Why I LOVE Living in Japan...

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
03/06/2016 at 22:31 • Filed to: None

Yesterday at Cars and Coffee, I forgot my jacket while drinking my coffee on a table at the event, relaxing, surrounded by cars. Once home I called the delearship: “Oh yes, we have it, can you please give us your address so that we can ship it back to you??”

WTF??? Ok, you found it, afterall it’s Japan, nobody would steal it. But now, you want to ship it to me so I don’t have to drive back to the dealership to get it? Really??

So I gave them my adress and of course, less than 24 hours later, it’s arrived at home. And guess what: They also paid for shipping!!

Damn, do I love living here!!

PS: my wife once lost her wallet with cash in it while on the train. She called the Meitetsu, our local train company, got transfered to the lost and found and was not even surprised that someone had already brought them the wallet WITH THE CASH STILL IN IT! Of course it got shipped back to her so that she doesn’t have to come and get it herself...

DISCUSSION (19)

TheVicious > Flavien Vidal
03/06/2016 at 22:36

Brb, buying plane tickets...

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Flavien Vidal
03/06/2016 at 23:06

In America, your wife’s wallet would have been stolen within seconds.

Flavien Vidal > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
03/06/2016 at 23:12

I’ve lived many years in North America and fuck yes it would have lol... This japanese society also explains a lot why Japanese toruists are often so clueless when they get out of here and so easily preyed on by pick pocket and so on.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Flavien Vidal
03/06/2016 at 23:19

Yeah. I’m super protective of my stuff. My wallet/keys are always in a zippered or buttoned pocket.

DipodomysDeserti > Flavien Vidal
03/06/2016 at 23:59

In America, my wife left a pair of expensive boots at a hotel and they shipped them backed to us. I also had a restaurant ship a Fred Perry jacket to me. That was much appreciated as I love that jacket.

scoob > Flavien Vidal
03/06/2016 at 23:59

Just curious, is your wife Japanese?

DipodomysDeserti > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2016 at 00:04

I know some Japanese dudes who have no problem fleecing people. Crime exists in all races and cultures. Tourists are usually clueless no matter what country they come from.

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 00:50

Yes but the big difference in all that is that you were a customer... I’m not. :)

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 00:54

Yes, yakuza are not Taiwanese lol. But I don’t lock my car despite parking out 300m away from my home or don’t lock my home when i live and when I forget something I know it wasn’t stolen.

Try to park your 30 year old sport car and leave it open, unattended days and nights in any big American city/suburbs and see how it goes

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 01:01

Forgot to mention my friend who owns a classic car garage actually leaves all his cars with keys on the ignition all around his shop, outside. These cars include R5 Turbo 2, Audi ur-Quattro or Maserati Merak. Again you will never see that anywhere else in the world.

Flavien Vidal > scoob
03/07/2016 at 01:04

Yep, she is :)

DipodomysDeserti > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2016 at 01:18

You said “this Japanese society”. What do the Taiwanese have to do with anything? Crime occurs in all societies. Anecdotally, I street park multiple classic cars (classic, not thirty years old) in a large American city and have never had an issue.

DipodomysDeserti > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2016 at 01:19

What’s the name of your friends shop? Let’s test the honesty of this utopia you live in. Also, You mentioned Taiwan, which used to execute people for drug smuggling and other non violent crimes, so that may explain the low crime rate.

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 01:38

.... I meant that yakuza are a criminal organization known all around the world and that they come from Japan, country with the lowest crime rate EVER.

Do you park them with the doors opened and keys on the ignition?

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 01:38

It’s in Okazaki, I’ve already done a mutiple photoshoot there.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/eiichi-amano-a…

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/classic-cars-r…

You can also see the keys left on the ignitions of many of the cars in those pictures. And it’s not because he drives them. It’s just easier for him to keep track of what key goes where.

and dude stop it with Taiwan, I only mentioned it because they don’t have Yakuzas. Which are criminal. And Japanese.

Since you seem interested in crime rate in Japan, violent crime rate is about 40 times less import than in the US, while non-violent stolen property is about 10 times less important. You also have to keep in mind that Japanese report stolen things that americans would NEVER bother reporting... That goes from apples on the side of the road to coats in the train and that puts the statistics WAY higher than they should be.

GUYMANDUDE > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2016 at 01:46

Honesty can certainly restore your faith in humanity. In a perfect world.

Flavien Vidal > DipodomysDeserti
03/07/2016 at 01:51

One more thing. I don’t thing you’ve ever been to Japan before... On the other hand, I live there, but I,ve also lived in France (I’m french), the UK, the US and Canada. When you talk about this “utopia” I live in, you are not so far from the truth. Crime virtually doesn’t exist here. It doesn’t. You can even watch Jeremy Clarkson talk about it in Motorworld at 22min18s

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2nksxf

When I say it’s unblievable, it really is, but I guess it would require many americans to understand that “Murica” is far from the greatest place to live on this planet... And that’s not going to happen tomorrow lol

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2016 at 06:49

To be fair, Japanese prisons and justice system are apparently a bit more... old fashioned than even the U.S., so the encouragement to not go there is probably strong.

Flavien Vidal > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
03/07/2016 at 07:54

Prisons here are A LOT better than in the US... Much more of a military style type of organization for prisoners, but at least they still live with decency and has humans... Main problems japanese have with their prisons come from old people with no money and no roof who get caught stealing stuff on purpose to be thrown in jail, eat decently and have roof over their heads.

The judicial system in itself is freaking mess here though, with all powerful judges who see everyone as guilty and don’t hesitate to give much higher sanctions to poeple if they don’t like their origins. Not that much different than the US on this one though...But we must not forget that Japan is one of the most xenophobic country in the world, where “foreigners” are litterealy and constantly blamed for everything in the general culture...

Also, it’s been proven LONG ago that higher punishement do not prevent crimes or scare criminals.

There are a bunch of documentaries on the subject or you can read this here: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthr… which explains pretty well how the japanese prison system work.

Main thing in japanese prison is to stay within the mold... Prisons of the country can be quite harsh, especially if you don’t/can’t fit that mold. Still a lot better than the average american prison where you come in as a drug dealer and come out as a triple murderer...