Conclusion

During the program in Japan, we have explored different places. As shown on the website, the importance ones are being recorded.

After all the research and hunting processes, we have known that electronic maps and street maps are drawn in very simple way. They are too simple that if one relies on these maps, the chances of getting lost is quite high. An example can be drawn from the third stop of Yokohama.

During the hunting process, we have gained some experiences of using different types of maps, including paper maps, electronic maps on the internet, and street maps. Again, as our main purpose of this project is to get familiar with the paper maps system, we did not use electronic tools such as GPS.
Out of all the types that we have used, we think the best one to use is the paper maps. Although street maps are helpful, sometimes it gives people a headache to try to find some street maps. During the first few days in Japan, we have been trying to locate street maps at random areas, and found it was difficult to find one when the area is not a well known area, or it does not have any landmark. Therefore, it is more convenient to use on the street instead of finding the street maps.  

Also, electronic maps are drawn in a simple way.  Before we depart to Japan, we have been trying to use the electronic maps online to practice our skills. At first, it was quite difficult for us to find the actual spots on the electronic maps without the searching functions. Although  we have since been able to use the electronic maps, we discovered and proven that the electronic maps are not reliable in the last few stops.
However, not every electronic map is unrealiable, there are some website that provides detailed maps, such as, http://map.yahoo.co.jp.  We used, in the predeparture presentation, the Yahoo! website to show the class where Senshu University is located.  We think that as long as one has the address of a place, one would able to find it on this website. Nevetheless, the same problem of over simplication occurs, so one should be careful when using the electronic maps. From our own experience, it is suggested to have a detailed paper map to compare.

The following snap shots are being taken from Yahoo!. We use these as examples to show the layout of electronics maps:

The general view of the map of Japan.

A close up view of Senshu University.

Q&A

Before we came to Japan, we have identified a few questions to be answered during the trip:
1) What is the last digit in the address representing?
2) Are Japanese maps easy to follow, for foreigners and Japanese?
3) Are there any other tools can be used to assist?
4) Do Japanese still rely on paper maps?

To answer these questions, we combined our observations and the surveys we have done.

1) What is the last digit in the address representing?
One of the uniqueness of Japanese addresses are the 3 different numbers in the address. Before we came to Japan, we have said that there are 3 numbers at the end of the address, we were not sure about what the 3^rd number is, we assumed that it is the building number.  After this one month of research, we are sure that our assumption was right; the 3^rd number is the building number. 
Survey: The interesting part is, within the 20 Japanese people who we have surveyed, only 2/20 people know what is the meaning of the 3 numbers and were able to explain it in details. Although it is common to see the 3 numbers in the address, it seems like the numbers do not matter for them anymore.

2) Are Japanese maps easy to follow, for foreigners and Japanese?
Although Japanese maps were designed to be user friendly by classfiying the areas into different numbers, it actually gave people a difficult time to find places, especially for foreigners. From our own experience, althought we thought we have mastered the electronic maps before departure,  we had completely failed the first stop. For  the first time Japanese maps users, it might not be an easy task.
Survey: Suprisingly, 20/20 Japanese people that we have surveyed indicated the maps were not easy to follow. They mentioned the maps were often being oversimplified. For people who have traveled to other countries, they indicated if the Japanese has street names for every road, it would become much easier to find the place by using paper maps.

3) Are there any other tools can be used to assist?
From our observations, we have noticed the Japanese people have been using GPS in the car, mobile phones, electronic maps on internet, and paper maps. Althought it is often to see GPS in the car and mobile phones, the usage was unknown to us until we interviewed the Japanese people.
Survey: 90% of the interviewed people indicated GPS in the car is very common and popular. Some of these people have tried to use the GPS in the car and said it was very user friendly and could find the place very easily. The only problem with the GPS in the car is the price.
Suprisingly, only 70 % of the interviewed people said they are relying on the GPS on the mobile phones. However, for the ones that indicated no, they still understand such function exists on the mobile phone. The common reason being provided is either they often travel with friends who are familiar with one area, or they themselves know the area quite well. To further understand it, we asked a follow up question on whether they will use the GPS on the mobile phone or not, if they are completly unfamiliar with the area and so do their friends. For these 30 % of people, all of them answered "yes".

