What a Japanese Moving Company in Tokyo is like
Paolo fromTOKYO3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2020–2025
documentary · general · evergreen · 2020–2025 on HN
A day-in-the-life video following a move between apartments in Tokyo using a Japanese moving company. It shows how the movers work and what the experience is like.
Commenters recommend it for the movers' rigor and discipline, which they find oddly satisfying to watch.
Up next
3 mo on HNWhy Do Mainframes Still Exist? What's Inside One? 40TB, 200+ Cores, AI, and more!
Dave's Garage
3 HN recommender · 2023–2024
9 mo on HNA Mind Is Born (256 bytes)
lftkryo
8 HN recommender · 2017–2025
2 mo on HNThe Iroquois Confederacy
Historia Civilis
2 HN recommender · 2018–2025
3 mo on HNHow an Average Family in Tokyo Can Buy a New Home
Life Where I'm From
3 HN recommender · 2017–2023
5 mo on HNSteve Reich, "Music for 18 Musicians" - FULL PERFORMANCE with eighth blackbird
Vic Firth
4 HN recommender · 2016–2025
1 mo on HNThe Unbeatable Game from the 60s: Dr NIM
Stand-up Maths
1 HN recommend · 2016–2023
1 mo on HNThe Lighthill debate on Artificial Intelligence: "The general purpose robot is a mirage"
Pierre-Yves Oudeyer
1 HN recommend · 2019–2025
3 mo on HNFluorine - Periodic Table of Videos
Periodic Videos
4 HN recommender · 2015–2021
13 mo on HNThe Century of the Self (Full Adam Curtis Documentary)
David Lessig
13 HN recommender · 2016–2026
11 mo on HNVideo explains the world's most important 6-sec drum loop
Landon Proctor
15 HN recommender · 2011–2026
11 mo on HNJames Burke Connections, Ep. 1 "The Trigger Effect"
DRS_Education
12 HN recommender · 2019–2026
10 mo on HNAlphaGo - The Movie | Full award-winning documentary
Google DeepMind
10 HN recommender · 2020–2025
3 comments from Hacker News
Longtime Paolo fan, he does a great job with his "typical workday" series. Not sure of the exact number he's done, but I personally estimate I've watched at least 20-25 of these across a wide range of industries (majority are in food preparation/service but he also covers construction, tech, animation, airlines, education, politics, and many more) and if there's one overriding takeaway it's the Japanese as a culture are extremely committed to maximizing product quality. It could be selection bias (maybe he only films exemplary people) but it doesn't seem to matter if you're dealing with someone preparing food, fighting fires, or delivering packages these people seem to really care about the overall quality of the service or product they provide. A few others worth watching: ▶ this video (movers...as someone who only has experience with American movers this is ridiculously better than what I experienced) link (package delivery worker) link (politician) link (fire fighter) link (anime director) link (car repair shop worker) Honestly if you like any of these you'll likely find they're all worth watching.
Maybe if you used the Tokyo based Art Moving Center also known as Art Hikkoshi Center ( アート引越センター ) ▶ this video Seeing their rigour and discipline is like a visual ASMR video.
Decent family houses in Tokyo are definitely more expensive than this, but not hugely (also Kyoto surprisingly). There's some interesting things about the Japanese housing market, for example, many homes become "worthless" after the end of the mortgage -- so they depreciate and are more like buying cars. Tokyo is also an absolutely enormous city with even more massive metro area. There's very few examples on the planet that come close. Tokyo is sometimes called "the infinite city" for good reason. This means that yes, you can pay huge money for a coffin in some areas, and little money for an entire house elsewhere in the same city. New York is kind of the same way in that respect, but is actually still smaller and less diverse. I could write a ton more, but I think this series from "Life Where I'm From" which is pointed out in the article is a fantastic overview of housing for a nuclear family in Tokyo. How an Average Family in Tokyo Can Buy a New Home - link Brand New Japanese House Tour - link Are Japanese Homes Really Worthless After 30 Years? - link Old Japanese Apartment vs. New House - link What a Very Old Japanese House is Like - link Living in Traditional Japanese Townhouses: Kyo-machiya - link Checking Out New Japanese House Design and Technology - link I'd also point out this young couple who are expecting their first child (Paolo from Tokyo) What a Japanese Moving Company in Tokyo is like - ▶ this video $1500 Japanese Apartment Tour in Tokyo Shibuya - [LIN