Fan Favorite: What are the Greatest Things We Just Learned about Japan?

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 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 the new sibling rivalry. But you know, Japan is such a fascinating place and we thought we'd just take a deeper dive into some of the customs and culture you might not usually hear about. So let's dig in ya. Hey there,

podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend man Guesh 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? Mangoes trying to look? Is that? Is that a bear? I think it's actually a sailboat. Oh okay, well it's 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, 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 year,

we're 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 ocean to take that phone away from 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, 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. Two, especially when you hear like these reports of gamers and how addicted they are the 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 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 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 thou natural hot springs around the country for people to soak in well, And 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 unwind, and the waterproofing was basically a compromise 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 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 beyond just to accommodate them and any of their needs. And there's a great example of this, and that's the Japanese auto industry. So, according to the country's automobile dealers, Association.

Japanese brands account for nearly n of the cars sold there in Japan, and all of that's 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 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, 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 we replied in the affirmative, and the dealer and a co worker showed up at Eada's doorstep an hour later with two demo cars, which Urada and his wife test drove around the neighborhood. Theoradas decided to buy a car 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. 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 these added services are just too costly and I don't know, maybe complicated for American car companies to even bother with. In fact, Ford pulled out of the Japanese market altogether

back in two thousand and sixteen. That's because they've sold 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. 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. 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 admire how the culture makes huge companies work 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 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 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 of my notes. I think I have a feeling I know which one this one is. Is this the crying

babies thing? Manga 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, 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. I feel like maybe I block this out because I don't remember. But but how do the wrestlers try to

make them cry again? Well, 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 techniques, 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 does the trick wait 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 us One shrine in Tokyo, they call it on baby chry Sumo that it's strictly a ceremony. In some places, the babies actually do compete against each other to see who 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 sumo 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. Well, I do 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. 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 Curse of the Vambino 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 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. 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 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 just the way. So, so I don't 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, 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 peace Sanders. 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, Barents tried all kinds of ways to

affuse them. So they apologize 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 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 of the Tigers were hopeful once more, and in 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 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 the eighteen hundreds. I 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, 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 to Japan, like martial arts and winter sports, and you know we

talked about sumo. Yeah. I had 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 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 team sports of their own. That's crazy. I actually never thought

about that. So is that one of the things that helped baseball catch on? Definitely? And 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 to play 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 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 Japanese baseball. Hanchen's actually a railway company. So while American teams are privately owned and name 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 Miori Giants, which are named

for the Yamori newspaper company there. That's pretty interesting, though I do 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 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 Lefty o Duel. So they were giving lessons to Japanese players and holding these exhibition games every year from nineteen

thirty three to nineteen thirty seven. And these exhibitions could be massive, so sometimes they played the crowds of more than sixty thousand people. Wow. And so nineteen thirty 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 white Hill, Babe Ruth himself, And so Japan organized its own dream team to face them.

But Lefty's 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 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, Samamember 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 just two years later they formed Japan's very first professional baseball team. And as a thank you to Lefty o'duel, the New York Giant who helped spark the base ball 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, all right, Mango, 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 would always point to their number ones in Asia saying they're

big in Japan. Yeah, that's right. 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 sixty the band was, you know, less fashionable in the US, so they tried touring Japan, and to their surprise, the country went 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. That is crazy. So, I mean, I guess big in Japan started out as kind of a compliment. Well I don't know about 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. 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 as 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, 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, I knew Japan had a thing for jazz. I mean, it comes up all the time and Murakami'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 read this great interview that NPR did with the jazz historian named E. Taylor Atkins, who explained that the music actually made its 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're 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 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 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'd 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,

all right. So I want to switch gears 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 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 twenty sixty. So, just to put that in perspective, a Japanese diaper maker name Unan 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 addresses that kind of population shift. So, for example, in late two thousand and sixteen, Japan began 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 over the past decade now that's almost double. And of course, 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 did 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 Roman noodles. I mean that sounds kind of like a joke, right, It sounds like a joke, but it's not. So this is coming from a district in central Japan and and basically this restaurant chain it started to provide these lifelongent discounts at all one d seventy six of their locations and this 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 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 and 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 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 those traffic accidents you mentioned earlier. Oh my gosh, that's crazy. I mean, I can definitely see you why there'd be a market for choke proof food, but how exactly does it work? 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. 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. 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 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've 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 a little bit longer. Like they can simply head to a restaurant and order their good food prepared in this style and it's called young 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 base mentality that we were talking about earlier. 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 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 fame is for his outrageous game shows and all these weird reality shows. Well, there's 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. I have no idea. And I mean the cameramen are right out 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 how 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 can barely remember the names of the items. I mean, they're tiny. And this little boy that was watching, he was so cute, but 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 and a panel of not judges but commentators, I guess, and it all feels like some kind of surreal psychological experiment. But my first air, 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. 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, 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 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, but before you head down to see if the restaurant's interested, why why don't we work up an appetite with a quick fact off. 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 escalator. 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 do to some weird construction flow, it's only about four or five steps tall, 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, 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 study, and it were I mean, the kids actually do this. Can you imagine that ever happening in US schools? 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 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? I have not. 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 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 p If you love bananas, I know we 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 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 in 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 eleven dollars for a single fruit, or 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 I kind of want to taste all of these, Oh me too? All right, well, I think you're going

to lie this one. 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. And this is some real science, 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 are 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 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'm gonna

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 us part Time Genius at how stuff works dot com. We always love hearing from. 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 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 Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve.

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