The World Health Organization has issued their annual report for 2006 called the “World Health Report” stating that life expectancy is expected to increase worldwide with the highest projected life expectancy in 2030 to be Japanese women, at 88.5 years. That’s up 2.5 years from the current life expectancy of 86 years. The life expectancy for Japanese males is 79 years, a little less than a decade short of women but certainly a long life by any standards.

Generally speaking the average lifespan is on the upswing but there are areas in Africa where due to AIDS and other diseases a person might be considered extremely lucky if they can live to see their 40^th birthday. Japan, and many of the Western nations have the luxury to be able to fret about the increased life expectancy and the consequences of a graying society (高齢化社会, koureika-shakai). Nevertheless, it is a very real concern for those living in the rapidly graying nation of Japan and one that will require considerable attention and thought from the government in order to make allowances for the ever-expanding senior population.

The extended lifespan is attributable to a combination of diet, lifestyle and access to medical services in the country as well as genetic disposition. For us gaijin currently residing in Japan who can partake of the apparently beneficial culture, diet and health services it remains to be seen if we too can expect a comparatively longer life.

While the government and society concern themselves with how they will adjust their infrastructure to accommodate for the increasing number of seniors it is ultimately up to the individual to answer the question of how they choose to live their expected 80+ years. Western magazines have recently written that 40 is the new 30, which is to say that with the longer expected lifespan people are enjoying a prolonged adolescence and youth before settling in and making major life decisions.

In Japan as well, the opportunities for second chances in life are now, more than ever, within reach. Changing jobs, careers and returning to school, divorces and second marriages, quitting the salaryman rat race and pursuing your dream, all are viable transitions that one can make. During the 80 some years that makes up an average Japanese life how many of those years are going to be spent in pursuit of one’s bliss and how many of those years are going to be sacrificed on the altar of duty and societal expectations?

The World Health Organization report measures the quantifiable aspects of health, access to medical facilities and lifespan. It would be a shame for medical sciences to continue extending the life of individuals who are ultimately incapable or unwilling to spend those years happily.

Visitors to Japan are quick to note the polite and friendly customer service offered up by the retail store staff. But in addition to the Japanese human shopkeepers, commerce in Japan is supported by the host of mechanical vendors one can find on the corner of almost any block. As anyone who has walked about Japan can attest there are a plethora of vending machines dispensing all manner of goods. It is most likely possible for one to subsist solely on vending machine goods.

The modern image of a Japanese street certainly doesn’t seem complete without at least one vending machine or jihanki (自販機, the short form of 自動販売機, jidohanbaiki) with its soft light and quiet hum waiting for someone to feed it some coins. According to figures from the Japanese Vending Machine Manufacturer’s Association (http://www.jvma.or.jp) there are approximately 5.6 million machines throughout Japan bringing in nearly 7 trillion yen annually. This rivals the business volume of convenience stores and far surpasses the vending machine sales of any other nation.

The roots of the jihanki in Japan actually go back to 1888 where inventor Takashichi Tawarayashiki created a one that dispensed postage stamps and postcards (pictured to the right). The modern proliferation didn’t really get going until the mid 70s and the push from the soft drink industry. It was at this time that Japan created the world’s first hot and cold beverage dispenser, a relatively simple idea in hindsight but one that allowed for sales to continue unabated throughout the year. Today the omnipresent jihanki offers up drinks (hot and cold), cigarettes, fried foods, train tickets, batteries, disposable cameras, newspapers, beer(!), and, perpetuating the stereotype of the Japanese as sexual deviants, used schoolgirl panties.

In recent times vending machines in Japan have come under close scrutiny by environmental groups. An early estimate claimed that each machine consumes about 60 percent of the electricity used by an average Japanese household. In response to the criticisms the Japanese Vending Machine Manufacturer’s Association has been implementing significant new functions in order to reduce the amount of power consumed by the the machines. Since 1995 all jihankis have within them an “Eco Vendor” mechanism that was developed by the vending machine manufacturers, soft drink makers and the power company, which shuts down the refrigeration, function during the peak hours (1PM to 4PM) of the summer when electricity is the most expensive. During that period in the afternoon the beverages are kept chilled but no further power is used. More and more jihankis are coming equipped with the ability to analyze its sales and heat or cool a limited number of products for peak sales hours.

The hypnotic glow of the jihanki light has also been cut down. Many machines have an internal timer so that they only light up in the evenings and even then the amount of light used has been reduced by 50 percent making the vending machines a dimmer presence compared to the bright spots on the dark roads they were yesteryear. Some vending machines unfortunately do shut down operations completely after a certain hour. One of my fond memories involves stuffing coins into a beer vending machine with my friends, trying to get as many drinks as possible as the clock inched its way towards the closing time when the machine shut down for the evening.

Another frequent complaint that has been lodged against the jihankis is that they mar the landscape and are an eyesore. In response there have been attempts to harmonize them with the local scenery and architecture. Each year the JVMA awards the retailer whom they deem to have best incorporated the vending machine into the surrounding environment so that they do not standout.

From a sales point of view it seems counterproductive to hide away the jihankis from the casual observer. When someone wants an icy cold drink on a hot summer’s day they’re not going to appreciate a vending machine that is camouflaged and hard to find. Retailers have come up with a number of creative solutions integrating the vending machines into the area while making sure that they can be found and accessed by the consumers. Some examples of the JVA award winning vending machine placement accompany this article (click the images to see them in full size).

Of course in my view these jihanki have been so prevalent that they’ve come to characterize the Japanese landscape. After all what could be more Japanese than a quiet Shinto temple with a bright red Coca-Cola machine sitting on the grounds?

