Day 4 went by without many tech impulses. It seems more and more as if the whole tech-in-Tokyo-thing is, if not a myth, at least exaggerated. Don’t take me wrong, tech is everywhere here: in the metro, vending machines, taxis, restaurants and even toilets (see the instructions manual on the wall below). But tech is everywhere in the US and Europe too. The difference seems to be that here it’s just taken for granted and where ever it’s applied, it’s just a tool, whereas we would probably make a big thing about it in other countries.

In some senses, tech is more global outside Tokyo. I haven’t been to a major city before where Visa, Amex and Mastercard cards are not global. Most ATMs here will only accept credit cards issued by Japanese banks. So far, the only ATMs that always accept my Swedish credit cards are found in the 7-Eleven stores.

Back to tech spotting. We went to Tokyo National Museum. They have phones throughout the museum that are not part of the exhibitions, though they should… So much for high tech. Finally and again, Twitter seems to be popular. The dessert menu includes the chain’s Twitter account. More than 34,000 followers. Not bad.


Still working


Instructions…



Dessert menu with Twitter