Japan's Fine Tolerances

Last week I chaired an Integrated Transport Planning conference in Kuala Lumpur - then took a side trip to visit eldest daughter in Sapporo Japan. The lext few blogs are from that trip. Cherry Blossom trees were out in Narita, Tokyo, when I stopped there. But not in Sapporo, 700 kilometres north on the island of Hokkaido. Japanese TV charts the Cherry Blossom wave as it moves North with spring. More interesting than the weather I suspect...

Flowers are everywhere. Even in winter. Would be totally out of place on a New Zealand shop front somehow. But in Japan - situation normal.

Attention to detail, fine detail, tight tolerances, was what struck me about Japan's built environment. Like how road corridor space is allocated. My father - who was a motor-mechanic selling Vanguards, Standards and Triumphs in Oamaru - described to me the difference between British engineering and the Datsuns and Hondas coming from Japan. "...finer tolerances...engines run like sewing machines..."

He would've liked the perfect fit of this drain cover in the road. When I first saw them I wondered if there were drain-cover picture collectors around the world....

...then I saw this one and wanted to join them...I loved this design...

In NZ polished pipework like this might be seen in a milk treatment factory, but in Japan it's the air-conditioning on the roof of a building only seen from above...

This apartment building, with its air ventilation and heating vents, precision engineered walls, windows and doors - was typical of most buildings. Built to last, and in Sapporo, built to keep out the cold in winter.

Tolerance extends to cultural diversity and difference too - as far as I could tell. A sense of peace and quiet. Major controls against noise.

The water ceremony, for cleaning your hands before visiting the shrine. Interesting.

This was a particularly beautiful establishment in old Narita. So available and on the street.

With little corners to remember and wonder about as it gets dark but light remains.

Maybe it's not tolerance that leads to such carefully marked intersections, but there is a precision there. Careful corners that emphasise pedestrian safety, broadly marked crossings that leave no room for doubt. And I hardly ever saw a policeman anywhere. My daughter told me, "you'll never see a Japanese person breaking the traffic rules...". Tolerance? Or planning?

To me this is a classic embodiment of tolerance in street design. Boldly implemented. No mistake about where cars go, and where pedestrians go. And the speeds. I regret not photographing the little Japanese kids walking to school next day on these roads in their oh so cute uniforms, holding hands, no parents in sight, no walking-school-bus bosses. Just kids. Safe in their street.

Gives the street a feel of safe energy, co-existence through tolerance and design. Interesting.

Which brings me to this little sequence of pictures. This one shows a walking trail in the trees, and shows where it crosses the road.

Someone on a bike crosses the road at the pedestrian crossing, but there's plenty of tolerance by motorists of cyclists (who never wear helmets).

But the pedestrian crossing is used by greater diversity than able-bodied pedestrians and cyclists. It's used by blind people as well. I was struck by the very careful provision of walking surfaces that enable blind people to know where they are and where they are going...

... and this crossing had a special crossing signal for blind people to use. That's attention to detail.