4) Do Japanese people still rely on paper maps?
As technology is advancing rapidly, electronic maps and GPS are becoming popular. Moreover, they are more convineance to use. Our expected answer for this question was "no".
Survey: 80% of the people indicated they have not been using the paper maps for a long time. These people are either relying on GPS on the mobile phones, or the electronic maps on the internet. The remaining 20% indicated they would use the paper maps when they are in a foreign countries. Again, when we clarified the questions and foucsed on the Japanese maps, they indicated they do not use paper maps, as what we have expected.

Japanese maps are unique, and is interesting to look into it. However, some people are not using the paper maps because it opposed the purpose of convieance. For some people, it creates frustration instead of solving the problems. However, given our experience of failure and success, it is actually possible to use paper maps to locate places. Nevertheless, it is questionable that if one would be willing to study the maps carefully if he/she is in a rush of finding places. As a result, the GPS becomes a very useful and helpful tool to assist finding the places.

Nevertheless, the GPS technology is still based on the map system. Given the uniquness of the Japanese maps, it was a nice and good experience of studying into it. Now that we can understand the map system, we will be able to look at the paper maps without major problems.

Episode- Useful Websites

Third Stop: Yokohama

Although our first visit to Yokohama is during the homestay, we were not able to explore specific places as the major purpose was for sightseeing. Therefore, we have decided to go back to Yokohama again on Sunday, May 27, 2007.

This time our target is the Yokohama stadium. According to our research, Yokohama stadium is one of the oldest stadium in Japan. It has an important role in the Japanese history, as it was opened at 1874 for the westerners living in Yokohama; it is now a famous stadium to hold baseball games.
As we have success last time, we have changed our strategy a bit. Because Yokohama stadium is a famous place, it should not be difficult to find it. Therefore, the main purpose of this time is to compare the maps on streets and on the website. From the official website, it shows the building around it and the nearest stations:
http://www.yokohama-stadium.co.jp/guide/index.html

The map shows the two main streets beside the Yokohama stadium, and uses the building of Yokohama City Hall as a landmark to guide the direction.
One thing that we have noticed is the Yokohama stadium located near (or, maybe inside) the Yokohama Park. Which means if we ran out of luck and could not find Yokohama stadium on the street map (which we highly doubted it), we should still be able to find the Yokohama Park and thus the stadium.

The 2 maps we have found at Yokohama:

Close up of the map (Unfortunately first one was too small, but second one has a closer look):
 

Okay, this one is too small and really can't see anything, let's go to the next one...

There we go, this one shows clearly that the street map actually shows the same thing as the official website map; with the Minato Road and Nihon Road, also the Yokohama park.

From these maps, it can be clearly seen that the Yokohama stadium is located inside the Yokohama park. As the stadium and park sizes are large, they are easily spotted.

It did not take us long to find the place, mainly because we are now more familiar with the Japanese maps system and the place is big. Rather than noticing the Yokohama stadium at first, we were lured by the Yokohama Park instead.
The interesting part is, from the route we took, there were no specific signs guiding the place to Yokohama Stadium or Yokohama Park.

Episode
To test our map skills, we decided to go further and try to find the Chinatown from the Yokohama Stadium. According to the electronic maps on the website, it is closed to the stadium. However, it looks more complicated on the street maps, it actually looked like we have a long way to go.

Suprisingly, it did not take us long to find the Chinatown:

Episode 2
Luckily, both of us are in the same home stay family. During the home stay visit, our home stay family brought us to some places, such as Yokohama, Kawaguchiko (河口湖), and Fuji Midai (富士見台).  As our host family are very kind and bring us to different places by car, we did not take the train to these places. To plan the ideal driving route, our host family used the internet to search for the famous sightseeing places and the electronic maps. While planning the route at home, they did not use paper maps nor GPS.

We have also observed that they do not have a GPS system in their car, so we assumed they rely on the electronic maps whenever they travel to unfamiliar places. However, although they had an ideal planned route, we still lost the direction on our way to Yokohama. One of the possible reasons of this may be due to the over simplification of electronic maps. At the end, they had to take out a more detailed paper map and follow it. 

When we arrived in Yokohama, they started to rely on the maps on streets.  By combining the electronic maps, paper maps, and the street maps, we did not have any problem of finding places.

