Job Discussion Forums

[SeasonedVet]

Japan has , arguably, the best service in the world. This is extended to Japanese as well as foreigners. Of course sometimes and for some people there is bad service too.

Bicycle parking:

I particularly like the old guys that work at the bicycle parking area under or at the train stations. The welcome you with Ohayo gozaimasu and when you are collecting your bike to go home they bid you sayonara and sometimes usher you out and make sure that the path is clear for you as you go outside. They sometimes make small talk with customers.
When they realized I could speak some japanese they seem to become even more animated.

Information girl Daimaru

When I was new in Osaka, I was in Daimaru in Shinsaibashi. I needed to find the Sanwa Bank. I was underground ( maybe B2) of Daimaru. There was the information girl looking ever so beautiful in the uniform and the broad rimmed hat. ( They look like dolls don't they? Especially when they aren't moving)
I decided to ask her (even though I couldn't speak much Japanese).
Needless to say I couldn't understand her directions. She tried to explain twice, and I tried hard to understand, but I just couldn't.
So she had a lightbulb idea. She beckoned me to follow her, jogging slowly all the way and I jogging slowly behind her (must have been a sight); up the stairs, out the exit onto the street (pavement)down the street ( still jogging) ... now after a few minutes I could see Sanwa Bank just about 10 ~ 12 meters away. Now at that point she could have stopped and just pointed to it and return to her post. But Nooo, she continued all the way right up almost to the door THEN she pointed and said Sanwa Ginko desu.
And she bowed and I thanked her profusely and she started her journey back to her post.
I don't remember how I felt after that but I reckon I felt good for the rest of that day. An unforgettable experience.

[Gordon]

Yes, and don't forget FULL SERVICE gas stations. I feel like an F1 driver sometimes when they wave you in, 3 guys flying around the car, emptying my gomi. Well worth the extra 5-10 yen/litre.

One thing I wonder why they don't do here is bag your groceries for you. Still not sure why this is not done (besides saving time) as service in Japan is usually so comprehensive.

[Sweetsee]

Second to none!

[japan_01]

To answer your question Gordon...

Generally speaking, the Japanese are VERY picky with how their groceries get packed. My 3 host mothers from previous experiences in Japan all liked to pack their groceries a certain way. It is also a small invasion of privacy. There is a difference (in Japanese minds) between scanning and bagging and JUST scanning. If you scan an item you are simply placing it in the basket. However, if you are scanning and bagging you have to take more attention (so as not to squash things) which will cause you to take notice of what the customer is buying. My host mother thought it was the "height of rudeness for somebody else to be packing her bags."

[Apsara]

Do most supermarkets not bag your groceries?

The Seiyu supermarket where I shop does- you have the choice actually, but there are a lot more "sacker" check outs than "non-sacker".

[Gordon]

[kdynamic]

I know Japan has a rep for good service. But actually I prefer the more laid back serive in the US. Sure, people can be a little ruder sometimes, but on the other hand, they are friendly and not so caught up in following protocol. You can chat with store clerks and it's not so uptight. And also, people back in the US don't freak the hell out if you ask them to deviate ever so slightly from what's in the menu or what have you, whereas in Japan people will have a heart attack if you ask for extra sauce or whatever. I asked one of the stock boys at the supermarket if they sold red peppers individually instead of in packs of four as they were displayed and I thought he was going to literally keel over from shock. In the US, if they can't fulfil your request, they can't fulfil it, but they will likely try to make something work instead of going ice cold and saying "that's not how we do things here." Also I find in Japan if a store is out of something, or doesn't carry what you are looking for, the clerks will always ask like it's YOUR fault for not somehow magically already knowing that an item listed on the menu isn't available that day, instead of apologizing for not having it like they do back home. And in Japan a lot of times when people are trying to be super dooper polite to me as a customer, it just ends up making me feel uncomfortable and I want to say "dude, it's ok, just chill out." To me, good service means making me feel welcome and at ease, and giving me what I came there to get. Japan has great service compared to a lot of other places, but I don't think it's always the best.

[TK4Lakers]

[Gordon]

One annoying thing about Japan I find is when you ask for something and they don't have it, they run around and look for it. They would look for hours if you didn't stop them and tell them it is OK. It is like they are afraid to admit the store is out of something. Can be funny, if you're not in a hurry.


One thing I like, however, is that when you make a call to a business or gov't office in Japan, you actually get to talk to a PERSON and not a recording where you have to punch 10 different options and be on hold before you talk to a human being.

[SeasonedVet]

kdynamic's post was an interesting way to explain how he/she sees it.

