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Scotticus
Joined: 18 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:37 am Post subject: |
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| michaelambling wrote: |
| Hater Depot wrote: |
| Really? When I lived in Osaka I saw a level of litter comparable to America |
In other words, it's pretty clean? |
I'd have to agree. The level of litter in Seoul is awful. It's from all walks of life, too. I see everyone from kids to grandmas tossing garbage on the ground like it's no big deal - which I find ironic, considering how god-damned patriotic they all are. I'd say, out of the three, Japan is the cleanest followed by America and then Korea (at least from the areas of seen of each country). |
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Darashii
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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Er.
Nah. |
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agoodmouse
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Location: Anyang
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| I found Japan to be much cleaner than Seoul. |
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kingplaya4
Joined: 14 May 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not sure, I've spent about 1% of the time in Japan as I have in Korea, but some of the things said on here are innacurate in my experience. I rarely get pushed or bumped into here, and a lot of posters allude to how in your face Koreans are, but I haven't seen this. This may or may not be a negative thing, depending on your view, but I find a veneer of politeness here, which not infrequently conceals some kind of superiority complex, or probably just as often simple disintress in foreigners while being forced to work with them.
I would say Japan is far more developed and yes, definitely cleaner, (not sure how important that is though) but the personalities of the people I find to be very similiar. (Koreans do seem to be more comfortable being overly nationalistic especially when the world stone skipping champion turns out to be Korean, suddenly everyone's TV is turned to it, and everyone is an overnight fan) sorry had to rant about that after figure skating and now baseball.
I'd say stay home unless your job prospects consist of McDonald's, retail or unemployment, then Korea or Japan might be a good option. Otherwise, the cultural experience is overrated, kids aren't particularly interested in learning your language, and you'll find yourself having difficulty returning home for a variety of reasons. |
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curiousaboutkorea
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:33 am Post subject: |
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You will find lots of rice and noodles in both countries.  |
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kimuchiii
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:11 am Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
I think Osaka's kind of a mix of Tokyo and Seoul.
Dirty (but still less littered than Seoul...except for around 4-5 AM on a Sunday morning), drunk, and rude like Seoul.
Fun and funky like Tokyo.
I won't say there's much similarity between Tokyo and Seoul, but there are quite a few similarities between Korea and Japan.
You mean the ddongchim isn't only a Korean thing?!?! |
'fraid not 
I can't say that Japan is necessarily any cleaner than my town back in the US (small city there compared to small cities in Japan). I see a lot of litter in Japan (plastic bottles, wrappers, etc) all the time by the rivers etc. Also in Osaka and Shibuya (while I was there) I hardly ever saw trash cans and Osaka at times can get pretty dirty especially into the night but luckily no large phloem calling cards or puke... |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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| moosehead wrote: |
| Really? When I lived in Osaka I saw a level of litter comparable to America, and the farmers near my in-laws' house chuck their empty soda and energy-drink bottles all over the place. Tokyo may have been a little cleaner but I didn't look closely. |
I have to call BS on this - I've photographed all over Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka, including side streets - did not ever see anything like you describe.[/quote]
I'm guessing you didn't get out of the main metropolitan areas. I picked up probably 200 bottles in a 2-block radius of my in-laws' place in Izumisano, and I saw a shocking level of garbage along the river in Settsu. I'm not saying Japan isn't less-littered than Korea, just that the "squeaky-clean Japan" meme is not my experience, especially if you get into smaller cities. Seems like kimuchii agrees with me. |
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ThingsComeAround
Joined: 07 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| kingplaya4 wrote: |
| (Koreans do seem to be more comfortable being overly nationalistic especially when the world stone skipping champion turns out to be Korean, suddenly everyone's TV is turned to it, and everyone is an overnight fan) |
HA 
I experienced this MUCH earlier... remember "Be the Reds"??
Korea feels much sorrier for itself, like a national self-pity problem IMO.
I wonder why Korea tries so hard to say they can do things "as good as" most European countries (when the fact is, they CANT) and they have a plethora of interesting unique things about their culture (well, some things) that are hidden to stay "Korean-only" (Korean wrestling, Taekkyeon)?? Japan isn't like this- their youth are about excited to learn about the West as Koreans, however the Japanese take their self-respect as a nation much more seriously. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:33 am Post subject: Re: Is life in Korea in any way similar to Japan? |
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| mayorgc wrote: |
I am not talking about which country is better or worse. I am more interested in the similarities.
Does Seoul resemble Tokyo in anyway? What about life in general?
I am from Vancouver and I often travelled to Seattle and the two cities are pretty much the same. Is that how Seoul and Tokyo are? |
There are SOME similarities. Like Shibuya/Shinjuku kind of have this 'rotary' feel...like Kangnam in Seoul, etc.
Both cities also have high density with stuff going on all over the place.
The BIG difference though is that Tokyo just has TONS of really cool drastically different feeling neighborhoods more resembling other large cities like a NYC or something - but not QUITE on that level.
