「日本观察与惊喜瞬间」讨论串在推特上爆红

日本的吸烟室（照片来自 Nevin Thompson）

（原文发表于 2018 年二月二十六日）

曾任部落格发布平台 Medium 设计团队主持人及文字设计师的名人 Marcin Wichary［今年二月］到日本进行为期数周的旅游。很快地，他就注意到了当地生活中的「使用者介面」（user interface，UI）：包括告示、按钮，以及一般行事作风──诸如排队等电车或者购买餐点一类，在日本人看来也许理所当然、却令外来者称奇的生活细节。

在两周的日本之旅中，Wichary 开始用推特（Twitter）来记录他对「日本之道」的观察，从标示到垃圾桶，无一不包。这总数达 300 则推文的超大讨论串迅速爆红：

This epic thread of @mwichary‘s observations and surprising moments in Japan, with an emphasis on everyday UIs, is just the best. I wish this was a blog. https://t.co/L1hi2Qvlxt

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) February 12, 2018

@mwichary 这侧重于日常使用者介面的惊人讨论串「日本观察与惊喜瞬间」是最棒的、没得比。多希望这是一个部落格。twitter.com/mwichary/statu…

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) February 12, 2018

这是 Wichary 初次来到日本，而他马上就注意到东京地铁和他工作地点旧金山的湾区捷运（BART）之间的差异。

11. The fare gate closed on me in a rather gentle way when I tried to walk past it without inserting the ticket.

(Contrast: San Francisco BART gate that slammed itself into my thigh and gave me a bruise *after* I paid my fare.)

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

11. 当我试着不插票卡就走过收费闸门，闸门以一种相当缓慢的速度在我面前阖上。

（相较之下：BART 的闸门在我刷过票＊以后＊，还会狠狠砸上我的大腿，给我一片瘀青。）

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

Wichary 常常一边在推特上实况转播他的日本见闻，一边向大家请益：像是这些标明地铁出口海拔高度的告示。（这些告示是为了海啸而准备的──2011 年东日本大地震［译注：即三一一大地震］所引发的海啸，在日本东北沿岸的一些地方，浪高足足超出海平面逾三十公尺）：

28. Does anyone know why does this subway entrance tell me this? pic.twitter.com/ix5BbCo3UW

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

28. 有人知道为什么地铁出口要告诉我这个吗？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

这趟日本行也以一些其他方式──像是这款在日本火车站随处可见的类比钟──勾起了 Wichary 的往日情怀：

150. (150!)

This is a particularly Marcin-shaped mystery. I know this clock from my childhood. From Poland.

I recreated it in JavaScript. I wrote about it (https://t.co/4swcDxsmPQ). So why is it here, now, all over the place!? pic.twitter.com/ZakyxPAz23

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

150.（150！）

这是个为我量身打造的谜团。我小时候就见过这个钟，在波兰。

我曾经以 JavaScript 将它重现，还为它写过一篇文（medium.com/the-outtake/th…）。所以，它现在为什么会在这里，到处都是！？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

Wichary 注意到，电车和地铁的标示常常试图要让人更有礼貌、增进社会和谐：

60. Manspreading: A global epidemic. :·/ pic.twitter.com/2A2cReIqH6

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

60. 开腿族：全球流行病。:·/

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

147. The tone of this ad is kind of incredible. pic.twitter.com/O1BFEEudi4

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

147. 这则广告的调调满妙的。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

有时候，他也会研究一下日本大城市的日常生活，探讨寻常经验中的使用者介面──像是在快餐店购买餐券：

17. Interesting system: you pay for a ticket to a restaurant in front of it, and then enter and give it to a server. No tips, and after finishing you just get up and leave? pic.twitter.com/DVkYPhPl1S

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

17. 有趣的机制：你在餐馆前面付钱买餐券，然后进到里头、把餐券递给服务生。不用给小费、吃完就拍拍屁股走人？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

身为设计师，Wichary 也对日本货币的美学很感兴趣：

23. All of the yen coins have arabic numerals… except one of them (5).

In general, only 50/100 look like they’ve been designed together. pic.twitter.com/ctioQ41m8O

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

23. 所有的日圆硬币［上面］都有阿拉伯数字⋯⋯除了一种之外（五日圆）。

总的来说，只有五十日圆和一百日圆看起来像是成套的。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

25. I’ve been informed by @txsector that a one-yen coin will float on the surface of the water, and I can confirm this.

(As you can see, it took me a while.) pic.twitter.com/GW7Z36CYte

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

25. @txsector 告诉过我，一日圆的硬币会浮在水面上。我可以证实这点。

（如你所见，这花了我一点时间。）

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

就像许多访日游客，Wichary 也觉得自动贩卖机是个待解之谜：

21. This vending machine had a flap covering the banknote port. I don’t understand why. pic.twitter.com/J89hE6LQ2k

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

21. 这台自动贩卖机有片薄板盖住入钞口。我不懂这是为什么。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

63. I didn’t know I had so many feelings for vending machines until I started seeing dozens of them outside, exposed to elements.

(Which explains the money cover above.)

