Last week, I had the privilege to live with a host family in the beautiful city of Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. I went as a Dallas-Sendai Young Ambassador along with five other super cool students. It was truly on of the greatest experiences of my life and I could not thank the other participants, sponsors, and chaperone more the amazing program.
As an aspiring UX designer, I strived to take as many notes and learn as much about daily life as I could in the short time I had. I noticed many differences in design that not only affected appeal to consumers, but also thoroughly influenced the way residents lived their daily lives. After all, cultural expectations deeply affect the way people use products.
Clutch and Clutchyna
mascots for baseball and inclusiveness
One of the most exciting experiences I had was going to a Japanese baseball game. Despite my initial thoughts about how similar the games would be, there were a surprising number of differences that impressed the problem-solver in me.
In almost every sport, there is a large disparity between the percentage of fans who are male vs female, with males always being about 20% ahead. However, my experience looking around at the crowd of baseball fans was very unique;, I saw tons of guys and girls. Not girls going out with guys, either. Girls were coming to baseball games to root for their team and have a good time! I felt kind of bad to be so surprised by the equality among fans at first. However, I later found out that many Japanese baseball teams have female mascots in addition to the male mascots, which might be the reason for the larger amount of female fans.
Another really cool feature of Japanese baseball stadiums was the smoking areas. In many major cities around the world, second-hand smoking is a problem, and smoking in largely crowded areas is a huge inconvenience. One of the adults with us on the trip mentioned how convenient smoking areas were since “you can choose not to go in a smoking area, but you don’t have a choice to not be on a sidewalk”. Public nurseries were also very abundant. I quickly learned that these public nurseries weren’t exclusive to the baseball stadium. Walking back from Tagajō train station, I took note of several other nurseries spaced out as well. Public nurseries helped mothers feel safe about going out with children from a very young age. Both of these public spaces helped keep Sendai one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever visited; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a public bathroom as clean as the ones in Miyagi Baseball Stadium.
Everybody Loves Boxes
when every car looks like a Nissan Cube
Another very interesting difference I noticed in Japan was how cars looked and how they were used. Japan is known for its low amount of land, so every building and innovation is built upwards, including cars.
A lot of the cars used for families weren’t like the mini-vans we see in America. These Japanese cars were built almost like the boxes that car-fanatics are disappointed in. However, from a design point-of-view, these cars are one of the creative ways to conserve space. Rather than the tradition downward slant on the back of American mini-vans, the Japanese cars utilized the space and make almost a 90° angle. The car’s design didn’t seem to bother anyone that much; rarely every did I see any vehicle that traded looks for height.
The picture above also displays another interesting behavior: parking backwards. Coming from a city where people park quickly to rush into work or their homes, backing into a parking space every time was something I quickly took note of. In a country with less space for parking lots, the roads between parking spaces are sometimes very narrow, which makes backing out of a parking space insanely difficult. Backing into a space has a much lower risk of hitting something, especially since newer cars have cameras in the back of the vehicle to help. The downside to this was that parking could normally take 5–10 minutes when including factors such as parking spaces being limited and drivers ahead taking time to park.
My OCD Loves Japanese Food
I seafood everywhere
Etiquette while eating is a major part of Japanese culture and being a foreigner can only grant you so many “oops, I didn’t know” passes. Traveling in a city not as used to tourists, we ambassadors were expected to know at least the basics manners of eating in a tradition Japanese setting.
The first design-related difference I noticed was that meals came in a very organized fashion. From bento boxes to breakfast trays, every part of a meal had its place and mixing food was done voluntarily (good for those of us who hate when our corn touches our mashed potatoes). In terms of user experience, eating with chopsticks wasn’t so bad. It was the amount of maneuverability required for etiquette that made eating a challenge. For example, eating ramen in the traditional way was one experience I’ll never forget.
While holding a spoon full of soup in one hand, one must use chopsticks to pick up the noodles, dip them in the soup spoon, then simultaneously eat the noodles, make a slurping sound, and bear the burning temperature of the freshly served food. The taste was amazing, but I was sweating like I had just run 20 miles by the end of the meal.
Again, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the individuals and sponsors who made the Dallas-Sendai Young Ambassadors 2016 program successful! Special thanks to Cori Hallock, our wonderful chaperone and friend who worked so hard to make our trip unforgettable!
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