It sad but Goodbye

I left this beloved city some weeks ago. Tokyo, the City of all Cities. Where we lived and thrived for almost 2 years. I am sure I will be back but it has been though to return to the home-city and Sweden. Although the conditions are probably optimal, with extremely nice summer weather, the return sent me into a period of lowness. I even shortened my holiday to cure my restlessness. ..

I heard it is a typical reaction when returning from an “expat” period. Everything is exactly as it were when you left – only more so, more boring, grey and tiresome. If you like us went "out" for less then 2 years the time moves too quickly. It was 2 weeks, was it?

But I guess – my Lutheran heritage tells me – I shouldn’t complain. I got the experience. I am healthy, have 5 healthy kids a nice husband an exciting job, nice apartment and even a summer home, nice car (!) and so on. Why complain and fill myself with selfpityness… Keep the good mood up – who know what’s around the corner!?

Some reflections about the life back in Sweden might be published at LOCALE.

I think my favourites get the last word in this Blogg;
Felica, Mathilda, Peter, Joanna & Hannes.
Love to you All :-)

Golden Golden Week

It has been Golden Week. A lot of relaxation and vacation The entire country almost closes down and have around 1 week of holiday.

First day we went to an Onsen in Oidaiba. After the check in you get an Yukata and walk into a reconstructed world of old Tokyo (Edo). You can stroll around in a built-up city atmosphere of restaurant, bars, shops and various activities to enjoy after - or in between - hot spring baths (Onsen). The Onsen is the best. The Ramen the 2nd best. But all very enjoyable and relaxing. The Golden Girls are watching a painting artist.

Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd

So IKEA has opened again, for the second time in Japan.

The first time was some 20-30 years ago and as far as I know Japan is the only country the very successful Swedish furniture company has actually failed. One explanation is that back then it was a too strange concept in Japan to provide customers with goods they actually had to, not only carry home themselves but also ‘construct’ themselves! IKEA failed, as did the economical Bubble-economy…. It was at that time also quite hard for any foreign company to establish in Japan. The prominent cultural idea of being either IN or OUT applied on a national level to tighten the large Japanese companies and that, at least used to, make it extremely difficult for foreign companies to establish in Japan. But time has changed, Japan is more open and supporting to foreigners and foreign companies, and now it is time again for IKEA to establish here.

We went to Funabashi to visit their first store (of seven planned) today. And it was an ordinary IKEA store. Of course it was a bit exotic to see the Swedish names, as for example Pjatteryd and Jerker, in Japanese contexts such as explanatory texts and brochures (in Japanese). It was also a bit surprising how much the Nation Sweden is really promoted. Swedish flags all over and the Swedish language is used in various titles and signs. The only items that are localised are sheets sizes and kitchen equipments. (As standard sheet size is different and default standard in Japanese kitchens is to have a small “oven” for fish-making but not ovens for large items).

But what was really was surprising and striking was that although there where a lot of people in the store, in the restaurant and in the cafe at the exit, the cashdesks were empty of customers! Was that just a moment of coincidence or where most of the people there to check the supply but with no intention to actually buying anything?

As far as I have learned about the Japanese, there are no other people on the earth more focused on quality, or having such a strong brand awareness. Maybe IKEA is considered too much as a Low price warehouse – not appealing to the quality-aware Japanese's? Or again, was it just an coincidentally moment that no customers where lined up at the cashiers? Huu, I am sure time will tell….

