(I’ve only seen baby version of this idea on subway platforms in other countries, which exists here also.)pic.twitter.com/b6N7rhPjGZ
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(By the way, it is really fun to see, out of the corner of my eye, other people watching me take all these photos of random things.)
(Should I go to whatever this building is, after I recover? Bandai Namco has always been a mythical entity for me…
/cc @jonwiley)pic.twitter.com/pYYqcPnsZg
(BTW, @RicketyRoads asked me what I see when I use Google Translate live video feature. Here’s an example.
There’s a kernel of truth here, but it’s all very fickle.)pic.twitter.com/7XneaFR8SI
107. Not that I’m any better. This morning I tried to translate this text on a green lane outside. I drew it over and over again, and only upon looking at hiragana itself I realized i was seeing it upside down!
(It says 止まれ, or “stop.”
)pic.twitter.com/95wayDR7Ei
108. “Gray = past” theme continues at movie theatres. Which is a pity, because I’d watch The Last Jedi dubbed into Japanese… (I guess it’s for kids and adults can deal with subtitles.) The 24hr clock still makes me so happy.pic.twitter.com/qALZhUxmzu
109. I saw traffic cones in various colour combinations. I am not sure if the colours mean anything.pic.twitter.com/l6qN65w8sx
110. This is what I’m getting myself into. It’s weird watching someone play without seeing what they see. Also, there is a LOT of screaming going on.pic.twitter.com/LbkbDxqUWd
I placed second against some teenagers who also probably cheated! \ō/ It was much closer to a rollercoaster than I expected (and I am afraid of those). We wore wrist sensors, so we could wave and grab things. Guess which character I chose! (There are a few more games in here.)pic.twitter.com/hjNgOMx36V
Last VR tweet: I am learning that operating a mech means 45 minutes of wait and 5 pages of instructions. (Funnily enough, I learned of mechs not from Japanese sci-fi, but from Stanisław Lem’s “Fiasco,” my favorite book of all time.)pic.twitter.com/4dWgIrrn0B
111. A nice bit of thoughtfulness: a box in front of the VR machine where you can stash your things as you’re playing.pic.twitter.com/fPJOviP7tP
112. Presenting for your consideration, the best business name since Condomania earlier in this thread. (Seeing a non-English speaking country adopting English can sometimes be so playful in unexpected ways. I’ll have more examples later.)pic.twitter.com/nOxl1oAw2a
(I have so many more things to share, but as you can imagine, this has been EXHAUSTING. I am now going to Hiroshima – a place that means a lot to me – and I need to be more in my head there.
You can tweet me any time, although I might not respond immediately. I’ll be back here, and in Tokyo, in a few days. Will continue this thread then. In the meantime, this bunch of verboten wanderers will keep you company. さようなら!)pic.twitter.com/puRkoP9WHq
113. I’m not really here, but I was just on an elevator ride so scenic I just couldn’t not share it with you. (Still in Tokyo.)pic.twitter.com/aRje044g6Z
(((I won’t write much about Hiroshima since it was really tough, but three moments: I. It was snowing as I approached the half-destroyed Industrial Promotion Hall dome early in the morning. It seemed like the most peaceful place on earth, and it broke my heart.
II. Inside the museum, I spent an hour looking at old photos of Hiroshima. I tried to decipher signs on shops and just understand better life before the bombing.
At some point, an older woman volunteer came up to me and just started talking, in English, about the history of Hiroshima. Eventually, I asked her about the signs, and found out I was making one cardinal mistake: I was reading them left to right… instead of right to left.
III. Some time before I cried for the second and third time that day, I stumbled upon two boys on a school trip just having fun scrubbing a random video in the exhibit. They were laughing quietly in that we’re-getting-away-with-something way.
At some point they noticed me noticing them, and paused. And at this point, completely unexpectedly, I quietly burst out laughing, too – it turns out I needed that kind of release without knowing it. Fortunately, we didn’t get in trouble.)))
114. My first Shinkansen ride was so beautiful I made a little video out of it that very evening:https://vimeo.com/255206737
115. Also, what made the video even possible to some extent was that all the train rides I’ve had were so quiet! No talking on the phone, no loud shouting or conversations. There are no “quiet cars,” because all the cars are supposed to be quiet.
116. Why are some of these subway train entry gates asymmetric? At first I dismissed it as an accident, but OF COURSE it is not. I figured it out on my own and so can you! Answer soon.pic.twitter.com/pPubUnfEcy
117. …but not before we take a look at the best logo ever made, for a delivery company called Yamato Transport.pic.twitter.com/fX9qpF80Bt
118. …and this cute weather indicator in a little town. (Google Translate tells me the last option says, and I quote, “it will be bad.”)pic.twitter.com/bRRJNwz3hr
119. Not unique to Japan, but uniquely consistent: this arrow means “this thing is behind you.” By definition, it can only be shown facing you; particularly inspired is the last use, before you climb the wrong set of stairs.pic.twitter.com/tVuxER2EYL
120. Likewise, since you’re looking down before entering an escalator, we can give you a little bit of a useful info then.pic.twitter.com/A3WXys1vLi
…and that brings us back to 116. Asymmetric gates tell you this is where the arriving car begins or ends, I assume so that you can make better boarding decisions? This sort of blew my mind.pic.twitter.com/xfcoIpjXPm
121. Handles on the subway and buses are abundant, and they even include transverse handles, which I am not sure I have seen before.pic.twitter.com/t683jRwde8
(At the railway museum in Kyoto, they were so proud of those they showed not just their evolution, but even prototypes!)pic.twitter.com/CK1p07XQuK
122. This train crossing doesn’t just have a nice-sounding signal, but it also shows you which way the train is coming from!pic.twitter.com/IZEOrCVyG8
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