Won't Miss #49 - frozen construction (reflection)

As I mentioned in the original post, my issue with construction which took forever to complete was that areas that I had to walk through were often obstructed by it. In particular, it seemed to take forever for any work being done on stations to be completed. The question as I look back on that situation is, "does it take forever in America, too?" The answer to that is definitely "no". In the U.S., the problem isn't that construction never gets done, but that it seems to recur quite often, especially on roads. 

So, while I might have to walk through a taped-off, walled-off, narrow space for over a year in Tokyo while construction seemed to proceed at a crawl, I didn't tend to have to do it more than once in a long span of time. Nonetheless, I don't miss having to walk around or work around glacially paced work.

Will Miss #414 - Japanese construction workers

They mean that literally, not figuratively. This was a site with a lot of wood lying around.

I've lived in Tokyo for 23 years, and I've seen a lot of buildings go up and down as this is a city that doesn't value age so much as newness (fortunately for us, that means earthquake-resistant structures). Construction workers are ever-present in my life with rarely a day going by in which I don't see, feel, hear, or smell something being built or torn down. Last week, I was walking past a huge line of workers sitting on the sidewalk eating their lunch and it occurred to me that, despite copious experience with such men, I have never seen nor heard one of them make a rude comment to a passing lady.

The construction workers in Japan are, by and large, civilized and well-manner and therefore do not hoot or carry on around women and I will miss that.

Will Miss #121 - construction apologies/restitution

On multiple occasions, I've been given gifts for construction or maintenance work done in or near my apartment. When the landlord replaced my kitchen flooring, an action that I requested and directly benefited me, he gave us a bottle of wine to apologize for the inconvenience. When painters painted around our building, they came by beforehand to apologize and gave us hand towels as gifts. I've heard that in other situations, construction companies who make a lot of noise will pay people restitution or for them to stay in hotels on especially noisy work days.

While I'm sure such gifting and apologizing does not always happen, it is welcome that it is a part of the culture and I will miss it.

Won't Miss #49 - frozen construction

For a country that can put up a skyscraper in under a year, Japan sure has some issues finishing construction in well-trafficked, isolated spots. One of the platforms at Shinjuku station has been covered with taped down temporary rubber flooring for more than a year. There's a swing set in a backstreet near our home which took a month to finish because the workers left the "wet paint" signs up for weeks.

I won't miss this tendency to leave things in a half-assed state for no discernible reason.