February 7, 2018 • 36 mins
Why is Japan's adult adoption rate so high? Why don't American car dealerships succeed in the country? And why did Colonel Sanders put a curse on a beloved Japanese baseball team? Plus, Will and Mango discover the shortest escalator in the world! (Just take the stairs, guys.)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Guess what, Mango, what's that? Well, I know we've been
competing this week to see who could come up with
the best what's big in Japan? Thing? But I actually
have saved one for you. And did you know that
adult adoption is actually a pretty big thing in Japan.
In fact, most adoptions in Japan are adult adoptions. So
I don't think I even know what that means exactly. Well,
(00:21):
you know, sometimes it has to do with inheritance. So
say you've got a business owner who wants to keep
his business in the family, but I don't know, maybe
he thinks his kids are too lazy or not smart
enough to take it over. So the owner might select
an executive from that company and just adopt them, you know,
like to keep the business in the family. That's pretty funny.
I mean I have heard of people joking about adopting
(00:43):
college grads so that you have someone to take care
of you, you know, when you're older. But I mean
this is kind of surprising to me. Yeah, it is, well,
and and sometimes it's also just like this kick in
the pants that the business owners kids need to start
working harder, and it gets complicated. I guess with this
new sibling rivalry, But you of Japan is such a
fascinating place, and we thought we'd just take a deeper
(01:03):
dive into some of the customs and culture you might
not usually hear about. So let's dig ina. Hey there,
(01:30):
podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and as always I'm joined by my good friend Manges
Ticketer and on the other side of the soundproof glass,
super focused on his latest origami creation. That's our friend
and producer Tristan McNeil. So, so what's he working on?
Mango was trying to look is that? Is that a bear?
I think it's actually a sailboat. Oh okay, well it's
(01:50):
a very interesting sailboat. Keep it up, Tristan, it's looking
really good. All right. Well, today's show is all about
Japanese society and culture. But rather than taking a deep
dive into the nation's long history, or maybe focusing on
a single aspect of its culture, we're going to share
some of the strangest, most surprising things that we recently
learned about Japan. So where do you think we should start, Mango, Well,
(02:12):
I mean, something I think we should address up front
is this incredible balancing act that Japan does between the
past and the present. All right, so give me an
example of what you're what you're talking about. Well, one
simple example is that their smartphones are actually waterproof, and
this has existed in Japan for over a decade at
this point. Really, I feel like that's such a recent
technology here in the US, Like all the commercials last
(02:33):
year were so focused on that. Yeah, it really is.
And I actually saw this guy at the beach last
summer and he kept accidentally dropping his phone in the
water then like wiping it off and taking a picture,
And I guess he was doing it to like impress
the women around him were like some of the other
people he was with, and at first I was kind
of impressed too, But after like the third or fourth
time he dropped it, I was just rooting for the
(02:54):
ocean to take that phone away from Oh no kidding,
I would have done the same, But back to Japan. So,
the first waterproof smartphone rolled out way back in two
thousand five, and according to a number of electronics companies,
the reason waterproofing was introduced so early is that manufacturers
quickly learned that Japanese consumers were fond of taking phones
into the shower or bathtub with them. Wow. You know,
(03:16):
you always hear about screen addiction and how people are
finding it increasingly harder to disconnect from their phones, and
this kind of feels like the extreme of that exactly,
so that that's what I thought it was at first too,
especially when you hear like these reports of gamers and
how addicted they are to video games. But that's not
actually what's going on there. So waterproofing is really the
industry standard in Japan of all smartphones sold in the
(03:40):
country or waterproof and it's because of Japanese tradition. So
as you might have heard that time is really important
in Japan, like public bathhouses called cento. They've been pillars
of Japanese society pretty much from the start, and thanks
to the country's many volcanoes, they also have like I
want to say, it's like twenty thousand natural hot springs
on the country for people to soak in well, And
(04:02):
are their traditions around these or what? Yeah, I mean,
partially it's just the health benefits, right, like the warm
water improved circulation and it relieves stiff joints. But there's
also the social intimacy that comes from sharing a bath,
you know, with other members of your community. So today,
most Japanese people still take frequent hot baths as a
way to undwind, and the waterproofing was basically a compromise
(04:22):
to bridge the old traditions with the new ones. Basically,
most Japanese citizens were on board with having this new
type of technology, you know, something that you carry around
with you all the time, as long as they could
take them into the tub with them. That's pretty interesting.
And you know, that's something I actually came across while
doing my research, and that's the idea of big companies
having to bend to old Japan, you know, and and
(04:44):
find a way to operate within that existing social framework.
So how do you mean exactly? Well, one thing is
that Japan places a high value on hospitality and that
extends the company, is not just individuals. So you know,
there's this expectation among Japanese consumers that companies are going
to go above and be on just to accommodate them
and any of their needs. And there's a great example
(05:04):
of this, and that's the Japanese auto industry. So according
to the country's Automobile Dealers Association, Japanese brands account for
nearly nine of the cars sold there in Japan, and
all of that thanks to the hospitality services. Well, it
actually is a big part of it. Yeah, you know
that the relationship between car dealers and their customers is
very different in Japan than it is here, and as
(05:26):
a result of that, Japanese consumers are used to this
high level of service that American dealerships have yet to
really invest in, either at home or even over there. Now.
The Atlantic did an article about this last year, and
it included this great description of a typical car buying
experience in Tokyo, and it really kind of explains how
deep this custom goes. So the author of the story rights,
(05:47):
the last time Shujiro Urada wanted to buy a car
in Japan, his phone happened to ring. It was the
local Toyota dealer. On the phone asked him if he
was thinking about buying a new car, and so he
replied in the affirmative, and the dealer and a co
workers showed up at Eada's doorstep an hour later with
two demo cars, which Urada and his wife test drove
around the neighborhood. Theorada has decided to buy a car
(06:09):
from this dealer. The dealer also handles their car insurance,
coming to their home whenever the insurance contract needs to
be renewed. Theorada is bringing their car to the dealer
every few weeks for a free car wash, or they
hang out and talk to the employees who kind of
become their friends. Japanese customers also expect to receive services
like free maintenance from their dealers after they buy their cars.
(06:31):
When their cars need to check up, the dealer comes
and picks them up, does work on them, and then
returns them. I mean, I kind of want that service, right.
It's insane, But is that why American car companies haven't
taken off their like because of that service element. It's
a bigger part of it than you think. And if
these added services are just too costly and I don't know,
maybe complicated for American car companies to even bother with.
(06:54):
In fact, Ford pulled out of the Japanese market altogether
back in two thousand and sixteen. That's because they'd like
five thousand cars or so on average in any given
year then, and General Motors now has fewer than thirty
dealerships in all of Japan. All of this despite the
fact that Japan is actually the third largest auto market
in the world, behind of course the US and China.
(07:15):
Oh that's crazy. I had no idea is that big?
So is this just a U S thing? Like, is
it a problem for the U S? Or is this
a problem for other manufacturers around the world as well? Well?
Not exactly. I mean European car dealers and Mercedes and
BMW in particular, they've made significant strides in the Japanese
market over the past few years. And as you might expect,
they pulled this off by embracing this idea of hospitality. Now,
(07:37):
BMW spent like seven hundred million dollars updating its dealer
network in Japan back in two thousand and sixteen. And
this was also that customers are treated to a lot
of the same services and perks that they're used to there,
and the company's sales are actually on the rise as
a result of this. So I've got to say I'm
pretty envious. And it's not just the service, Like I
kind of admire how the culture makes huge companies work
(08:00):
for them. I mean, can you imagine getting that kind
of service from like your cable bill provider or your
cell phone provider. Yeah, and it's pretty incredible. So the
American cars haven't been a hit with the Japanese, but
there is at least one American export that they have
taken to, and that's baseball. That Japan is not one,
but two professional baseball leagues, as well as countless high
(08:20):
school and university leagues across the country. So all sumo
wrestling might be the sport most closely associated with Japan.
