Not So Good For Pricing Stock Options, Though

by Lee Bissett

At some point during their stay, most expats who live in Japan refer to it as a culture of contradictions. They could be referring to the delicate blend of new and old, the stereotypical example of which is the young woman on Coming of Age Day, clad in her kimono and using her keitai to send text messages confirming her evening plans. They could also be referring to the fascinating clash of large and small, best seen in the Tokyo megalopolis. Even among 35 million other human beings, it is, in fact, possible to find places where you would swear that you are the only soul for miles.

I’ve had similar thoughts over the past few months, but I just recently came across a contradiction that really, truly needs to be shared. When Whitney and I were in Biei, we needed to purchase train tickets to get back to Asahikawa. Every train station in Japan has an automatic ticket machine, just like your standard fare card machine in any metropolitan subway system in the States or Europe. For some reason, the machine in the Biei station was down, so I walked up to the counter to purchase tickets from the real, live human being working in the station. I asked for two tickets to Asahikawa, he placed the order on his computer’s touch screen, and after the tickets printed, he calculated the cost. On an abacus. Yes, an abacus.

And he was fast. And he was right. But it’s still striking to watch someone use a computer to perform ninety percent of their duties, in this case ordering and printing the tickets, and then use a BC-era technology to do the rest. Amazing. But somehow reassuring, just knowing that in the dawn of the computer age, we haven’t completely converted yet. Nor do we necessarily need to. And that may be the greatest contradiction of all.