Another “Only in Japan” Tale!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

In ancient times in Tokyo [meaning in the 1950s] I wrote a weekly column entitled “Only in Japan” that covered events, ideas and products that were unique to the country.

Many of these things appeared humorous or childish to the average Westerner, but some of them, particularly unusual products and odd brand names, went on to become huge commercial successes around the world.

Among these early things was the name “Walkman” that Sony chose for its new portable radio, and a variety of children’s products introduced by Sanrio Company under the brand name “Hello Kitty.”

The Walkman brand name took a little while to catch on overseas, but in Japan it made perfect sense…you could listen to the tiny radio while walking around. Hello Kitty products were an instant hit in Japan because they were terminally cute – and the Japanese have an obsessive addiction to cuteness.

Itturned out that most Westerners are also turned on by cuteness if it doesn’t go to extremes, and Hello Kitty products are now bestsellers world-wide.

Despite all of the fundamental changes that have occurred in Japan in the last 50-plus years there are still many “only in Japan” things that add to the ambiance of life.

A new and intriguing “only in Japan” phenomenon is printing popular comic and animation characters, as well as the profiles of famous comedians, on toilet paper.

“Character toilet paper” has, in fact, become one of the country’s hottest souvenir and gift items among younger Japanese and foreign tourists alike. And by toilet paper standards, the rolls are not cheap – going for more than twice the amount of plain paper.

Animation studios, entertainment companies and others have boarded the character toilet paper bandwagon, opening their own retail shops.

The owner of Tokyo Atom Shop in Tokyo Central Station says that some of his customers – both local commuters and travelers – buy up to 50 rolls at a time to give as gifts.

The shop at the National Museum for Emerging Science and Innovation sells a line of character toilet paper called Astronomical Toilet Paper. I don’t know what “astronomical” refers to, but it apparently appeals to young women, said to be the main buyers.

Toilet paper sold at a shop called Yoshimoto TV Street in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, owned by media giant Yoshimoto Kogyo, features profiles of comedians that the company represents.

The comedians obviously don’t object to their descriptions being printed on paper that is used to wipe indiscriminate derrieres. One, in fact, is quoted as saying he finds this new form of publicity quite amusing.

Without intending to resort to ribaldry, the most amusing toilet incident I ever witnessed occurred at a bar that used to be across the street from Shimbashi Station just south of the famed Ginza shopping mecca.

One evening in the mid-1950s I took an American friend and his wife to the bar for a few drinks. After a while the wife, who happened to be quite tall, noted that she had to go to the toilet. I pointed to a narrow hallway, and said: “First door on the right.”

The toilet was about the size of a telephone booth and squat-style, with an elongated ceramic “bowl” over an aperture in the floor. My friend’s wife had a bit of difficulty getting into the toilet, but she did it.

Once inside the toilet she was able to squat down easy enough but when done she could not stand up or pull up her panties. Finally, in desperation, she opened the door and waddled out into the hallway in full view of the bar patrons. There, she stood up, nonchalantly pulling her undies up at the same time.

As she approached our booth, her husband and I were nearly choking in an effort to avoid laughing but she was smiling broadly. “Go ahead and laugh before you bust a gut!” she said.

Toilets in present-day Japan include the most high-tech commodes and urinals in the world. They take your temperature, check your blood pressure, analyze your leftovers, and if you want, transmit the results to your doctor. How times have changed!
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Boyé Lafayette De Mente (b.1928) has been involved with Japan and East Asia since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, business journalist, and editor. He is the author of more than 50 books on Japan, Korea and China, including the first ever on the Japanese way of doing business. See: http://www.business-cultural-language-books-on-china-japan-korea-mexico.info/

New Crown Jewel of Tokyo Hotels

Peninsula Tokyo Sets New Standards
For Combining Culture & Convenience

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Luxurious hotels that were perfect reflections of traditional Japanese culture first appeared in Japan nearly four hundred years ago, when the Tokugawa Shogunate decreed that some 270 of the country’s fief lords would spend every other year in Edo [Tokyo] in attendance at the Shogun’s Court.

