When talking about Japan, people imagine an evolved, technological, and futuristic place full of robots and technologies. Is Japan really like that? In this article, we will see that Japan is not as evolved as people think.
Japan does absolutely everything to simplify people’s lives through Convenience Stores, escalators and elevators in public places and other places like train stations, in addition to various other uniquely high-quality services.
Still, Japan is not as people think; you do not find technology everywhere, and things do not always happen in a productive and futuristic way. In reality, Japan is still very outdated.
Japanese people do not know how to use computers. The power lines are still above ground instead of underground. Offices are outdated, with fax machines and huge shelves full of document folders. Did you get a taste of what we will see in this article?
Table of Contents
Japan has a lot of technology
The technology in Japan impresses all foreigners with its robots, toilets full of buttons, automatic machines everywhere, and trains that connect the entire country.
Japan also produces a lot of technology. About 75% of hard drives are manufactured in Japan, Japan’s share in electronic components is 80%, and more than half of Apple’s components are Japanese.
Despite Japan being one of the largest manufacturers and inventors of technology in the world, Japan has been stagnant since the 1990s due to the economic bubble and is losing in various areas involving technology.
Japan is still a master at creating useless inventions because of its strong capitalism.
Japan does NOT USE its technology
In Japan, many still do not use smartphones but flip phones, those phones that open and close, and it is not just the elderly; even some young people use this type of phone. Sometimes some even adhere to the idea of not having any cell phone.
Although Japan has NFC, credit cards, and other forms of digital payment, a large part of the stores only accept cash, and the Japanese are not so accustomed to using cards. Even though Japan is a safe country, it is annoying to carry a wallet full of coins, but the Japanese prefer that.
Japan still uses many things that Brazil no longer uses, such as CDs, Blu-rays, fax machines, and impractical kerosene heaters. It is not easy to buy everything online; paying bills online is even more complicated; many times you need to go to a convenience store.
Banks are also super outdated and do not offer all the conveniences through apps like we have in Brazil. Some banks only allow cash withdrawals at their counters and not at ATMs found in stores like Seven Eleven.
The Japanese prefer to do things the old way
Not all Japanese people usually have emails. If you ask for an email, they will end up giving you what the cell phone operator creates to send SMS. If you browse Japanese websites, you will see a bunch of layouts and designs resembling blogs from 2006.
In reality, most Japanese people do not usually use computers; they do everything on their cell phones. Even so, things are not so practical in workplaces, where paper is still the main way to store data.
Not even certificates or test results, entrance exams, or JLPT can be issued online, via cell phone, or by mail. The worst part is that some have even been forced to use FAX to receive certain documents from large organizations in Japan.
If you need to get something, be prepared to sign more forms and forms even though all your information is in a computer. Banks, offices, schools, government agencies… No matter where you go, Japan prefers to have everything on paper.
If you look closely, you might still find people with Windows 98 installed on their computers, not to mention that XP is still very common. When it comes to software, things are terrible. Even though Japan has all the current technology, the Japanese do not seem to care.
Why does Japan have so many inventions but is not fully evolved?
This happens mainly because more than a quarter of the Japanese population is elderly and traditionalist. Even though Japan is one of the countries that invents the most technology, its population is not fully prepared to make full use of most of it.
Japanese construction engineering, transportation technology, logistics, and city engineering are excellent, but when it comes to the rest, most of the time, technology is only made to look nice and sell. If it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t exist anymore.
The Japanese create new technologies and implement them in society, but only in areas that are important to the Japanese. Unfortunately, each culture is different; you can notice that the Japanese prefer colorful and simple games from Nintendo over realistic games from Sony.
Thus, I conclude that the things mentioned in the article are this way because the Japanese want them to be or they have not yet become popular or viral in a way that forces everyone to use them. Technology does evolve in Japan, but the Japanese are not obligated to evolve with it.
What do you think about technology in Japan? Did you know that Japan was not that advanced? Do you think Japan’s technology has been overrated? If you liked the article, share it and leave your comments.
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