This comparison will be snappy quick and simple. Japan just
doesn't stand a chance against the USA in the beer arena.
Japanese Beer is Too Expensive
Japan does make some great-tasting beer, but unfortunately
tobacco-loving Japanese politicians decided to tax the crap out of
it,
building a massive barrier to my regular beer enjoyment (unless you're paying). Beer
isn't
good for you, but cigarettes make a much more appropriate taxation
target. Cigarettes are both bad for you and annoy others
around
you. Beer at least doesn't give off carcinogenic fumes.
I
digress.
To skirt the beer tax and improve sales, Japanese brewers release
cheap
During my recent trip back to the States, I engaged in an engaging
conversation with a learned compatriot, the staunchly patriotic
father of one of my best friends. I bragged about my enjoyment
of the current strong yen / weak dollar situation. I am a rich
man in my home country--almost as rich as Scrooge McDuck from "Duck
Tales." As such, I spoiled myself with flower pedal walkways,
palm leaf fan-downs, direct-to-mouth grape feedings, and many a
decadent shopping spree during my visit. I even bought a pony!
My learned compatriot asserted that the dollar is not weak.
How can it be when a single dollar purchases 78 yen? Meeting
the first person not to be
I admit that I'm an anal person. I'm never late, obsessively
tidy, impeccably organized, and borderline OCD. I'm not
without vices, however. I drink rum like a pirate and am sadly
addicted to nori potato chips. Getting back to the
point--maybe the reason Japan and I click so well is because it's
just as anal as I am. Take their airports, for example...
NRT to LAX
Departing Narita airport I embarked for my hometown of Los
Angeles. ANA's internet check-in was a godsend, and Narita's
attached shopping paradise made short work of killing the mounds of
spare time I inevitably allow myself. The most pertinent perk
for me, though, was the immigration line. As you'd expect, it
was long; but it moved faster than a Shinkansen high on the finest
Colombian coffee. Every single
They're 2 things that I honestly don't think about much and things
that Japan isn't really known for, but for that very reason they
deserve befitting acknowledgement. Before moving to Japan I
never realized that Japan is really really good at building stuff
and really really good at making mouth-watering sauce.
Construction
Ask any 9.0 earthquake and he'll tell you that Japan knows what
they're doing when it comes to constructing durable buildings.
I used to wonder why their 50-story apartment buildings all look
like drab concrete boxes in want of stylish European flair.
Now I know. Stylish flair comes at a very expensive price that
Japan is not willing to pay--and rightly so. Japan shakes more
than a hyper-powered vibrator high on Jolt cola, so it makes perfect
sense to
My image of Japan before moving here was that of a polite and
reserved
culture that treasures quiet and subtlety. Boy was I
wrong.
Japan can be louder than a rock concert held at a jet engine testing
facility, and I'm shocked with what people can get away with
here. While the US strictly enforces various
disturbing-the-peace
laws, Japan either lacks such laws or fails to enforce
them. Either way, Japan would vastly improve itself if only it
could attenuate the volume.
Japan needs to ban noisy political
vans.
I dread election season in Japan. Political party vans suited
with massive horn speakers stroll through the neighborhood blasting
cacophonic candidate promotion and rambling propaganda.
Multiple
vans drown each other out so that any single intended message
becomes a
eardrum-busting stew of noise. It's the most obnoxious form of
