Stockholm, Sweden: August 23-35, 2017 (Off off Tokyo)

Sweden is a “advanced” country in many meanings. 

It is one of the most advanced welfare state; it is the first country to issue the bank notes and to establish the central bank; it hosts the world’s most prestigious awards, Nobel Prizes; it is one of the front runners in moving into the cashless society; it is one of most politically transparent countries.

I visited Stockholm, the country’s capital, for the first time in about 20 years.

Stockholm is built on tens of islands. We can see the sea from many places.

The sky was blue on August 24 and the scenes were so beautiful. (See also the top photo)

The old town is called Gamla Stan in Stadsholmen island. The Royal palace is here. 

The parliament locates nearby.

Exchanges of the guards are performed every day in the Royal palace. Many tourists gathered to see it.

Shops are along the stone-paved roads.

The Nobel Museum is in a building around the public square (Stortorget) in the center of the old town. It opened in 2001 commemorating the 100 years of the prizes. (See also the 2nd photo from the top)

The building is also used by the Swedish Academy.

Symbolic awards of each decade are displayed in the museum. They are:

- Rudyard Kipling (literature, 1907, with his book) for 1901-10

- The Red Cross (peace, 1917, with its logo) for 1911-20

- Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod (physiology and medicine, 1923, with insulin samples) for 1921-30

- Carl von Ossietzky　(peace, 1935, with his writings which criticize Nazi) for 1931-40

- Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey (physiology and medicines, 1945, with penicillin samples) for 1941-50

- William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain (physics, 1956, with a transistor radio) for 1951-60

- Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta (chemical, 1963, with a plastic bottle) for 1961-70

- Amnesty International (peace, 1977, with a report on Argentina) for 1971-80

- Mikhail Gorbachev (peace, 1990, with a piece of the Berlin Wall) for 1981-90

- Robert Mundell (economics, 1999, with a 2 Euro coin) for 1991-2000

- Willard Boyle and George Smith (physics, 2009, with a digital camera) for 2001-10

I also visited the City Hall. The banquet dinner of the Nobel Prizes Ceremony is held in the hall of this building. More than 1000 people are invited to the dinner.

There is a meeting room of the community government in the upper floor of the hall. The high transparency of the country’s politics is supported not only by the mind of the people to support the democracy, but also by the political systems which enables strong check functions of the power.

There are many reports on the country's move into the cashless society. Currency-GDP ratio is about 2%, one of the lowest in the world (Japan’s rate is about 18%).

Indeed, I saw many examples of the trends. Debit and credit cards as well as smart phones are used rather than cash for the payments. Even at the public toilet, we can pay by the card.

Still, that is not all. I was asked to pay by cash in the taxi from the airport to my hotel. I saw most tourists paying by cash in buying their tickets at the museum, souvenirs at the shops.

The society looked eco-friendly. Visitors of the City Hall were asked to return their stickers (to be used for tickets) at the exit for re-use.

The city is full of interesting designs and paintings. I found an interesting neon sign on the wall of the building at a corner. (See also the 3rd photo from the top)

In the subway stations, there are various paintings on the walls.

There are many things to talk about here.