...all you would need to do is make every crosswalk sign read "Don't Walk"
To get from my hotel in Tachikawa, Tokyo to my company's office takes around 15 minutes on foot. It's a pleasant walk; many shops and restaurants along the way, narrow streets and mostly 2 and 3 story older buildings. One of the first things you notice here is how little car traffic there is. This seems really odd in such a huge city, but most people commute via the city's vast train system.
While walking to the office yesterday morning, I came to an intersection between two small side streets where the traffic light was red and the "Don't Walk" sign was illuminated. Several other people were at the same crossing. I looked left and right, ahead and behind and there was not a single moving vehicle in sight anywhere, yet everyone stood motionless. The other side of the road was no more than 20 feet away, no possible danger of being run down, yet nobody moved. Once the light changed, everyone crossed. At the next intersection, the same thing happened.
When I arrived at the office, I related this story to Hugo, my contact here who grew up in America but has lived in Tokyo for the past 18 years. He smiled in recognition of my bewilderment. "All you have to remember...", he told me, "...is that the Japanese follow rules. If a rule is set down, nearly everyone will obey it."
After watching the behavior of the people in Tokyo for a couple of days now, I can see Hugo's point. Peolpe here seem exceptionally well behaved, respectful, polite, and mannerly. the Japanese form orderly lines, give up seats to the elderly, and only smoke in designated smoking areas which appear to be few even in open spaces. Absolutely no one talks on their cell phones on buses and trains. After a week in Shanghai, what a contrast!
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| Love the hat! |
While walking to the office yesterday morning, I came to an intersection between two small side streets where the traffic light was red and the "Don't Walk" sign was illuminated. Several other people were at the same crossing. I looked left and right, ahead and behind and there was not a single moving vehicle in sight anywhere, yet everyone stood motionless. The other side of the road was no more than 20 feet away, no possible danger of being run down, yet nobody moved. Once the light changed, everyone crossed. At the next intersection, the same thing happened.
When I arrived at the office, I related this story to Hugo, my contact here who grew up in America but has lived in Tokyo for the past 18 years. He smiled in recognition of my bewilderment. "All you have to remember...", he told me, "...is that the Japanese follow rules. If a rule is set down, nearly everyone will obey it."
After watching the behavior of the people in Tokyo for a couple of days now, I can see Hugo's point. Peolpe here seem exceptionally well behaved, respectful, polite, and mannerly. the Japanese form orderly lines, give up seats to the elderly, and only smoke in designated smoking areas which appear to be few even in open spaces. Absolutely no one talks on their cell phones on buses and trains. After a week in Shanghai, what a contrast!
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