Seoul basically replicates itself over and over and over. The mass majority of Seoul's different areas feel exactly like the last one you were just in, with very few exceptions. |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:52 am Post subject: |
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| Forward Observer wrote: |
| One noticeable difference is that Tokyo has ample numbers of public trash cans, while Seoul has infinitely fewer. |
Very true. A few years back Seoul reduced the number of trashcans on purpose in order to encourage people to reduce the amount of waste.
I'm not being sarcastic by the way.
http://thedailykimchi.blogspot.com/2007/06/where-are-garbage-cans-in-seoul.html
From an old K-Herald story:
"The new system was found to have decreased the nation's waste by almost 20 percent in a decade, according to the Ministry of Environment. The amount of garbage per person fell to 0.95 kilograms per day last year in Korea, meeting the standards of developed countries. The figure was 2.3 kilograms per person per day in 1994, when South Korea had loose regulations on waste management."
Of course what is not mentioned is that the garbage per person statistic is based on amount of garbage collected not the amount of garbage. Where did the "reduction" go? Well, some of it went to recycling programs, the rest simply ended up on the street in scattered piles.
If Korea wanted to reduce waste, they'd stop individually packaging cookies.
Fukuoka, Japan, across the water from Busan is sparkling clean, while Busan is much less than sparkling, despite Korea Sparkling (tm). |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:08 am Post subject: |
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Actually Japan doesn't have trashcans either.
The reasoning for both Japan and Korea, as far as I knew, was that both countries make individuals buy specific bags for their garbage, hence making an income off of them.
I heard both use to have trashcans, but people would toss their trash in trash cans rather than buy their bags.
The big difference seems to be that once Japan took away their street trashcans, people just carried their trash home or something. Whereas people in Korea just threw it anywhere.
But, neither have public trashcans. |
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The Gipkik
Joined: 30 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:44 am Post subject: |
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| Japanese cities, like Korean cities, are pretty generic, but many Japanese cities tend to have a lot of electrical wires and utilities above ground, which is not the case in Korea. The Japanese countryside is a lot different than the Korean countryside. In Nippon, you can suddenly find yourself in a pristine ancient cedared forest, Shinto statues littering the grounds, encrusted with greenish blue moss; some toppled over by time and neglected. There is an aura in the countryside that I haven't witnessed here. It's almost like the Shinto gods are whispering something, but I've become too deaf to hear them. Granted, I haven't traveled enough in Korea to make a definite comparison, but I have been to a couple of ancient cities--Gyeongju, for instance. |
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Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:45 am Post subject: |
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| Seoul is much more similar to Taipei than Tokyo. |
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Chambertin
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: Gunsan
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
Actually Japan doesn't have trashcans either.
The reasoning for both Japan and Korea, as far as I knew, was that both countries make individuals buy specific bags for their garbage, hence making an income off of them.
But, neither have public trashcans. |
Kinda sorta on the right track about Japan, but not close enough.
Japan doesn�t necessarily have trash cans that we are use to. The have "selective waste centers" or whatever PC slogan a country can come up with.
The public trash bins are separated into General trash, Plastic recyclables, and aluminum recyclables (cans). They are just as prevalent as in the US or any other country I go to.
As far as separating garbage the Japanese are cost conscious about this. They have a number of classifications for garbage. Burnable, Raw, Plastic, PET (plastic bottles, can be type 1 2 or 3), Aluminum (cans), other metals, and heavy / large items (the individual is billed for these).
EDIT: Cost conscious means, if you at home you do it yourself. Major companies and hotels show their wealth, or service to the customer by having one trash bin. The unlucky employee sorts it later. (Dont piss of your boss in Japan.)
Each municipality decides how many of the categories will be combined and sells bags for each kind. These are optional as I always used a general plastic bag when I lived in Japan. Maybe it was my gaijin chikara, but no one said a word and a couple from the neighborhood followed suit. (let thy trash be free~)
Long story short the Japanese people are anal about classifications, for all facts of life (rateyoursh**.com could be considered a medical site hehe). It penetrates culture to the point that nearly every TV drama has a comic moment about putting out the wrong kind of trash on the right day.
They have lots of trashcans but they look different than what we see in the western world.
EDIT: This dosent mean they all follow the rules. There are places that are dirty as hell, but overall its amazingly clean. Hokkaido was the best, then Kanto, Kyushu, Kansai. Tokyo before rural Kansai, Osaka after rural Kansai. No offense Osaka, you a great town, but you dirty. |
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beercanman
Joined: 16 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| Seoul is much more similar to Taipei than Tokyo. |
I haven't been to Tokyo, so really have no idea. I spent years in Seoul, and one in Taipei. They aren't that similar, but they are both crowded. Taipei is really packed. It's a small city with too many people and vehicles and scooters to accommodate everyone comfortably. It's a good bit more international than Seoul. There's not much surprise upon seeing a white guy walking down the street in Taipei, but that still exists in (some areas of) Seoul, a city with maybe 4 times the population.
My visits to Japan were brief, so my comments are worthy of nothing. I remember Fukuoka a decade ago. I was smoking a cigarette, and was loath to tap ashes on the street, so used the trash bin. That was weird. That stop near the airport in Osaka (Rinko Town?) was also like a hospital, clinically clean.
I would venture Japan and Korea are quite different. I imagine Japan to be different than anywhere. |
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