Tech in Japan

Rinat Malik: 00:00:00

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Tech Talk. A podcast where Amit and I talk about various technology related topics. Today's topic is a very interesting one because it's left on by. Amit a few weeks ago just a week ago. We're going to talk about tech in Japan. Amit visited Japan recently and we were talking after that about all the all the sort of new or modern technology used in public areas as well as in all walks of life in Japan and I thought it was very interesting and hoping that our audience would also find it very interesting to know how things are done more creatively, how tech is used more creatively in Japan, and hope our audience will share how various techs are different in their own countries. We have audience from all over the world. I'm looking forward for you guys's interaction on this as well. So Amit, yes, tell us a little bit about your experience and what are we going to cover today?

Amit Sarkar: 00:01:07

So thanks Rinat. Yes, I had recently been to Japan with my wife and son and it was a very amazing trip and it was a very different experience compared to all the other countries that I've been to. And I've been to about 20 countries now. So a bit a lot of countries in South America, a few countries in Europe and in Asia, I think after India, this was my first country, outside India. So it was a different experience. And what struck me the most was the use of technology in day to day life and how convenient it makes everyone's life. So I thought of covering that. And that's why I recommended this topic. And I'll try to cover that in my newsletter as well. But I thought let's just talk about it because it's a very fascinating country. And, I mean, we all know about Japanese technology. I mean, we know about the different tech companies etc. And we know that it's a technological powerhouse, of course, China has now overtaken it. But back in the days it was making lots of video games, Walkmans and different types of blu ray players. You know, about Sony Nintendo, many of the companies. So, yeah, so it's a very, very interesting country. And I'm excited to talk about it. The thing that I would cover in today's talk would be more about day to day life, like what do you see in the airport? What do you see the hotels? What do you see when you go to a public restaurant or a shopping mall? What do you see in the trades, etc, because these are the things that I have used on a day to day basis while I was there, because I was traveling as a tourist. So yeah.

Rinat Malik: 00:02:55

Right It's yeah, looking forward to finding out a lot about it actually, because I've also been to many different countries and most of my most of the countries I've visited are actually in Europe, and most of them were beach holidays. I didn't actually get to experience the tech or the new ways of using tech in different countries. But it always fascinates me and they always sort of makes me think that how culture or the weather you know, all of these things are different in different countries and how these things affect the innovative ways of using technology. I mean, I I know there is some countries which has white roof color. And the reason for that apparently and I don't know the source of the information or validity of it, but the reason for that is they collect rainwater and the white. The coloring of the roof actually reflects the sunlight and kind of purifies the rainwater as it is being collected. So that's a really innovative way of using something very simple and not very much costly, but you know, using sort of renewable resources, etc. So it's always interesting in different parts of the world humans have come up with so many different ways of making their lives easier through technology. And yeah, Japan is kind of known for technological innovation. So it's very interesting to know all the different ways they've done it. So yeah, looking forward to it.

Amit Sarkar: 00:04:33

So one of the things I want to first say is that the technology that we are used to invest in this part of the world, in western countries say America and Europe is very different to the technology that we are exposed to in Japan. So in western countries for everything, there is an app. So you want to order a taxi there is an app you want to check anything. There is an app, fitness tracking, there is an app I mean, there is an app for basically everything that you want to do in your life. And most of the startups are actually built around apps. So there is very little hardware innovation. There are few hardware innovation, innovations, but it's limited to very few companies. So majority of the innovation lies around software, because it's easy to start easy to scale. And you can ask people to subscribe to your thing and then you can easily scale it up. Because the beauty of software is that you create it once and you can create multiple copies of it. So you don't have to create it again and again, like a car, or a bottle or cup. Most of the innovation that we see in western part of the world is software because it's easy to build software once and create multiple copies of it. So most of the startup scene is focused around software. And most of the tech startups are all around software. So you see very little hardware innovation. I mean, there are electric car companies and there are a few small companies that are doing innovation, but it's very different from the innovation that's done in Japan. The other thing is that the innovation that's driven here, mostly from an individual perspective, and the innovation that's driven in Japan is mostly from a community point of view, like how can I make someone's life easier, etc. So you don't find very fancy. I mean, there are fancy innovations, but it's very convenient innovations and it's I mean, I would say it's not on your face the tech part. So let's start with the airport. So when I landed in the airport, I've one of the things that was obviously apparent was that it's not as good as say, the London Airport like the London Heathrow Airport. So I was like, wow, okay, I've landed in Japan, but it doesn't look that advanced. Why is that? so I thought, Okay, fine. Let me just go through the immigration and let me go through the customs and then maybe I'll find something interesting. So, till that time, nothing. I mean, I was not amazed by any of the things that was there. It was just like an ordinary airport. But then I had to change the diapers of my son. So I took him to the restroom, and that's where I saw the first glimpse. So normally in a bathroom door, you will have very few places I've never actually seen any place in the world where you have sliding doors. So in Japan, you press a button and the door slides in and you go in and you press a button and the door slides out. So it closes the room. Yeah.