Back in business

Oh no, the season has started again! It is May and for the 2nd time during this week I have spotted a dear monstrous cockroach in our house. Alas, alas, alas! And husband has moved back to Sweden so we have to fight the battle all by ourselves, me and the girls. First time this happened, that we saw this kind of animal, was just about a year ago. I thought wow, what and big beetle. As the friend of animal I am (none meat eater) we catched the insect (well, the children was bribed to do that) and then we let the poor sod out in the garden. A couple of days later I happened to mention the small incidence to a colleague. And he responded well,, that's a cockroach! No, no, the besser wisser guy in me said; “Cockroaches are not at all that big, you see! This was just a bug so we let in out in the garden”. A weird smile spread over his face and then we dropped the subject. Just to be sure I checked on the Internet afterwards and found – terrified – that he was right! The Cockroaches in this country are extremely and monstrous big. In average around 6-7 centimetre, and additionally 3-4cm if you include the tentacles. Nevertheless and unfortunately they can also fly and they are very skilled in hiding…. Sigh. What makes them so disgusting? Well, they live and thrive in the sewage systems. Last night, just when I was ready to go to bed I spotted one just 1 (one) meter from the bed. Luckily I could catch him, but for some reason it spoiled my beauty sleep. Today I will arm us with poisons, traps and whatever is available on the market. And the mission is kill, kill, kill, kill.

Actually we also have other uninvited pets. For example a tiny salamander. That one is staying for the 2nd season in the door leading out form the bedroom to the garden. So also this summer season we have to stop using that door to avoid having him jumping into the house when the door is opened. We named him Rupert. If you catch him you get is tail in your hand he keeps running and the “tail” will grow out again.

The incidents mentioned above make the thoughts and mourning of soon having to leave this beloved city and bit easer. But just a bit.

Stroll and enjoy the season

We went for a stroll in the neighbourhood yesterday. The sun was shining and the spring is definitely here. At last it is time to put on the sunglass's!

Right now the cherry trees still blossoms, like the lilacs and tulips. The seasons in Japan are very distinct. It is clearly winter or spring or summer or autumn, and additionally two rainy seasons, one in June and one in October. If you consider to visit Tokyo the only time to avoid is summer and the rainy seasons. Spring and autumn are perfect. Winter fairly OK as the temperature rarely is under zero.

Conformity, no no

A good friend who has been living here for more then 2 years, says that she still cannot walk 100m, without seeing something that is surprising, thrilling or fascinating. And after living here more then a year I cannot do other than agree with her!

There cannot by any other place on earth where freedom and playfulness when is comes to architecture and design are more prominent!? And that is in a culture known for its (sometimes extreme) conformity. This is certainly not applicable when it comes to the city planning! Besides thrilling buildings there is also a lot of innovative solutions, often due to limit of space. And the contrasts everywhere is appealing. Take the charming and seducing areas in between all the major roads. That is where people spend there lives; in the cosy alleys, narrow and small with cottage like houses.

This time of the year is also extra enjoyable. Not too cold, not too warn but just perfect. And the blossomy have just started. Lucky Sisters and Daughter that will come and spend the full Sakura blossom in Tokyo. And lucky lucky me to have them visiting soon. Life is a true treat occasionally!

Heja!

Best in the World - or so

It has to be mentioned and is really smth to boost over:

Sweden, with a population of 9 millions (less then Tokyo….) took 14 (fourteen!) medals in the Olympics!!!

WE are so good!

The ice hockey yesterday was just an outstanding thrill and amusement. We couldn’t find a Swedish flag to buy beforehand, but we managed to create a couple our selves. Today it enthrones the office. After all, there are some advantages with the grand country up north! The Father land. The country of the midnight sun, the open country, with the strong and beautiful women, the land with the inherent feelings for fairness and equality, with the great nature and clean air. And the country with no fake shy- or humbleness :-)

Pic; Curling team Norberg, one of the Gold winners!

