Obseravtions from Tokyo
May 02, 2023
I have a private lesson in Akihabara today. It will be the first time I have met this student in person in over 3 years. Yesterday marked the same milestone with another student. Masking remains the norm for residents and tourists alike but with more unmasked than before in each group. Walked past a few groups of jr high and high school students, all masked.
Today’s first student surprised me by wearing a mask. She was happy to not have to have to wear one in the US during a recent visit there and said over our Zoom lessons that she would stop wearing them in Japan as soon as she was “allowed”. Her employer does not require them but she was still wearing one. I
Walked around between and after lessons today in areas I have not been through in a while; one for at least three years. Few stores I recognize from before. Indeed, many of the old buildings that gave this area its unique character are gone, either replaced with new buildings or vacant plots of dirt. Many of the stores were replaced with chain stores, a trend I see repeatedly around Tokyo.
Another area differed in that most of the retail space was simply vacant. There was a kiosk with a coffee vending machine. To buy coffee from it you must first download the app.. Unless we act to stop it, the cashless society will fast be upon us.
It's not a cashless society alone I am afraid of, but a centralized cashless society operated and regulated by the government. Having the money on a blockchain saved to a digital wallet that only I know the passcode to is a great decentralized option. The problem there becomes one of adopting a common currency ,
The last thing we want is this upside down state running things as they also believe that those born men can give birth to children, that we have been ravaged by a deadly disease the last three years, and that fighting for the Ukraine is a great idea. These are neighborhood of make believe type of ideas.
Did your student give you a reason why she continues to mask? I think in Japan, as well as here in the states, we underestimate the power of conformity.
Thanks Kitsune. A vision of the future already arrived in Japan.
As you rightly observe their addiction to conformity make them ideal candidates to be conformed.