Rinat Malik: 00:07:42

I mean Sorry to interrupt you there, But you know, in London, overground trains they have sliding Door.

Amit Sarkar: 00:07:51

not in the… What do you mean restrooms?

Rinat Malik: 00:07:56

Ah, right. Okay. Yeah,

Amit Sarkar: 00:07:58

So restrooms. So like in a house or in a restaurant or in a convenience store.

Rinat Malik: 00:08:03

But inside a Train, remember

Amit Sarkar: 00:08:06

not inside a train I'm talking about? Oh, you're talking about the inside train? Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's a sliding door. Yes. But that's not I mean, not in a building. That's in a train. So what about the sliding door in airport Toilet? What about sliding doors in a convenience store? What about sliding doors in the restaurant? So there are sliding doors almost everywhere. And that was one of the things that struck me like, if I want to go to a convenience store. There are sliding doors and it just makes life so easy. I mean, yes, there are sliding doors in Tesco and Sainsbury's, etc. But it's far more different. Because there the space is limited. So that's why sliding doors are more common. than in other parts of the world. Because space is very limited. Specially Tokyo houses are very small so they don't have the space to open or close a door. So most of the doors are sliding and that makes a huge difference. So that was the first thing and the second thing was the Japanese toilet. So not many people I'm not sure if many people are aware of it. But Japanese toilets are some of the most advanced toilets as you might as I'm not sure if many people know about it, but normally in a Toilet, toilet seat. You take the seat down, you do your business. You clean yourself, you flush and then you get up and wash your hands in a Japanese toilet, to clean. I mean you do your business and you clean your stuff. But when you're seated, the seats are hot, so it's a heated seat. So it makes very comfortable. Plus when you want to clean yourself there is a button on the side. So you press the button and a small like a pipe will come out from the toilet seat and then it will spray some water and it will clean… your body and then in order to flush again there is a button. So there is a button to heat. There is a button to spray the water there is a button to sometimes even some of the toilets will even throw some air which will help in drying your body Part. So it is very interesting and those toilets are very very common like you'll find them in all hotels, most of the restaurants and most of the malls even in trains. So those toilets are very common all across. It makes your life very convenient. I mean when you start using the ordinary toilet you realize like how low tech seats are.

Rinat Malik: 00:10:47

Right. Okay, that is very interesting. I think I think the biggest difference from what you're saying is the how common it is in all of these places. I mean what you described I have actually experienced that in Zurich when I went to Switzerland. But it was that one time it wasn't very like commonplace everywhere. But…