Baseball is actually the most popular by far, and it's
watched and played by more people in Japan than any
other sport, which is insane. So I I knew Japan
love baseball, but I didn't think it had gotten that big,
and I do want to hear about it, but I
(08:41):
can't pass up the chance to share one of my
all time favorite Suma facts, which I jogged down in
my margins with an asterix in my notes. I think
I have a feeling I know which one this one is.
Is this the crying babies thing? Mega spoiler alert? But yeah,
I've got to share it. So for listeners, there's this
four year old ceremony in Japan where once a year,
(09:03):
parents bring their infants to shrines, so that Suma wrestlers
can try to make them cry. It's amazing. But the
ceremony is part of the Naki Zumo festival and it's
believed to bring good health to the babies and help
ward off evil spirits. Well I feel like maybe I
blocked this out because I don't remember. But but how
do the wrestlers try to make them cry again? Well,
(09:26):
each wrestler takes a baby and ideally gets the kid
to ball just by kind of bouncing them up and
down in the suma ring. But everyone has their own technique,
so like a wrestler might make funny faces or even
growl at the baby a little bit, and then after
a few seconds, if nothing's worked, a referee will actually
step in wearing a traditional face mask, and that's what
(09:46):
does the trick like a referee. So is this more
of a ceremony or a competition? Well, I mean it
is an event that happens all over the country, so
the exact rules vary from region to region. So at
this one shrine in Tokyo they call it baby chry
sumo that it's strictly a ceremony. In some places, the
babies actually do compete against each other to see who
(10:07):
will cry first, and whoever cries first is declared the loser.
I still can't believe Japan has this competition where babies
are pitted against one another by suma arrest. I do
love that there is such a thing, but it's still
pretty nuts. Yeah, I mean it does make you wonder
why they even bother with baseball. M Well, I do
(10:28):
want to get back to exactly how and why baseball
has becomes so big in Japan, but before we do,
let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time
Genius and we're talking about some surprising features of Japanese culture.
(10:52):
So well, I know you're itching to explain the origins
of Japanese baseball, but first I just have to tell
you about a story I found while researching KFC in
Japan's Love Affair with It. But don't worry, because it's
actually a baseball story too. So you know how in
American baseball we have these curses that crop up from
time to time. Yeah, of course, you've got the Cubs
and their Billy Goat, and the Red Sox and the
(11:13):
Curse of the Ambino and all sorts of curses like
this exactly, and and Apparently that baseball tradition carried over
to Japan because they have the same kind of thing.
And probably my favorite curse of all time involves a
team called the Hanshin Tigers and a statue of KFC
founder Colonel Sanders. So the story goes back in the
Tigers won the Japan Championship Series, which is the Japanese
(11:36):
equivalent of the World Series, and to celebrate big wins
like that, Tigers fans had this tradition where they would
gather on a certain bridge in Osaka read the names
of all the winning team members out loud, and then
as each name was called, a fan who resembled that
player would actually jump off the bridge into the river.
I mean, this is already weirder than the Babe Ruth curse.
(11:57):
And and I'm a little confused here. So is the
whole fan base made up of guys who just look
like these players or what? Yeah? I mean, I think
it was more of a close enough thing. But the
problem was in eight five, none of the Japanese fans
looked anything like the team's m v P. Who's this
American guy named Randy Bass? And so this is where
KFC comes in because the fans were desperate to find
(12:19):
a Randy Bass look alike, and when they couldn't find
when they spied the statue of the KFC mascot. It
kind of looked close enough, so they snatched the colonel
dressed into Randy Bass jersey and chucked it off the
bridge into the river as they spoke his name out loud. Wow.
And if you were trying to just make up, like,
what is the most American name you could come up
with just like Randy Bass away. So so I don't
(12:44):
understand who put the curse on the team. Is it
the owner of the KFC or Randy Bass? I mean, actually,
by the way, I just googled and sadly, Randy bast
does not look much like the colonel at all. I
mean that makes it better actually, But the curse was
from the colonel himself. So the real Colonel Sanders, I
want to say, like, passed away five years earlier, and so,
(13:04):
according to the legend, his spirit was so pissed about
the Tigers fans desecrating his statue that he cursed their
beloved team to never win a championship again. And it
must have been a potent curse because thirty three years later,
the Tigers have yet to win, despite making it to
the playoffs multiple times. Wow, So has anybody ever tried
just putting the statue back, you know, just to a
(13:26):
peace Sanders, I guess yeah. So, once a few years
had gone by and it became clear that, you know,
the team had been cursed by the ghost of an
American chicken salesman, fans tried all kinds of ways to
affuse them, so they apologized to the KFC manager. They
they mounted a few failed dives to the bottom of
the river to try to find the statue, and then
(13:47):
in two thousand nine, divers actually found and recovered the
Colonel statue. I mean, his glasses and left hand were missing,
but otherwise he was pretty intact. So so the Tigers
were hopeful once more, and it fact, the manager of
the team held a press conference where he told the press,
when I heard the statue had been found, I felt
that losing history had ended. I do think if the
(14:11):
Cubs could win a series, I have to believe the
Tigers will get there sooner or later. But all right, Well,
if the KFC curse tells us anything, it's that baseball
is this unexpected source of overlap between Japanese and American culture,
of course, And so I did some digging to find
out how the Japanese first fell in love with baseball,
and the story actually goes all the way back to
(14:31):
the eighteen hundreds. And now this was during the Meiji era,
and this was this period when Japan was moving away
from its isolationist roots and trying to adopt these more
western customs as a result of this. Now, one person
often gets credited for introducing baseball to Japan, and that's
Professor Horace Wilson. And he was an American who taught
English at the university in Tokyo, and at some point,
(14:54):
I think it was in the eighteen seventies, he started
introducing his students to baseball because he decided they needed
to get more exercise in their lives. But I mean,
isn't there plenty of sports opportunity in Japan, like martial
arts and winter sports, and you know, we talked about sumo. Yeah,
I have thought the same thing, But there was one
part of this that I had not really thought about. So,
so here's the thing that sports native to Japan or
(15:16):
super popular in Japan, or that sumo or karate or
several others. You know, they're mostly one on one activities. So,
despite the fact that Japan is a pretty highly group
based culture, for whatever weird reason, the country actually hadn't
developed that many teams sports of their own. That's crazy.
I'd actually never thought about that. So is that one
of the things that helped baseball catch on? Definitely? And
(15:39):
like I said, so much of Japanese culture is built
around this idea that the group is the central unit
of society. So whether it's your family, your neighbors, or
your classmates. So a team sport like baseball was naturally
appealing to many people once word of it spread, and
actually spread pretty quickly. So in eighteen seventy eight, just
a few years after Horace Wilson taught his students how
(15:59):
to play by baseball, the Japanese railway engineer organized the
very first Japanese baseball team, the Shinbashi Athletic Club Athletics.
That's an amazing name. Yeah, well, Japan did get better
at naming things than today. There are several professional baseball
teams there and it's not that different from the American
mascot name. So to go along with the Tigers, You've
(16:21):
got things like the buffaloes, the hawks, the carp as
well as you know a few mythical creatures like the
dragons and the giants. But there is something interesting about
the naming there. And we mentioned earlier that the team
was called the Hanschen Tigers. But Hanchen isn't actually a city,
so I mean, is it a village or a hamlet
or something. No, So that's one difference between American and
(16:42):
Japanese baseball. Hanchen is actually a railway company. So while
American teams are privately owned and named for cities that
support them, Japanese teams are named for the corporations that
own them. So while we have the San Francisco Giants,
Japan has the Yamiuri Giants, which are named for the
Yamiori newspaper company there. That's pretty interesting, though, I do
(17:03):
feel like I'm missing a piece of the history here.
So how did Japanese baseball go from being a college
sport to a national pastime that has these massive companies
bankrolling the teams? Well after eighteen seventy eight you started
to see these other teams popping up in Japan, and
for the next ten years, baseball continued to gain popularity
at these Japanese universities. The game mostly stayed on campuses
(17:23):
until well after the turn of the century, but then
in the early thirties, and American ballplayer named Lefty o'duel
started touring these Japanese universities with a small team of
American players. How baseball of a name is that left odual.
