What's NOT cool in Japan?

Due to the over admiration of the people around me on Japan and all things Japanese, here I decided to write the other side of it, fully based on my day-by-day observations while I was in the country. Not because I have anything against Japan and its counterparts or anything of that sort, I simply thought I should do others (especially those who might never stand a chance to be in Japan) a favour by telling them that Japan IS NOT ALL GREAT.

*I haven't completed this post yet. Hoping to add more to this list over time. Anyhow, check this post out often if you want to know what I think aren't cool in Japan.*

Things I think aren't cool in Japan.

#1 Homogeneity in Japan isn't cool at all. I get all sorts of people turning their heads to look at me be it on the train, outside of the train, on the streets, at a train station, in a convenient store, at a bus stop, by a truck driver, by a passenger on the bus, by some high school people, erm, everyone per se. And oh, even the whites and Brazilians were looking at me! It was crazy, and I felt really uncomfortable! I wondered what would happen if I'd walked around with my headscarf on. Would there be road accidents if I was walking on the road in my headscarf? Would the train have collided if I was the first person the train captain saw in a headscarf? Would all the passengers in a cabin I would be in be staring at me with their mouth open wide because I was in a headscarf?? I haven't tried walking around in my headscarf yet, but I will definitely try it very soon. Geez, you know, it was simply crazy to think I was in a developed, modern Japan when its people aren't used to foreigners. Perhaps modernity has got nothing to do with familiarity to a human alien after all. Oh well, Japanese, get a passport and get out of your small world!!

#2 The elderly Japanese women behave in a kiasu-like manner. They push in a crowd and try to be the first to get their way to something or somewhere. This just reminded me of the typical old Chinese women in Singapore. What's contradicting about it is that most Japanese women try to, portray or are even universally known to have images of femininity and grace with them. So the behaviour of the older women form question marks on my mind.

#3 Japan is expensive. OK this is nothing new. But I suppose not many of you know that the thing that ripped my money off me was not the food, accommodation or plane ticket, but the bus and train rides. They were freaking costly!! Now let me tell you this, if you are thinking of travelling in Japan, PLEASE think again. Save money like you have never saved before. Otherwise, don't go to Japan. Ha ha. It is not that bad actually. But train and bus fares are definitely one of the least cool things in Japan to me.

#4 Public toilets - there are still heaps of un-Western toilets scattered everywhere in Japan. Though public toilets can be quite clean, most female toilets still need its patrons to squat in order to do their thing!! Wow! This reminds me of Third world China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So public toilets in Japan = un-cool

#5 I think Japan's residential areas are lacking in both planning and a sense of modernity. The residential I was at was a huge mess of I-don't-know-what. A mix of residential + bits of commercial things dispersed here and there + some bits of industrial areas coming-out-of-nowhere. It was entirely weird to me. Also the way some roads and lanes join each other and then divide into smaller avenues seem really unwise to me. And oh, not forgetting the heaps of cable wires running across the sky and the cement-colored buildings and homes. They just make Japan VERY unfashionable. So residential areas in Japan = un-cool

#6 Other than its people, what I thought was significant in terms of homogeneity of the society was fashion. Though Japan looks like THE place for a wacky hairdo and weird fashion, there is still a limit to it. There is still a 'what's right and what's not' in fashion in Japan. So because of the boundary, it makes everybody pretty similar after all. Defining the norm of the society, fashion in Japan thus makes the country more homogenous and smaller than ever.

#7 Cyprusblade pointed this one out to me actually. It is in the comment below which, to me, makes another significant point to add to this list. It is about the smoking policy in restaurant, cafes and namely almost all eating places in Japan (I'm pasting Cyprusblade's words here pretty much). During Cyprusblade's first trip to Japan, Cyprusblade said Cyprusblade made the mistake of walking into a very well-known fugu restaurant in Tokyo and asked for a non-smoking seat. The waitress stared at Cyprusblade for some time before calling her manager who explained in English saying that they do not have a non-smoking section. Anyway Cyprusblade thought that even if they did, the air quality was going to be the same as that of the smoking section since the non-smoking section was not enclosed. Yeah, I agree to Cyprusblade and added that the smoking sections of those food outlets that have such separation seemed more popular amongst patrons and so leaving the non-smoking section less crowded (which is probably the reason why some food outlets do not provide a division for smokers and non-smokers). So non-smokers like Cyprusblade and I will probably have a less comfortable time dining out in Japan if unlucky.