Google Map's Street View, which provides detailed images from street level, is available for some major cities, such as Tokyo. Using this, I searched for a picture of the street where I used to live in Japan and showed it to people here in Berlin, which is yet to have Street View. They all were excited and looked forward to its release.

In Japan, however, while this new function fascinates lots of people, many issues have emerged, such as invasion of privacy and possible criminal acts that may be caused by this feature. One issue many people complain about is that anyone will be able to see the laundry hanging outside to dry on the balcony. Complaints will occur in Germany, though the point of discussion will likely be different from that in Japan.

People in Germany seem to be well aware that everyone can see your house, and therefore most of the landscape is harmonized and maintained. The outside of a house is believed here not to be completely private anymore. I learned we have to care about the neighbor's view as well.

One day when I was in the kitchen, I noticed that my neighbors were having dinner on the balcony of the next building and I felt as if I had seen — not deliberately — one of their private rooms because I could nearly see them eye to eye. This is actually absolutely normal when it is in a restaurant, a park or a train, for example. Each person can share the space. As long as the space can be seen by others, this is not completely private. Therefore, the Japanese claim that the balcony is "private" seems a bit strange. But if I had still been in Japan, I probably would not have had this kind of feeling.

Living in Germany, my views changed. I noticed my neighbors could clearly see a part of my room through the windows. This reminded me why people in Germany love to take care of all spaces, particularly those others might be able to see.

When I was in Japan, I had a small balcony, but I never thought of having dinner there. I sometimes received guests from overseas and they were surprised because I even had a washing machine there. I did not understand what surprised them. That small balcony was just used for storage and as a work space; for example, the garbage was sometimes kept there temporarily. It was very natural at that time to use it as a laundry room and to hang the clothes there. This habit slowly changed while living in Germany. Every time I see the beautifully maintained balconies of my neighbors, I became embarrassed due to my plain one.

But my neighbors were not the only ones. While a high emphasis is placed on "eating" in Japan, "living" is emphasized in Germany — this almost annoyed me because I was never good at taking care of plants and flowers. Generally, people are keen to maintain their house. It is therefore very usual here to have a beautiful home, balcony and garden.

Given that, I do not think Germans will flood Google with as many complaints of Street View as there are in Japan. I am not saying that we should be tolerant of this function of Google Map, however, we should be aware that everyone can always see the outside of your house and even inside it through the window. Even if you can delete the pictures by asking Google, people can see everything as long as you hang your laundry outside.

I bought some flowers and plants for my balcony — not to prepare for the current shooting of Berlin by Google for Street View, but just to keep the beautiful streetscape like Germans do. I often think about how I was influenced by what I have seen and experienced in Germany.

This is the last "Notes from Germany," but I am sure the cultural shock will never stop.