One of the things I feel like I've already started to take for granted here in Japan is just how polite the people here are when you walk into their business. It's a given that whenever you walk into a store all the employees will immediately say (or shout depending how good the service is) "Irashaimasei!". This is a difficult to translate phrase that vaguely means "welcome to our store" and "how may I help you?" simultaneously. Often times the employees of a store will repeat this phrase incessantly. I once recall walking into a 100 yen shop (the Japanese version of the $1 store) and hearing one of the girls working there repeating "irashaimase!" about every five seconds. It seemed a little weird to me, but I guess it's a good indicator of good service.
Anyway, good service here seems to be put at a much higher premium than in the US where things tend to be more slanted to Do-it-your-own(damn)-self. People here also tend to much more polite when dealing with customers. This is evident in the use of Japanese honorific language when talking to customers. For example, a literal translation of how a girl working at a Japanese McDonalds might be "Would the next honored customer who is unfortunately waiting please place his order at his convenience?". Of course this is in stark contrast to American fast food where you're most likely to be told to "hurry your ass up 'cause I ain't got all day". The politeness goes beyond just the language however. The people who work at these places seem genuinely happy and helpful. This caught me off guard when I first arrive here, but I think it will be hard to go back to dealing with Americans when I do return.
The Japanese also still have two thriving service industries that have disappeared in the US: full-service gas stations and getting the works at a barber shop. When you pull into a gas station here you don't even need to get out of car. A friendly worker immediately comes up to you, asks what kind of gas you need and goes to work, but the service doesn't stop there. He also cleans all of your windshields, offers to light a cigarette for you and offers you a cup of coffee. Then, when it's all said and done, you goes out to stop traffic for you so you can pull out quickly and go on your way.
The trip to the barber shop is an even nicer experience. I can get a haircut here for about $15, not too different from what I would pay back home. It seems like they also pay more detailed attention to your hair while cutting it; it's too bad my Japanese isn't good enough to ask for what I really want. But wait! The haircut itself is just the beginning of the Japanese barber experience. Once the haircut is over they will shave your face for free. I would never have thought that having a complete stranger brush your face with an ultra-sharp razor could be such a relaxing experience. My favorite part is the hot towel you get right before the shave. It's extra-nice. To top it all off you get a shampoo; however, by shampoo they mean "scalp massage the just happens to clean your hair". This part is actually about 100 yen extra but it's worth it. It puts a nice finishing touch on the whole haircut experience.
It's nice to have some extra attention paid to you but this extra service does slow everything down. Thankfully I have nothing but free time here in Japan so I may as well enjoy being spoiled while I can...
