Recently, I was in Las Vegas for NamesCon and then Kobe, Japan for ICANN 64. Yes, this industry will take you across the globe – a small price to pay for working in this industry :).
I have been to Vegas many times, but this was my first time in Japan. As you might guess, they could not be more different. Yes, both are crowded. Yes, both have good food. Yes, both places have countless sights to see. And yes, both places have Eiffel tower replicas…but that is pretty much where the similarities end.
Any given day on the ‘Strip’ you will find all walks of life wandering the streets, many hustling you for a greenback. The streets and accompanying casinos are busy, while the shows have lineups longer than at any bullet train in Japan. Vegas feels like orchestrated chaos with the backdrop of bright city lights. Not a place you go to find yourself but rather lose yourself while placing all responsibilities on the back burner.
Unlike Japan, which has ‘ikigai’. It literally translates to life value and is best described as the reason somebody gets up in the morning—our reason for living. This is present in all aspects of Japanese life, from the morning sun cresting over the mountains, the delicious and nutritious cuisine fresh from the sea, the hospitable and polite people, organized and timely transportation, to the cleanliness of cities – you can’t help but notice how clean the streets are. So much so, that I everywhere I went I searched for garbage and in 8 days only found a small cigarette butt lying in a small crevasse between a sidewalk and a street.
But for me, the most noticeable difference between Japan and Vegas is my ability to use public washrooms. Yup, that’s right. Unlike in Vegas where your feet often stick to the floors, the urines reek, and the toilets aren’t fit to sit on, the bathrooms in Japan are exceptionally clean and all equipped with heated toilets that seem to have more tech than my Pixel 3! They take this sh%t seriously (pun intended). They even have an annual exhibition for toilets.
Can’t wait to see what Bangkok has in store!
Don Ruiz 