April 18, 2003
The convenience of Japan, part I
Japan is a such an odd place at times. I think perhaps my occasional incompatibility with this society stems from my overall indifference to concerns with form at the expense of function, whereas the Japanese seems to have a pathological fixation on the preservation and exhalation of form with little to no regard for function.
This is easily seen in the commerce of cuisine in Japan. The stereotypes of Japanese indecision hold true in many cases and many restaurants cater to this by offering "Set Menus." Sometimes a set menu is very set, with a specific appetizer, entree, and soup, for example or other times you are given an option of appetizers, entrees, and desserts, or whatever. It makes ordering easier and since many restaurants and cafes in Japan are so small, sometimes just a couple tables, it helps them control their menu without having to stock lots of different foods and streamlines ordering; you can only deliberate between the A Set and the B Set for so long.
My frustration isn't due to the lack of options in these restaurants but their rigidity. The other day we went to a little cafe that had 3 sets available for lunch, as well as assorted ala carte items. I wasn't in the mood for a full set of food and just wanted some soup and bread to dip in it. The ala carte menu only offered vegetable soup, but all the set menus had a tasty sounding corn pottage on the menu.
In my ignorance, I assumed it would be possible to order the corn soup on the side, but no, I was politely informed, this simply wasn't possible. The corn soup was part of the set, they explained, and couldn't be sold on the side. I tried to get a more explicit answer of why it was that the soup, which sat in a warmer identical to the vegetable soup and served in its own physically distinct (yet again, identical to the vegetable soup) bowl, was unable to be served on the side without the rest of the set, but the look of uncomfortableness with being faced with such absurd questions on the face of the server made me stop. It wasn't possible to order Set A (which came with vegetable soup in the set) but substitute the corn. If you wanted corn soup, you had to order the set with corn soup in. What could be easier? 
Japanese people just don't ask such unnerving questions. I have discovered that most servers or sales people can handle an initial question inquirying into a particular possibility with ease, but when the possibility is revealed to be nonexistant (which happens almost 100% of the time) and I follow up with a question regarding the reasons why such a situation exists, a look of panic and desperation creep into their eyes and they begin to stammer the Japanese equivalent of "Just because." That could be the damn tag line of Japan Inc: "Just Because."
It happens all over the place. Go to McDonald's and ask for nugget sauce for your fries. You'll be told that nugget sauce is just that, sauce for nuggets, and since you didn't buy nuggets, you can't get sauce. Offer to pay for the sauce, and the EXACT same answer will echo in your head. Offer to pay full price for an order of nuggets, just without the nuggets, and you'll find that it's impossible to sell you nuggets without giving you nuggets.
At least home-delivery pizza doesn't complain if you ask to have the a pizza made without mushrooms. But when we stopped by a local Italian restaurant last week for dessert we found that you couldn't just order dessert there, had to order dinner for dessert. This was at a deserted restaurant in the middle of a 12 year-long recession, and they were turning customers away.
But as condemning as I may sound, I usually find amusement in this world of form over function. Sure, its a pain in the ass to not be able to eat my fries with BBQ sauce and I never got my corn soup, but its a different world that constantly offers a stimulating social environment, and that makes life fun.
Posted by Nutrimentia at April 18, 2003 12:04 PM | TrackBack