Amit Sarkar: 00:11:12

it was commonplace. I mean, all the hotels I went it was there. Most of the big restaurants, it was their shopping malls, it was their trains it was there. So it was very, very common in I mean I come from India, so I went to some indian restaurants as well. Some of the Indian restaurants also had Japanese toilet. So that was very common and it it's such a simple thing, but it's visible all across in Japan. And it's like a standard I mean if you go somewhere in Japan, you expect the Japanese toilet. So and okay, what are the toilets in one of the hotels where we were staying? The moment you sit down a sound place. So this could be the sound of a forest or the sound of rain or something. Basically it's there to maintain your privacy so suppose you're doing a business and it makes loud noises. So this sound will muffle that so there is a sound and it does automatically so the moment you set up the seat it plays it start playing the sound. The other thing is you get up the seat. It flushes so you don't even have to press a button you get up the seat. It flushes the toilet seat. It flushes the toilet so that was very common and this was like just when he entered the airport and then I saw it across different parts of the country and then that was like really interesting. Then once you get out, you see a lot of vending machines. Now we know vending machines are there but in Japan every street has vending machine, literally every street I mean you go to a park there is a vending machine in a park you go to you go to any public place, there is a there is a vending machine you are train stations have vending machines, streets have vending machines, even remote places have vending machines, and those vending machines are serving anything from alcohol, Tea, toys, chocolates, any random stuff. So those

Rinat Malik: 00:13:07

So how do they do age verification?

Amit Sarkar: 00:13:12

they don't do age verification. So the interesting part is that the I think the alcohol will be only there in hotels and restaurants and you will have to pay some put some coins etc. But yeah, there is no age verification. I didn't see any age verification. So yeah,

Rinat Malik: 00:13:31

so they have been the Premises you probably have to be

Amit Sarkar: 00:13:35

May be. But most of the places you found vending machines and there was like giving out all sorts of stuff. And it was still very basic. I mean, we still have to give credit to the place where we live like in London where vending machines have contactless payments acceptable. Most of the machines had Coin Payments acceptable so it was still very cash and coin based, but it was still very quick like you press and you put all the coins for the amount and then you press the button and then the drink or the chocolate or the crisp or anything that you have or maybe even a toy will quickly fall and then you can take it so like a standing vending machine, but the vending machines were very common. So Japan has a lot of vending machines. I'm not sure about the exact number. Maybe I will post it in the description of the video, but it has got a huge number of vending machines and the vending machines are there in most of the streets as well. So like if you're walking through a remote street where there is a temple where there are no people, you'll still find a vending machine. So it's very, very common to see in Japan. So then we took a taxi. Taxi was very, I mean, like any other taxi in any part of the world. Not many people know but Toyota is the biggest company in Japan. It is also another it is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. So you will find a lot of Toyota cars in Japan and cars in Japan are sometimes very small. From what I could see, because I think of the way their infrastructure is developed. Because they don't have a lot of space. So the cars are not as wide bodied as say the German cars, but they are very narrow bodied. So they feel a bit squished. So it feels like a very cartoonish kind of thing. But yeah, the cars are a bit squished. So the next thing is we reach to the hotel, standard stuff you get a key and then you swipe in and you get into the hotel and standard stuff in hotels. I mean, just the regular Japanese toilets and regular things. But there we are taking a shower, in the toilet, in the bathroom. And then once shower is over, I see the mirror and the mirror doesn't have any condensation. One part of the mirror doesn't have any condensation on it because normally when you take a hot shower, the water starts condensing on the mirror and it makes it very blurry or hazy and you can't see yourself so you'll have to wipe the mirror clean. But there was one part of the mirror that was very clean and then I thought wow and it was a very specific part. It was a part just over the basin and up to a certain height which is I think the average Japanese height where you would be able to see yourself and comb your hair without actually scraping the surface of the mirror. And that was because when I touched the mirror, there was a heater behind the mirror and that was very interesting. I was like wow, there is a heater behind the mirror at the exact part where I'm supposed to see myself and comb my hair once I get out of shower.

Rinat Malik: 00:16:52

This is quite interesting, but at the same time it makes me think of all the electricity that is being consumed.

