14' Jon Boat Engineering

myths, shinkansen and delays

P rhyme bore you with the last lines on my life in Japan would like to do a little consideration and a thank you: stay away from home for four months was not all roses and flowers, but writing - as inconsistent - on this blog has helped me to keep alive a bridge with the reality that I have left and find myself, allowed me to not feel just too much and giving and receiving news from all those who have been so curious to make a detour to this address. So thank you.

After facing the popular belief of Italian Japanese accurate and organized - see previous post - I have two other debunk myths of the Rising Sun: the Japanese and attentive, that of the Japanese infallible.

The relationship with time, in fact, is one of the most paradoxical aspects of this country, if Switzerland is accurate by definition is precise and punctual, Japan it is literally, certainly due to lack of irony. It is often said "to be as precise as a Swiss watch," but the proverbs must be stopped to see the Olympics in Beijing and have certainly never taken a shinkansen ( しんかん せん , or a little fantasy "fast train"). Beyond being the jewels of technology and trends on rails at speeds up to 300 km / h, the thing that upset is that they leave on time. If we assume, at 12:31're waiting for your car it occurs in front of you - what actually happens - but five minutes of the start of yet been able to see people on the other shore, be prepared: if the the sign says' Hikari or Nozomi shift will start at 12:36 means che avete pochi istanti per veder inchiodare il vostro treno di fronte a voi, far scendere tutti i passeggeri di turno, salire con tutti i vostri bagagli e trovare il vostro posto. Alle 12:36 il treno partirà.
Tutto ciò ovviamente ha dei pro e dei contro. Uno dei tanti pro potrebbe essere Kyoto>Osaka in 11 minuti, uno dei contro coinvolge nel discorso l'infallibilità giapponese. Se un treno ritarda di pochi minuti, cosa che in Italia potrebbe essere anche una benedizione oltre che la routine, qui in Giappone siete spacciati: le coincidenze saltano, i vostri appuntamenti con loro. Vestite pure il lutto e preparatevi a fare la telefonata di scuse peggiore della vostra vita, siete in ritardo.

Siccome son stato tanto fortunato to be on vacation and not having time to be respected, I am just fun to watch the scene just described. The consequences of the calls could have been fatal. But I'm in Japan for four months, I am not surprised about anything.