「日本觀察與驚喜瞬間」討論串在推特上爆紅

日本的吸煙室（照片來自 Nevin Thompson）

（原文發表於 2018 年二月二十六日）

曾任部落格發布平台 Medium 設計團隊主持人及文字設計師的名人 Marcin Wichary［今年二月］到日本進行為期數週的旅遊。很快地，他就注意到了當地生活中的「使用者介面」（user interface，UI）：包括告示、按鈕，以及一般行事作風──諸如排隊等電車或者購買餐點一類，在日本人看來也許理所當然、卻令外來者稱奇的生活細節。

在兩週的日本之旅中，Wichary 開始用推特（Twitter）來記錄他對「日本之道」的觀察，從標示到垃圾桶，無一不包。這總數達 300 則推文的超大討論串迅速爆紅：

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 這側重於日常使用者介面的驚人討論串「日本觀察與驚喜瞬間」是最棒的、沒得比。多希望這是一個部落格。twitter.com/mwichary/statu…

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) February 12, 2018

這是 Wichary 初次來到日本，而他馬上就注意到東京地鐵和他工作地點舊金山的灣區捷運（BART）之間的差異。

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. 當我試著不插票卡就走過收費閘門，閘門以一種相當緩慢的速度在我面前闔上。

（相較之下：BART 的閘門在我刷過票＊以後＊，還會狠狠砸上我的大腿，給我一片瘀青。）

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

Wichary 常常一邊在推特上實況轉播他的日本見聞，一邊向大家請益：像是這些標明地鐵出口海拔高度的告示。（這些告示是為了海嘯而準備的──2011 年東日本大地震［譯註：即三一一大地震］所引發的海嘯，在日本東北沿岸的一些地方，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. 有人知道為什麼地鐵出口要告訴我這個嗎？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

這趟日本行也以一些其他方式──像是這款在日本火車站隨處可見的類比鐘──勾起了 Wichary 的往日情懷：

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！）

這是個為我量身打造的謎團。我小時候就見過這個鐘，在波蘭。

我曾經以 JavaScript 將它重現，還為它寫過一篇文（medium.com/the-outtake/th…）。所以，它現在為什麼會在這裡，到處都是！？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

Wichary 注意到，電車和地鐵的標示常常試圖要讓人更有禮貌、增進社會和諧：

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

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

60. 開腿族：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. 這則廣告的調調滿妙的。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 12, 2018

有時候，他也會研究一下日本大城市的日常生活，探討尋常經驗中的使用者介面──像是在快餐店購買餐券：

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. 有趣的機制：你在餐館前面付錢買餐券，然後進到裡頭、把餐券遞給服務生。不用給小費、吃完就拍拍屁股走人？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

身為設計師，Wichary 也對日本貨幣的美學很感興趣：

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. 所有的日圓硬幣［上面］都有阿拉伯數字⋯⋯除了一種之外（五日圓）。

總的來說，只有五十日圓和一百日圓看起來像是成套的。

— 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 告訴過我，一日圓的硬幣會浮在水面上。我可以證實這點。

（如你所見，這花了我一點時間。）

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

就像許多訪日遊客，Wichary 也覺得自動販賣機是個待解之謎：

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. 這台自動販賣機有片薄板蓋住入鈔口。我不懂這是為什麼。

— 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. 我都不知道我對自動販賣機這麼有感情，直到我開始見到許多自動販賣機被放在室外，承受風吹雨打、日曬雨淋。

（這就解釋了前面提到過的入鈔口蓋板。）

還有，這裡的自動販賣機看起來沒那麼噁心！──現在的自動販賣機大都越來越噁心了。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

Wichary 也提到了日本與美國之間一些比較微妙的差異──出於迷信，美國的建築物一般沒有第十三層樓：

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

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

7. 我的旅館房間在第十三層樓，太讚了。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

他在旅館房間還觀察到一個引人好奇之處：

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. 超有趣的旅館手電筒：上面沒有開關，那個讓它可以掛在牆上的東西，同時也把裡面的兩個電池分開、切斷電源。

不過，我要這個幹嘛？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 1, 2018

在該則推文的回覆中，有人指出：在地震或其他可能會引起停電、失去照明的狀況下，手電筒就派上用場了。

Wichary 正在寫一本關於鍵盤沿革的書，所以對於日本人如何使用鍵盤特別感興趣：

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個鍵盤，就已經頗為神奇。這台自動櫃員機上的數字鍵盤是機械式的！

— 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

鍵盤上的謎團：我今天看到一堆老式的 Mac 鍵盤──包括傳說中的黑色 MacBook。那些鍵盤的 Control 鍵上，另外多畫了一個筆的符號。那是用來做什麼的？我以前從來沒看過這個。

— 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

謎團解開了！那個筆的符號是要讓人注意到能夠切換多種日文輸入法的電腦選單，不然它用起來就和 ^ 或 Ctrl 沒有兩樣。

這些快捷鍵到今天還是能用，但那個特別的符號和按鍵已經沒有了。我不確定他們當初為什麼要用它、後來又為什麼要把它移除掉。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 3, 2018

想要閱讀該推特討論串中其餘有關日文鍵盤的部分，請到這裡。

Wichary 也注意到，日本標示的資訊密度之高，可能會讓它們顯得過於複雜。

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. 這是哪門子美學？在這邊把西方文字拉細──我還滿常看到的──只是為了要配合它的資訊密度，好讓它稍微沒那麼難以忍受嗎？

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 2, 2018

就像許多到訪日本的遊客，Wichary 對於日本人為了避免打擾到別人所花的心思印象深刻。比方說，他就注意到，建築工地一般會貼出時間表，好讓當地民眾知道何時會有工程進行：

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. 建築工地似乎應該要事先告訴大家他們當週的施工時間表？那種公告有些還是電子的！

（我用觸控板查了一下那個比較複雜的。上面說：「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

到了旅程尾聲，Wichary 不只對日本人的多禮深有所感，對於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

你大概已經注意到不少［既定］模式，這是另一個──我在日本的許多發現都是照著這樣的程序走：

1. 發現某種神奇的東西。
2. 意識到這個神奇的東西到處都是，只是最低標準而已。
3. 在某些地方，發現那個神奇的東西的進化版。

— Marcin Wichary (@mwichary) February 17, 2018

想要一覽推特上的原始討論串，可以到這裡；Wichary 也〔於二月底〕在部落格上就他的日本之旅發表了一篇文章：

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