Amit Sarkar: 00:16:59

Yes, All the Japanese toilets are consuming electricity and they're consuming a lot of they are consuming different types of water and you need extra plumbing for everything. So Right. This is what I was also observing and I was like wow. So you are consuming so much electricity and plus bathrooms in UK they don't have plugs. So there are plugs in US toilets but in UK toilets you don't have any plugs. So normally you have a pull cord so there is no switch for the light. All the toilets in UK they have a pull cord to switch on the light and to switch on the exhaust. And there are no plugs. So suppose I want to provide electricity to a Japanese toilet in my bathroom, then I'll have to do extra engineering. So yes, you're right. That's that was one of the observations. I also thought like wow, there's a lot of electricity being used.

Rinat Malik: 00:17:51

Yeah, Very environment friendly. And also, I saw like a life hack in somewhere in Tik Tok or YouTube that you can just wipe your mirror with shaving foam. I think the condensation doesn't occur. I have not tasted a tested it. But yeah makes you think that

Amit Sarkar: 00:18:13

whatsoever. I think it's about the convenience right like you get out of shower and you don't even have to wipe anything right it's already built in. So that was the one other thing that struck me. So after doing everything getting fresh going out to a restaurant. Yeah.

Rinat Malik: 00:18:30

Just like wondering whether, when is Japan targeting to reach to become carbon neutral?

Amit Sarkar: 00:18:40

I don’t think so. Most countries aren't. I mean, even neutral. I don't think they will be like, go anytime soon. Yeah. So and I was not worried about the carbon neutral part because Japan is one of the most cleanest. I mean, countries in the world. I mean, it's even cleaner than Singapore from people I met during the trip. So I mean if you if you're thinking about emissions, they are very low. If you think about cleanliness, they are one of the most cleanest countries in the world. They have the highest rate of recycling in the world. From what I could find because I could not find any trash anywhere in public or in other remote parts of the country. So in terms of I think, if you're worried about the carbon neutral part, I think Western countries have far more…

Rinat Malik: 00:19:33

Yeah, I was just thinking because of the high electricity use.

Amit Sarkar: 00:19:38

Yes, But electricity usage. If you think about that, then I mean, let's think for a second. They are just 100 million/110 million people so there are not a lot of people who are consuming electricity. So even though maybe the per capita consumption might be high, but so I don't think that the energy consumption by the whole country. I mean, it will be still high because it's a developed country. I mean, we but I'm guessing that it's not a lot compared to say America, or say other Asian countries. But yes, but another thing to bear in mind is Japanese population is not I mean, it's more 1/3 of the population is in Tokyo, because most of Japan is hilly. So the flattest part of Japan is actually around Tokyo, but of course Tokyo is also very earthquake prone. So it's one of the densest cities in the world. The greater Tokyo has about 40 million population, and it's the most populated city in the world. And with all that the rest of the Japan is very spread out. And there are not a lot of people outside. I mean, there are people outside Tokyo, but they're spread out so it doesn't feel that populated. And whatever I'm describing are visible across say Kyoto, or Osaka, Hiroshima. So most of the other tier two cities which are not maybe as popular as Tokyo, also have the same technology so it's like homogeneous, so it's not like you see the technology only in one part of the country but these things are standard everywhere. You find these across. The other thing is like in UK when a tourist comes, they normally get an Oyster card so that they are they can travel. For the Oyster card you normally have to go to a shop and pick it up and you'll have to pay some money. They'll take a deposit, five pounds and they'll give you the card in Tokyo. There are machines that generate the card and they give it out to you. So you don't actually have to go to a shop. The machine does it for you. So again, one of the things that makes it convenient is that there are instructions and there is a machine. I don't have to go and talk to someone. Plus even if there is no one at the office or there is no shop where I have to actually explain myself. I can still understand and get a ticket get a card and just pay the amount and I can quickly start using the public transport system. So that again makes your life really convenient. Plus, compared to Oyster card where it's charged on a on a trip basis, and you need to have a certain amount of balance. I think we don't know what balance it is currently on our card based on how much trip we have made. In Japan what happens is between every entry and exit they will show the balance. So all the entry gates and exit gates will show the balance of on the card. And that card, which we were using can also be used at convenience stores it buses, in trams, and even in some restaurants. It's similar it's so one of the things that struck me was why are they not using contactless cards like a contactless debit card. Or a credit card? Like read with the UK because we use contactless phones and we use a contactless everywhere from transport systems to coffee machines, but in Japan, it was more about the cards are like Prepaid Debit prepaid cards, so where you top up the cash on the card, and then you use it so this was a bit I think it was a bit behind UK. But still because I could get a card from the machine. I felt that it was much more convenient because then I didn't have to talk to anyone.