Bag Ladies

I am a nerd when it comes to handbags. I believe there is one ultimate handbag for every occasion. The challenge is to find THE handbag that is optimal for as many situations as possible. There is not such a thing, of course. The closest you can come is to find one bag for every situation – which of course is not realistic. So there has to be compromises. (Nevertheless the illusion to find the optimal handbag is a guiding principle whenever passing a Hand Bag Shop :)

In Tokyo handbags are important business and most importantly when it comes to famous and expensive brands. The outstandingly most frequent model you see is Louis Vuitton’s. The daughter and I actually counted how many L V handbags we saw during a stroll to Roppongi the other week. After a 20 minutes walk we had spotted 16 LV bags. One thing that makes it remarkable is the cost of the purses. The most simply model costs at least 150 000 yen (10 000 SEK or 1000 EUR!). But most of them are around two three times more! It is amazing much money to put on handbag. Secondly, and additionally amazing is that these extraordinary popular models have the LV-logo printed all over! So the carriers are actually living billboard for the brand. Thirdly, they are obviously also at the same time signalling “Hey, I can afford this kind of bag” :-).

But as it happened I run into another famous brand’s shop close to my house. And (veeery) surprisingly I also became an owner of a brand handbag….. This was under the New Year sale – so the price was off 30% and the ordinary price for the bag is far below LV's! (Info provided in case anyone close to me worries). However, it has to be said; wearing a high quality handbag is a very nice experience! Let me quote the founder of the brand where I made my fantastic bargain, Giorgio A. When he talks about fashion his guiding principle is that good style fashion should: “….give confidence but not define the personality”. I buy that!

What makes it so special?

When I arrived here the first time, 6 years ago, I immediately fell in love in this country! Often I see that happen to others temporary visitors, or inhabitants (that quite often planned to stay for a short while but ended up living here for 6, 15 or 20 years!).

Something in this country and city certainly attracts and fascinates a lot! So what is it then that makes this happen? Hmmm. Some of the uniqueness I experience is the polite- and kindness in people you meet. Japanese people are very kind! Another trait is the hard working almost passionate devotedness’ to duties you see around. Let it be the guy giving away ad’s on the street, the top manager in all employers meetings or you co-workers. It is impressing! Not to mention the safe and secure environment you experience out there. No worry if it is in the middle of the night in narrow streets or in stations. You do not experience any threat what so ever! You can see children out in the evenings and can tell by looking at them that they feel safe. It is also (mostly) a joy to see how carefully and neat things are arranged, let it be packaging, flower arrangement or outfits in the streets. Let it be punk rockers or official trendsetters. Yeah, I think above gives a glimpse of some of the things that strikes us westerners when arriving here. However, one bi-effect of living here for a while is when listening to the news from the home country over Internet. It has hit me several times that everyone seems so bloody psyched up. In interviews about trivial subjects the voices are quite often shrilled and the approach almost as if the end of the life on earth is near. Even the weather reports seems to be a matter of life and death. Hey, calm down, life is short and the spring is around the corner. (Also in the country up north where the sun goes down :-)

Well, well, well

There are downsides also. Just let me drop the constant fear of the next big earthquake. It is not a matter of IF but WHEN it will happen in this, from a geological point of view, quite badly located country.

And I just hate to hear people hawk and sniff loudly (rudely!) around me, especially in the mornings and when the distance in the train is just a couple of centimetres. Urrrk.

There are some other things as well. Another time, maybe.

Congrats!

Five (5!) Grammis to the king of rock, the world saviour and the handsomegoodlockingdammniceirishfellow guys.
On top of that they will actually come to Tokyo soon :-)

http://www.data.org/
http://www.one.org/
http://www.joinred.com/

Science Fiction UX

I haven’t quite recovered but let me tell you about the Health Check I had last week. Just a regular health check but it was the most extensive examination I ever have experienced. Gosh, I was examined straight up and up side down, from the sides, back and front and inside out. The whole experience was framed by that the first thing I had to do was to undress and get into a kind of “uniform pyjamas” approximately 6 sizes to small, for me.

