From hanging straps to bathtubs in public baths, to onigiri at convenience stores, we covered the various cultural differences between Kanto and Kansai. ■Is "seasoned nori" onigiri at convenience stores really that different? Kanto/Kansai Kumazaki Fuuto: A few things that are different between Kanto and Kansai. When it comes to onigiri at 7-Eleven, in Tokyo they sell "roasted nori," while in Kansai they sell "seasoned nori," although this may vary depending on the ingredients. Inoue Takahiro: My parents are from Kansai, so I'm a fan of "seasoned nori." However, as I've gotten older, I feel like I've come to appreciate the goodness of "roasted nori." Obstetrician and gynecologist Song Mihyun: I'm also from Kansai, and the onigiri I make at home are "seasoned nori." Kumazaki: When I asked the staff who went to Kansai for an interview, they said that when you have onigiri with "seasoned nori," if you can't get to the ingredients in the first bite, it's helpful to have seasoned nori, and it tastes better. According to Seven-Eleven's PR department, the seasoned seaweed culture was established in the Kansai region. So, in 2006, they started selling "seasoned seaweed rice balls" with only some ingredients on a trial basis in the Kinki region. Then, 10 years later, in 2016, they started selling them in earnest in the Kinki region and elsewhere. ■Differences between East and West in "Stop" Road Signs and Public Baths The font for "Stop" on road signs is different between Tokyo and Osaka. According to automobile critic Mitsuhiro Kunisawa, "Because there was no national standard, the font is slightly different in each prefecture." After that, in 2014, the National Police Agency unified the font for "Stop," but in Osaka, "It would be a waste to repaint it. It has not been unified due to budget and time constraints," so the "Stop" font from before the unification remains. There are also differences regarding the baths. In Kanto public baths, the bathtub is installed on the wall, while in Kansai it is in the center of the bath. The Kerorin buckets in Kanto are also smaller, at 22.5cm in diameter, compared to 21cm in Kansai. According to Miyamae Hirokazu, chairman of the Osaka Prefecture Public Bath Industry and Hygiene Trade Association, this is related to the difference in bathing culture between "Kanto", where people wash their bodies before getting into the bath, and "Kansai", where people wash their bodies after soaking in the bath. ▼TBS NEWS DIG Official Website https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/ ▼Please subscribe to our channel! / @tbsnewsdig ▼Information provided by "TBS Insiders" https://www.tbs.co.jp/news_sp/tbs-ins... ▼Video provided by "TBS Scoop Post" https://www.tbs.co.jp/news_sp/toukou... #News #news #TBS #newsdig