Rinat Malik: 00:23:27

So it’s heaven for introverts.

Amit Sarkar: 00:23:30

Exactly, like overcoming the language barrier, etc. I think it's such a hassle right because you have to explain yourself, what do you need it for? etc etc plus of course, no one explains this to you. But because we had already did some Google research, so we knew that these cards exist and then we could, like, use it. The other good thing was that you could top up these cards, not just at stations, where you had the machines but also at convenience stores like 711 And there were other stores where you could just go and top it up, which is again very convenient like your Oyster card.

Rinat Malik: 00:24:07

Yeah, I was just gonna say that not to defend London.

Amit Sarkar: 00:24:11

Exactly. Not like London. But again here again, this is very interesting. So in London when you want to top up your Oyster card, you tap it over, kind of a machine and then it It tops up your card and then you get a receipt like how much cash is there on your card. In Japan, there is a machine and it's a payment machine and it will accept all sorts of cards it will have a display system, you can see exactly what is your balance and you can select what how much you want to pay. So you don't even have to ask the shopkeeper to select it for you. You select it on the touchscreen in the display saying I want to top up for 1000 or 2000 yen. I put all the coins in the machine or the cash and then it top it up. So that was again very convenient. Where I didn't have to interact. I just had to say I want to top up this card and they would say Okay, check balance and then how much cash you select.

Amit Sarkar: 00:25:10

and then you enter it. So, this was again very convenient where even though I have to use a use it at a convenience store, I was still interacting more with the machine than with the person. So that was again the convenience part of like the non interaction part. The other part was in train so, I mean, Japan is famous for the bullet trains so the bullet trains, they look very fancy, but I mean, if you are in the UK and if you're traveled or using virgin, or trains of between, say London and Scotland, then those are pretty fast. But of course the Shinkansen are much faster which are the bullet trains in Japanese. They're much faster. And one of the things that that struck me most was the seats are always facing in the direction of the movement of the train. So whichever direction the train is going, the seats are always facing in that direction and not just one seat all seats. So this was again very interesting and then I saw like how they do it. So this is not so this again, hardware innovation. So they have a lever and they turn the seat. So at the destination and at the source, they clean the trains so there's a lady or a person, they get on the train, they pick up all the rubbish which is very rare to find actually, and then they clean all the seats, they wipe everything and they turn all the seats. So basically the all the seats are turned for every car or the carriage. He likes split seconds. And that was again very interesting because you always want to face the direction in which the train is moving. So you could see the scenery passed by you don't want to face the opposite direction. And some of the tarins have that but in Japan, you could you could do that very easily. And it's not just that those people could do it. You could do it by yourself because the lever was right there. Just press it and it will turn.

Rinat Malik: 00:27:07

So yeah, the benefit is if you are in a large group, you can all sit facing each other if

Amit Sarkar: 00:27:13

if you want to, if you want to. Yes.

Rinat Malik: 00:27:19

everything else is also in London. I mean apart from the rotating seat part.

Amit Sarkar: 00:27:25

Yes, the virgin train it is very similar so Shinkansen maybe much more faster. But it's it gives you the same experience. But again in the Shinkansen as well. What I found was the toilets were again very different. There was a men's urinal. So normally you don't find a urinal in a train. So there was a urinal, proper urinal, a full size urinal in a train. There was a powder room. There was a there was a baby changing room, which is a standard where if it's a handicapped or a disabled toilet, but then it was very different because it was segregated so men shouldn't really separate. You could quickly go in come out so you don't have to engage the other toilets. So there is a separate toilet for ladies. There is a powder room so if in case you want to wash your hands or etc. Use the powder room or are the washbasin outside, so you don't have to keep the toilet occupied, and that all the toilets had sliding doors which was again, very convenient. So some of the things that these are small things, but then they slowly start adding up and start making your life convenient. London is there. But London I think is still a bit behind in some other things because I mean, there's still a bit of human interaction needed for some of the things whereas in Japan, I'd had very few human interaction because I could manage without actually talking to someone. And that is the difference.

