errm… ok then. So I’m sitting in a cafe in Shibuya, doing a bit of work while I wait for a friend in town. Nice place, pretty chilled and relaxed atmosphere, a little on the expensive side though. This is Shibuya after all. Anyways I go to the toilet, close the door and find myself confronted with a menu for… dogs :???: . On offer are little bone shaped bites as well as a healthy plate… Oookaay then. Wish I had the camera with me to immortalise the moment.

Seems the Japanese can give most people a run for their money when it comes to the latest fads and fashions - the cult of the new is taken to a whole new level in this country.

And while I’m at it. Why exactly do people seem unable to clean your table of empty drinks and plates in this country? Most places I’ve been to will continue to bring them and pile them until you leave… Ah well, I know the answer but still find myself perplexed by it.

Update - oh my days it gets better! A big TV just came on with a dog barking on it and speech bubbles saying things like ‘Pink brings out my natural highligths’ :neutral:

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written by Laurent

Having been in Japan for over 3 months you would think I’d already have a bank account by now. In which case you’d be right, though I’ve had the bank account for less than 3 days and only because I was near enough forced to do it by my company - which ok is fair game considering this is 2007.

Let me explain, Japan is a pretty cash based society - unlike most of Europe which in the last 10 years has been heading (or trying to head) towards some utopian, and slightly disturbing, cashless system. In the UK I didn’t really use cash that much. You can pay with most things with your debit/cash card and it’s much ’safer’ and hassle free than carrying loads of change around.

In Japan I was told even before I left that things were quite different - you should always have enough cash on you to cover what you might need for the day, and when it comes to taking cash out it’s a little more trickier than in Europe. Cash points close at 11pm or earlier, and after that the only place you can take money out are conviny stores. Luckily these are everywhere, but of course using their machines incur charges (as it does in the UK). As for using foreign cards it’s also tricky, even though I soon found out my trusty old UK debit card worked in post office cash points :grin:

Another thing that doesn’t seem to happen anywhere near as often as it does in Europe is paying for things with cards - in the time I’ve been here I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I’ve seen someone pay for something with a card. It’s all very weird, considering how technologically advanced Japan is in many respects. When it comes to banking it seems that as a friend put it ‘they’re still in the middle ages’. And funnily enough this was only confirmed when I had a chat with one of my students who called the Japanese banking system ‘very conservative’.

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written by Laurent