27 Things About Japan That Totally Blew Me Away When I Visited
So much thoughtful design! So many delicious bento boxes!
Hi, I'm Juliane, and I'm a reporter for BuzzFeed Germany. Recently, I spent three weeks in Japan, and I was so impressed by my trip that I want to tell you about all of the "wow" moments I had while experiencing daily life in Japan:
Juliane Löffler
1. Let's start with the most important thing: toilets. Almost all of the toilets I encountered in Japan had features like sound effects (including water sounds for added privacy) and bidet shower jets positioned at different heights (handy, in all honesty). Most importantly, they were all unbelievably clean – even in train stations. This toilet has a motion sensor which lifts up the lid:
(Here's a little selection of the buttons available on one toilet, so you know what I'm talking about.).
Juliane Löffler
2. Have you ever been out with a baby or small child and needed to use the bathroom? I've been in this situation countless times, which is why this simple bathroom stall fixture was SO obviously genius!
Juliane Löffler
3. This is the well-designed restroom in a Tokyo train station, where you can easily see which stalls are occupied.
4. Now, let's get to the issue of food. The first thing I noticed in Japan was that, to prevent you from getting confused by Japanese menus, the restaurants simply display plastic versions of their dishes in the window. Brilliant!
Juliane Löffler
(Here's a picture of me with the real (and very delicious) version:)
Juliane Löffler
5. This is a type of potato fritter on a stick — a very tasty type of fast food. I didn't quite catch the name, but we should ALL get to eat potatoes on a stick, every day. It's genius.
Juliane Löffler
I also encountered other types of food on a stick, like this pineapple: 😍
Charlotte Silbermann
6. We need to talk about the drink vending machines: each one has a little light that blinks under each drink if it's sold out. If the strip under the drink is blue, the drink's cold, and if it's red, then it's hot. Smart!
Juliane Löffler
7. This is a mini coffee filter you rip open, hang inside the cup and then pour hot water through. It tastes a thousand times better than instant coffee and is available in every supermarket. I always had two of them in my bag, just in case.
Juliane Löffler
8. These are edible flowers sold in supermarkets — AKA, the key to beautifying almost any meal you make at home!
Juliane Löffler
Like so!
Juliane Löffler
9. OK, let's talk about design for a second. Japanese design permeates daily life entirely. There's a great deal of precision to it, and it's just as well thought out as everything else. This is the Katsura Villa, an imperial villa built about 400 years ago near Kyoto, and I just think it looks incredibly beautiful.
Jens Schoppe
10. Gardens in Japan are really beautiful too — really lush and also carefully designed. This tree here has been allowed to grow a bit crookedly, so it's been given a little support to keep it toppling over. Cute!
Juliane Löffler
Here's another view of a garden I visited:
Juliane Löffler
11. Here's how Tokyo adds a little more greenery to daily city life:
Juliane Löffler
12. And here's a picture of a natural bamboo forest on the small island of Teshima. So gorgeous!
Juliane Löffler
13. More unexpected design elements: I discovered these enchanting manhole covers in Uno and Odawara.
Juliane Löffler
Put a panda on the sidewalk? Honestly, why not?! 😍
Juliane Löffler
14. OK, let's talk about the signs. In Japan, people are big fans of signs (just like we Germans are, though maybe even more so). Standing on toilets is clearly a thing – and not something you're meant to do. By the way, there are also very simple toilets on the floor to squat over.
Juliane Löffler
15. I've no idea what this says, but the message is clear. A great deal of signs feature little anime figures so that pretty much everyone can understand what they mean. Also, it keeps the sign from coming off too aggressively, imo.
Juliane Löffler
16. If Germans think they've already perfected the information sign culture – think again! Japan is light years ahead. Just take a look at everything that's been done to call attention to this uneven step:
Juliane Löffler
17. Here's a picture of some light-up stairs, which can either be used to display ads or just add a lil' fun to your day! 🚠
18. Before trying on clothes in the changing room, you'll be asked to cover yourself with a semi-transparent bag. This is to keep the clothes clean and free from hair and make-up stains.
Juliane Löffler
19. Another really clever detail: There are often little baskets next to outdoor seats where you can put your backpack or purse to keep them getting dirty. Why has no one thought of this anywhere else??
Juliane Löffler
20. This is a fence on wheels, which can be moved around for all kinds of uses:
Juliane Löffler
21. And if you ever had your doubts about Japanese umbrellas...well, here's all the proof you'll ever need that they'll hold up (and how some of them even reveal a cute floral design when they get wet!)
(Thanks to our readers for pointing out what the sign said!)
22. Speaking of umbrellas, many museums and public spaces have these little umbrella lockers:
instagram.com / Via Juliane Löffler
23. And while rush hour on the Tokyo subway isn't much fun, at least it's got cooling fans.
24. This is a bento box, a type of cold lunchbox. You can get them on every train, and they are (obviously) very tasty.
Juliane Löffler
(You can also eat well in supermarkets, by the way. Tons of supermarkets are always open, especially on Sundays, and usually have self-service microwaves and some form of small food bar. Here, I grabbed a noodle soup from the chilled shelf and ate it right in the supermarket.
Juliane Löffler
25. Traveling by train in Japan is a lot of fun. Namely, the trains are unbelievably punctual, and secondly, you can find your way around really easily in the train stations thanks to the colored codes. Thirdly, the trains have VERY clean toilets and VERY tasty food.
Juliane Löffler
The bullet train is also lightning fast (reaching speeds of up to 320km/h, to be precise). You can travel from Kyoto to Hiroshima in absolutely no time at all.
26. This is very important to me: I found public spaces in Japan to be well-designed for accessibility, especially when it came to the commuter and mainline transport system. For example, this is a station in Tokyo, where yellow strips on the ground are for people who with impaired vision. These strips can be found absolutely everywhere, in every walkway. And wherever there's no elevator, you'll find a stair lift, which is also in this picture:
Juliane Löffler
27. This is an art exhibit from TeamLab Borderless's Digital Art Museum in Tokyo. It's a little like Disneyland, but a lot of the interactive art and technology on display are incredibly advanced. The walls are interactive, and animals and magical figures run and fly in the walls — when you touch them, they look at you.
Juliane Löffler
Here's another shot from the exhibit:
Anyway, I could go on raving about Japan forever, but I'll save a little something for next time (because there will DEFINITELY be a next time). In the meantime, keep up with all things Japanese via BuzzFeed Japan here. KAWAI!
Shunsuke Mori
This post was translated from German.