Low-tech Japan, but that’s alright.
Longer version of an article by Sean Michael Wilson that appeared in THE JAPAN TIMES newspaper, November 2015.
The image of Japan that most of us have is of a hi-tech country. A place of robots and flashing neon lights and the latest beeping gadgets in everyone’s hands. As a British person living in Japan I regularly get comments from people who learn that I live here along the lines of: ‘Wow, Japan! What a hi-tech world you must live in.’ Or even: ‘Do you have a robot servant? Nice!’ Presumably the later person was joking, but it’s true that most people think that Japan is a very hi-tech place. Well, guess what? It’s not. And before anyone takes this as a purely negative attack on Japan - read right to the end of the article.
Granted, Japan may have the most robots in the world, with various repetitive tasks carried out robotically in various large industries. Some of its key manga and anime characters are robots, such as Osamu Tezuka’s ‘Tesuwan Atomu’ (Mighty Atom). There are also the much trumpeted ‘semi-robots’ such as Sony Corp ’s AIBO, the robotic pet, and Honda Motor Co’s ASIMO, a humanoid walking robot. But even in these areas Japan is falling behind. The Robotics Society of Japan noted that up until 2000 Japan produced around 90% of all robots in the world, but that the figure has now declined to only about 60%. But, the main point I want to make is: so what? How many robots do we actually meet? It’s hardly an everyday occurrence. No, in terms of actual everyday life - the trains we ride on, the shops we shop at, banks, post office, city council, tax forms, etc, the reality of life in Japan is still rather ‘old style’, lo-tech, manual, paper based.
Walk into almost any post office, bank or estate agent and a non-Japanese visitor may be taken aback at the extensive use of manual, paper based and labour intensive systems and the relatively low level usage of computers. The modern British post office, by comparison, is far more computerised than its Japanese equivalent. In the UK even more hi-tech aspects are being introduced. Such as self-service kiosks where the whole process of using the post office can begin while still at home, via your computer, on even on the go, using your smartphone. In these places there are code operated lockers that you can use to collect goods you have bought online, machines for posting parcels yourself, even mortgage advice via video. This presents an image of the British post office that is light years ahead of the Japanese situation.
As to banks, you may have heard of Citibank’s Orchard Station branch in Singapore which boasts of its ‘interactive touch-screens’, ‘check-deposit machine with imaging technology’, of its ‘display panels forming media walls’ and of its ‘workbenches with ipads and Apple terminals’ - there’s hi-tech for ya! By contrast, banks in Japan have none of this type of stuff. There are machines in banks that can be used for paying in, or for paying bills with, but they are big clunky objects that look straight out of the set of a 1970s Sci-Fi film. The process of paying for something with these machines, like sending money to a travel agent, is long and complicated and, of course, 100% in Japanese. ‘Isn’t there a button for explaining it in English or any other language?’ I hear you ask. Well, sometimes… if you’re really lucky.
Longer version of an article by Sean Michael Wilson that appeared in THE JAPAN TIMES newspaper, November 2015.
The image of Japan that most of us have is of a hi-tech country. A place of robots and flashing neon lights and the latest beeping gadgets in everyone’s hands. As a British person living in Japan I regularly get comments from people who learn that I live here along the lines of: ‘Wow, Japan! What a hi-tech world you must live in.’ Or even: ‘Do you have a robot servant? Nice!’ Presumably the later person was joking, but it’s true that most people think that Japan is a very hi-tech place. Well, guess what? It’s not. And before anyone takes this as a purely negative attack on Japan - read right to the end of the article.
Granted, Japan may have the most robots in the world, with various repetitive tasks carried out robotically in various large industries. Some of its key manga and anime characters are robots, such as Osamu Tezuka’s ‘Tesuwan Atomu’ (Mighty Atom). There are also the much trumpeted ‘semi-robots’ such as Sony Corp ’s AIBO, the robotic pet, and Honda Motor Co’s ASIMO, a humanoid walking robot. But even in these areas Japan is falling behind. The Robotics Society of Japan noted that up until 2000 Japan produced around 90% of all robots in the world, but that the figure has now declined to only about 60%. But, the main point I want to make is: so what? How many robots do we actually meet? It’s hardly an everyday occurrence. No, in terms of actual everyday life - the trains we ride on, the shops we shop at, banks, post office, city council, tax forms, etc, the reality of life in Japan is still rather ‘old style’, lo-tech, manual, paper based.
Walk into almost any post office, bank or estate agent and a non-Japanese visitor may be taken aback at the extensive use of manual, paper based and labour intensive systems and the relatively low level usage of computers. The modern British post office, by comparison, is far more computerised than its Japanese equivalent. In the UK even more hi-tech aspects are being introduced. Such as self-service kiosks where the whole process of using the post office can begin while still at home, via your computer, on even on the go, using your smartphone. In these places there are code operated lockers that you can use to collect goods you have bought online, machines for posting parcels yourself, even mortgage advice via video. This presents an image of the British post office that is light years ahead of the Japanese situation.
