INTRODUCTION
One of my favorite places to visit is Japan. Since 1978 I have visited many times. Each visit helped me to better understand and appreciate the culture.
When you travel you may notice that some countries are meticulous and clean, and others are schmutzic (dirty) and appear to be in need of brooms. If you like order, things working, wonderful and caring service, neatness, and cleanliness you would like visiting Japan.
ORDER
If you pay attention you will see that things are always stacked neatly. If you ever go to a sushi restaurant (even in the U.S.), take a look at how the dishes are stacked behind the sushi bar. That is representative of much of Japan. Whether you are looking at packages in a delivery truck, items in a store, or garbage cans and flowers on the street — they are all neatly lined up and organized. My observation is that this is prevalent in all neighborhoods regardless of income level or class.
THINGS WORK
Many times in the U.S. I run across broken escalators, automatic doors, moving walkways, bathroom faucets, parking payment machines, etc. Frequently they even have signs claiming they are out of order. I don’t recall ever seeing something in Japan that was broken — unless someone was working on repairing it.
Once, after traveling Japan for a week, I returned to the airport to depart on Northwest Airlines. We were discussing how everything worked, everything was on time, and saw nothing that was broken. Suddenly I was paged to the counter by NWA. They wanted to advise me that our seats needed to be changed because our assigned seats were broken. I hadn’t even left the country yet and was already having to deal with broken things.
BOWING
During my first few visits, the practice of bowing seemed unusual. But the more I visited Japan the more I began to appreciate it. As an example, if you take your seat on a train, when it is ready to depart the car attendant will stand at the front of the car and bow toward the passengers. I came to recognize that bowing is the Japanese version of shaking hands. And if you think about it, it’s so much more useful. Where you couldn’t exactly walk around a train and shake everyone’s hand, bowing to everyone on the car is a nice way to welcome everyone on board and thank them for using the service.
QUIET
Japanese, particularly women, speak very softly. I have been in offices where there are hundreds of people at open desks with many on the phone and it is incredibly quiet. In U.S. offices there could rarely be so many people without louder voices and much related distraction.
HANDLING MONEY, CREDIT CARDS, PACKAGES
Money and credit cards are never tossed around. You typically find a leather tray that is used to transfer cards and change. It has sort of a civilized feeling to it. Additionally if you pay attention you will find that things are normally handed to you with two hands. Again, it has a wonderful feeling of politeness.
LOST AND FOUND
There are large storage areas in Japanese cities where lost items like gloves and umbrellas are taken to hopefully find their owners. I love the Japanese attitude — best described as wondering why anyone would take something that doesn’t belong to them.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
The Japanese have a process of continuing to make small improvements in things. This is well known in their manufacturing processes but I have been able to observe it during my travels. For example, consider the gate that opens to allow your car to pass. Typically it is an arm about 6 feet long. During one trip I noticed that a change was made at a toll booth to use 2 short gates that opened like flaps instead of the one long arm. It was clear that someone figured out they could open and close them faster and allow cars to pass through more quickly.
Another example are escalators. With all the trains you can imagine all the pedestrians going up and down escalators. I noticed that they figured out how to make the escalators faster by having a longer platform for that first step.
On some trains in the U.S., you have to face backwards depending on which way the train is going. I was going to point out to someone how in Japan, when they get to the last stop, the attendant will come through and step on a lever that allows them to swing the seats around. However, by this trip they had already modified the system to be done automatically with the push of a button at one end of the car.
ON TIME
If you are a busy person who plans everything to the minute, one thing nice about Japan is that you can count on transportation being right on schedule. During my first Amtrak trip which was from New York to Albany I was told the train was going to be late. I gave a puzzled look trying to figure out how a train could be late. I later discovered that this was not unusual.
Interestingly, I learned during my last trip to Japan, that there are so many high-speed trains between Tokyo and Osaka (which leave every few minutes) that there isn’t room on the tracks to even add another train.
SERVICE
I recall my first visit to a department store. It was amazing to see how many people work there and are available to help. Many people may be familiar with Japanese service when it comes to automobiles, but realize that this is part of the general culture. I once had a question or issue at a hotel in Hiroshima. By the time I returned home there was a 2-page letter explaining what had taken place to research the issue and describe the resolution.
I once decided to ship some luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto since I didn’t need it all for a few days. My son was concerned it might get lost. I assured him he didn’t need to worry. Of course it was right where it needed to be when we arrived in Kyoto.
GIRLS AND FASHION
Even my wife loves the sexy fashions and appreciates the beautiful women!
SUMMARY
Certainly Japan has beautiful places to visit, an amazing history to study, great style and fashion, and a wonderful pride in workmanship. The people have a love for flowers and gardens, and I have met wonderful people who I admire and respect. I hope that by pointing out these observations, that may not be readily apparent to others, it will help you share my appreciation for Japan and its culture.
