Completely Useless or Confusing Things in Tokyo

[impish]

they don't gang up at late at night and go around the neighbourhood stealing hubcaps.

Or it gives them a better opportunity to decide which hubcaps to go out and steal!

 

[MikeH]

Or it gives them a better opportunity to decide which hubcaps to go out and steal!

Like I said, it's a win-win!

Though sadly in Japan everyone now has aluminium rims thus destroying the fun for all.

 

[Sudsy]

the guys in their 60s who are situated at the entrances and exits of parking lots to manage incoming and outgoing traffic.

Actually they DO serve a purpose - they keep bicyclists from parking in the car spaces. The grocery store between work and home cut the parking lot guy last year, and half the car spaces suddenly had bicycles in them. They brought him back, and lo and behold, all the car spaces were used by cars again. It was actually cutting into their bottom line - the people that come there in vehicles are usually buying in bulk for restaurants. If they can't park, they'll go up the the road a little to the slightly more expensive place.

 

[Wwanderer]

But my vote for useless things? The guys who stand next to construction sites & guide you past, even though there are signs with arrows and the way is clear anyway.

I'll assign it my vote too!

This is one of those things that quickly becomes "invisible" to those who have spent a bit of time in-country, but it leaps out and screams at many newcomers. I once had an SB who had recently arrived in Tokyo who was totally amazed, baffled and amused by the huge number of workmen deployed in the wee hours the night to warn drivers away from minor road repair work which was already very clearly marked by barriers, signs and flashing lights...sometimes including mechanical workmen automatically waving their own lighted batons. They particularly stand out when you go running around town in a taxi long after most of the city is asleep and the roads are mostly empty. Even aside from their numbers, the fervor, intensity and untiring dedication with which those guys perform their needless work only adds to the sense of unreality of those weird scenes.

Imagine if, say, half of those baton wavers were instead assigned to stroll around the city carrying trash bags or pushing rolling trash cans into which they invited the public to deposit their minor items of garbage. And they could of course politely decline to accept sarin gas bombs or other instruments of terrorism.

In all of my fairly extensive travel over the decades, the only country that I ever visited with comparably absurd "make work" jobs was the old Soviet Union. But Soviet workers at least appeared indifferent to and totally bored by their meaningless employment, in contrast to the Japanese baron wavers who appear enthusiastic and even proud of their roles in the world of automotive ultra-safety.

-Ww

 

[Sudsy]

But my vote for useless things? The guys who stand next to construction sites & guide you past, even though there are signs with arrows and the way is clear anyway.

That one is actually a legal requirement - you'll see a lot of sites try to get by with animated mannequins or LED displays to replace the flag/baton people, and it will get more and more traction, then a few sites will get fined for skirting the law, and everyone will have flaggers out again. Rinse and repeat.

 

[warubuta]

More than any other country I have visited, I would say that Japan over wraps just about everything to the point where it is a National Neurosis. I know wrapping is part of the culture and all of that bulshit so I dont need the lecture. But enough is enough. Why do they insist on wrapping things that are already wrapped? Like how about when you buy a case of beer and they tape a piece of paper onto the top of the box as if that is somehow wrapping? Or when you buy a pencil and they wrap it in wrapping paper and THEN ALSO put it in a bag? I dont need the wrapping or the bag! Just give me the fucking pencil already.

 

[impish]

Individually wrapped things in that are already in packaging. We as a world use a lot of plastic. Japan is one of the worst offenders. Buy a box of cookies? In that box of cookies are individually wrapped cookies. Such a wast of packaging.

 

[TAG Manager]

Actually they DO serve a purpose - they keep bicyclists from parking in the car spaces. The grocery store between work and home cut the parking lot guy last year, and half the car spaces suddenly had bicycles in them. They brought him back, and lo and behold, all the car spaces were used by cars again. It was actually cutting into their bottom line - the people that come there in vehicles are usually buying in bulk for restaurants. If they can't park, they'll go up the the road a little to the slightly more expensive place.

What he said.

I much prefer the managed lots when driving the car. In some cases, they also block traffic for you or let you know when it's safe to proceed out, avoiding the additional risk of an accident either with another car, pedestrian or bicycle.

 

[impish]

In some cases, they also block traffic for you or let you know when it's safe to proceed out, avoiding the additional risk of an accident either with another car, pedestrian or bicycle.

And this is most of my problem with them. How many times have I seen a clear chance for me to get into traffic, but THEY made my driving decision for me by preventing me from leaving the parking lot. I've had a license since I was 16 I think I can judge when it's safe to merge into traffic.

 

[Lars Lust]

Talking about Tokyo sounds. Anybody remember the guys punching tickets at the train/subway stations in the 80s? The incredible sound is one of my strongest memories from my very first trip to Tokyo. Iconic. Just imagine the sound of Shinjuku Station during rush hour. Not sure when they disappeared, replaced by the automatic gates. Late 80s?