So they were giving lessons to Japanese players and holding
these exhibition games every year from nineteen thirty three to
(17:44):
nineteen thirty seven. And these exhibitions could be massive, so
sometimes they played the crowds of more than sixty thousand people. Wow.
And so y four in particular was this very important
year for Japanese baseball, and this was the year that
left he brought over this all star American team. That
this team included players like Luke Garrig, Lefty Gomez, Earl Whitehill,
(18:05):
Babe Ruth himself, and so Japan organized its own dream
team to face them, but left his crew handily defeated
them in all eighteen of the games that they played.
I mean that sounds awful, right, like, like why would
you want to take up a sport after that? Sort
of humiliation. Well, so there was a moment during those
eighteen games when something truly special happened. There was a
(18:26):
Japanese picture named Agi Sawamora, and he managed to strike
out Charlie Garringer, Babe Ruth, Luke Garrick, and Jimmy Fox
all in a row. So, even though the team ultimately lost,
Sauermember became this national hero overnight, like the country saw
what was possible, and baseball became more popular than ever.
In fact, organizers rode that wave of public enthusiasm and
(18:49):
just two years later they formed Japan's very first professional
baseball team. And as I thank you to Lefty o'duel,
the New York Giant who helped spark the baseball fire
in Japan, the newly formed team named itself the Giants
in his honor. I love that. And there's actually another
unexpected big in Japan craze that I want to talk about.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break,
(19:22):
all right, Mega, So it's my turn for a quick tangent.
So we both heard the phrase big in Japan, but
I just wanted to take a second to talk about
where the phrase actually comes from. Yeah, I mean I
think it's like a music industry term, right, Like I
remember bands growing up who didn't hit the charts in
the US, but I would always point to their number
ones in Asia saying they're big in Japan. Yeah, that's right.
(19:43):
But there's actually an origin story here, and so the
idea goes back to the fifties and the sixties when
Japanese youth started getting hooked on British and American music. So,
for example, there was this rock band from the States
called The Ventures, and by the early nineteen sixties, the
band was less fashionable in the U US, so they
tried touring Japan, and to their surprise, the country went
(20:04):
crazy for them, quickly becoming the group's most devoted fan base.
In fact, the Ventures continued to tour Japan every year
until two thousand and fifteen, and today their albums have
outsold the Beatles two to one. There isn't that crazy crazy?
So I mean, I guess big in Japan started out
as kind of a compliment. Well, I don't know about
(20:25):
a compliment, but it definitely started out the way you
and I have been using and it's just to acknowledge
the fact, like this band is big in Japan. But
you know, by the seventies and eighties, the phrase was
just being used more mockingly, and it kind of came
to represent the snobbish perception that Japanese consumers were maybe
attracted lesser artists or something like that. But there's actually
even a joke at the end of this is spinal tap.
(20:46):
I don't know if you remember this, but the Washtup
band reunites for a second chance at fame and goes
on this Japanese tour. You know, I've forgotten that, and
I've always thought of that line is more of a lie,
like it's the guy who claims to have a girlfriend
at camp in Canada. You know. It's like, I guess
I never even considered all this cultural condescension. That's pretty interesting,
(21:09):
And maybe that's partially because they're all these great musicians,
especially jazz artists, who are a little overlooked in the
States but have been super popular in Japan for decades.
And I looked into this a little and it's kind
of amazing. So unlike rock music, which was this late
import to Japan, jazz actually came up in the country
around the same time and emerged in the US well
(21:30):
I knew Japan had a thing for jazz. I mean,
it comes up all the time and Murrakami's novels, and
I think was a big inspiration for him to become
a writer in the first place. But but I actually
figured it's had something to do with like World War
Two and it catching on after that. Yeah, so that
would have been my guest too. But I've read this
great interview that NPR did with the jazz historian named E.
Taylor Atkins, who explained that the music actually made its
(21:53):
way to Japan as early as the nineteen tens. Oh wow,
that early. So so how did it get there? Well,
so you've got to remember this is the decade of
the Titanic, right, and so they are these luxury ocean
liners that are already taking wealthy passengers back and forth
across the Pacific, you know, from West coast ports to
places like Manila and Shanghai and of course Japan. And
(22:13):
it was common for these ships to have orchestras on
board as entertainment. So when a Japanese ocean liners stopped
at a port in San Francisco or Seattle, the musicians
would hop out and check out the local music scene.
They'd buy sheet music or records and even visit clubs
to hear the locals play. And so what you had
were all these Japanese musicians who were learned to play
music that was popular in major US cities. And at
(22:35):
the time, nothing was more popular than jazz oh wow.
And so so how did the music make it off
the boats and into the country. So a lot of
these cruise musicians also worked in hotel lobbies or restaurants
in the off season, and that gave them plenty of
opportunities to practice what they've picked up abroad. So you know,
they'd play in these locations and and then they were
simultaneously introducing the country to this new sound. That's pretty cool,
(22:58):
all right. So I want to switch years and go
back to something we touched on at the top of
the show, and that's this idea of Japanese culture as
this balancing act. So far, we've talked about in terms
of like new technology versus these older traditions, as well
as like the western influence and the country's own culture.
But another place we kind of see this balancing act
is about the young and the old, and so we
(23:20):
alluded to this earlier, but Japan potentially has a crisis
on its hands because more than a quarter of the
countries a hundred and twenty seven million people are sixty
five or older, and that proportion is actually only expected
to rise. Some researchers are predicting that forty of Japan's
population will be over the age of sixty five by
the year twenties sixty. So, just to put that in perspective,
(23:43):
a Japanese diaper maker name Una Charm reports that adult
diapers now out sell baby diapers. That's crazy, and you've
got to think the impact on the labor market alone
is pretty scary. Yeah, it definitely is. But you know,
it also provides this rare chance to see how an
industrialized nation addres us is that kind of population shift. So,
for example, in late two thousand and sixteen, Japan began
(24:05):
launching programs aimed at coaxing elderly drivers to hand over
their driver's license. And that's because even though the overall
number of traffic accidents in the country has actually gone
down in recent years, the number of accidents involving drivers
over the age of seventy five has seen a dramatic increase.
I think it went from about seven percent to thirtent
over the past decade. Now that's almost double. And of course,
(24:28):
Japan being Japan, they're not about to forcibly strip the
elderly of their licenses. So instead they've had to get
a little creative. So how they convince people to stop driving,
well by doing something that would probably work on us too,
and that's to give them discounts on ramen noodles. I
mean that sounds kind of like a joke, right, It
sounds like a joke, but it's not. So this is
(24:48):
coming from a district in central Japan and and basically
this restaurant chain it started to provide these lifelong fifteen
percent discounts at all one hundred and seventy six of
their locations, and the of course to anyone over the
age of seventy five who's turned in their license. But
this isn't the only one, so there's similar incentive campaigns
that have launched all over the country. Some offer discounts
(25:10):
on public baths or haircuts, or bus or taxifairs. And
the plan seems to be working. So they've had over
a quarter million people in Japan that have given up
their licenses and two thousand sixteen alone, and this is
all thanks to this Ramen noodle discount, which I'm sure
more of these will follow. Well, I mean, I found
another way that chefs are helping Japan cope with its
(25:31):
aging population, and that's what's something called choke proof food.
So this is something I hadn't really thought about before.
But swallowing becomes harder and harder as you age, and
obviously this becomes an even bigger problem when such a
large portion of your population is elderly. In fact, according
to a report in The New York Times, more Japanese
people now die from choking than they do in all
(25:52):
those traffic accidents you mentioned earlier. Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
I mean, I can definitely see why there'd be a
market for choke proof food. How exactly does it work
and and what is it? Yeah, so it starts out
as regular food items, so you're thinking about things like
grilled salmon or dumplings. But once the food is prepared,
it's thrown into a blender. And I know what you're thinking.