Rinat Malik: 00:28:54

Yeah, I think obviously not having been there and just you know, new experience I can't fully fathom the difference. Yes, but again, when you were saying that you can, you know, see the balance of your Oyster cards are similar in between each trips in London as well. They do show in some of the stations in

Amit Sarkar: 00:29:17

Some of the stations, they show the negative balance or something. Yes,

Rinat Malik: 00:29:22

yeah. So it's not all of the station's I think agree to which technologies implemented. And I think one of the I think the biggest positive in this sense is the public spending, I guess the government spent on technology for public use a lot more than they have in London. That's the main sort of difference what I've kind of gathered so far obviously.

Amit Sarkar: 00:29:50

But again, The thing is, most of the tech that we see is only in London. I mean, if you go outside London, the technology that we that the technology that is being used is less and less. So if you're outside London, the usage of technology starts reducing but if you go outside Tokyo which is the capitals, city, the uses of technology doesn't decrease. Exactly. It's a very different experience because you think that okay, if I go to some place like Hiroshima, which is a very small city compared to Tokyo, which is like you can literally, I mean you can you can do the whole city on a bike. It's that small. But if you find that a similar level of technology, and the experience is there, then it makes your life so much convenient. Even in even in buses, I didn't have to like, do much. So there was a separate, just like in London, you have an entry system and an exit system. You have Oyster cards, but here again, you had machines, and the drivers didn't have to check anything. Tap it go and tap out go and everything gets deducted. And so this, again, was very interesting because if you go outside London, maybe not all buses have contactless only London. The buses are no contactless so they don't accept cash. So this is something that was there even in Hiroshima, which is much smaller.

Rinat Malik: 00:31:21

Right? Yeah, no, that's absolutely that's exactly what

Amit Sarkar: 00:31:26

the penetration of technology so it's not like it just in a big city. So it is what the traveling bit showed me like Okay, wow, this is interesting. The other part is going to a restaurant. So again, Tokyo, very densely populated, and very busy. People don't have time and most of the restaurants are very busy. Because people are so over word. They tend to eat out a lot and because they tend to eat out a lot, there are a lot of restaurants. And the best thing about Japan is all the street food restaurants or any public restaurants are very hygienic and very safe. So you can you can be assured that no matter where you eat, you will not fall sick, which is a very good thing. I mean, I can't say that about London, but I can definitely say that about Japan because I did try a lot of other street foods, of course iBeacon I did try a lot of meat stuff. But I checked with the local people and some of the guides and they said yes it is very safe. So you don't have to worry about eating out in. In Japan there is a culture of eating out. So some of the restaurants which are very tiny. And even in London you have very tiny restaurant so if you go to central London, there are just a restaurant which is like in a box, just a long space and there are and there is a restaurant and they have long queues. In Japan what they do is they have machines outside. So you, you select your order on the machine, and you make the payment in the machine, and then you get a token and then you just give it inside. Once seat is available. You go in set. The order comes to your table, you quickly finish your business and then you leave so you don't have to interact with the waiter at the restaurant. So to explain like what you want what you don't want. You don't have to wait for the waiter to come and ask you for your bill. And they already know what you want so they can easily start preparing the food even before the seat is vacant. So you're not kept waiting for a very long time. So the turnaround time is much quicker. And it's a very simple thing. Most of the places most of the restaurants which are very busy, or which want to rotate the people quickly can utilize this simple piece of technology. And it's like a vending machine or like a ticket buying machine. But instead of buying a ticket you're buying a menu item and this was again so convenient because I was able to use it across multiple restaurants and I was like wow, this is so convenient. I don't even have to talk to someone.

