(Also, how likely it is for me to take two separate clock photos, on two different days, in two different cities, both at 10:26?)
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159. When you pay, even to a cashier, you don’t hand someone the money. You put it on a special tiny tray. It feels elegant and refined. (I went to a coffee shop really early and they didn’t put one out yet, and really scrambled, not wanting to do the transaction without it!)pic.twitter.com/kbag6n9c74
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160. Also, in bakeries and so on you’re supposed to just grab a tray and put your stuff directly on it? It was kind of weird. As you bring it all to the cashier, they transfer them onto a plate or basket for you, or into to-go bags. PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG.pic.twitter.com/kohGm8ngvs
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161. Two beautiful things in another bakery’s placard. One is a list indicating the presence of allergens (milk, peanuts, and so on). The other, and I miss it so much from Europe: the price with tax included! (Which is typically usually even the default here?)pic.twitter.com/kyivr1KBRi
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162. Speaking of beautiful… look at these manholes, even the tiny ones!pic.twitter.com/QfDIuRyugc
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And those above, in turns out, are the ones when they phone them in.pic.twitter.com/IaqaZV5D3m
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Because when they don’t phone them in… I seriously have no words.pic.twitter.com/zoxouAqCi6
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163. Amidst all the high-tech restrooms, it’s fun to see ones that are really old. Here is a cool retro hand soap dispenser, and a vintage flush handle that nevertheless already allows you to choose between a weak and a strong flush.pic.twitter.com/wnV7DLvQPC
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(By the way, no paper napkins or towels ever in restrooms! There are scant hand dryers, but I think many people just walk out with their hands wet…? Or are you supposed to carry a handkerchief?)
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164. Typography! From whatever little I understand, I believe Japanese writing system(s) have an unprecedented flexibility: they could go left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. Here’s an example from the side of a (modern) bus and a (vintage) tram.pic.twitter.com/QWeV1649e7
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It seems that flexibility can be used when you’re out of particular type of space. These displays show the interim stations that the train will stop at. You can immediately sense whether it’s a local or an express, but it also gives you more!pic.twitter.com/9RtH1TpHcD
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165. Here are some beautiful station indicators from a local commuter line. Showing the terminus to the left/to the right of a given station can be achieved with a pretty narrow sign.pic.twitter.com/HXATT781RG
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166. It’s really fun to see when Japanese and English coexist, and Latin letters are forced to do things that makes them rather awkward. Look at “cars” here!pic.twitter.com/viGl4zpfzq
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(I’m not an expert, but diagonal Japanese feels much more natural than Latin would!)pic.twitter.com/SjRJWgNFW5
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(It’s actually really refreshing to see English as a second-level citizen for once! Here is an archive of a guestbook from a small museum. Japanese entries have been retyped, but English ones just copied and pasted.)pic.twitter.com/Eo6x0iACvv
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167. “Horizontal” Japanese can be beautiful, also. Here’s a small collection of barriers with text.pic.twitter.com/fFBESohpjZ
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168. Just as I wasn’t really sure what those said, I am not sure how I’m supposed to feel after seeing this.pic.twitter.com/E6Ak5MVT69
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169. Seeing elevator buttons described in three different ways – none of them being English – just made me so happy.pic.twitter.com/XOYyol7GIO
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(Although in another instance, I was confused why two different Japanese writing systems were used at the same time?)pic.twitter.com/P7YEodoA8I
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170. This ATM has a little tactical dynamic Braille display to – as far as I understand – communicate numbers. It’s a really interesting ATM in a number of different ways…pic.twitter.com/R11xe2VwEj
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171. It has a table top form factor, which I’ve seen on a few other machines. (Old 1970s and 1980s arcade games called that form factor “cocktail,” I think because you could put down a drink on your Ms. Pac-Man game?)pic.twitter.com/rL2gxPeu3g
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172. The money arrives in a little pocket (which is lit green, because green light means “stuff gets in or out of here,” as we already saw).pic.twitter.com/m7lRL2IGq5
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173. Lastly, action keys have red lights. When a light is lit, it means the key is active (yellow key = backspace, green key = enter). It’s an interesting way to achieve what onscreen UIs often do by “graying out” unavailable buttons.pic.twitter.com/2uZaczNBSN
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174. Speaking of accordances, I liked how this ticket-buying UI simply enlarged the most common buttons.pic.twitter.com/WtPI735KI7
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175. I started paying more attention to the yellow lines, and interesting cases of those. For example, in less populated areas, they are not connected, but the straight line is implied?pic.twitter.com/B8qefqRt56
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176. It was also interesting to see where they terminate. This one leads to more info delivered in Braille.pic.twitter.com/p8VlfpmTnf
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This one leads to a dedicated assistive machine that can talk to you (green buttons), and also has a tactile map of the surroundings.pic.twitter.com/s3ka7QWMfX
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This outdoors one in Onomichi leads to a few tactile maps, including a way to feel the area’s beautiful bridges.pic.twitter.com/QNLIxCyiEY
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And on a very different scale, here’s a tactile map of a restroom on a train. I’ve seen many of those kinds of tactical maps.pic.twitter.com/V7ZRjnBR8v
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177. That the train seat numbers are in Braille also will be of surprise to no one at this point.pic.twitter.com/hxl7p9pW7L
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