(26:14):
This is way less gross than the story I told
you about Lizzie's grandmam who was having like a toothache,
so she blended her salad and pizza into a shake
and just kept telling everyone it's all going into the
same place, so don't worry. She's not wrong about that
to taste gross. But here the food is kept separate
and mixed with a new kind of jelling agent, so
the gel actually allows the food to be reshaped so
(26:36):
that it resembles the way it originally looked. So basically,
choke proof food is this new way of making puade
food more appetizing. It isn't like flavorless mush. Instead, you
got something that looks and actually taste normal, with the
added bonus of being easy to swallow. And if it
catches on, like the hope is that Japan's elderly will
be able to hold onto their meal time independence for
(26:56):
a little bit longer. Like they can simply head to
a restaurant on and order their good food prepared in
this style, and it's called ange i guess, which is
Japanese for swallowing. That is a pretty great idea and
I hope that that works for them. But you know,
one of the things I like about these campaigns and
how Japan looks out for its elderly is that it
reflects the group based mentality that we were talking about earlier,
(27:18):
you know, that kind of all for one approach to society.
That's something that's instilled in Japanese citizens from the start.
I was actually reading this interesting article in the Atlantic
about the high level of independence that Japanese kids seem
to have, and apparently it's really common to see kids
as young as six or seven out on their own
in Japanese towns and cities. Yeah, so we talked a
little bit about this in our education episode, where there's
(27:40):
a system to help kids walk alone to school from
I think it's from first grade on and they're actually
walking a few miles, right, Yeah, that's right, And you know,
sometimes they're heading to or from school, but other times
they're actually out running errands for their parents, and it's
kind of this right of passage in Japan. In fact,
you know how the country is famous for its outrageous
game shows and all these weird reality shows. Well, there's
(28:02):
actually a popular show that translates as My First Errand,
and it's basically this hidden camera show where kids just
as young as like two or three are sent out
to run an errand for their family. That sounds crazy,
so I'm guessing the kids have no idea they're being
recorded at that age. Oh, of course not. They have
no idea, And I mean they cameramen are right out
(28:22):
in the open at some points, but the kids are
so frantic or anxious that they never noticed the supervision.
And so I actually watched an episode and sometimes it's funny,
but it can be brutal. But the one I saw
this little boy and his younger sister out on an
errand to pick up groceries, and they had to go
to a few different shops and already you can see
how hard this is right for these kids, and they
(28:43):
can barely remember the names of the items. I mean,
they're tiny. And this little boy that was watching, he
was so cute, and he had this melt down once
they were like a block away from their house. He
actually had to stop and compose himself in an alleyway
and then keep going. And meanwhile, there's this laugh track
in a panel of not judges but commentators, I guess,
and it all feels like some kind of surreal psychological experiment.
(29:08):
But my first are and it isn't some new reality
TV thing. It's been on air for almost thirty years. Now, So,
I mean, this sounds equal parts hilarious and bizarre, But
how does it relate to being group minded? Like, if anything,
these kids seem independent, right right, Well, that's the thing.
I mean. According to Dwyane Dixon, who's this cultural anthropologist,
it's it's not self sufficiency that we're seeing, but group reliance.
(29:32):
As he puts it, Japanese kids learned early on that
ideally any member of the community can be called on
to serve or help others. And as you see on
the show I watched, they are grocers and shopkeepers, even
regular people on the street, and they're all eager to
help the kids with directions or counting coins. And the
idea is that whether you're a family member or a stranger,
(29:52):
young or old, we're kind of we're all in this together,
you know. I like that. I can actually see why
it's popular. So I guess we saw that in the
school's episode two, right, like where students take turns serving
lunch their classmates, or that there aren't any janitors there
because all the kids devote twenty minutes each day to
cleaning up. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, And I love that
(30:13):
there's this personal responsibility for shared spaces, and it's one
of the most pleasantly unusual things about Japanese culture and
and definitely when I wish we'd emulate more in our
own lives here. Yeah, although that that discount on ramen
noodle sounds pretty good too. I would do whatever it
takes to get that, but including trading in my driver's license. Yeah,
(30:33):
but before you head down to see if the restaurant's interested,
why don't we work up an appetite with a quick
fact off. Yeah. So, one thing that's cool about Japan
is that they have all sorts of escalators. Right there
are massive and beautiful spiral escalators. There's the world's highest
(30:57):
escalator there. It's it's a little terrifying. It's between two
skyscrapers and Osaka, I believe. But my favorite of the escalators,
and the one I traveled to use, is actually the
Pucci Culator. That's what's called it's the world's shortest escalator
and it's just outside Tokyo. But due to some weird
construction flow, it's only about four or five steps tall,
(31:18):
so it's super short and it's uh, I guess it's
like half a short flight of stairs. But when I
looked into why they even bothered to build it. It
was because of this concept of service, So like helping
people not have to walk down four stairs even if
it's only four stairs, is still important to the culture.
That is so weird. I've never heard of this thing before.
(31:39):
But yeah, well here's the thing that feels unimaginable. So
do you know what happens when teachers are sick in
Japanese secondary schools? The school actually doesn't bring in a substitute. Instead,
the kids are just expected to stay there and quietly
spend the day studying. And it works. I mean, the
kids actually do this. Can you imagine that ever happening
(32:01):
in US school? Absolutely not so so I think you know,
I love the bullet train, and I didn't realize this,
but it's actually been around for fifty years now, and
part of the reason I love it is that's so efficient.
It's rarely more than I think twenty six seconds late,
like it makes the whole country super accessible for tourists.
But I especially love how safe it is and it
(32:23):
never seems to crash or have any fatalities like the
trains in the US. And that's partially because of Doctor Yellow.
Have you heard of Dr Yellow. So it's a yellow
train that travels at full speed, but it actually monitors
the rail conditions for safety. And because it doesn't have
a published schedule, people just love seeing it. They go
wild for it. It's like a lucky charm and and
(32:45):
sometimes they'll actually cheer for it or just smild wide
when they see it passing by. That's pretty great. All right. Well,
here's a quick one I think you might like. So
did you know that scientists in Japan have come up
with a banana with an edible peel? If you love bananas,
I know we've both like bananas but hate all the
time it takes to peel them, this is perfect for you.
Apparently the process involves freezing and thawing the plant, so
(33:08):
you do need to have a pretty cool climate there,
of course, but the benefit is that there aren't any
natural predators, so you don't have to spray the banana
with a ton of pesticides. That's pretty amazing. So, speaking
of strange fruit, did you know that they sell individual
strawberries and Japan. It's a really popular gift to give
someone for Valentine's Day and they come beautifully packed in
these individual cases. But they'll set you back ten or
(33:31):
eleven dollars for a single fruit or a lot of
like forty or fifty dollars for a cardon. So you
might be wondering what kind of strawberry is worth that
much money? And at least one of the varieties is
a kind of strawberry peach hybrid that kind of looks
like a giant strawberry, but it has notes of peach
and the bipe. And there's actually another one that's completely
white but supposedly has kind of a pineapple taste, Like
(33:53):
I kind of want to taste all of these, Oh
me too? All right, well, I think you're going to
like this when I know both of us love following
what comes out in the Ignoble Awards every year. But
did you know that Japanese scientists want of two thousand
sixteen Ignoble Prize for realizing that when you get this,
when you bend over and look between your legs, objects
look further away. I mean, this is this some real science,
(34:15):
but apparently your perception changes even though you're at the
same distance. But what's funny is that Japan has embraced
this scientific victory and there's some tourism platforms in front
of mountains and scenic areas where their handrails for you
to bend over and look at the landscape through your legs.
I'm not kidding about this. I mean, I guess it's
so you can appreciate it from even more of a
(34:35):
distance or something. I don't know, but I've got to
go check these out. That is amazing. And you know
I love anything that embraces real science, So right, I've
got to give you this week's trophy. All right, well,
thank you very much, and listeners, if you think we
need to know any great science as ridiculous as this,
or any facts that we forgot to share about Japan
today that you love, feel free to share those with
(34:56):
us part Time Genius at how stuff works dot com.
We always love hearing. You can also call our seven
fact hotline that's one eight four four pt Genius, or
hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks so much
for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is
(35:24):
a production of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible
without several brilliant people who do the important things we
couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the editing thing.
