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10 things that make Japan female-friendly【Women in Japan Series】

We at RocketNews24 previously told you about 10 Things Japan Gets Awesomely Right. Now we want to tell you about ten more things that are equally awesome, but especially for women in Japan. It doesn’t mean that men don’t also find these things impressive, but we’re betting that some of these have never been noticed by men, because, well, they were designed with women in mind.

Every woman likes to be pampered every now and then, and in Japan it’s just too easy to get used to some of the every day niceties we enjoy! Of course the Japanese are known for being polite, which helps tremendously to get through any stressful day, but Japan goes that extra step sometimes to make things that much nicer. After all, it’s the little things in life that matter, right?

So here’s our list of 10 things that make it so darn nice to be a woman in Japan. Get ready, ’cause you’re gonna love these!

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Japan-designed New York City “Taxi of Tomorrow” put on display in Tokyo despite recent setback

In May 2011, Japan’s Nissan Motor Company was awarded the rights to manufacture a line of new generation yellow taxis for New York City, with the aim of replacing the myriad varieties of cabs on the city’s streets with one uniform design by 2020. Dubbed the “Taxi of Tomorrow” by the contest organisers, Nissan’s car was to become a major part of New York City life, and naturally came as a boon to the Japanese company.   

Sadly, the project has stalled following a number of legal disputes and issues over accessibility, but Nissan is nevertheless exceptionally proud of its modern take on the classic yellow cab, and recently exhibited it for all to see in a temporary showroom in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza shopping district.

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The Secret Slang of Japanese Cabbies

Like many people who moved to Tokyo in their youth, most of the time I’ve spent in Japanese taxi cabs has been directly preceded by heavy drinking. In the country’s urban centers, people primarily get around by train and subway. However, both of them stop running around midnight (for now?), at which time you can see a mass of people stumbling towards the station like Cinderella if she’d spent less time on the dance floor with the prince and more at the ball’s open bar. Once the trains stop, they don’t start again until about five in the morning, and since staying out all night drinking only seems like a good idea until your buzz wears off at around 2:30 a.m., if you missed the last train the only way you’re getting home is by taking a taxi.

Like taking a cab ride anywhere else in the world, the drivers use radios to communicate with the dispatcher and other cars in the fleet. I could never understand what Japanese taxi drivers were saying to each other, but the reason why isn’t because I was liquored up (OK, so it wasn’t only because I was liquored up). It turns out cab drivers in Japan have a whole set of jargon and code words that you won’t find in any textbooks. Read More

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