Believe it or not but all in all there were 13 stations for different kind of examinations! The medical clinic was moreover spread over 5 floors. So for more then 2 hours I, and everyone else called in for examination that day, was busy travelling up and down between the floor in our great uniforms in pink an blue. It was an unrealistic feeling over it all – or as we participated in a futuristic incomprehensible movie. Except for the extensive health check I had to spend the entire evening before filling in approximately 50 questions. The spectra of question covering everything form my inner felling (“any time felt so sad that you feel that you would like to die?”) to trivial questions such if I have experienced tension in my shoulders. Furthermore in the morning I had to prepare and bring samples of both the big thing and the small thing, if you see what I mean. (Well I did not manage so well with both of the samples but I spare you the details). As the crown of the day and all activities, we were all provided lunch to intake at the medical centre.
So what kind of stations was there in the health check up? Well, here is the list. BTW I was asked in written beforehand to refrain from drinking and eating from 9 o clock the evening before. But I thought what the heck – it is just a health check up not an operation. But listen carefully to my advice; Refrain from eating and drinking the night before you are going to experience a health check in this scrupulous country!

This is what you have to conquer, after providing the various samples you brought with you and the 50Q-form you also provided!
1 Blood sample and blood pressure
2 Gynaecological examination; this is a story in it self. Not so bad actually.
3 Lung X-ray
4 Breasts X-ray.
5 Measure of the stomach (!). This I just have to tell you about, you get some liquid to swallow; thereafter you are put into machine and asked to lay down. The “Driver” of that equipment starts navigating as it is an gaming machine, and demand you to turn to the left, to the right, roll around, lower your head, down with your feet turn around and around three times. It was quite funny. Of course all instruction was in Japanese. Lot of laughs!
6 Heart beat measure (?) with cables all over the body.
7 Ultra sound for measuring – I think – the kidneys and liver.
8 Sight check
9 Hearing check
10 Height and weight check.
11 Breath out and in check.
12 Meet the doctor, do I have any question? Actually I had. Q: Why did they measure my stomach? A: Because they measured the stomach! Mmm, aah I see!
13 Left and right eye, deeply photographed, Puff, puff with air straight into your eyes. This was the most uncomfortable part, for me being phobic about eyes.

Afterwards it was quite interesting to see the other clients during the lunch, all in their own clothes dressed up again, and not just other anonymous science fictions co-actors.

Snowing time

Yes, it actually snowed all day in Tokyo the other day. And what did the snowmen talk about? About life’s perishability, maybe :)

Mr Kotooshu

If you ever get a chance to watch SUMO wrestling live, don’t miss it! I went the other day and it was a truly fascinating experience. The atmosphere in the stadium, the wrestling in itself and to see these enormous but at the same time very lithe men is really something. When the remarkable Bulgarian; Kotooshu (outstandingly successful, although non Japanese) entered the stage the excitements rose and everyone seemed to be in high spirits! Right besides us were three women in their 60’s, enthusiastic shouting his name over and over again. Luckily he won, as he does most of the time.

Mr Kirishima

After the wrestling mentioned above, we went to a restaurant owned by a former champion; Mr Kirishima. Surprisingly he turned up and all guests in the restaurant greeted him and took the chance to pose besides him while getting photographed. He had a charisma as a God and seemed to enjoy the admiration, as did the guests of the restaurant; enjoying him turning up!
The served food was typical sumo dishes (hrrmm), a soup cooked on the table, with various ingredients. Although without meat at my table (sorry Ambe-san, Takeuchi-san & Asano-san). The main dish is accompanied with several side dishes of you own choice. Good and filling, after the extra ordinary excitement from the day.

Divine times

Well, it’s been a long Christmas holiday... All family members joined and we had a great time. It is also a very pleasant time of the year, staying in Tokyo, it turned out. Weather is bearable (almost warm, compared to Sweden) and all the national holidays makes the time a relaxing and very enjoyable.