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the MIXI
mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gave.
Louesier is our lead researcher, with support from the Research
Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve.
(35:44):
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,
And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe
you could leave a good review for us. Could we
forget you? Jason? Who to keep the b
Guess what, Mango, what's that? Well, I know we've been
competing this week to see who could come up with
the best what's big in Japan? Thing? But I actually
have saved one for you. And did you know that
adult adoption is actually a pretty big thing in Japan.
In fact, most adoptions in Japan are adult adoptions. So
I don't think I even know what that means exactly. Well,
(00:21):
you know, sometimes it has to do with inheritance. So
say you've got a business owner who wants to keep
his business in the family, but I don't know, maybe
he thinks his kids are too lazy or not smart
enough to take it over. So the owner might select
an executive from that company and just adopt them, you know,
like to keep the business in the family. That's pretty funny.
I mean I have heard of people joking about adopting
(00:43):
college grads so that you have someone to take care
of you, you know, when you're older. But I mean
this is kind of surprising to me. Yeah, it is, well,
and and sometimes it's also just like this kick in
the pants that the business owners kids need to start
working harder, and it gets complicated. I guess with this
new sibling rivalry, But you of Japan is such a
fascinating place, and we thought we'd just take a deeper
(01:03):
dive into some of the customs and culture you might
not usually hear about. So let's dig ina. Hey there,
(01:30):
podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and as always I'm joined by my good friend Manges
Ticketer and on the other side of the soundproof glass,
super focused on his latest origami creation. That's our friend
and producer Tristan McNeil. So, so what's he working on?
Mango was trying to look is that? Is that a bear?
I think it's actually a sailboat. Oh okay, well it's
(01:50):
a very interesting sailboat. Keep it up, Tristan, it's looking
really good. All right. Well, today's show is all about
Japanese society and culture. But rather than taking a deep
dive into the nation's long history, or maybe focusing on
a single aspect of its culture, we're going to share
some of the strangest, most surprising things that we recently
learned about Japan. So where do you think we should start, Mango, Well,
(02:12):
I mean, something I think we should address up front
is this incredible balancing act that Japan does between the
past and the present. All right, so give me an
example of what you're what you're talking about. Well, one
simple example is that their smartphones are actually waterproof, and
this has existed in Japan for over a decade at
this point. Really, I feel like that's such a recent
technology here in the US, Like all the commercials last
(02:33):
year were so focused on that. Yeah, it really is.
And I actually saw this guy at the beach last
summer and he kept accidentally dropping his phone in the
water then like wiping it off and taking a picture,
And I guess he was doing it to like impress
the women around him were like some of the other
people he was with, and at first I was kind
of impressed too, But after like the third or fourth
time he dropped it, I was just rooting for the
(02:54):
ocean to take that phone away from Oh no kidding,
I would have done the same, But back to Japan. So,
the first waterproof smartphone rolled out way back in two
thousand five, and according to a number of electronics companies,
the reason waterproofing was introduced so early is that manufacturers
quickly learned that Japanese consumers were fond of taking phones
into the shower or bathtub with them. Wow. You know,
(03:16):
you always hear about screen addiction and how people are
finding it increasingly harder to disconnect from their phones, and
this kind of feels like the extreme of that exactly,
so that that's what I thought it was at first too,
especially when you hear like these reports of gamers and
how addicted they are to video games. But that's not
actually what's going on there. So waterproofing is really the
industry standard in Japan of all smartphones sold in the
(03:40):
country or waterproof and it's because of Japanese tradition. So
as you might have heard that time is really important
in Japan, like public bathhouses called cento. They've been pillars
of Japanese society pretty much from the start, and thanks
to the country's many volcanoes, they also have like I
want to say, it's like twenty thousand natural hot springs
on the country for people to soak in well, And
(04:02):
are their traditions around these or what? Yeah, I mean,
partially it's just the health benefits, right, like the warm
water improved circulation and it relieves stiff joints. But there's
also the social intimacy that comes from sharing a bath,
you know, with other members of your community. So today,
most Japanese people still take frequent hot baths as a
way to undwind, and the waterproofing was basically a compromise
(04:22):
to bridge the old traditions with the new ones. Basically,
most Japanese citizens were on board with having this new
type of technology, you know, something that you carry around
with you all the time, as long as they could
take them into the tub with them. That's pretty interesting.
And you know, that's something I actually came across while
doing my research, and that's the idea of big companies
having to bend to old Japan, you know, and and
(04:44):
find a way to operate within that existing social framework.
So how do you mean exactly? Well, one thing is
that Japan places a high value on hospitality and that
extends the company, is not just individuals. So you know,
there's this expectation among Japanese consumers that companies are going
to go above and be on just to accommodate them
and any of their needs. And there's a great example
(05:04):
of this, and that's the Japanese auto industry. So according
to the country's Automobile Dealers Association, Japanese brands account for
nearly nine of the cars sold there in Japan, and
all of that thanks to the hospitality services. Well, it
actually is a big part of it. Yeah, you know
that the relationship between car dealers and their customers is
very different in Japan than it is here, and as
(05:26):
a result of that, Japanese consumers are used to this
high level of service that American dealerships have yet to
really invest in, either at home or even over there. Now.
The Atlantic did an article about this last year, and
it included this great description of a typical car buying
experience in Tokyo, and it really kind of explains how
deep this custom goes. So the author of the story rights,
(05:47):
the last time Shujiro Urada wanted to buy a car
in Japan, his phone happened to ring. It was the
local Toyota dealer. On the phone asked him if he
was thinking about buying a new car, and so he
replied in the affirmative, and the dealer and a co
workers showed up at Eada's doorstep an hour later with
two demo cars, which Urada and his wife test drove
around the neighborhood. Theorada has decided to buy a car
(06:09):
from this dealer. The dealer also handles their car insurance,
coming to their home whenever the insurance contract needs to
be renewed. Theorada is bringing their car to the dealer
every few weeks for a free car wash, or they
hang out and talk to the employees who kind of
become their friends. Japanese customers also expect to receive services
like free maintenance from their dealers after they buy their cars.
(06:31):
When their cars need to check up, the dealer comes
and picks them up, does work on them, and then
returns them. I mean, I kind of want that service, right.
It's insane, But is that why American car companies haven't
taken off their like because of that service element. It's
a bigger part of it than you think. And if
these added services are just too costly and I don't know,
maybe complicated for American car companies to even bother with.
(06:54):
In fact, Ford pulled out of the Japanese market altogether
back in two thousand and sixteen. That's because they'd like
five thousand cars or so on average in any given
year then, and General Motors now has fewer than thirty
dealerships in all of Japan. All of this despite the
fact that Japan is actually the third largest auto market
in the world, behind of course the US and China.
(07:15):
Oh that's crazy. I had no idea is that big?
So is this just a U S thing? Like, is
it a problem for the U S? Or is this
a problem for other manufacturers around the world as well? Well?
Not exactly. I mean European car dealers and Mercedes and
BMW in particular, they've made significant strides in the Japanese
market over the past few years. And as you might expect,
they pulled this off by embracing this idea of hospitality. Now,
(07:37):
BMW spent like seven hundred million dollars updating its dealer
network in Japan back in two thousand and sixteen. And
this was also that customers are treated to a lot
of the same services and perks that they're used to there,
and the company's sales are actually on the rise as
a result of this. So I've got to say I'm
pretty envious. And it's not just the service, Like I
kind of admire how the culture makes huge companies work
(08:00):
for them. I mean, can you imagine getting that kind
of service from like your cable bill provider or your
cell phone provider. Yeah, and it's pretty incredible. So the
American cars haven't been a hit with the Japanese, but
there is at least one American export that they have
taken to, and that's baseball. That Japan is not one,
but two professional baseball leagues, as well as countless high
(08:20):
school and university leagues across the country. So all sumo
wrestling might be the sport most closely associated with Japan.
Baseball is actually the most popular by far, and it's
watched and played by more people in Japan than any
other sport, which is insane. So I I knew Japan
love baseball, but I didn't think it had gotten that big,
and I do want to hear about it, but I
(08:41):
can't pass up the chance to share one of my
all time favorite Suma facts, which I jogged down in
my margins with an asterix in my notes. I think
I have a feeling I know which one this one is.