As to banks, you may have heard of Citibank’s Orchard Station branch in Singapore which boasts of its ‘interactive touch-screens’, ‘check-deposit machine with imaging technology’, of its ‘display panels forming media walls’ and of its ‘workbenches with ipads and Apple terminals’ - there’s hi-tech for ya! By contrast, banks in Japan have none of this type of stuff. There are machines in banks that can be used for paying in, or for paying bills with, but they are big clunky objects that look straight out of the set of a 1970s Sci-Fi film. The process of paying for something with these machines, like sending money to a travel agent, is long and complicated and, of course, 100% in Japanese. ‘Isn’t there a button for explaining it in English or any other language?’ I hear you ask. Well, sometimes… if you’re really lucky.
No, the world of hi-tech, interconnected global banking has hardly filtered through to Japan. Just try to present a foreign cheque at a Japanese bank, and get ready to be greeted by expressions of shock and confusion, as if you have just handed them a piece of ancient Babylonian scroll to decipher. Front counter assistant A will then go off to consult middle position person B, who will then go off with an equally bemused face to ask the manager at the back, who, MIGHT, if you are lucky, know what to do with this puzzle you have presented them with. Cheques books themselves are very rare in Japan, personally I’ve never met a Japanese person who had one. Old fashioned cash is still overwhelmingly the medium used in everyday transactions. In fact, even the bank’s ATM machines close at 5pm or 6pm.
Yes, that means you can’t withdraw your money from the bank’s ‘hole in the wall’ after that time. A fact that may astonish many people living in countries like the UK or USA, who are used to being able to get out money anytime, day or night. In fact, many local banks are very much focused on the ‘local’ - my bank card, from the bank based in the region I live in, is already not of must use in the next region up. There are no offices of that bank in the next big city, a mere 150 kilometres away, and no ATM machines that will accept my card. To put it in terms of the USA, that is like having a bank card from San Diego that is not accepted anywhere in Los Angeles!
Even in the centre of Tokyo, right in the where the image of a fast paced flash-flash neon hi-tech maelstrom is the most prevalent, we find a rather Victorian mechanical machine reality. The ticket machines in even the very bustling centre of Tokyo, in places like Shinjuku and Harajuku are so old that they go past 70s Sci-fi to remind you of Robbie the Robot from the 1950s! When you drop in your coins you can hear their old mechanical workings whirrling and burrlingg - for several seconds - before your ticket eventually fumbles out from the very old style cumbersome machinery with a noisy ‘krrachiing’.
How about TV? Surely here Japan is whizz-bang ‘waku waku’ hi-tech? Hmm, not even there! There is a tendency on Japanese TV news and magazine type programmes to display visuals on nothing more hi-tech than a nicely printed A3 size poster card. A card which the presenter simply holds up to the camera. That is the normal technique! This is something not seen on screens in the UK or the USA for at least 20 years. There, programmes like the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ are swimming in the latest CGI magic. It’s not uncommon to see the reporter slotted INTO a virtual world where they interact with statistics and pie charts that swell up at the appropriate parts, glow in multicolours, then shoot off to be replaced by more computer generated wizardry.
And in Japan… they hold up a piece of card.
Yes, that means you can’t withdraw your money from the bank’s ‘hole in the wall’ after that time. A fact that may astonish many people living in countries like the UK or USA, who are used to being able to get out money anytime, day or night. In fact, many local banks are very much focused on the ‘local’ - my bank card, from the bank based in the region I live in, is already not of must use in the next region up. There are no offices of that bank in the next big city, a mere 150 kilometres away, and no ATM machines that will accept my card. To put it in terms of the USA, that is like having a bank card from San Diego that is not accepted anywhere in Los Angeles!
Even in the centre of Tokyo, right in the where the image of a fast paced flash-flash neon hi-tech maelstrom is the most prevalent, we find a rather Victorian mechanical machine reality. The ticket machines in even the very bustling centre of Tokyo, in places like Shinjuku and Harajuku are so old that they go past 70s Sci-fi to remind you of Robbie the Robot from the 1950s! When you drop in your coins you can hear their old mechanical workings whirrling and burrlingg - for several seconds - before your ticket eventually fumbles out from the very old style cumbersome machinery with a noisy ‘krrachiing’.
How about TV? Surely here Japan is whizz-bang ‘waku waku’ hi-tech? Hmm, not even there! There is a tendency on Japanese TV news and magazine type programmes to display visuals on nothing more hi-tech than a nicely printed A3 size poster card. A card which the presenter simply holds up to the camera. That is the normal technique! This is something not seen on screens in the UK or the USA for at least 20 years. There, programmes like the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ are swimming in the latest CGI magic. It’s not uncommon to see the reporter slotted INTO a virtual world where they interact with statistics and pie charts that swell up at the appropriate parts, glow in multicolours, then shoot off to be replaced by more computer generated wizardry.
And in Japan… they hold up a piece of card.
