Central European here (Poland). The bizarre and amazing thing is the change that's been happening in the region over the last 20 years or so: the large cities have become very clean.
So, what you wrote stands true for smaller places, but large cities are now very clean. Not quite Japan-level, but close, and certainly much cleaner than anything in western Europe.
Yeah, true. I know that phenomen. And it is true in eastern germany as well.
Dresden for example has always working elevators and the stations are looked after regulary.
The small towns? It can take weeks, before a broken elevator is fixed, or a public toilet reopened. (If there is one at all in the first place) Until then you have to step over pee and shit.
> Looks pretty similar to what I'd expect to a regular European town.
Europe is not one country, and even within the same country, there may be big differences between regions, and within the city itself. Naples and Geneva for example are like polar opposites.
Japan is very uniform by comparison, and about as clean and well maintained as the best European cities, I'd say the US is about average by European standards, but with less variation. The general, very rough idea with Europe is that the further north you go, the cleaner it is.
Same in Germany. Graffiti everywhere; walls, buildings, fences, signs, historic monuments. It's awful and I don't know why they can't manage to do anything about it, but it also seems like no one cares about it as a problem to begin with. To me, such an individual invasion of the public space seems like a mockery of the common trust and the notion that the Europeans (and the Germans especially) have some sort of communal responsibility.
Things are actually open. In Switzerland everything closes. Japan is notable because there’ll be people everywhere and things will still be clean. Compare football games as example.
It's for workers' rights. Even ole' John Calvin (who probably started it in Switzerland) wanted Sunday as a day off because it protected workers rights against overwork, not because he saw it as mandated by the Bible.
Hi, Swiss person here. This does not address why it should be Sunday for everyone. Nobody's saying you should work 7 days a week. We could have different off days for different people.
> […] working the disadvantaged 7 days a week with no breaks.
In countries with a high development index, the employment law usually prohibits 7 day long working weeks, and there is a provision of at least one day off (granted, since employment laws vary across jurisdictions, there is no universal rule).
The situation is different for small businesses and self-employed as they are the masters of their own fate (so to speak), e.g. if a cafe owner decides to run the cafe 7 days a week and work there in person themselves, that is their choice.
I disagree with the implication that Swiss/European people are morally superior to those in other parts of the world and their choices are de-facto better than those being made elsewhere. Seems like a common, ignorant and bigoted stance.
Cleanliness and a general sense of respect for the public spaces IS de-facto better than trash everywhere and a society where everyone only cares for number one. If it's offensive to you, your moral compass is wrong.
> Sure, because there are worker rights and we do not keep people working at night unless there's a reason.
Part of this is low wages, but the population density also means you can easily find people who'll work the night shift. Or sometimes the store owner does it.
But no, they aren't like Europeans who think workers should have the right to work five hours a year.
Hmmm the few people that clean up at Japanese football games don't actually represent everyone. Many leave drinks containers behind or bento boxes that they brought with them, and often you are given bags of goodies (not actually that exciting, I got a branded folder of the team, and a salad dressing one time) which end up being 'forgotten'. Whilst yes some fans do keep it very tidy, as with many things in Japan, there is an idolised view that isn't based on reality.
Not football, and i've only been to one baseball game in Tokyo, but it was crazy , after the game everyone spent time to clean up their area - it was like a peer pressure thing almost & didn't seem like just a just a few people but the entire stadium for the most part
Don't bother :) There are other examples, but the US/HN audience is particularly fascinated with Japan in a "if you have to pick one" kind of way. Perhaps also because it's an old adversary.
It's much better than 0 outside benchmarking, so I've learned to just let these threads roll on.
What are you comparing it to that you see such a drastic difference?