(This is a cool read elaborating more on stamps and seals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)#Japanese_usage …)
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232. Someone told me “Have you tried the genius that is onigiri packaging? The nori seaweed isn’t touching the rice, but 1-2-3 you pull away the wrapper and then it is! Fascinating.” I tested it out and indeed! Alchemy.pic.twitter.com/PP9Ihs1GvF
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233. In shoes-off places, someone would always rotate shoes so that they’d face the outside. (In one traditional hotel, the shoes even came with labels for room names.)pic.twitter.com/uBHIagGC4e
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234. In many (small) hotel rooms, I saw this interesting configurations with exposed hangers facing the room – presumably, to fit things in a narrower space.pic.twitter.com/Ernrx0zjVx
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235. Some bathroom tubs gave me an indicator for… water level!?pic.twitter.com/prZGXnctZK
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236. Some came with really sophisticated/complicated faucets with some sort of a water flow limiter?pic.twitter.com/a947OyStpW
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237. Two entertainment options in one of the hotels. :·) (I saw other VOD machines and other trouser presses, too.)pic.twitter.com/9zZ9ffNODO
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238. By the way, while most hotels I stayed at had built-in hot baths (onsen), I don’t think I saw one single hotel gym.
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240. I have never seen an airport tray that clearly communicated what should go inside it (and out of your pockets/bags). Seemed…. vastly preferable than TSA employees shouting it in your ear.pic.twitter.com/3YsxVBKXJr
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241. Also at the airport, a TV where you can change the channel. How do people agree on what to watch!?pic.twitter.com/9JGJvsuNX7
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242. Upon boarding my flight back to the US ( :·( ), the screen in front of me showed me my seat number. So simple and so clever. Never encountered that before, either.pic.twitter.com/pWC9Wf9JEC
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243. I also discovered the most futuristic ATM: one where you just drop your card in a chamber (of course it is highlighted, too!) and what I assume is magic does the connection.pic.twitter.com/fTKOOXcimh
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244. I mentioned before how the coins have indicators (hole/no hole, rough/smooth edge, big/small size) that allow people to distinguish them just by touch. At some point, I wondered why my transit card has a notch. It’s so that you can tell it apart from others with fingers!pic.twitter.com/stil28nC2h
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245. There were also a bunch of ATMs with extra calculators to help you with math? (Which, funnily enough, reminded me of the original Mac desk accessories.)pic.twitter.com/2Tinela0jM
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246. A peculiar choice: showing you how to use a touch screen by employing… a mouse pointer.pic.twitter.com/Dhoqn18nCh
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247. This is kind of wonderful; I’ve never seen anything like this cautioned against – or even acknowledged – before.pic.twitter.com/LwBEVL4e7O
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248. At busy subway stations in rush hour, there are even more signs (and people) helping to deal with the traffic flow.pic.twitter.com/dkP3yLolol
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249. A cool platform edge signage showing you the train is about to arrive – and from which direction.pic.twitter.com/J6jm9jaoyr
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250. Just like you could slide in a stack of money into a ticket machine, you could also insert more than one ticket together to get through this fare gate.pic.twitter.com/tTyBSkKdww
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251. On any type of train, there has always been a manned gate and a wide gate for wheelchairs. But even any regular gate was wide enough for me and my big bag – and I was never nervous crossing it.pic.twitter.com/wdLCL90yWk
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252. Japan seems to care A LOT about trains in general. These are a few really cool-looking local trains I saw in actual operation.pic.twitter.com/VXi1YusBxA
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253. Not that a train has to be good-looking. It was so rewarding to see a little reliable commuter train just weaving its way through the city, like it’s no big deal.pic.twitter.com/aP2HLMwPEH
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254. Speaking of which, can someone help me and decipher what was this train crossing trying to tell me? (Both Google Translate and me drawing these shapes failed.)pic.twitter.com/nJKoAzybUX
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255. A lot of the trains utilize this fascinating system: there are cars with reserved seats, and cars where you can sit at will. This feels like such a great hybrid model accommodating both planners and spontaneous people. (I wish movie theatres did that!)
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256. Even a train ticket machine will allow you to reserve a seat. Here, the UI actually tells you which car is the least occupied at any given moment, which is super thoughtful.pic.twitter.com/iXterBU0nw
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257. As a consequence, there is a lot of signage directing you to the appropriate car.pic.twitter.com/5w9qQuufbR
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Each train has its own map, and in front of you, there is often even a mini version of that map.pic.twitter.com/YHTMHcMYSD
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And for trains without reserved seats, there are still interesting systems. Here, each door position was labeled with a symbol, and my train was announced as “queue up anywhere you see a triangle.” So much better than an enigmatic “board center.” *cough*BART*cough*pic.twitter.com/aKuA4RBauN
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258. By the way, it was cool to queue up for a train called Thunderbird. (Other fav name: Eveningliner.)pic.twitter.com/jnmiOalZLF
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