Christmas, as probably is the “biggest” holiday in Sweden, is also celebrated in Japan. But it is quite different from back home. There are surprisingly much of Christmas decorations in the streets and the shops try to gain as much us possible from it. I read in the paper that the Japanese women buy the most expensive Christmas gifts – to themselves :-) Otherwise the most widespread way to celebrate Christmas seems to be to join with you friends in a restaurant to have a Christmas party. The two “musts” for at Swede is to attend a ceremony in church and watch Disney on the 24th. All adults in my age has grown up with this specific program, which been running for around 40 years. The program last one hour and show some highlights from classical cartoons. It used to be the only occasion in Sweden during the year that we actually could see Disney on TV and that probably contributed to make it such a special moment. If you happen to be in Sweden on this day and get out at around 3.00 on the 24th, you will probably not see a single person, everything is closed and standing still and everyone is watching TV. Not very spiritually, is it?

New Year is probably the most important holiday in Japan. More then 90 million people visits a Shrine and pay their respects, to get a happy new year. We went to Meji Shrine nearby our home – and so did 3 million others. Imagine almost half the population in Sweden. But now everything is back to normal. Up early, prepare lunchboxes, commuting, hours in office, get home, eat, homework, sleep, up early and so forth.

Enjoy

Sankta Lucia

One of the most touching traditions in Sweden is Sankta Lucia that occurs the 13th December. The tradition is deep rooted in most Swedes, I think. One reason is probably that all of us have participated in the celebration since we hardly could walk.

The tradition is that a girl portraying Lucia walks with candles attached to her head ahead of a procession of other girls holding candles. Boys can choose to appear as a “Star boys” in long white shirts and a pointed cap and carrying a star in a stick Other member in the procession could be goblins dressed in red or gingerbread man, dressed in brown.

The procession sings Lucia and Christmas songs entering a dark room. It is Natten går tunga fjat (The Night walks in heavy footsteps) or Sankta Lucia, ljusklara hagring (Saint Lucy, Bright Illusion).

Most cities in Sweden appoint Lucies every year, schools elect a Lucia and her maids among the students, and a national Lucia is appointed through an election, first in newspapers and then on national television. High school students often celebrate by partying the night before.
You can listen to the Lucia song following: http://www.mille-soeren.dk/09_Jul/09_santa_lucia/side09_en.htm

/I thought the singer was Anita Lindblom, but then I realized it is probably Thomas de Leva. He is a Swedish famous artist and pop singer!

FLOW experiences I

What really makes me happy and fill me with warmth of joy is to watch the male Rockers in the Yoyogi Park at weekends. They dance hour after hour with passion and are highly skilled. Sometimes one of them dance a solo with the others clapping. Other times they performed a more choreographic act in group. Regardless if the temperature is around zero or 40+ they will be there, in the same outfits. It is tank top, leather trouser and jacket and – best of all – worn out boots wrapped with sticky tape. Feel free to join the dance; just take some step and they will give you an encouraging smile, welcoming you to join.

FLOW experiences II

Another source to well-being is FLOW cafe. It is located just outside my office and the coffee making takes place is a very small and (very) brown mini van. You get the best coffee in town and as an extra bonus it is a true joy to contemplate the coffee maker. He is highly professional and he provides an extensive coffee menu. It is truly amazing to see how he handles several orders simultaneously while he - also simultaneously – handles the payments and gives change back. Here we are talking about multitasking ‘en masse’. If I didn’t know better I could swear he has 6 arms, at least. Days he doesn’t show up certainly gets more grey and dull.

Inspiration

Some things that are similar between Swedes and Japanese are that they like to eat raw fish and in both countries people have strong feelings for the nature. Furthermore what unties is the strong preference for an interior and industrial design, that are stylish, beautiful and functional. Scandinavian design is truly very popular in Japan, as Japanese design in Sweden. This weekend an extensive Design event took place http://www.designtide.jp/. Participating companies and designers are presented and linked to. You will guarantee find inspiring things!

However, as far as I could spot I didn't find any work from the Interaction design area. Unfortunately, since Tokyo would certainly be the right place to exhibit interesting, irresistible work from that area.

