Numbers are universal. On more than one occasion since arriving in Japan I have used my fingers to communicate the number of something to another person. When I was shopping for hiking boots I showed all 10 fingers to the sales clerk. When ordering adult beverages I gave the peace sign to the bartender. Numbers, even though pronounced differently, are one of the easiest things to communicate across language barriers.
Japan uses the metric system. Even as a science teacher, I find this more challenging to reprogram in my brain than driving. I measured the tiny window beside our front door for a tension rod as 12.5 inches. I laughed at myself when I realized at the store inches require conversions. No issues, Google conversion assisted me.
The first time we purchased a dozen eggs, I thought something looked different about them.
It wasn’t until I arrived home that I noticed there were only 10. Of course! Duh! It’s the metric system. A dozen means nothing in the metric system. It is in fact, completely arbitrary. Ten eggs do work a little bit better for me. They all fit into my smaller pot which means less energy to boil the water. However, I still find myself saying I need to pick up “a dozen eggs.” No. 10 will do.
Driving requires the use of kilometers instead of miles. This conversion is pretty easy as a result of running. Knowing a 5k is 3.1 miles, I can easily convert with a little math & rounding. Divide the number of kilometers by 5 and multiply by 3 (just ignore the .1). On most roads the speed limit is 40km/h. Or 24 mph. It seems very slow until you drive on a narrow road with mopeds & bikes & buses & big trucks.
Speaking of numbers, one place Japan could benefit from using more numbers is identifying the exits on the expressway. Sometimes the expressway exit signs are in English in addition to Kanji. This is not always the case and quite often there is only Kanji. It would be simpler, for me, if the exit was simply a number. I will make a note of that on my next country survey.