Rinat Malik: 00:33:51

Maybe not a tech related question, but what is the tip culture in Japan?

Amit Sarkar: 00:33:56

No tips, no tips. So that’s a good thing? So Japan they don't take tips. You just pay. There is maybe a tax included, maybe a service charge but everything is included. So there is no tip culture. So that's another thing that I noticed.

Rinat Malik: 00:34:16

Right? The staff are paid fairly.

Amit Sarkar: 00:34:20

So one of the things in Japan is that the crime rate is very low. And the reason for that I mean one of the reasons or one of the theories which one of the guides told us was that the difference between the rich and poor is winning less. So I could go for a run at 2am or 3am Because I was jet lagged. I could not sleep. So I was able to go out for a run and feel very safe in the middle of the night in Tokyo on a on a weekend and it was still very safe. So this speaks a lot about the culture of Japan like and it's not just in Tokyo. I tried to run in Hiroshima and many other cities, and it was perfectly safe, clean, safe, and you don't have to worry. And one of the reasons is that of course the wealth is distributed across the society much better compared to say, UK or even the Americans. So that again, stood out to me quite a lot and which was again, very, very interesting. So I mean, we talked about restaurants and we talked about this. We talk about public toilets and the Shinkansen what else the other things that I noticed is the infrastructure in Tokyo. So Tokyo is a very earthquake prone region in one of the most earthquake prone regions in the world. The last major earthquake happened in Japan in 2011. With the Fukushima disaster nuclear disaster happened. And despite of all that, Tokyo is expanding, despite knowing that it's prone to earthquake, it is expanding and it is building on top of other things. So it's creating manmade artificial islands, just like you see in the Emirates or maybe in Singapore, or other parts of the world where you have very small landmass so you try to build out in the sea or the ocean. So Tokyo, Tokyo has done that. Tokyo tries a Tokyo is trying to build different types of networks, railway networks. So one of the most interesting rides I had in Tokyo was train. It looked like a train. But it was not running on tracks. It was running on road. And it didn’t have wheels. I mean it had wheels, but they were rubber wheels, like a car so a car wheel running on a road. Like a Train. Like

Rinat Malik: 00:36:47

What makes it like a train if I mean why would you not call it a bus?

Amit Sarkar: 00:36:51

… it's like a DLR

Rinat Malik: 00:36:54

DLR right. Okay,

Amit Sarkar: 00:36:57

there's no driver.

Rinat Malik: 00:36:58

There is no driver, okay.

Amit Sarkar: 00:37:01

And it is completely autonomous. It has its own track. So it's above the ground. Just like a DLR, it's above the ground. It's not at the ground level. The stations are there. So yes, it's not so and it's not like one box. It's like five or six boxes.

Rinat Malik: 00:37:20

So, there are multiple carriages chain together

Amit Sarkar: 00:37:23

Exactly, they are guided Of course, from the side. So, instead of on the bottom they are guided from the side. So, normally a train is guided based by the tracks, but here the train or whatever I don't know what to call it, the Bus-train. It's guided by the sides that the enclosure in which it is going through.

Rinat Malik: 00:37:51

Okay, so it's always a sort of enclosed by sides.

