Introduction

If you spend any amount of time on the internet, especially if you’re interested in travel and technology, it won’t be long before you come across a post, video or article about Japan. One of the most common topics that comes up time and time again is Japan’s ultra-modern infrastructure and facilities.

From ubiquitous vending machines, robots in everyday situations to infamously high-tech toilets, there are many aspects of Japanese life that lend themselves to a futuristic image of the country as a whole. As a result, it’s really easy to imagine that Japan somehow managed to jump into the future ahead of everyone else. In fact, a popular meme on platforms like TikTok is to say that “Japan is living in 2050”.

How true is this really though?

Here at TOM we want to help everyone live their best otaku life and we also want to share our honest accounts of what it has been like to live and work in Japan. We know that there are lots of burning questions out there and we would like to put on our senpai hats and help answer them as well as dispel any myths as best as we can. Please keep in mind that these are just our opinions and experiences so it might not apply to every situation or everyone.

As your humble article writer, I’ve been living in Japan for over 10 years now, spending 8 years in Tokyo and 3 years in Osaka. My knowledge of life in Japan is by no means perfect but I’ve also spent enough time in the country to have a reasonable idea of how a lot of things work. In this edition of “Ask TOM Senpai”, I will be taking a look at the question, “Is Japan in the future?”

The short answer is yes and no.

Of course Japan isn’t literally in the future although the time difference does put it ahead of many countries by a few hours. That being said, there are undoubtedly many gadgets that can make life here much more convenient. However, the reality of it can be quite different depending on a multitude of factors. There are too many to talk about all at once so we will take a look at just a couple of these and see if we can shed some light on this question.

1. Where are you located?

It’s no surprise that many of the most futuristic aspects of life in Japan are concentrated in city areas like Tokyo. Tokyo is one of the main destinations for tourists coming to Japan with over 19 million foreign tourists in 2023. With so many visitors in Tokyo, it also makes sense that much of the content that makes its way onto the internet would be taken from within the Tokyo area.

If you were to just look at Tokyo by itself, it would paint a pretty modern picture of the lifestyle, full of people and glowing lights. It’s easy to reason that most of the trendiest innovations tend to pop up in and around the Tokyo area where there are more people to take advantage of them. Similarly, Tokyo has a large percentage of the top universities and hosts headquarters of many top tech companies like Sony and Toshiba making it a hub for new ideas and making it much easier for new products to be distributed.

Meanwhile if you make it outside of the dense city areas like Tokyo and Osaka and visit the Japanese countryside, you will see that it generally has a much more low-tech, slow-paced approach to living that certainly doesn’t match up to the vision of high-rises or bustling city streets. The further out you go from city hubs, the less you can rely on certain things like frequent public transport or convenience stores because these are much fewer and far between.

One of the charming points of Japan is that you can fully enjoy both the ancient and the modern. When it comes to a place like Kyoto that’s famous for its traditional architecture and culture, it would not be expected to have the kind of infrastructure that you might experience in Tokyo but that’s part of what makes it so appealing to visitors.

If you’re visiting or if you just spend most of your time in the city, it’s definitely worth seeing the more rural parts of the country. When you get to the countryside you’ll certainly be so appreciative of the abundance of nature and the natural sights that you might not even miss the convenience that comes with city life!

2. What is your resident status?

Are you a first time visitor to Japan or have you lived here for years now? Depending on your answer to this question, your feelings about whether or not Japan is in the future will definitely vary.

Many visitors to Japan will only get to experience a small sample of what it’s like to live in the country and like any country appealing to visitors, Japan will obviously want to put its best foot forward. This can be seen in campaigns such as the “Cool Japan” initiative which aims to promote aspects of Japan and Japanese culture that foreigners would consider “cool”. While this also includes traditional things like arts and crafts, it also features the most up to date of what Japan has to offer such as robots or the bullet train. Not only are these aspects actively promoted to visitors, but unless you opt for more old-school accommodations, places like hotels are also more likely to have the latest technology for your comfort.

On the other hand, if you stay a little longer and you find yourself looking to settle a bit your experience will begin to look a bit different. Despite efforts to modernize, administrative tasks in particular are still very much in the realm of the analog and tend to take time. If you live in Japan as a foreigner, certain unavoidable tasks like visa renewals, job applications, paying bills or filing taxes will be done via paper forms and usually require a physical visit to a government office. Similarly, making a doctor’s appointment or reserving a table at a restaurant is likely to have you making a nerve-wracking phone call instead of booking online.

The longer you live in Japan, the more likely you are to find yourself utilizing much older or seemingly outdated ways of doing things. Pen and paper trumps digital methods of input and almost any long-term resident in Japan will have had a situation where they had to use the dreaded fax machine. While these are pretty much extinct in the rest of the world, Japan is notorious for still making full use of them. When you’re faxing a timesheet to your company for your part-time job at the end of a long workday, it’s hard to feel like you’re living in 2050.

3. What are you trying to do?

Depending on what you’re doing, your experience can vary from sleek and modern to plain out nostalgic.

If you’re looking to have a sophisticated dining experience such as getting your food delivered by tray-carrying robots or enjoying a fabulous light show with your meal then Japan can certainly feel like it’s a high-tech paradise.

That being said, when it comes to food you don’t even have to go that fancy to feel like you’re having a bonafide 2050 experience. Food and food packaging tends to be one of the most popular topics that prove that Japan is leagues ahead of most other places. Whether it be in the ingenious packaging or the perfectly portioned serving sizes, food and especially snacking is definitely one of the more streamlined aspects of everyday life here. It’s also very accessible to almost anyone. Just a quick visit to a convenience store and you’re sure to find something!

Meanwhile, when it comes to low-tech experiences, one aspect of daily life that remains happily in the past is media consumption. While most of the world has gone digital when it comes to the way that media is consumed, Japan remains firmly in the camp of favoring physical media. This isn’t to say that digital media is unavailable, but from books to magazines, CDs and vinyl records, most people prefer to own their media in a physical format.

This makes Japan a perfect place for anyone that is nostalgic for the feel of a beloved piece of media. On a personal note I love that I can have a real copy of almost any media that I want regardless of how obscure it might be. Of course physical media has its own challenges (such as finding a place to put everything!) but having a physical copy means that I have full ownership over the item and I don’t have to worry about it potentially being deleted or altered without my consent.

The Takeaway

So the answer is that while Japan does have certain futuristic aspects about it, the reality is that it exists in an eclectic mix of old school and new school and you just have to roll with it. While this mix might not be the most convenient at times, it is also one of the reasons why Japan is such an interesting place.

As we said before, this is merely a surface level look and we could honestly spend much more time discussing this question in depth. There are so many factors that have shaped the way that technology has advanced (or stayed the same) in Japan that we recommend doing your own research and you’re sure to discover something new.

Also if your experience has been completely different and you would like to share or if you have any questions for TOM Senpai we would love to hear from you! You can ask us via this Google Form here: https://forms.gle/LyMgc5nGaNwmSEfr6.

That concludes this edition of “Ask TOM Senpai”! We’ll see you next time when we answer more questions about otaku life and life in Japan!

References

Cabinet Office. “Cool Japan Strategy - Cabinet Office Home Page.” Cao.go.jp, 2016,
www.cao.go.jp/cool_japan/english/index-e.html

“The Latest Technology in Japan’s Dining Industry | Web Japan.” Web Japan, 2023,
web-japan.org/trends/11_tech-life/tec202309_restaurant.html.

“Tokyo Tourism Data Catalog.” Tokyo Tourism Data Catalog,
data.tourism.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en/.