Is this the crying babies thing? Mega spoiler alert? But yeah,
I've got to share it. So for listeners, there's this
four year old ceremony in Japan where once a year,
(09:03):
parents bring their infants to shrines, so that Suma wrestlers
can try to make them cry. It's amazing. But the
ceremony is part of the Naki Zumo festival and it's
believed to bring good health to the babies and help
ward off evil spirits. Well I feel like maybe I
blocked this out because I don't remember. But but how
do the wrestlers try to make them cry again? Well,
(09:26):
each wrestler takes a baby and ideally gets the kid
to ball just by kind of bouncing them up and
down in the suma ring. But everyone has their own technique,
so like a wrestler might make funny faces or even
growl at the baby a little bit, and then after
a few seconds, if nothing's worked, a referee will actually
step in wearing a traditional face mask, and that's what
(09:46):
does the trick like a referee. So is this more
of a ceremony or a competition? Well, I mean it
is an event that happens all over the country, so
the exact rules vary from region to region. So at
this one shrine in Tokyo they call it baby chry
sumo that it's strictly a ceremony. In some places, the
babies actually do compete against each other to see who
(10:07):
will cry first, and whoever cries first is declared the loser.
I still can't believe Japan has this competition where babies
are pitted against one another by suma arrest. I do
love that there is such a thing, but it's still
pretty nuts. Yeah, I mean it does make you wonder
why they even bother with baseball. M Well, I do
(10:28):
want to get back to exactly how and why baseball
has becomes so big in Japan, but before we do,
let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time
Genius and we're talking about some surprising features of Japanese culture.
(10:52):
So well, I know you're itching to explain the origins
of Japanese baseball, but first I just have to tell
you about a story I found while researching KFC in
Japan's Love Affair with It. But don't worry, because it's
actually a baseball story too. So you know how in
American baseball we have these curses that crop up from
time to time. Yeah, of course, you've got the Cubs
and their Billy Goat, and the Red Sox and the
(11:13):
Curse of the Ambino and all sorts of curses like
this exactly, and and Apparently that baseball tradition carried over
to Japan because they have the same kind of thing.
And probably my favorite curse of all time involves a
team called the Hanshin Tigers and a statue of KFC
founder Colonel Sanders. So the story goes back in the
Tigers won the Japan Championship Series, which is the Japanese
(11:36):
equivalent of the World Series, and to celebrate big wins
like that, Tigers fans had this tradition where they would
gather on a certain bridge in Osaka read the names
of all the winning team members out loud, and then
as each name was called, a fan who resembled that
player would actually jump off the bridge into the river.
I mean, this is already weirder than the Babe Ruth curse.
(11:57):
And and I'm a little confused here. So is the
whole fan base made up of guys who just look
like these players or what? Yeah? I mean, I think
it was more of a close enough thing. But the
problem was in eight five, none of the Japanese fans
looked anything like the team's m v P. Who's this
American guy named Randy Bass? And so this is where
KFC comes in because the fans were desperate to find
(12:19):
a Randy Bass look alike, and when they couldn't find
when they spied the statue of the KFC mascot. It
kind of looked close enough, so they snatched the colonel
dressed into Randy Bass jersey and chucked it off the
bridge into the river as they spoke his name out loud. Wow.
And if you were trying to just make up, like,
what is the most American name you could come up
with just like Randy Bass away. So so I don't
(12:44):
understand who put the curse on the team. Is it
the owner of the KFC or Randy Bass? I mean, actually,
by the way, I just googled and sadly, Randy bast
does not look much like the colonel at all. I
mean that makes it better actually, But the curse was
from the colonel himself. So the real Colonel Sanders, I
want to say, like, passed away five years earlier, and so,
(13:04):
according to the legend, his spirit was so pissed about
the Tigers fans desecrating his statue that he cursed their
beloved team to never win a championship again. And it
must have been a potent curse because thirty three years later,
the Tigers have yet to win, despite making it to
the playoffs multiple times. Wow, So has anybody ever tried
just putting the statue back, you know, just to a
(13:26):
peace Sanders, I guess yeah. So, once a few years
had gone by and it became clear that, you know,
the team had been cursed by the ghost of an
American chicken salesman, fans tried all kinds of ways to
affuse them, so they apologized to the KFC manager. They
they mounted a few failed dives to the bottom of
the river to try to find the statue, and then
(13:47):
in two thousand nine, divers actually found and recovered the
Colonel statue. I mean, his glasses and left hand were missing,
but otherwise he was pretty intact. So so the Tigers
were hopeful once more, and it fact, the manager of
the team held a press conference where he told the press,
when I heard the statue had been found, I felt
that losing history had ended. I do think if the
(14:11):
Cubs could win a series, I have to believe the
Tigers will get there sooner or later. But all right, Well,
if the KFC curse tells us anything, it's that baseball
is this unexpected source of overlap between Japanese and American culture,
of course, And so I did some digging to find
out how the Japanese first fell in love with baseball,
and the story actually goes all the way back to
(14:31):
the eighteen hundreds. And now this was during the Meiji era,
and this was this period when Japan was moving away
from its isolationist roots and trying to adopt these more
western customs as a result of this. Now, one person
often gets credited for introducing baseball to Japan, and that's
Professor Horace Wilson. And he was an American who taught
English at the university in Tokyo, and at some point,
(14:54):
I think it was in the eighteen seventies, he started
introducing his students to baseball because he decided they needed
to get more exercise in their lives. But I mean,
isn't there plenty of sports opportunity in Japan, like martial
arts and winter sports, and you know, we talked about sumo. Yeah,
I have thought the same thing, But there was one
part of this that I had not really thought about. So,
so here's the thing that sports native to Japan or
(15:16):
super popular in Japan, or that sumo or karate or
several others. You know, they're mostly one on one activities. So,
despite the fact that Japan is a pretty highly group
based culture, for whatever weird reason, the country actually hadn't
developed that many teams sports of their own. That's crazy.
I'd actually never thought about that. So is that one
of the things that helped baseball catch on? Definitely? And
(15:39):
like I said, so much of Japanese culture is built
around this idea that the group is the central unit
of society. So whether it's your family, your neighbors, or
your classmates. So a team sport like baseball was naturally
appealing to many people once word of it spread, and
actually spread pretty quickly. So in eighteen seventy eight, just
a few years after Horace Wilson taught his students how
(15:59):
to play by baseball, the Japanese railway engineer organized the
very first Japanese baseball team, the Shinbashi Athletic Club Athletics.
That's an amazing name. Yeah, well, Japan did get better
at naming things than today. There are several professional baseball
teams there and it's not that different from the American
mascot name. So to go along with the Tigers, You've
(16:21):
got things like the buffaloes, the hawks, the carp as
well as you know a few mythical creatures like the
dragons and the giants. But there is something interesting about
the naming there. And we mentioned earlier that the team
was called the Hanschen Tigers. But Hanchen isn't actually a city,
so I mean, is it a village or a hamlet
or something. No, So that's one difference between American and
(16:42):
Japanese baseball. Hanchen is actually a railway company. So while
American teams are privately owned and named for cities that
support them, Japanese teams are named for the corporations that
own them. So while we have the San Francisco Giants,
Japan has the Yamiuri Giants, which are named for the
Yamiori newspaper company there. That's pretty interesting, though, I do
(17:03):
feel like I'm missing a piece of the history here.
So how did Japanese baseball go from being a college
sport to a national pastime that has these massive companies
bankrolling the teams? Well after eighteen seventy eight you started
to see these other teams popping up in Japan, and
for the next ten years, baseball continued to gain popularity
at these Japanese universities. The game mostly stayed on campuses
(17:23):
until well after the turn of the century, but then
in the early thirties, and American ballplayer named Lefty o'duel
started touring these Japanese universities with a small team of
American players. How baseball of a name is that left odual.
