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Re:The last new subway line in Japan by masklinn on Friday December 18, 2015 @07:13PM (#10761924)
> I think my biggest takeaway from Japan was that it's stuck between two worlds -- one 20 years ahead, and one 20 years behind.

I don't know that it's the right way to put it — after all mayhaps things are just as odd the other way around — but some things were definitely jarring, like the ubiquitous vending machines (cheap and with cold and hot drinks) next to houses with no central heating (heated room by room mostly with kerosene heaters) or the weird ubiquity of "busybody" jobs (e.g. any form of road encumbrance having one person on each side directing traffic, and we crossed a lot of roadworks).

Re:The last new subway line in Japan by rangibaby on Friday December 18, 2015 @08:13PM (#10762130)
The busybody jobs are actually a social policy. At some point the government decided it was better to have full employment than idle hands, which is why Japan has such a low crime rate.
Re:The last new subway line in Japan by derefr on Friday December 18, 2015 @11:00PM (#10762562)
How much does that cost? Could the US afford to do that? Why aren't we talking about "the successful example of Japan's public stimulus in job creation" as an alternative to e.g. basic income?
Re:The last new subway line in Japan by Cyberdog on Saturday December 19, 2015 @02:33AM (#10762961)
I guess it's only successful if you're one of the types that think that government debt doesn't matter.
Re:The last new subway line in Japan by jackschultz on Friday December 18, 2015 @08:33PM (#10762195)
Very true, but I'm not sure what you mean by the other way around.

I definitely noticed the busybody jobs. Bunch of people working at the subway stops for safety I guess? Trash collectors on the streets sweeping leaves into their collections. People guarding semi-obstructed parking exits to make sure no accidents occur, no matter how easy it is for the drivers to see the sidewalk.

Then again, it's really hard to know that much about a culture in only a week. And these are pretty giant generalizations we're talking about.

Re:The last new subway line in Japan by ansible on Friday December 18, 2015 @09:38PM (#10762379)
Bunch of people working at the subway stops for safety I guess?

They act as "pushers" during rush hour. Actually shoving people in so that the train doors can close.

Re:The last new subway line in Japan by masklinn on Saturday December 19, 2015 @04:08AM (#10763086)
> Very true, but I'm not sure what you mean by the other way around. […] Then again, it's really hard to know that much about a culture in only a week. And these are pretty giant generalizations we're talking about.

And that you don't make the other way around, was to note that others may see some of the things in our own cultures as way out of date while others are surprisingly futuristic, we wouldn't know because for us that's just the normal "now", we've grown with these things there or developing so them meshing together is normal