Do you have an interesting “jihanki” (Japanese vending machine) story? Feel free to share it with us by leaving a comment below.

There was a recent report from Reuters stating that about a dozen Japanese tourists each year are so emotionally devastated when they travel to Paris to find that the real city isn’t quite as they had envisioned it they need psychological treatment. The article seems to indicate that this goes beyond the usual culture shock. I think we can all sympathize with traveling to a destination and finding that the reality is a little different from what we were hoping for but I’m hoping that we are able to cope without lapsing into psychoses.

Many of the contributors and readers of this site are gaijins who have left hearth and home to establish lives in a foreign land. I would have thought that the gulf between the English-speaking western cultures and Japan would be pretty large but apparently it’s not large enough to cause a namable psychological disorder.

I think we all have stereotypes and mental images of foreign lands but I like to think that I’m made of sterner mental stuff so that I won’t completely break down when I visit New Zealand and find that it’s not populated exclusively with sheep and hobbits. Why are the Japanese tourists so disillusioned with Paris but able to cope with the inevitable disappointments of other destinations? According to the brochures tour companies are promising that the world outside of Japan is a veritable paradise of lush nature, crystal blue skies, clear oceans, classic architecture and twinkling skylines. Of course the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a Niagara Syndrome, Guam Syndrome or Whistler Syndrome would imply that either these destinations are everything that the travel literature say they are and the Japanese tourists aren’t disappointed and disillusioned upon arrival or tourists have a suitably low expectation of these places and bad vacations are par for the course.

The naivety of the Japanese who suffer from the syndrome is actually rather touching in a way. Somehow they’ve managed to retain their idealized image of Parisians as polite, congenial sophisticates despite the abundance of readily available news stories that would contradict this. Why is this? Despite the fact that Japan is a modern nation with modern education and access to a host of information through the media and Internet a frighteningly large portion of the populace still remains willfully blind to reality and holds to some odd beliefs about other countries and cultures.

I can sympathize with the general desire, if not the specific city the Japanese have chosen, to think of some far off land as an exotic paradise. Unfortunately, the land of courteous Frenchmen riding bicycles along the Seine, carrying croissants in one arm, showering gifts of Louis Vitton handbags to lonely vacationing women while quoting and composing sonnets doesn’t actually exist anywhere but in the minds of the Japanese. When confronted by the reality that they just don’t want to face or accept that differs from the mental image the mind snaps and we have this very unfortunate syndrome as a result.

Japan isn’t cut off from the rest of the world in an isolationist stance anymore and news feeds from around the world can provide actual images, videos and reports of what outside countries are like. Of course it’s ultimately up to the individual to choose to accept the reports as accurate and real or to keep their head buried in the sand and cling to a fantasy.

The solution to Paris Syndrome is relatively simple. I would give the same advice to Japanese tourists as I do for my dates; Keep your expectations low and you won’t be disappointed.

The Blackberry, the ubiquitous tool that has become a fixture in the hands of the white-collar executive in North America and Europe will finally gain a foothold in the Japanese market. NTT DoCoMo is partnering with Canadian Blackberry-maker RIM (Research in Motion) to offer customers GSM/WCMDA “worldphone” versions of the handhelds.

Now as a Canadian I can’t help but feel a bit of patriotic pride to hear that Canada’s greatest contribution to the consumer electronics market is trying to find a place among the tech-savvy, communication loving Japanese. But what remains to be seen is if the Blackberry is going to find a receptive home in Japan and even if it does would this really be a good thing?

I’m not exactly a technophobe but I must confess that gadgets, especially those portable lightweight gadgets that can easily be dropped into puddles, sinks, toilets and other bodies of water and I have never had the smoothest of relationships. Pagers, cell phones, PDAs and lap tops in my possession have inevitably been dropped into or doused with beer, juice, water, coffee, sodas of all variety, soy sauce, tonkatsu sauce, nuoc mam, and most unfortunately milk. (If you’ve never had the experience of walking into a computer store with a sticky laptop that has a distinct curdled smell to see if you can get a temporary replacement computer while they go through the process of de-lactising the machine as they are bound to do under their obviously generous warranty program, then you should count yourself one of the fortunate.)

I suppose I could simply own up to the fact that I appear to be a little bit of a slob and that I shouldn’t be operating these handhelds while eating or drinking but I choose to point my finger of blame elsewhere. The reason these tools inevitably find their way into food and drink is that they are with me throughout the day, during office hours and beyond.

The image of the mobile businessman able to access data, send email and stay in touch with the office no matter where they are and regardless of the hour is a particularly North American conceit and not necessarily one reflected in reality. From my own experience these electronic communication gadgets are more akin to those anklets that people under house arrest are forced to wear so that your position can constantly be monitored. It’s not for the executive on the go so much as for the lowly salaryman who is going to get a pile of work dumped on them at all hours of the day. For some industries and situations I can definitely see the advantage in having access to the Internet and the office readily available in the palm of your hand but generally speaking I would have to question if there are really emergency requirements that would necessitate being on call constantly.

Despite the highly developed telecommunication system in Japan there is still a great deal of business actually conducted through face-to-face meetings rather than emails and conference calls. Sure, you see the cell phones on the streets, friends texting one another and wireless service is available in most locations but the human element still remains. It’s nice to have a respite from the constant calls, emails and demand on one’s time. I’m hoping that there can remain some sort of demarcation between work and the personal realm even if technology continues to blur the line.

But ultimately I’m unconvinced that it’s going to be the Blackberry that will make it in Japan, changing the nature of business and permeating society. Given that there is already a prevalence of sleek, lightweight gadgets in Japan every bit as convenient as the North American models I’m interested to see if the appearance of the Blackberry will have any effect on the way that business is conducted in Japan.