153. This ticket ordering machine had an impressively large touch screen.pic.twitter.com/w0vJq6ubaO
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162. Speaking of beautiful… look at these manholes, even the tiny ones!pic.twitter.com/QfDIuRyugc
And those above, in turns out, are the ones when they phone them in.pic.twitter.com/IaqaZV5D3m
Because when they don’t phone them in… I seriously have no words.pic.twitter.com/zoxouAqCi6
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
(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?)
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
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
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
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
(I’m not an expert, but diagonal Japanese feels much more natural than Latin would!)pic.twitter.com/SjRJWgNFW5
(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
167. “Horizontal” Japanese can be beautiful, also. Here’s a small collection of barriers with text.pic.twitter.com/fFBESohpjZ
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
169. Seeing elevator buttons described in three different ways – none of them being English – just made me so happy.pic.twitter.com/XOYyol7GIO
(Although in another instance, I was confused why two different Japanese writing systems were used at the same time?)pic.twitter.com/P7YEodoA8I
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
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
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
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
174. Speaking of accordances, I liked how this ticket-buying UI simply enlarged the most common buttons.pic.twitter.com/WtPI735KI7
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
176. It was also interesting to see where they terminate. This one leads to more info delivered in Braille.pic.twitter.com/p8VlfpmTnf
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
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
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
177. That the train seat numbers are in Braille also will be of surprise to no one at this point.pic.twitter.com/hxl7p9pW7L
178. That the train seats have handles to hold onto since the train can sway a bit as you’re moving is also thoughtful.pic.twitter.com/K3hnYF1sey
179. But what’s truly wonderful is that those handles are in many more places, helping people who can’t stand for long. Here’s an example of one set next to the elevator.pic.twitter.com/D2mu7r4lj8
180. More hooks! A multi-purpose holder next to another ATM, plus an umbrella hook in a restroom. (I felt so uncomfortable taking that photo. In general, I feel I’m getting away with things, since my iPhone doesn’t have a forced shutter sound like Japanese phones do!)pic.twitter.com/SGNrLs6CJL
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