2010年7月 8日 09:33
Culture 2
A little more about Japanese culture today!
Roads. How could I forget roads!? In the land of the rising sun, you drive on the left side. That's right, the left side. It is extremely, extremely confusing, and definitely a fact that all foreigners should know if they are planning to drive in Japan. I was crossing the road the other day, and the blue (walk) light started to blink when I was in the middle of the road. I looked to my right to see that the cars weren't still coming, only to find that I was looking at bumpers instead of headlights! Very confusing.
Alcohol/Tobacco. As you may or may not know, alcohol and tobacco are on sale in vending machines here. Apparently a long time ago, there were no IDs needed if you wanted to buy such things, aka underage drinking and smoking. A little while ago, there used to be a camera that took in your face and features to judge if you were legal or not. Of course, this wasn't super effective, because not everyone looks their age. Nowadays, there are special IDs that you need to get in order to purchase alcohol/cigarettes from vending machines. These special IDs require your ID, so it's definitely more foolproof. I haven't gotten one because I don't see the need for it, but I'm sure anyone who wants one can ask around or search the web!
Bicycles. I was told that Kyoto was especially a bicycle-heavy city, but even so, the sheer amount of people on bicycles is staggering compared to the US. (Apparently Kyoto is special because everything is far away but within biking distance, so everyone tends to use bikes.) In Japan, a driver's license is very expensive and a car even more so, so I guess everyone tends to shoot for the bikes since they don't need a mortgage, license, insurance, or gas. Clever.