Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

I thought that this would be a fun topic. Let's list and discuss paradoxes about Japan.

I'll start.

If Japan is such a safe country, why do so many buildings have security guards at their entrances? I very often have to sign in and get a temporary badge to get into a company building and even some schools (mostly the private high schools have them / as opposed to public schools which don't).

In my home country, you just don't see any guard posts at schools and very few at companies. Government buildings tend to have more guards though.

[steki47]

My first apartment with Nova had an elaborate security system in the lobby and we had to type in a 4 digit code to get into our building. Yet the wall on the first floor was low enough that a kid could jump over it. Pointless.

[rxk22]

[water rat]

Ninety-eight of a hundred cars are white in Japan. I am told this is because if you ever want to resell it, a white car will fetch a better price. Why? Because if the person you sell it to ever wants to resell it, it will fetch a better price because it is white. Why does it have to be white? Better resale value. Why better resale value? Because it is white. I dunno, does pointless, circular logic count as paradoxical?

[Shimokitazawa]

The Japanese (and Koreans and Taiwanese) value education and they even have after school schools called "juku" or cram schools.

Yet many students sleep during class.

[steki47]

[water rat]

This one is a Japanese-American/western paradox. In America even if a building is made of stucco, it looks like it's made of concrete and stone. In Japan, even if a building is made of concrete and stone, it looks like it's made of wood and paper. Quite gracile, really.

[nightsintodreams]

95% of cars are white in Japan?
That's odd, in the car park for my apartment there are eight cars, only one of which is white.

[water rat]

[Maitoshi]

I do notice that a lot of the really old cars are white, but most of the cars in my neighborhood are not.

[ZennoSaji]

"We must clean the school! Everyone, grab your unclean, filthy rags and get on your hands and knees!"

"Everyone, wear medical masks to protect against allergens and germs! But don't wash your hands after going to the bathroom that smells like a public urinal."

I don't consider myself a germophobe...

[Black_Beer_Man]

Japan is known by the world as a country that produces many innovative products. However, the JR train conductors still wear uniforms that look like they came from 1955. Ditto for the sailor uniforms that some school girls wear.

How about updating these uniforms with 21st century designs?

[water rat]

[rxk22]

[Maitoshi]