So they were giving lessons to Japanese players and holding
these exhibition games every year from nineteen thirty three to
(17:44):
nineteen thirty seven. And these exhibitions could be massive, so
sometimes they played the crowds of more than sixty thousand people. Wow.
And so y four in particular was this very important
year for Japanese baseball, and this was the year that
left he brought over this all star American team. That
this team included players like Luke Garrig, Lefty Gomez, Earl Whitehill,
(18:05):
Babe Ruth himself, and so Japan organized its own dream
team to face them, but left his crew handily defeated
them in all eighteen of the games that they played.
I mean that sounds awful, right, like, like why would
you want to take up a sport after that? Sort
of humiliation. Well, so there was a moment during those
eighteen games when something truly special happened. There was a
(18:26):
Japanese picture named Agi Sawamora, and he managed to strike
out Charlie Garringer, Babe Ruth, Luke Garrick, and Jimmy Fox
all in a row. So, even though the team ultimately lost,
Sauermember became this national hero overnight, like the country saw
what was possible, and baseball became more popular than ever.
In fact, organizers rode that wave of public enthusiasm and
(18:49):
just two years later they formed Japan's very first professional
baseball team. And as I thank you to Lefty o'duel,
the New York Giant who helped spark the baseball fire
in Japan, the newly formed team named itself the Giants
in his honor. I love that. And there's actually another
unexpected big in Japan craze that I want to talk about.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break,
(19:22):
all right, Mega, So it's my turn for a quick tangent.
So we both heard the phrase big in Japan, but
I just wanted to take a second to talk about
where the phrase actually comes from. Yeah, I mean I
think it's like a music industry term, right, Like I
remember bands growing up who didn't hit the charts in
the US, but I would always point to their number
ones in Asia saying they're big in Japan. Yeah, that's right.
(19:43):
But there's actually an origin story here, and so the
idea goes back to the fifties and the sixties when
Japanese youth started getting hooked on British and American music. So,
for example, there was this rock band from the States
called The Ventures, and by the early nineteen sixties, the
band was less fashionable in the U US, so they
tried touring Japan, and to their surprise, the country went
(20:04):
crazy for them, quickly becoming the group's most devoted fan base.
In fact, the Ventures continued to tour Japan every year
until two thousand and fifteen, and today their albums have
outsold the Beatles two to one. There isn't that crazy crazy?
So I mean, I guess big in Japan started out
as kind of a compliment. Well, I don't know about
(20:25):
a compliment, but it definitely started out the way you
and I have been using and it's just to acknowledge
the fact, like this band is big in Japan. But
you know, by the seventies and eighties, the phrase was
just being used more mockingly, and it kind of came
to represent the snobbish perception that Japanese consumers were maybe
attracted lesser artists or something like that. But there's actually
even a joke at the end of this is spinal tap.
(20:46):
I don't know if you remember this, but the Washtup
band reunites for a second chance at fame and goes
on this Japanese tour. You know, I've forgotten that, and
I've always thought of that line is more of a lie,
like it's the guy who claims to have a girlfriend
at camp in Canada. You know. It's like, I guess
I never even considered all this cultural condescension. That's pretty interesting,
(21:09):
And maybe that's partially because they're all these great musicians,
especially jazz artists, who are a little overlooked in the
States but have been super popular in Japan for decades.
And I looked into this a little and it's kind
of amazing. So unlike rock music, which was this late
import to Japan, jazz actually came up in the country
around the same time and emerged in the US well
(21:30):
I knew Japan had a thing for jazz. I mean,
it comes up all the time and Murrakami's novels, and
I think was a big inspiration for him to become
a writer in the first place. But but I actually
figured it's had something to do with like World War
Two and it catching on after that. Yeah, so that
would have been my guest too. But I've read this
great interview that NPR did with the jazz historian named E.
Taylor Atkins, who explained that the music actually made its
(21:53):
way to Japan as early as the nineteen tens. Oh wow,
that early. So so how did it get there? Well,
so you've got to remember this is the decade of
the Titanic, right, and so they are these luxury ocean
liners that are already taking wealthy passengers back and forth
across the Pacific, you know, from West coast ports to
places like Manila and Shanghai and of course Japan. And
(22:13):
it was common for these ships to have orchestras on
board as entertainment. So when a Japanese ocean liners stopped
at a port in San Francisco or Seattle, the musicians
would hop out and check out the local music scene.
They'd buy sheet music or records and even visit clubs
to hear the locals play. And so what you had
were all these Japanese musicians who were learned to play
music that was popular in major US cities. And at
(22:35):
the time, nothing was more popular than jazz oh wow.
And so so how did the music make it off
the boats and into the country. So a lot of
these cruise musicians also worked in hotel lobbies or restaurants
in the off season, and that gave them plenty of
opportunities to practice what they've picked up abroad. So you know,
they'd play in these locations and and then they were
simultaneously introducing the country to this new sound. That's pretty cool,
(22:58):
all right. So I want to switch years and go
back to something we touched on at the top of
the show, and that's this idea of Japanese culture as
this balancing act. So far, we've talked about in terms
of like new technology versus these older traditions, as well
as like the western influence and the country's own culture.
But another place we kind of see this balancing act
is about the young and the old, and so we
(23:20):
alluded to this earlier, but Japan potentially has a crisis
on its hands because more than a quarter of the
countries a hundred and twenty seven million people are sixty
five or older, and that proportion is actually only expected
to rise. Some researchers are predicting that forty of Japan's
population will be over the age of sixty five by
the year twenties sixty. So, just to put that in perspective,
(23:43):
a Japanese diaper maker name Una Charm reports that adult
diapers now out sell baby diapers. That's crazy, and you've
got to think the impact on the labor market alone
is pretty scary. Yeah, it definitely is. But you know,
it also provides this rare chance to see how an
industrialized nation addres us is that kind of population shift. So,
for example, in late two thousand and sixteen, Japan began
(24:05):
launching programs aimed at coaxing elderly drivers to hand over
their driver's license. And that's because even though the overall
number of traffic accidents in the country has actually gone
down in recent years, the number of accidents involving drivers
over the age of seventy five has seen a dramatic increase.
I think it went from about seven percent to thirtent
over the past decade. Now that's almost double. And of course,
(24:28):
Japan being Japan, they're not about to forcibly strip the
elderly of their licenses. So instead they've had to get
a little creative. So how they convince people to stop driving,
well by doing something that would probably work on us too,
and that's to give them discounts on ramen noodles. I
mean that sounds kind of like a joke, right, It
sounds like a joke, but it's not. So this is
(24:48):
coming from a district in central Japan and and basically
this restaurant chain it started to provide these lifelong fifteen
percent discounts at all one hundred and seventy six of
their locations, and the of course to anyone over the
age of seventy five who's turned in their license. But
this isn't the only one, so there's similar incentive campaigns
that have launched all over the country. Some offer discounts
(25:10):
on public baths or haircuts, or bus or taxifairs. And
the plan seems to be working. So they've had over
a quarter million people in Japan that have given up
their licenses and two thousand sixteen alone, and this is
all thanks to this Ramen noodle discount, which I'm sure
more of these will follow. Well, I mean, I found
another way that chefs are helping Japan cope with its
(25:31):
aging population, and that's what's something called choke proof food.
So this is something I hadn't really thought about before.
But swallowing becomes harder and harder as you age, and
obviously this becomes an even bigger problem when such a
large portion of your population is elderly. In fact, according
to a report in The New York Times, more Japanese
people now die from choking than they do in all
(25:52):
those traffic accidents you mentioned earlier. Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
I mean, I can definitely see why there'd be a
market for choke proof food. How exactly does it work
and and what is it? Yeah, so it starts out
as regular food items, so you're thinking about things like
grilled salmon or dumplings. But once the food is prepared,
it's thrown into a blender. And I know what you're thinking.