Yeah they do most things by the manual here. That's how training goes, so then you can only expect the trainees to act the way they have been trained. No deviating.

When I first came to Japan I often wondered about it. I freted a little over it.
But the thing you will notice is that by and large Japanese people have NO problem with it whatsoever. It's all in their training and upbringing and socializing.

I have a Japanese friend who also finds it a little strange and when we went out together to restaurants or shopping etc, I would sometimes ask my friend to do what kdynamic mentioned, to ask for something different or to change something.
After some years of my friend asking and now me asking as I can speak some Japanese now; it just doesn't seem woth the hassle and time to try to get the change made.
You are met with one of 2 responses; either I'm sorry no we cannot Or I will go check and come back ( which takes time and they still come back and say no) so I don't bother too much anymore.
I still try it sometimes and I do get some things changed. Depends on if it is a Big company or a mom and pop establishment.

[SeasonedVet]

If I might add another thing to this discussion. Service is probably good because Japanese people have come to expect and want and demand good service. They expect to be well taken care of. They like to be pampered. They like to hear all the greetings and salutations and if they are not heard or recieved thay might feel like something is missing.

I have heard more than once, the comment from former adult students of mine and other Japanese people I know said that they can understand this: that on coming home if they say "tadaima" and there is no reply of "okaeri nasai" that there is a kind of empty or lonely feeling.

I said that to say this, that it's all a part of the package of socialization in Japan and it is all connected with the service. That might be why Japanese people have no problem whatsoever with the things that we might find a little starnge (as kdynamic pointed out)

[gaijinalways]

My Mom loved how they offered chocolate in the sweets department in Mitsukoshi no matter how many times you walked by (could barely fit out the door later ).

Heard one funny story related to that, not sure which Japanese department store it was. This store gives out free sushi in their supermarket section. One of the clerks noticed that this one piggy woman always showed up and would eat most of a sushi sample tray. One day she couldn't take it anymore, she took the first row of sushi and spread a heavy amount of wasabi all along the bottoms of the sushi. As if on cue, Ms. piggy showed up, wolfed them down, turned 3 shades of red, and was never seen in that store again .

My best/worst time was in Bic Camera. I had brought along a Japnese note from my wife explaining what I wanted, and showed it to the salesmen who said,"I don't know English." I didn't know what to think of service in Japan after that.

[luckyloser700]

[fion]

Service generally good, but 　that's because the poor young people are trained to do everything by the book. They are a bit stumped by anything not in the training manual.

One thing I have noticed, is getting beer served in a chipped glass. Now, several decades ago, I was a wine waitresss, admittedly at a fairly good restaurant. One thing we checked and got rid of was glasses with even a small chip on the drinking edge. To serve a drink in a chipped glass would have counted as very bad service to us. Nevertheless I get beer in chipped glasses pretty frequently in Japan, presumably because none of the young staff feel authorised to toss the dodgy glass in the bin where it belongs.

If it's bothering me, which it usually does after I have waded my way through the six inches of froth, I complain. I get a lot of bowing and apologising and a full glass of beer as a replacement, even though I just wanted them to decant my remaining half a dai nama into an unchipped glass. I am not cynical or skint enough to use this as a way of getting extra beer, but some people could! and it strikes me that they would save a lot of apologising time if they just checked the glasses before using them. That, for me, would be good　ｓervice

[kdynamic]

Heheh I am glad some people can at least understand where I am coming from with not liking overly uptight service. There are countless examples. Usually I try and just go along with however things are done because I know people are just trying to do thier jobs. I have worked food service jobs in Japan ("irasshaimaseeeeeee!!") so I know what they deal with.

But sometimes I am surprised how far they take it. The other day I was at a bar I frequent pretty regularly. The staff are all young and the place is chill. They are very used to the local English teachers descending en masse now and then too, and take things in stride. But when I went up to the bar and gave the glass I had been drinking out of to the girl and said "can you fill this with water for me?" she reached for a new glass. The glass I had been using had a lemon and a lime in it and ice and I wanted my water in there (is that so freakish?) so I said "no no just put in the same glass." She looked like a deer in headlights. She froze and stared at me. So I walked her through it: "Pick up the glass I just handed you. yes. that one. pick it up! Ok you've got the water dispenser thing in your other hand already. put water in the glass. put it in!!!" She moved like I was walking her through diffusing a bomb. And then when I took my glass and said thank you an walked away, she seriously acted like I had just made her eat a live goldfish or something.

I still have two red peppers in my fridge too. Why do they only sell them in packs of four?!

Anyway, this whole uptightness is why I like going to the bars and clubs run by Brazilians and other non-Japanese in my area sometimes. Soooo much easier to just chill.