On the second day of the home visit, we went to Fuji Midai. Unlike the first day, our host family did not use the electronic map to plan the route. Instead, they used a paper map and the GPS function on their cellphones. This time, they were able to find the way quickly without losing the direction; we arrived Fuji Midai without any problems. 

From the home stay visit experience, we have observed that there are still some Japanese that use paper maps instead of GPS. Although GPS are apparently more reliable (as shown in the second day example), electronic maps and paper maps are still being used to plan the routes. However, to avoid over generation of the usage of maps, we are planning to do a survey to the Japanese people and ask their habits of using maps/GPS.

Second Stop: Shinjuku

Although the first trial of finding Muji in Shimo Kitazawa was not success, we did not give up.  This time, we went to Shinjuku and try to find the Muji there.

First, we went on the internet to find the address and then used an electronic map and spot the location.  The address is “Œ‹ž“sVh‹æVh3-17-1 ‚¢‚³‚Ý‚âƒrƒ‹ B1`3F
http://www.muji.net/shop/map/08/0821.html

According to the electronic map, it seems like when we get off from the train at the Shinjuku's JR station, head to the East exit and walk straight, we should be able to find the Muji store on the left handside. 

However, we have learnt that the maps on the internet are shown in a very simple method. Therefore, it might over simplified the route to find the place. As a result, we did not completely rely on the electronic map. Instead, we used the electronic map to get an idea of where the store is located. Furthermore, we expected the way to the store would not be as easy as shown on the map. 

After we arrived in Shinjuku station, we started looking for the maps as a second resource to assist. We have taken a few pictures of the maps on the street. As mentioned at the first processing report, this time we have decided to combine these two information during a second meeting.

During this meeting, we carefully reviewed all the information. We have noticed the roads from Shinjuku's JR station are actually quite diversed, and it was difficult to understand the meaning of "walk straight" as the small paths actually splited and thus do not stay straight. As the paper and street maps do not give detailed information of the store location, we have also tried to use the number system to get the general idea of which area is the store located at.

With the information on hand, we went to Shinjuku again on a different way. On our way to the store, we kept looking at different street maps to ensure we were on the right way. 

Fortunately, our effort paid off. Although it took a while to find the area that we have located earlier during the meeting, we were able to find it. This trial was a huge sucessful. 

It seems like if we have paper maps, electronic maps, and street maps, we will have a clear idea of where to locate the area and thus the store. However, as our main focus is paper maps in this project, we will try not using an electronic map (i.e. the one on the store's official website) next time. Instead, we will use our paper map to have an idea where the location is. To further ensure we have a full understanding of paper map, we will mainly use our paper map instead of the street maps to find the location.

Now that we have gained the basic understanding of the maps system and actually succeed once, we believe we have the ability to follow the paper maps and find the location.

Episode
As a side story, we have tried to acquire direction from people when we were looking for other places. During these observations, we have noticed the useful words to know are まっすぐ、道、右、左、かど、回る。These Japanese terms are being used quite often when people point the direction.

Also, when inquiring directions, we have noticed the ideal individuals to ask are the ones working at the stations and stores. Asking random people might be helpful, however sometimes they provide information on things that they are unclear about. The risk of this is we will be pointed to an opposited direction.

Nevertheless, once we are able to use the maps, we hope and believe that we will have the ability to find the route without acuqiring information, as the successful case in Muji store in Shinjuku.

First Stop

First Stop: Shimo Kitazawa

Our first attempt of using Japanese maps to find places is a famous store called Muji at Shimo Kitazawa. From the electronic maps available on Yahoo! and Muji website, it seems like very simple to get there.

The physical address of the store is:
東京都世田谷区北沢2-30-13 ファインコート下北沢 1F

Yahoo!'s map:
http://map.yahoo.co.jp/pl?lat=35%2F39%2F30.199&lon=139%2F40%2F10.598&layer=0&sc=2&mode=map&size=s&pointer=on&p=%B2%BC%CB%CC%C2%F4&type=static&CE.x=435&CE.y=92

Apparently it is very straight forward and easy to locate. Our ideal route is get off from the train station, and walk to the North exit and Muji should be straight ahead.