The M.O.S.T. of Japan?

Saturday we took the train out of Tokyo to spend the day in Kashiwa where Noby and his family live. At the train station was a very attractive collection of small modern buildings called UDCK, the Urban Design Center of Kashiwa-no-ha.

As we looked around waiting for Noby to arrive we were asked to purchase something from a small outdoor kiosk. This was pretty strange, as we hadn't been approached to buy anything the entire trip. Cabel ordered an orange juice and they filled out this little card with a very cute logo on it and Cabel stepped over to the counter to get his OJ.

Except instead of an OJ he got a sparkling apple drink and a small bag of candy. Through some very slow explanation and some guessing on our part we figured out that this was an art project. A "social practice" project where you get the order of the previous customer, and the next customer gets what you ordered. The initial experience was interesting, but the project was more successful when a woman walked up to make an order after Cabel. She grasped the concept much faster than we did, as she could read the sign explaining the project. She snuck over to Cabel at one point to ask what he ordered, and everyone laughed and said it was a secret. Eventually she ordered and got Cabel's OJ, and she was very excited as that is what she had ordered. She came over and thanked Cabel. I wanted to get in on the action so I went up and ordered an iced coffee and got her OJ.

I started thinking about the system they had set up, and ways to manipulate it. So I went up to make another order and purchased some ice cream, candy, snacks, and other items worth about $10 USD. I received an iced coffee. It wasn't long before a woman and her small son were in line, which couldn't have been more perfect. I'm not sure what they ordered, but they were VERY surprised to receive so much. There was much smiling, and even some applauding. And again, some interaction between the customers. Contrast that to the normal experience of buying from a vending machine, and this project really made opportunities for community possible. This was all far outside the center of the city, at the main station for the area, so the usual customers of the project were people from the area who will now interact with one another.

I wish I could understand more Japanese as it felt like I may have met the M.O.S.T. of Japan. I did give them a K5M share. :)