Top 5 cool (but weird) things in Japan

There are so many crazy cool things about Japan that I had a hard time picking my top 5. Begin the countdown...

 

5. Ramen counter restaurants

This is the Japanese version of fast food or a greasy spoon diner. When you enter, you punch what you want into this machine and it prints your ticket which you hand to the guy who is the greeter, the cook, and the server. If I were an entrepreneur in America, I would love to open a ramen counter restaurant. Most Japanese restaurants in the U.S. serve expensive sushi, so a ramen counter restaurant would fill the equivalent niche that Panda Express does for Chinese food in the U.S. You don't really have to talk to anyone, and you can enjoy a filling meal for cheap. It's the American dream.

 

4. Umbrellas on bikes

When we were in Osaka for the New Year it rained every day. We observed an impressive display of umbrellas on bikes, with Japanese people like Mary Poppins, somehow pulling an umbrella out of their bags at any time. Biking is more popular in Japanese cities than even in hipster Minneapolis. Although riding with an umbrella is hands-free, it is technically against traffic regulations because it impedes sight. However, it is not an enforced policy. 

 

3. Heated toilet seats
When is the last time you sat on a warm toilet seat? Was it in the public restroom at the mall? While warm toilet seats might evoke the feeling that someone's butt had occupied the same spot only seconds before, heated toilet seats come in at #3 on my cool things in Japan list. Japanese toilets themselves are pretty amazing: front and rear bidets and sound effects to mask your noises. But houses and apartments usually don't have central heating, so when you wake up in the middle of the night for a pee and your heater is off, heated toilet seats make it so that you aren't shocked awake by an icicle seat. Instead, the warmth touches your buns as you do your business, relaxed, before heading back to bed. 

 

2. Heated drinks (and soup) in vending machines

The vending machine phenomenon in Japan is often criticized. The energy-sucking eyesores line the city streets of Japan, but their convenience cannot be denied.  There are roughly 5.5 million vending machines here: the highest density in the world. Since walking, biking, and public transportation are more common, vending machines are useful for pedestrians. Whether you're headed home after a long day of work and need to chug a corn soup or adzuki bean soup, or you're starting your drive across a snowy mountain pass and need a coffee to keep you focused, vending machines are there. And there are usually 5-10 heated items!

 

1. Kotatsu aka "The Winter Devil"

Maybe the United States is home to Snuggies and USB-powered socks, but they can't boast anything as cool as the kotatsu: table meets electric blanket. The table frame is designed with a built-in heater, on top of which a futon blanket is draped, and then a tabletop is placed.  Sittin' in chairs ain't got nothin' on this. Plus, it helps save a fortune in energy costs, because it heats the area around your body, rather than your entire house! However, its nickname is "The Winter Devil" because it creates the hikkikumori effect: never leaving your house or for that matter, the warmth of your kotatsu.

 

Okay, so my top three is clearly being influenced by the fact that I am stuck in the depths of Hokkaido winter. I had to leave a lot of things out of my top 5. My honorable mention is the innovative packaging on noodle bowls and onigiri. It is very cleverly designed, but not foolproof. A visitor to Japan once asked me, “How do I open this sandwich package?”

I wonder, what things do you find cool and useful in Japan or other countries?