Japan, Conformity and Thanksgiving

I've written before about how Japan seems to be a very harmonious place, where people are more or less on the same wavelength about most things. While this leads to a happier, more stable society all around, it also creates a certain degree of "tyranny of the masses" in which, say, it becomes difficult to find low-fat milk in stores because the Japanese love to drink the 3.7% milk-fat stuff instead. Sadly for this time of year, the list of foods that are difficult to find in Japan includes turkey, which the Japanese never developed a habit of eating, and this can make trying to have a traditional Thanksgiving difficult for an American in Japan. We'll muddle through however -- I forsee a big bucket of KFC in my family's future.

Another example of Japan appearing perhaps "too" unified is the separation of gomi (trash), which becomes quite important when you have a country with half the population of the U.S. living in 1/25 the area. Depending on your city's local rules, trash must be separated into categories such as burnable -- called moeru, which sounds like an anime term although it's a different word altogether -- cans (steel and aluminum must be separate), plastics, "natural resource" items like PET bottles and newspapers, and "dangerous items" like light bulbs. Trash must be left in the designated place at 7:30 am, and the pick-up day for each kind of trash is different. Everyone will know if you're not careful enough at separating your trash, since people are required to use designated clear trash bags and (depending on local rules) write their names on the side. Not following the proper gomi procedures or trying to -- gasp! -- put your trash out the night before won't earn you a fine by the police or anything, but something much worse: the silent disapproval of your neighbors, which is a very difficult thing to bear.

Do you get this joke? Moeru sounds like a cool moe anime, although the kanji is different. Mr. Yaranaika is moenai gomi or something that I just can't get into, although the real meaning of moenai gomi is "trash that will not burn."

Japanese gomi comformity can be a challenge for anyone.