Readit Newskizunajp commented on Japan's Comfort Food: The Onigiri one-from-nippon.ghost.io/... · Posted by u/zdw
This is the magical stuff that I love finding on HN. We don’t make this enough at home.
Author here. Thank you for the kind words! <Shameless plug> This post is part of a newsletter we write semi-regularly. If you found this interesting, do take a look at our other pieces and consider subscribing! </plug>
In Japanese there are two words for some numbers. For example number 4 is yon or shi and for 7 it is shichi or nana. For announcements on train platforms they do not use shichi, because it sounds like "ichi", which is the word for 1. Also, I think they do not use "shi" for 4 for the same reason. (I hope I got this right, have not studied Japanese for 25 years).
Maybe someone from Japan can clarify if the are talking about the English word "number 1" or if they mean the japanese term "dai ichi".
They do not use 第一 (dai ichi), they use ナンバーワン (namba- wan).
Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240109/k10014314211000.ht...
Also it seems like this is a temporary measure (seeing NHK says "対策では当面、事前に出発順は伝えずに離陸許可を出すとしています。" )?
Perhaps it will come back once the non-civilian traffic goes back to pre-earthquake levels?
Interesting points about the nuances of a $450 bag that’s rather impractical when it’s more a story than a justification. I’m just here to comment that this was a lovely read, thanks for posting!
Author of the newsletter here. Your comment just made my day :)
Hello! Author here. Pleasantly surprised to see this on the front page! I thought I'd address a couple of questions here:
- Why is it so expensive?
You can definitely buy cheaper randoserus made in China and these are giving lower-end Japanese manufacturers a run for their money. For example, https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B09H5RLGQF is around 45 dollars.
Even off-the-shelf Japanese randoserus are cheaper than the customized ones.
For an example of the well-thought out design of randoseru, this video does a good job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WtWiuWBU9r8
Some basic reasons for the high cost are: materials (leather, fake leather) are expensive, there are many parts, manual assembly, and the variations and customizations don't lend themselves to scale.
This article lists some reasons Japanese randoseru are so expensive: https://rand--torisetu-com.translate.goog/kakaku?_x_tr_sl=au... .
- What happens after 6 years?
Randoseru often last longer with good care, and are in fact passed down. Many organizations also collect and donate used randoseru to the less privileged. There are also businesses that will recycle the high quality materials into other accessories: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcgol5i7gs
I'm hoping Japanese vending machines will be an interesting topic for the next post.