I feel like there has been a lot of unnecessary pushback about 'Thing in Japan' articles on the internet. Guess what, there are cool things everywhere; including Japan. Write about the ones you know about!
That's the point of the whole meme. People think it's interesting because of Japan not because of the content itself is interesting.
Did you know there are 12,000 Zabka stores in Poland and they are almost as ubiquitous as konbinis? Guess what, no gives a fuck because it's not Japan but an eastern European country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BBabka_(convenience_store)
there are memes about zabka on social media as well (i've personally seen some on insta and tiktok), maybe not in the same scale, but there are.
> And still, in my life here in the United States, words are still needed to convey meaning.
As if the US doesn’t have easily identifiable police and firefighters. Or handicap placards/license plates. Or public transportation logos (such as the NY MTA logo).
I think Japan does a pretty good job with signage in general and some of it is interesting to read about. Some things like the newbie sticker might be worth adopting elsewhere. Other things like the old people sticker might be considered age discrimination in other countries.
But framing it like only Japan knows how to use symbols or “read the air” is just dumb.
Or, if you like, it’s still all just orientalism.
Another thing I found fascinating: the way the symbol that marks a fire truck doesn't employ the red color we would expect in the West, and is instead based on the shape of an ice crystal. A bit like an amulet to ward evil away, there's some kind of atavistic magical function still afoot there.
[1] the wikipedia page linked from the article is worth a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_(emblem)
Btw. medieval Europe, or classical Greece, just to give two non-Eastern examples, also had many of the characteristics I mentioned in my comment: a strong communal spirit and shared symbolic life which connects one to a coherent and poetic view of the world. But pointing out ways cultures very different from ours might have been superior in some senses to ours is one of the most triggering moves, especially on a techie-oriented forum like this one.
I recognize some of them, from seeing them in Japan, but I thought they meant some kind of taxi.
A symbolic ear would be better to designate deafness, a walking stick age.
They are excellent symbols – for the society they arose in, which was at the other extreme end to the fragmentation, atomization, and attention span erosion we are experiencing today. In their case, choosing esthetics over learning curve totally made sense, because the learning curve was not a concern for them. Our society OTOH cannot afford such niceties.
Imagine being a 75-year-old who runs ultramarathons, having to have a walking stick on their car.
A hearing impaired person may not want to be symbolized by their less-than-well-working body part.
I doubt the deaf people care, though I also don't doubt at all that some virtue signallers are highly offended on their behalf.
People can love the Japanese for their unique characteristics and they can love the Japanese for the things they appropriated from other cultures. Just like the British.
Fact is though, in many ways, Japanese culture is a lot more caring, considerate and kind than the British.
>I doubt that purely wordless, symbolic system was truly the ultimate pinnacle of operational clarity.
Agreed, but only because Brits aren't really good at designing things for longevity, whereas the Japanese are great at it.
How exactly is Britain not a country good at designing things for longevity? It is probably amongst the countries in the world that goes to the most effort to protect its architectural history, and also has some world class modern design schools.
The government also has a unified design system that makes using government digital services really easy.
why is critiquing Japanese design "open misanthropy" but you're more than happy to critique British design?
Interesting to read such a colonial comment in 2026 - the British Empire is long gone.
I realize I in fact still do not know what the "L" is supposed to mean, in my country.
In fact most of the symbols talked about in the article seemed of no meaning to me except looking unique and different and sometimes even nice.