Amit Sarkar: 00:37:57

I thought so. There was a gap when you're changing from when you reach the destination you have to go on the other side and there is a gap and that time there is there is no guide rail on the side on one side. So there is just guide rail on one side or the other side there is no guide rail. So this was again very interesting like and I was trying to figure out because I'm a mechanical engineer, I was like Okay, where is the power coming from who is driving it? Where is the track? I don't see any track and then I told my wife See, look, there are wheels that actually like bus wheels on this train. And it was very interesting. And it was going and it's it is not part of the Tokyo Metro. So, again, Japan has different types of railway system. So there is a metro system. There is a overground system. Just like in London. There is a bullet train which is like the National Rail and then you have these private train operators and there was also monorail. So monorail was, I mean it's very similar to the some of the monorails say, which are connected to the airport. So this monorail also connected to the airports. And this monorail was just again one single track and the train and all the carriages had include over enclosing the track so they enclose the track so they could go a bit wobbly and they could go on this monorail from one destination to another and mostly it was connected to the airport. The holiday port which is closest to the Tokyo city that there was another airport Narita but that you have to take a taxi, you can take a train but that's a different train. So I mean, this infrastructure was again very different because I was thinking Tokyo earthquake prone fire Tokyo has been burned down couple of times it has been driven like three or four times already. And yet they are building skyscrapers. They are building all these different types of infrastructure. So imagine an earthquake coming to London and then what happens to all the infrastructure, so they're already prepared. For all that and they are much ahead in terms of construction more from what I could make out because every building has to survive the earthquakes. So they are now slowly getting rid of the old wooden houses and going towards on concrete so that it meets the regulation of the fire and that safety. So this was again very fascinating like okay, you are building so much infrastructure in such a small, densely populated region. And you could not see I mean, there was construction happening when we went to Shibuya Crossing. There was construction happening, but you cannot inhale any dust. You cannot hear a lot of loud noises. It was just that yes, you know, because it's covered. So you know, there is a construction happening. But it was not disturbing people. So people were just going on and doing their day to day activities. And it was so again very pleasant, because again as I mentioned Japan is very very clean. So when you see constructions happening, I mean yes of course those parts of the city, they can become very crowded at the pedestrian paths and etc. But here it was, like just so remarkable. So yeah, I mean, those are some of the bits that I touched upon when I went to Japan, and I wanted to share it with everyone. There were, of course many other things but these are some of the high level things which fascinated me, which I could observe. Because see, it's not about technology through just an app. It's how about making technology through hardware and making a life much more easier. So that's what I found very fascinating in Japan.

Rinat Malik: 00:41:47

This is this is really interesting and fascinating as you just said to hear about it and definitely don't want to go visit them one day to sort of experience it myself. A lot of the times I do realize that, you know, hearing the stories are much more different than being there by yourself. So, yes, it's a very tourist friendly country as far as I gathered from what you just said. So you know, invitation to all the audience. If it suits your sort of interests, then definitely, definitely go visit Japan. It’s not sponsored by Japan tourism, but it seems like an amazing experience. To do this. Do this experience of visiting Japan? Not, just

Amit Sarkar: 00:42:36

one of the things stood out for me was because I went to the parents with a one year old son. So what stood out to me was that of course it is very advanced, but it felt very safe. And I think that is very important. If you can go out with your son and feel safe and not threatened. People are very polite and it's clean. So it means your son is not inhaling lot of the car emissions, etc. Most of the cars by the way, were hybrid. So you can find a lot of gas where they are not making a lot of noises. So yes, you're right, the electric consumption is quite high. But again, that's how it is and that's how they've maintained their air very clean, even in a very densely populated region like Tokyo.

Rinat Malik: 00:43:27

Right. Yeah, thank you very much Amit for giving us this insight of Japan from the eyes of a tech person. So I hope although audience are also must be interested in tech as much as we are and will be interested to enjoyed this talk about tech in a particular country. If we also again, this is actually been a good topic. So next time whenever we visit any other countries, we'll make sure to look through the lenses of tech so we can share it with all of you and Our audience. If you guys have any suggestion that we should visit this country or that country to understand the different ways innovation has taken place in different areas. It could even be a third world country I've seen a lot of sort of innovative ways of doing things like for example water pump without any sort of electrical or any kind of mechanical power source etc. So there are all kinds of interesting stuff happening in all geographic location. And it's important I think, not just amusing but it's also important to know about all of these. As a result of that we can sort of permutate and, you know, combine different ideas to innovate even further. So definitely, definitely, A eye opening and new perspective on a country and very much interested and sort of entertained with your description Amit. Thank you very much audience hopefully you guys have also enjoyed and please feel free to contact us for anything feedback. Or suggestions of topic. We look forward to hearing from you. Hope to see you guys again next week. With that, we can end the episode here.

Amit Sarkar: 00:45:23

Thank you everyone. Bye

Rinat Malik: 00:45:25

bye