But, actually all this LACK of hi-tech systems in daily life in Japan is, for the most part, just fine. Why do we need Star Wars like virtual reality CGI on TV news reports, if a piece of nicely coloured card will do the job just as well? What is the point is wasting the time and money on all that computer generated stuff if the presenter can simply hold up said card, and, job done! Why do we need a visit to the post office to feel like we are stepping into a scene from ‘The Matrix’? As long as the lovely polite staff help us fill out the paper form, or gently place our package down on the (very old style) weighing scale with a friendly smile… well, isn’t that enough? Hi-tech isn’t always good, it isn’t always needed or welcome. For example, unions in the UK are concerned about the latest hi-tech developments in the post office threatening jobs. And in the wake of US email surveillance scandals some German politicians have begun to think of the old fashioned paper typewriter as a much safer way of communicating sensitive information.
In fact, to widen the point, why do we need to be constantly updating all our stuff? Why spend our hard earned money on a new mobile phone, computer, car, sound system every couple of years? What is the point if the stuff we have got is working perfectly well already? Isn’t it rather wasteful? To be thrifty may sound like a very old fashioned attitude, something that went out with your grandparents. But wasn’t that thrifty approach, in some ways, a BETTER attitude? In these times of increased focus on the environmentally friendly, or ‘ECO’ as they call it in Japan, a thrifty way of life may have to make something of a comeback. And perhaps it already is. In the UK and USA a certain demographic of people appear to want to escape from under the glamourous spell of the hi-tech. A recent article in The Guardian noted: “The Apple Watch…will let you do a million things that you can already do elsewhere, but in a slightly more difficult way.” And at a greater cost, so why bother? Every hi-tech update of some object, process or place should have clear benefits. And that should be defined not just in financial terms, but in terms of its effect on society, on people, on the environment. It should not be done just for the sake of it, or to pour even more money into the pockets of already shockingly rich corporations.
And in some ways the Japanese may adapt to that rather well, in ways that combine the use of new technology with a focus on environmental benefit. One example of such a beneficial mix in which Japan might genuinely be leading the world is small electric cars. Japan has the 2nd largest amount of plug-in electric vehicles in the world and by 2012 was number one in global sales of pure electric cars, at 28% of the world market. The presence of small, single-seater, ecologically friendly electric cars is starting to be felt on the streets of Japan, with many Seven/11 shops using them to make local deliveries, and various other businesses using them. The Seven/11 shop near where I live has one, and from early 2014 I began to notice is more and more, going around delivering groceries. As people will get used to seeing these small e-cars it will hopefully decrease the ridiculous tendency of young Japanese to buy big 4x4 cars that are clearly far too big for the very narrow roads of Japan. Step by step, as these small e-cars become normal - and even considered cool! - it seems likely that such hi-tech, ecologically friendly vehicles will become the main type of car in use in Japan. I imagine that may happen sooner than we think. The resulting decrease in air and noise pollution will be something that will considerably improve the quality of ordinary life here. You still won’t be able to use your bank’s ATM machine after 6pm here, but so what?
In fact, to widen the point, why do we need to be constantly updating all our stuff? Why spend our hard earned money on a new mobile phone, computer, car, sound system every couple of years? What is the point if the stuff we have got is working perfectly well already? Isn’t it rather wasteful? To be thrifty may sound like a very old fashioned attitude, something that went out with your grandparents. But wasn’t that thrifty approach, in some ways, a BETTER attitude? In these times of increased focus on the environmentally friendly, or ‘ECO’ as they call it in Japan, a thrifty way of life may have to make something of a comeback. And perhaps it already is. In the UK and USA a certain demographic of people appear to want to escape from under the glamourous spell of the hi-tech. A recent article in The Guardian noted: “The Apple Watch…will let you do a million things that you can already do elsewhere, but in a slightly more difficult way.” And at a greater cost, so why bother? Every hi-tech update of some object, process or place should have clear benefits. And that should be defined not just in financial terms, but in terms of its effect on society, on people, on the environment. It should not be done just for the sake of it, or to pour even more money into the pockets of already shockingly rich corporations.
And in some ways the Japanese may adapt to that rather well, in ways that combine the use of new technology with a focus on environmental benefit. One example of such a beneficial mix in which Japan might genuinely be leading the world is small electric cars. Japan has the 2nd largest amount of plug-in electric vehicles in the world and by 2012 was number one in global sales of pure electric cars, at 28% of the world market. The presence of small, single-seater, ecologically friendly electric cars is starting to be felt on the streets of Japan, with many Seven/11 shops using them to make local deliveries, and various other businesses using them. The Seven/11 shop near where I live has one, and from early 2014 I began to notice is more and more, going around delivering groceries. As people will get used to seeing these small e-cars it will hopefully decrease the ridiculous tendency of young Japanese to buy big 4x4 cars that are clearly far too big for the very narrow roads of Japan. Step by step, as these small e-cars become normal - and even considered cool! - it seems likely that such hi-tech, ecologically friendly vehicles will become the main type of car in use in Japan. I imagine that may happen sooner than we think. The resulting decrease in air and noise pollution will be something that will considerably improve the quality of ordinary life here. You still won’t be able to use your bank’s ATM machine after 6pm here, but so what?