Looking for vintage clocks: Japan’s mains electricity comes in two different frequencies, with half of the country using 50 Hz and the other 60 Hz.Looking for vintage clocks: Japan’s mains electricity comes in two different frequencies, with half of the country using 50 Hz and the other 60 Hz.

I stumbled onto this while shopping for vintage desk clocks on eBay. I already knew about the voltage difference — Japan runs on 100 V, the US on 120 V, same-looking plugs notwithstanding. Back when I tried to buy a Muji toaster oven, I stumbled upon reviews of the brave souls who learnt the hard way why you shouldn’t import one. They talked about how the low setting was pretty much high, and the highest setting would immediately burn its contents.