Since this edict made it necessary for the lords and their entourages to spend several days to several weeks marching in stately processions between their fiefs and the Shogunate capital, the Shogunate also required the construction of a network of luxury inns, called honjin (hoan-jeen), for the exclusive use of the lords, their high-ranking retainers, members of the Imperial family, and court nobles.

Japan thus became the first country in the world to have a national network of luxury hotel accommodations for travelers—setting a precedent and establishing a tradition that was not to appear anywhere else in the world until the 19th century.

The first Western style honjin was constructed in Tokyo in 1890, and was christened The Imperial Hotel. Patronage of the new hotel grew rapidly and an annex was soon added. In 1910 it was decided to replace the buildings entirely with a much larger facility. Work did not start on the new hotel until 1917, and the Mayan-like second Imperial Hotel was officially opened to the public on August 31, 1923.

On the following day, at precisely 11:58 a.m. the Tokyo and Yokohama area was struck by a great earthquake that destroyed virtually every Western style building in the two cities—except for the new Imperial Hotel. The designer of the hotel, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, had “floated” the foundation of the hotel on huge pilings driven into the reclaimed land, allowing the massive stone-block building to ride out the waves of the earthquake like a boat.

For the next several decades the Imperial Hotel set the standard for Western style hotels in Japan, and then it was eclipsed by a stream of new international hotels, most of which incorporated some elements of Japanese arts and crafts into their interiors and furnishings, giving them a cultural façade that brought to mind the traditional honjin of the lords.

But none of these hotels did more than add a few surfaces touches of Japanese culture to their appointments…that is until the arrival of Peninsula Tokyo on the scene in 2007—exactly eighty-four years to the day after the Great Kanto Earthquake made the Imperial Hotel known around the world.

The architects and designers who created Peninsula Tokyo incorporated elements of traditional Japanese arts and crafts in virtually every aspect of the hotel, from the entryway to the floors, the ceilings, the walls, the rooms and the furnishings—all of which complement the ultimate in Western-style conveniences.

But the builders did not stop there. They also made Peninsula Tokyo the most high-tech hotel in the world. In fact, there are so many high-tech features in the rooms that a small manual is provided for guests to guide them through the futuristic amenities…one of the most practical of which is a cell phone that acts as an in-house phone when you are in the hotel and automatically converts to a mobile phone when you are out on the town.

Naturally, Peninsula Tokyo has a selection of gourmet quality Chinese, Japanese and international restaurants, one of which takes up all of the 24th floor and provides a 360-degree panoramic view of central Tokyo and the adjoining Imperial Palace Grounds.

In addition to being across the street from the outer Imperial Gardens, Peninsula Tokyo adjoins the core business district of Marunouchi as well as the Hibiya and Yurakucho restaurant and theater districts, and is a five-minute stroll from the Ginza, Tokyo’s most famous shopping and entertainment district.

For newcomers to the Asian scene, the pedigree of Peninsula Tokyo is impeccable. It is a member of the famous Peninsula group of hotels that began in Hong Kong in 1866 and now includes properties in New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Bangkok, and Manila. Peninsula Shanghai is scheduled to open in 2009.

Old Asian hands arriving at Peninsula Tokyo will immediately recognize the famed Peninsula Hong Kong connection: Rolls Royce Phantoms lined up in front of the hotel for use by guests, and the lobby restaurant where breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea is served and iconic Peninsula pageboys page guests who have phone calls or visitors.
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Boyé Lafayette De Mente is the author of more than 40 books on Japan, including Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, the first book ever on the Japanese way of doing business, published in 1959. His most recent book on Japan: Elements of Japanese Design—Understanding and Using Japan’s Classic Wabi-Sabi-Shibui Concepts.