I was going to try to post something substantial today, to make up for yesterday’s post which meant something to only one person, but it’s now late and I’m tired. Yesterday we went to Kamakura but our plans were somewhat curtailed by the weather. It was rainy and cold–quite cold. We made our usual visit to the Great Buddha anyway.
We’ve been on crowded commuter trains a couple of times recently. While I haven’t actually seen the much publicized phenomenon of station personnel packing people into trains with their white-gloved hands, we have been on trains that are so crowded that people (myself included) have to briefly hop off at station stops to make enough room for other passengers to exit.
While on these trains, I’ve been struck by how quiet everyone is. There’s essentially no noise at all in the train, aside from the sounds generated by the train itself. Very few people talk; those that do speak in hushed voices. It’s one of many examples of how people here instinctively strive to respect each other, or at least avoid annoying each other.
I had the opportunity to go to Tokyo in 2000 and I too was struck by this aspect of the culture. It’s not just the people that are quiet; the vehicles too. I almost got hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street because I didn’t see or hear it coming … and it was the kind of bike that over here you would have heard from blocks away.
As someone that *hates* noise pollution, I think that we in North America have much to learn from Japan.
This was an aspect of Japan which blew my mind, and which I found really wonderful.
I remember being on a train (not crowded) at one point, and seeing a sign which by the iconography of a person looking at another person’s backpack I would have thought was a warning about watching your valuables. But upon reading, it was a reminder to be mindful of the space your pack takes up…
Walking in crowds was also a revelation; everyone seems to be *paying attention*, and are mindful of others’ trajectories. Though I was thrown that in Osaka everyone stands on the opposite side of the escalator to Tokyo. Don’t recall whether we found out why…