Interaction design is about designing within the digital and interactive area. The scope is to fulfil the intended target group’s needs. As best it should (could) even exceed user expectation by providing solutions and fulfil needs that the end users did not even now they had.

You are precious

A very appealing application named Post Pet™ was developed by Sony some years ago. It is an email application that was developed with focus on real peoples needs. “Real” people, as opposed to having only businessmen’s as target, and opposed to having engineers finding design solutiona fulfilling mainly other engineers wishes.

One purpose with the design of Post Pet™ was to consider that the essence of one-to-one communication is often an intimate activity. This is neglected by other email applications. For example business letters and love letter have no differences when you send an email, except (hopefully) for the written word.

The creators of Post Pet™ wanted to make an email application where the sender and receiver could express and strengthen their close relation. The program consists of a set of different pets, all with unique personalities and temperaments. The user interface of the program is warm and fuzzy with bright colours and cartoon graphics. The pet you chose to adopt as yours will live in a nicely furnished room and must be carefully taken care of.

When you write a letter you can choose to let the pet or the postman to deliver. Pets can only deliver to others who use Post Pet™ and when you send a email the pet ‘physically’ travels to the recipient’s house leaving the e-mail. If the receiver is online the pet can stay for a while to play around a bit. As a mean to strengthen the intimate correspondence between friends, the pet cannot deliver more than one at the time. Another feature is that the pet has a limited lifetime. The more you use it, the shorter life is has. This further stress the importance you give to a friend that you chose to let the pet deliver to.

Functions which are rarely used in an ordinary email program, e.g. blind carbon copy (Bcc) or filtering are taken away. The emphasis in the design was to create an interface that is appealing and easy to use. The email client became enormously popular (still are!) and can be used for both PC and Ketai (mobile phone).

/Post Pet™ was developed by Kazuhiko Hachiya (media artist), Namie Manabe (graphic designer), and Takashi Kohki (programmer).

Demanding life

The Japanese in general is very correct, well behaving, and polite. However at evenings you frequently also see a contrasting image. In bars, in the streets and trains a common sight is businessmen loosen up after some drinks. They are still polite (I believe) but quite uncontrolled and uninhibited. Obviously, if you spend a lot of your time working hard and a lot of efforts adjusting to quite hard living conditions it might be a necessity to find ways to let the strain out. That is true everywhere. Additionally in this beautiful country you are under a constant threat of natural disasters. No wonder you need some relief now and then.

Three Drunken Women, 1787 - Torii Kiyonaga

Perfect & cute

Another area of contrasts is fashion. Stylishness and perfectionism exists side by side with the phenomena of youngsters appearing at weekends in Harajuku wearing outfits that are beyond descriptions. However, the perfectionism is true for all styles. Be sure that the most extreme punk fellow will have the most perfect and stylish punk attributes.

The mascot syndrome

One thing I find fascinating is how a country can embody a tradition of such and elegant and stylish style in design that co-exists with a form language that many in west would call childish or label as kitsch. Take the trend in Japan of putting small cute figure and mascots on “everything”. Examples could be figures on manholes, T-shirts, mobile phones not to mention that almost everyone’s desk in the office is covered with these cute figures. Furthermore, there is probably not any company or public service that doesn’t have its own cute mascot linked to its brand. The picture above is taken from the sport news in the main TV channel (NHK) some hours ago. In this case the mascots represent two different sport teams. I don’t know the reason for the “mascot syndrome”. Maybe it can, to some extent, be explained by the long tradition of using symbols and illustrations in communication….?

I'm having vacation. October is a wonderful season in this amazing country, so full of contrasts. The picture above is taken today at the roof-garden in our house. The temperature is around 25 C and life is beautiful!