 

[TAG Manager]

And this is most of my problem with them. How many times have I seen a clear chance for me to get into traffic, but THEY made my driving decision for me by preventing me from leaving the parking lot. I've had a license since I was 16 I think I can judge when it's safe to merge into traffic.

Don't know, I guess it's just not that big a deal to fret over.

 

[ShowaJidai]

Not sure when they disappeared, replaced by the automatic gates. Late 80s?

IIRC that tradition died around 1995 or 96.

 

[Sudsy]

Talking about Tokyo sounds. Anybody remember the guys punching tickets at the train/subway stations in the 80s? The incredible sound is one of my strongest memories from my very first trip to Tokyo. Iconic. Just imagine the sound of Shinjuku Station during rush hour. Not sure when they disappeared, replaced by the automatic gates. Late 80s?

Yes, around 89-90. I miss that sound too.

 

[Hofmeyer]

Actually they DO serve a purpose - they keep bicyclists from parking in the car spaces. The grocery store between work and home cut the parking lot guy last year, and half the car spaces suddenly had bicycles in them. They brought him back, and lo and behold, all the car spaces were used by cars again. It was actually cutting into their bottom line - the people that come there in vehicles are usually buying in bulk for restaurants. If they can't park, they'll go up the the road a little to the slightly more expensive place.

I would have hired a bicycle clamper. Double the revenue.

 

[MikeH]

That one is actually a legal requirement

Where it actually makes a lot of sense is in construction sites where the trucks roll out with their tires full of mud. I know several friends who have slipped and hurt themselves with motorbikes when hitting a patch of shit left behind by a truck or tractor back in Europe. Here they rinse the tires clean before they let them drive the public roads.

 

[Ken1988]

Talking about Tokyo sounds. Anybody remember the guys punching tickets at the train/subway stations in the 80s? The incredible sound is one of my strongest memories from my very first trip to Tokyo. Iconic. Just imagine the sound of Shinjuku Station during rush hour. Not sure when they disappeared, replaced by the automatic gates. Late 80s?

1991 for JR stations in Tokyo - as far as I can remember.

 

[Sudsy]

1991 for JR stations in Tokyo - as far as I can remember.

Got me curious so I looked it up - 1990 was when they started installing automated gates for JR East, Tokyo was mostly automated by 91.

Those little punches were interesting - each station had their own specific shape.

Man, anyone else remember how often the new automatic gates used to jam?

 

[ShowaJidai]

I know that the Keio line still had punches at their stations in 1994 because I was using a plain printed (non-automated) Teiki pass when I started a new job that year. That was back when you just showed the Teiki to the ticket punch guy - a guy in my office who lived on my line was forging the date on his Teiki to get a few more days out of it.

 

[Sudsy]

That was back when you just showed the Teiki to the ticket punch guy - a guy in my office who lived on my line was forging the date on his Teiki to get a few more days out of it.

Yeah, there were loads of those scams - a lot of people just held their thumb over the date. I can't even remember when the switch to the magnetic type happened.

I had a coworker who lived in Yokohama and worked in Marunouchi, had a teiki from Yokohama to Higashi-kanagawa, and another from Tokyo to Yurakucho to get half off his commute.

 

[Hofmeyer]

Some rural, local stations still punch your ticket. Very nostalgic.

 

[MikeH]

I had a coworker who lived in Yokohama and worked in Marunouchi, had a teiki from Yokohama to Higashi-kanagawa, and another from Tokyo to Yurakucho to get half off his commute.

Yeah, I remember many guys from university and then at the office doing that. I don't remember the year they started to catch on that but the trick worked for quite some time.

 

[Sterling]

That one is actually a legal requirement

Often, legal requirements are the biggest causes of redundant/useless activity, especially if it keeps someone in a job. Oddly enough, the one construction site I was ever actually unsure of how to navigate had no guy with flashing baton.

 

[Lars Lust]

I know that the Keio line still had punches at their stations in 1994 because I was using a plain printed (non-automated) Teiki pass when I started a new job that year. That was back when you just showed the Teiki to the ticket punch guy - a guy in my office who lived on my line was forging the date on his Teiki to get a few more days out of it.

There must be a video somewhere out there, but I haven't been able to locate it. Strange, as the sound of those punchers was everywhere. It was fascinating to watch the guys, hands shaking the punchers non-stop while they just navigated the stream of tickets with the other hand (sorry, awkward English; I don't really know how to explain it.) Anyhow, fresh off the boat, I found it fascinating.

 

[Hofmeyer]

 

[Wwanderer]

Talking about Tokyo sounds. Anybody remember the guys punching tickets at the train/subway stations in the 80s? The incredible sound is one of my strongest memories from my very first trip to Tokyo. Iconic. Just imagine the sound of Shinjuku Station during rush hour. Not sure when they disappeared, replaced by the automatic gates. Late 80s?

Whoa, yeah! The constant background static of chattering clicks as they punched people's tickets (or simply punched nothing as they waited for the next passenger) was to me the single strongest audio presence in Tokyo back in the day. I think they disappeared (gradually...over a few years) in the 1990s, not 80s, but I'm not sure.

-Ww