Also, vending machines don’t seem to be gross here! Which is becoming kind of an overall theme. pic.twitter.com/iVDps94mxs

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

63. 我都不知道我对自动贩卖机这么有感情，直到我开始见到许多自动贩卖机被放在室外，承受风吹雨打、日晒雨淋。

（这就解释了前面提到过的入钞口盖板。）

还有，这里的自动贩卖机看起来没那么恶心！──现在的自动贩卖机大都越来越恶心了。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

Wichary 也提到了日本与美国之间一些比较微妙的差异──出于迷信，美国的建筑物一般没有第十三层楼：

7. My hotel room is on the 13th floor, which I love. pic.twitter.com/ZGvjMw0AR5

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

7. 我的旅馆房间在第十三层楼，太赞了。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

他在旅馆房间还观察到一个引人好奇之处：

20. Super interesting hotel flashlight. There is no on/off switch. The thing that mounts it on the wall also separates the two batteries and cuts off the power.

What do I need this for, though? pic.twitter.com/K9JfzGzDiR

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

20. 超有趣的旅馆手电筒：上面没有开关，那个让它可以挂在墙上的东西，同时也把里面的两个电池分开、切断电源。

不过，我要这个干嘛？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

在该则推文的回覆中，有人指出：在地震或其他可能会引起停电、失去照明的状况下，手电筒就派上用场了。

Wichary 正在写一本关于键盘沿革的书，所以对于日本人如何使用键盘特别感兴趣：

First keyboard I interacted with in Japan was already kind of amazing. Mechanical numeric keypad in an ATM! pic.twitter.com/U0bnG3rWui

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

我在日本用到的第一个键盘，就已经颇为神奇。这台自动柜员机上的数字键盘是机械式的！

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

Keyboard mystery: I’ve seen a bunch of older Mac keyboards today (including the legendary black MacBook) where Control key is adorned with an extra pen icon. What is that all about? I have never seen this before. pic.twitter.com/kPgbIWecwD

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

键盘上的谜团：我今天看到一堆老式的 Mac 键盘──包括传说中的黑色 MacBook。那些键盘的 Control 键上，另外多画了一个笔的符号。那是用来做什么的？我以前从来没看过这个。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

Mystery solved! The pen was to draw attention to the menu allowing you to switch between many modes of entering Japanese. It otherwise behaved as ^ or Ctrl.

The shortcuts still work today, but the special icon and key are gone. I am not sure why the intro’ed it or removed it. pic.twitter.com/PRUr9oBkgw

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

谜团解开了！那个笔的符号是要让人注意到能够切换多种日文输入法的电脑选单，不然它用起来就和 ^ 或 Ctrl 没有两样。

这些快捷键到今天还是能用，但那个特别的符号和按键已经没有了。我不确定他们当初为什么要用它、后来又为什么要把它移除掉。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

想要阅读该推特讨论串中其余有关日文键盘的部分，请到这里。

Wichary 也注意到，日本标示的资讯密度之高，可能会让它们显得过于复杂。

46. Is there a name for this kind of esthetic? Is western text stretched thin in here (which I see very often) just to make the low information density slightly less unbearable? pic.twitter.com/xqFwhS9B8u

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

46. 这是哪门子美学？在这边把西方文字拉细──我还满常看到的──只是为了要配合它的资讯密度，好让它稍微没那么难以忍受吗？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

就像许多到访日本的游客，Wichary 对于日本人为了避免打扰到别人所花的心思印象深刻。比方说，他就注意到，建筑工地一般会贴出时间表，好让当地民众知道何时会有工程进行：

78. It seems that construction sites are supposed to tell you ahead about their work schedule for the week? Some of those displays are even electronic!

(I drew the complicated one on my trackpad. It says 解体工事: demolition work. February 4 is Sunday = no construction.) pic.twitter.com/aVUnNHaP2a

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

78. 建筑工地似乎应该要事先告诉大家他们当周的施工时间表？那种公告有些还是电子的！

（我用触控板查了一下那个比较复杂的。上面说：「解体工事」（即拆除工程）。二月四日是星期天 = 不施工）

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

到了旅程尾声，Wichary 不只对日本人的多礼深有所感，对于日式生活之道不分地域的共通性也印象深刻。

You probably noticed a lot of patterns. Here’s another one. A lot of my discovery of Japan followed this routine:

1. Discover something amazing.
2. Realize this amazing thing is EVERYWHERE, a baseline.
3. Discover an even more extraordinary version of that thing, in some places.

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 17, 2018

你大概已经注意到不少［既定］模式，这是另一个──我在日本的许多发现都是照着这样的程序走：

1. 发现某种神奇的东西。
2. 意识到这个神奇的东西到处都是，只是最低标准而已。
3. 在某些地方，发现那个神奇的东西的进化版。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 17, 2018

想要一览推特上的原始讨论串，可以到这里；Wichary 也〔于二月底〕在部落格上就他的日本之旅发表了一篇文章：

Apparently it’s a rite of passage to write a guide to visiting Japan after visiting Japan.

Here’s mine, with links to other good ones. If you’re like me and are planning to visit, I hope it’s useful: https://t.co/BgrTp9UK7W

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 24, 2018