Remarkable appearance(s)

Is there any other place in the world where women are so well dressed as in Tokyo? A majority of the female around are extremely well dressed and have perfect make-up, manicures, coiffures and are wearing exclusive brand’s hand bag. Not to mention their shoes, which in general are remarkably fancy and trendy (and high-heeled). In other words; the overall appearance is just amazing! I bet these beauties spend a whole lot of money and time to manage to look and dress so well. Being a western women in Japan can be quite challenging. Not only are you always the biggest but your style is most probably (especially coming from Sweden) coloured by a wish to dress in a way that is very comfortable and well functioning. Only at rare occasions you dress up in a way that is used as “everyday dress code” here. The special occasions in Sweden would be for Christmas, weddings and some other very special occasions.

Let me tell you a quickie about someone close to me. She has been in Japan for roughly 10 months. My good friend was brought up in Sweden during the 70’s. That was when the mainstream of the teenager’s ideals was to be natural, the “Love, Peace & Understanding”-era. We are talking about 'earth' shoes and natural material. After arriving to Tokyo my good friend began to feel extremely big and old-fashioned after a while. Some bad days she felt as if she had some kind of kinship to ogress's.

So by now almost every morning, she tries to build up her confidence and spends long time to fix the hair, apply some make up and tries different kind of clothes (over and over again). Finally she feels at ease with the result and gets out, ready to conquer the world. However, during her way, she becomes weaker (and here I must tell you that she lives in the most fashionable area, with all the famous fashion houses around the corner) so by the time she arrives to the office she has transformed back to the big, old fashioned troll again.

But hey, no ache in her feet’s due to high heeled shoes and her comfortable clothes will make her feel convenient the rest of the day. And anyway, there is nothing but sour grapes in the tree!

It makes sense

Some things can seem very strange arriving to a new country. But after a while most of it makes very much sense.
The politeness, calmness and the Japanese well organised society makes sense knowing that so many people are living very close together. The population in Japan is around 125milj, living on only 20% of the land (the rest is covered by mountains). Only in the conglomerate consisting of Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama lives 33 millions people! No wonder things must be well organised if this is to work well.

The umbrella parking outside shops is very logical; thinking of amount of water it would be, especially during the raining seasons. Wearing a mask covering the mouth is also something you see frequently. Considering how (sometimes extremely) close you stand to each other on the trains I am quite grateful when people around me are wearing a mask, knowing the reason is to avoid passing an infection to others. The crowd probably also explains, to some extent, the “blank” faces ability to “turn off” the surroundings. I guess it is a necessity to cut out a great deal, to not get overwhelmed.

One item that almost shocked first the time I saw it was the selling of holograms, aimed to be put on the display on your mobile phone! Being an UI designer I almost fainted of surprise and astonishment, thinking what a crazy idea to put a picture right over the user interface. After a few weeks I realized that by putting a hologram over the display, you get some privacy since it makes it impossible for others to read over your shoulder while it is still possible to read and write yourself!

Same but different

Making statements about cultural differences obviously also implies making generalisations. Let me give you some characteristics about the Swedes and Japanese respectively:

They are kind, want consensus rather then confrontation, honest, naïve and always assume that everyone has the best intentions, a bit boring, tense relation to alcohol and shy. Some characteristics of the other fellow countrymen/-women: They are polite, open minded to other cultures, consensus seekers, vague to keep harmony, inhibited and shy, but loosen up with help of alcohol. They are also nature lovers, prefer stylish and naturalistic elements in interior design and are quite concerned and often talks about the weather.

Did I lose you on which characteristics apply to which country?

…… Thought so :-)

Burdens vs. indifferences...

I have just returned from a one week business trip to Sweden. What stroke me very much arriving there is the look of the faces and expression in the Swedes appearances! Almost all and everyone looks so troubled and miserable. It is like everyone is carrying all the miseries and the entire world's troubles on their shoulders! That is a quite striking difference compared to what I see when I look around in the streets and in the trains in Tokyo, where most of the faces are quite blank and if any expression it is of calmness and satisfaction. Of course there is a lot of stress in people’s life also in Tokyo. What is reflected is yet another cultural difference and norm in Japan, to not show your inner feeling. It is even considered a bit immature and as a sign of lack of self control.

