You know you are in Japan when...

It's about time to start writing about what this blog was meant for in the first place... The differences between Japanese life and what we're used to. There's no systemic thinking here, and no prioritized list of what should be described first. Just a stream of snippets that come to mind. Let's give it a try...

ABOUT RECYCLING
Because Japan does not have space to dump large amounts of garbage, the rules for garbage disposal and recycling are endless (and ruthless). However, no efforts are made to reduce the amount of food packaging. A groceries bag from the supermarket resembles Russian matrioshka dolls: a large plastic bag contains two or three smaller plastic bags which contain other plastic-sealed containers, which contain individually wrapped portions of whatever. It takes an average 3 to 4 layers of packaging, wrapping and padding to eat an apple.

ABOUT EDUCATION
A newspaper headline last week pointed out that 66 schools in Japan were singled out for deciding not to teach students one particular subject. The subject: world history. The reason: to save time. (Note: foreign population in Japan is 2%).

ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY
The headquarters office of a design and manufacturing company with over 10,000 white-collar employees has two (yes, TWO) female managers. Both are foreigners.

ABOUT VACATIONS
Vacation days are a burden that gets in the way of getting the job done. Employees usually "burn" vacation days whenever the boss is out of the office. That way the chance of creating any inconvenience by not being at one's desk is minimized. Foreigners' habit of taking long vacations puzzles and is a source of stress for Japanese people -- beyond those who might be affected by such inconvenience. This is a conversation I had with a customs officer at Kansai airport when returning from a trip:

Customs officer: Where are you coming from?
Me: India
Customs officer: How long were you there?
Me: 3 weeks
Customs officer: Purpose of the trip?
Me: Vacation
Customs officer (suddenly pale and shaking his head): You were ON VACATION for 3 WEEKS!!!!
... And he waves his hand signaling that I should move on before he gets a nervous meltdown...

ABOUT DINING OUT
No matter how large the dining party, there is always ONE menu at each table in restaurants. Given that service and food quality are consistently high (service in particular is light years ahead of any country I've been to) we couldn't understand the oversight... Why make people take turns looking at the menu??? So we asked a Japanese friend. Here's the explanation:
When you go to a restaurant, the most senior person (senior in age, which usually means also in rank) gets the menu first and picks what to eat. And everyone else orders the same thing! So why would you ever need more than one menu?