(26:14):
This is way less gross than the story I told
you about Lizzie's grandmam who was having like a toothache,
so she blended her salad and pizza into a shake
and just kept telling everyone it's all going into the
same place, so don't worry. She's not wrong about that
to taste gross. But here the food is kept separate
and mixed with a new kind of jelling agent, so
the gel actually allows the food to be reshaped so
(26:36):
that it resembles the way it originally looked. So basically,
choke proof food is this new way of making puade
food more appetizing. It isn't like flavorless mush. Instead, you
got something that looks and actually taste normal, with the
added bonus of being easy to swallow. And if it
catches on, like the hope is that Japan's elderly will
be able to hold onto their meal time independence for
(26:56):
a little bit longer. Like they can simply head to
a restaurant on and order their good food prepared in
this style, and it's called ange i guess, which is
Japanese for swallowing. That is a pretty great idea and
I hope that that works for them. But you know,
one of the things I like about these campaigns and
how Japan looks out for its elderly is that it
reflects the group based mentality that we were talking about earlier,
(27:18):
you know, that kind of all for one approach to society.
That's something that's instilled in Japanese citizens from the start.
I was actually reading this interesting article in the Atlantic
about the high level of independence that Japanese kids seem
to have, and apparently it's really common to see kids
as young as six or seven out on their own
in Japanese towns and cities. Yeah, so we talked a
little bit about this in our education episode, where there's
(27:40):
a system to help kids walk alone to school from
I think it's from first grade on and they're actually
walking a few miles, right, Yeah, that's right, And you know,
sometimes they're heading to or from school, but other times
they're actually out running errands for their parents, and it's
kind of this right of passage in Japan. In fact,
you know how the country is famous for its outrageous
game shows and all these weird reality shows. Well, there's
(28:02):
actually a popular show that translates as My First Errand,
and it's basically this hidden camera show where kids just
as young as like two or three are sent out
to run an errand for their family. That sounds crazy,
so I'm guessing the kids have no idea they're being
recorded at that age. Oh, of course not. They have
no idea, And I mean they cameramen are right out
(28:22):
in the open at some points, but the kids are
so frantic or anxious that they never noticed the supervision.
And so I actually watched an episode and sometimes it's funny,
but it can be brutal. But the one I saw
this little boy and his younger sister out on an
errand to pick up groceries, and they had to go
to a few different shops and already you can see
how hard this is right for these kids, and they
(28:43):
can barely remember the names of the items. I mean,
they're tiny. And this little boy that was watching, he
was so cute, and he had this melt down once
they were like a block away from their house. He
actually had to stop and compose himself in an alleyway
and then keep going. And meanwhile, there's this laugh track
in a panel of not judges but commentators, I guess,
and it all feels like some kind of surreal psychological experiment.
(29:08):
But my first are and it isn't some new reality
TV thing. It's been on air for almost thirty years. Now, So,
I mean, this sounds equal parts hilarious and bizarre, But
how does it relate to being group minded? Like, if anything,
these kids seem independent, right right, Well, that's the thing.
I mean. According to Dwyane Dixon, who's this cultural anthropologist,
it's it's not self sufficiency that we're seeing, but group reliance.
(29:32):
As he puts it, Japanese kids learned early on that
ideally any member of the community can be called on
to serve or help others. And as you see on
the show I watched, they are grocers and shopkeepers, even
regular people on the street, and they're all eager to
help the kids with directions or counting coins. And the
idea is that whether you're a family member or a stranger,
(29:52):
young or old, we're kind of we're all in this together,
you know. I like that. I can actually see why
it's popular. So I guess we saw that in the
school's episode two, right, like where students take turns serving
lunch their classmates, or that there aren't any janitors there
because all the kids devote twenty minutes each day to
cleaning up. That's pretty amazing. Yeah, And I love that
(30:13):
there's this personal responsibility for shared spaces, and it's one
of the most pleasantly unusual things about Japanese culture and
and definitely when I wish we'd emulate more in our
own lives here. Yeah, although that that discount on ramen
noodle sounds pretty good too. I would do whatever it
takes to get that, but including trading in my driver's license. Yeah,
(30:33):
but before you head down to see if the restaurant's interested,
why don't we work up an appetite with a quick
fact off. Yeah. So, one thing that's cool about Japan
is that they have all sorts of escalators. Right there
are massive and beautiful spiral escalators. There's the world's highest
(30:57):
escalator there. It's it's a little terrifying. It's between two
skyscrapers and Osaka, I believe. But my favorite of the escalators,
and the one I traveled to use, is actually the
Pucci Culator. That's what's called it's the world's shortest escalator
and it's just outside Tokyo. But due to some weird
construction flow, it's only about four or five steps tall,
(31:18):
so it's super short and it's uh, I guess it's
like half a short flight of stairs. But when I
looked into why they even bothered to build it. It
was because of this concept of service, So like helping
people not have to walk down four stairs even if
it's only four stairs, is still important to the culture.
That is so weird. I've never heard of this thing before.
(31:39):
But yeah, well here's the thing that feels unimaginable. So
do you know what happens when teachers are sick in
Japanese secondary schools? The school actually doesn't bring in a substitute. Instead,
the kids are just expected to stay there and quietly
spend the day studying. And it works. I mean, the
kids actually do this. Can you imagine that ever happening
(32:01):
in US school? Absolutely not so so I think you know,
I love the bullet train, and I didn't realize this,
but it's actually been around for fifty years now, and
part of the reason I love it is that's so efficient.
It's rarely more than I think twenty six seconds late,
like it makes the whole country super accessible for tourists.
But I especially love how safe it is and it
(32:23):
never seems to crash or have any fatalities like the
trains in the US. And that's partially because of Doctor Yellow.
Have you heard of Dr Yellow. So it's a yellow
train that travels at full speed, but it actually monitors
the rail conditions for safety. And because it doesn't have
a published schedule, people just love seeing it. They go
wild for it. It's like a lucky charm and and
(32:45):
sometimes they'll actually cheer for it or just smild wide
when they see it passing by. That's pretty great. All right. Well,
here's a quick one I think you might like. So
did you know that scientists in Japan have come up
with a banana with an edible peel? If you love bananas,
I know we've both like bananas but hate all the
time it takes to peel them, this is perfect for you.
Apparently the process involves freezing and thawing the plant, so
(33:08):
you do need to have a pretty cool climate there,
of course, but the benefit is that there aren't any
natural predators, so you don't have to spray the banana
with a ton of pesticides. That's pretty amazing. So, speaking
of strange fruit, did you know that they sell individual
strawberries and Japan. It's a really popular gift to give
someone for Valentine's Day and they come beautifully packed in
these individual cases. But they'll set you back ten or
(33:31):
eleven dollars for a single fruit or a lot of
like forty or fifty dollars for a cardon. So you
might be wondering what kind of strawberry is worth that
much money? And at least one of the varieties is
a kind of strawberry peach hybrid that kind of looks
like a giant strawberry, but it has notes of peach
and the bipe. And there's actually another one that's completely
white but supposedly has kind of a pineapple taste, Like
(33:53):
I kind of want to taste all of these, Oh
me too? All right, well, I think you're going to
like this when I know both of us love following
what comes out in the Ignoble Awards every year. But
did you know that Japanese scientists want of two thousand
sixteen Ignoble Prize for realizing that when you get this,
when you bend over and look between your legs, objects
look further away. I mean, this is this some real science,
(34:15):
but apparently your perception changes even though you're at the
same distance. But what's funny is that Japan has embraced
this scientific victory and there's some tourism platforms in front
of mountains and scenic areas where their handrails for you
to bend over and look at the landscape through your legs.
I'm not kidding about this. I mean, I guess it's
so you can appreciate it from even more of a
(34:35):
distance or something. I don't know, but I've got to
go check these out. That is amazing. And you know
I love anything that embraces real science, So right, I've
got to give you this week's trophy. All right, well,
thank you very much, and listeners, if you think we
need to know any great science as ridiculous as this,
or any facts that we forgot to share about Japan
today that you love, feel free to share those with
(34:56):
us part Time Genius at how stuff works dot com.
We always love hearing. You can also call our seven
fact hotline that's one eight four four pt Genius, or
hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks so much
for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is
(35:24):
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without several brilliant people who do the important things we
couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the editing thing.
Noel Brown made the theme song and does the MIXI
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Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve.
(35:44):
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
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