QUE

It is mid September. A couple of weeks ago I realized that I was the only women in the crowded Yamanote line that wore a tank top and sandals. Everyone around me - without any exception - had long-sleeved clothes and proper walking shoes that covered the feet (as opposed to sandals or flip flop!)
This has been the case every day lately when I commute back and forth to the office. I started to almost feel naked during my trips, being the only lady still wearing summer clothes. But I simply couldn’t force my self to put on a lot of covering clothes, thinking of that the degrees was still around 30 Celsius already in the mornings! Yesterday it was 34 degrees and I almost fainted of the heat. Nevertheless all women as saw around me was dressed “properly”, some even wearing high leather booths. WHY???

The autumn starts 1st September! It’s simple as that :)

Today the temperature was only 22 C at 05.30, when I got up. So I put on my walking shoes and wear a blouse over my tank top!

Swedish conformism

Jantelagen - the Jante Law - is a code of down-to-earth conformity formulated by Danish/Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose in the 1930s and is still very much alive, at least in small towns in Scandinavia. The “law” derives from his novel "En flygtning krysser sitt spor" ("A refugee crosses his tracks"), and takes place in an small town called Jante. The book is about the ugly side of Scandinavian small town mentality, and the term has come to mean the unspoken rules and jealousy of such communities in general.

The ten commandments of Jante are:
1. Don't think you are somebody.
2. Don't think you are as good as us.
3. Don't think you are smarter than us.
4. Don't think you are better than us.
5. Don't think you know more than us.
6. Don't think you are more important than us.
7. Don't think you will ever be anybody.
8. Don't think you can laugh at us.
9. Don't think anybody gives a damn about you.
10. Don't think you can teach us anything.

Hopefully the law is getting weaker nowadays, as the world gets smaller in the name of globalization.

Tack, tack, tack & Sumimasen!

The most common word in Sweden is probably TACK (thanks). In Sweden you hear Tack, tack, tack all the time. The Swedes seems to say thanks whenever there is a slight reason for it. I don't know the reason for this excessive use of Tack. Maybe it is a way to excuse for making trouble, in a sublime way. "Tack" for pouring my glass of water in a restaurant meaning “sorry for making you trouble”... even though the waiter is actually hired to pour my glass and I pay for the service.
The most commonly word used in Japan is probably SUMIMASEN. You hear the word all the time and the meaning is “Excuse me” or “Sorry”. Sumimasen is said initially, when you ask someone something. Or Sumimasen for not letting someone to do smth, that you actually consider would be a bad idea (like taking your chair). Also you say Sumimasen instead of “Thank you” when you might have caused someone little trouble. Like the shop assistant giving back money for a purchase says; “Sumimasen”; meaning: thank you but sorry for bothering you giving the exchange back (!)

Different habits and manners

Mobile belongings
All Japanese always wear a small towel with them. Now after living a half year in Japan I also always have one in my mobile belongings. I consider it to be one of the most useful objects in my hand bag! Can you guess why it is so useful?

Umbrella Parking
Outside many shops you often find an “umbrella parking”. If not, there is most certainly a plastic bag that you could put your umbrella in if you need to take it into the shop, restaurant or hotel. This makes so much sense when you realize how much water there would be on the floor during the rainy season, when it can rain heavily hour after hour and days after days!

Harmonious chaos

So many things can seem very peculiar when arriving to a new country! What stroke me the most arriving to Japan was: although this is an enormously big city with the most complex infrastructure & huge population there is a sense of harmony and kindness around, that seemed very unique and very impressive.

Here we go...

This is my first blog and my first posting on a Blog ever. This space will be used for "food for thoughts" when it comes to cultural differences... as well as similarities! I am from Sweden but currently living in Tokyo, Japan.