Everyday Japan

I keep meaning to mention several everyday things about life in Japan that are different than in the U.S. - but I always forget because they're so common. Like:

- Every day at 5 p.m., the government broadcasts a short, tonal melody through hidden speakers on most streets in Tokyo - and maybe everywhere in Japan. I think it signals the official end of the work day but I'm not sure. It's kind of Star Trek-esque.

- When you get into a Japanese taxi, the driver uses a lever, sort of like what you find on an American school bus, to open and close the door for you. Only the left-side passenger door opens. Also, many drivers wear white gloves and place white-lace covers on the seats. It's a much more controlled environment than New York City's sweatier, stinkier cabs.

- Most drivers in Tokyo use GPS navigation or "navi" systems, which I think are more common in Europe but which I've never seen in the U.S. You type in a phone number or an address and the navi maps a route from your current location to your destination and a voice tells you to turn left or right. Most taxi drivers use GPS, too, but some pull out old maps and peer through a magnifying glass to find neighborhoods and streets.

- The navi is essential because very few streets in Tokyo - really only major boulevards - have names. An address, like ours, 3-3-13, means our house is the 13th oldest building on the 3rd block of the 3rd "chome" or district within its larger neighborhood.

- Most Japanese children in Tokyo travel to school alone - they take the subway or bus or walk - when they are 5 or 6 years old without the slightest fear that anything will happen to them. This is, after all, a nearly crime-free society. But Japanese cellphones for children have GPS and transmit their location to their parents' phones, and also have an obnoxious alarm system, just in case.

I'll think of more and try to remember to post...