Picture of the Day - Miscellaneous

manta22 · Oct 25, 2023

Snautzer01 said:
2nd picture classic pick pocket move.

It was probably just another "Hey, Joe- you got gum?"

Snautzer01 · Oct 25, 2023

manta22 said:
It was probably just another "Hey, Joe- you got gum?"

Well this is very much a classic move. One over the other. But not important.

manta22 · Oct 25, 2023

Snautzer01 said:
Well this is very much a classic move. One over the other. But not important.

It was my experience that the ordinary Japanese people were honest, especially the children. There was a criminal element, as you know, the Yakuza, but that was mainly a black-market activity. One of my Father's fellow officers at GHQ realized that he had left his wallet in top of the dresser in his room at the Maranuchi Hotel that morning. At noon he left the Dai-Ichi Building to retrieve it and. when he walked into his hotel room, he found the hotel maid sitting on the bed. She explained that she had discovered his wallet and and watched over it so that it would be safely there when he returned.

MiTasol · Oct 25, 2023

manta22 said:
It was my experience that the ordinary Japanese people were honest, especially the children. There was a criminal element, as you know, the Yakuza, but that was mainly a black-market activity. One of my Father's fellow officers at GHQ realized that he had left his wallet in top of the dresser in his room at the Maranuchi Hotel that morning. At noon he left the Dai-Ichi Building to retrieve it and. when he walked into his hotel room, he found the hotel maid sitting on the bed. She explained that she had discovered his wallet and and watched over it so that it would be safely there when he returned.

Most people in most countries are pretty much the same.

In some countries there are a much larger percentage of criminals and in the case of PNG I have a large amount of sympathy with them - especially in the 70s where thousands bust their guts to get good education and degrees for the promised jobs that would come with Independance. In reality the jobs went to wantoks (basicly relatives - in one provence the treasurer only went to grade 8 in school) and the whole country therefore had thousands of well educated people who deserved good jobs but were unemployed and who naturally had massive chips on their shoulders. There never has been any sort of dole in PNG so many turned to crime. Going back to the village and subsistance farming was pretty much the only other option as the employment boom never happened. There are also cultural reasons for a lot of the crime.

At one stage when I was in the Solomon's I went out and left all the doors and windows wide open because the expats said all the locals were totally honest. A short sharp vicious storm came through and I thought I was going to have a real mess to clean up when I got home.

I got home a couple of hours later and found that all the doors and windows were closed and there were half a dozen beautiful green coconuts on the bench by the fridge. I later realized I was missing a can of soft drink. When I spoke to others at the bar later that night they said the coconuts were thanks for both the can of drink and for using my place as shelter when the storm hit. It was the local normal. Great people. After that I always left the doors open but closed certain windows to protect documents.

Shinpachi · Oct 26, 2023

Japan is a society of 'coveillance' since the ancient times.
This puts a sense of sin into mind. Same as religion.

nuuumannn · Oct 26, 2023

MiTasol said:
Most people in most countries are pretty much the same.

It is like that in most Pacific Island communities. My family lived in the Cook Islands, for those of you who've not heard of them, a New Zealand dependency halfway between New Zealand and Hawai'i, and no one locks their houses or cars. The crime rate is real low and the prison, for what it is, doesn't even have a perimeter fence. Everyone knows everyone and if you do something illegal it gets back to your family and you suffer enormous shame, so people don't bother leaving prison. There's nowhere to go anyway, you're on an island 15 miles across surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean. Where are you gonna go? One problem that has arisen there in recent years is Cookie Islanders' kids having been raised in New Zealand and returning home, to be little douchebags on the island. Some get deported back to New Zealand, while the others get Cookie Island justice from their families, the sort of thing that is illegal to invest on children in Western societies these days...

Shinpachi · Oct 27, 2023

Electric car in Tokyo on December 6, 1947.
This seems to have been popular during the war to save oil.

＜あのころ＞ミニ電気自動車銀座を走る　進駐軍もびっくり

1947（昭和22）年12月6日、東京・銀座4丁目交差点に現れたミニ電気自動車に、交通整理中の進駐軍MP（憲兵）もびっくり。ガソリン事情の厳しさで電気自動車は戦時中から街を走っていた。後方は連合国軍占 ...

www.47news.jp

MiTasol · Oct 27, 2023

Any information on what make of car and were made?

I am guessing it was a single seat car as lead acid batteries are large and had limited capacity at that time and electric motors of the period were very hungry so it is unlikely to have room for a second person.

Shinpachi · Oct 28, 2023

MiTasol said:
Any information on what make of car and were made?

I am guessing it was a single seat car as lead acid batteries are large and had limited capacity at that time and electric motors of the period were very hungry so it is unlikely to have room for a second person.

The same picture is captioned like this -

"The brainchild of a former kamikaze pilot, this midget auto gets its power from a 30-volt battery. At speeds between 25 and 30 miles per hour, it can travel for six hours before needing recharging. It is priced at about $2,400. It is shown passing the main intersection of the Ginza Street in Tokyo, Dec. 21, 1947. The toy-like car gets a ÂGoÂ signal from Private Jackson Neeley of Hampton, Va., who is attached to the 720th MPs. (AP Photo/Charles Gorry)
Ref #: PA.11617099"

Tokyo, Japan 1917-1950: Rare Images Of Love, Loathing And Life - Flashbak

Tokyo - a study in change, adaptation and regret...

flashbak.com

SaparotRob · Oct 28, 2023

Only in America!

Wurger · Oct 28, 2023

manta22 · Oct 28, 2023

Shinpachi said:
Electric car in Tokyo on December 6, 1947.
This seems to have been popular during the war to save oil.

View attachment 743937

＜あのころ＞ミニ電気自動車銀座を走る　進駐軍もびっくり

1947（昭和22）年12月6日、東京・銀座4丁目交差点に現れたミニ電気自動車に、交通整理中の進駐軍MP（憲兵）もびっくり。ガソリン事情の厳しさで電気自動車は戦時中から街を走っていた。後方は連合国軍占 ...

www.47news.jp

I don't recognize that car but I do recognize the Tokyo PX. Shopped there many times!