holes so you can insert your plug.

The Japanese take recycling to the VARSITY level!

Whimsy and humor is found in the most surprising places.

At the airport, the conveyor belt for your luggage is AT GROUND LEVEL.