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I often meet people who are taking off a few months to travel through Asia.
These people spend months traveling through
China,
Thailand,
Singapore,
Malaysia, etc., but they
invariably skip Japan.
"Why not Japan?" I ask them. Most people say it's because it is too
expensive. Japan is expensive to fly into, expensive to get around in, and
who recognizes the food anyway? Every year, thousands and thousands of
travelers skip this amazing country of samurai castles, ancient Buddhist
temples and unique arts. But Japan is even more than that.
Travelers who do visit Japan come back with not only fantastic stories of
what they saw, but equally fantastic stories of how kind and polite the
people are. It's true that Japanese people go out of their way to take care
of foreigners. But not just foreigners. The daily respect shown among
themselves is admirable. What makes Japan is the people. And there are no
people quite like the Japanese.
When I got off the airplane at Kansai International Airport in Osaka the
other day, I took a place in the queue in front of the Haruka Express. The
train doors were closed and everyone was waiting patiently. The train had
just come from Osaka Station, but we could not board until the train had
been cleaned. And cleaned.
First, I watched as someone walked up and down through every car, picking
up trash the passengers had left. One sweep, quick and efficient --
finished! But not yet.
Next, a different employee passed a silent vacuum cleaner between the
rows and seats. This took some time, but the person was very thorough.
Finished? Certainly not.
Another person walked down the aisle with a dust cloth and wiped down
every armrest.
Now, finally, we could get on the train. But wait! There was one last
thing to do. Of course, how could I forget? The last thing to do was for
someone to walk down the aisle and change the direction of all the seats so
they would face forward for us. With the cleaning finished, certainly now we
could board the train. Um, no.
One more person did one last thing: an inspection! All seats and floors
were scrutinized. The inspection must have been perfect, because an
impeccably uniformed cleaning lady with a pink apron soon appeared at the
doors and invited people onto the train. Whew! But of course, this service
should be expected. After all, we're passengers.
Once on the train, it soon filled with the sounds of employees doing
their jobs: the nasal "droning" of the ice cream lady pushing her cart and
singing out, "Aisu kuriimu de gozaimasu!" and the train conductor's
"click-click" as he punched tickets with white-gloved hands. The passengers
said, "Sumimasen," excusing themselves as they settled into seats next to
strangers. On the hourlong ride to Osaka, only a few people chose to recline
their seats. The rest wouldn't want to inconvenience the person sitting
behind them. These are the subtle reminders that you're in Japan.
This level of respect for other people and their feelings is something I
have found nowhere else. Japanese people are not just polite to each other,
but respectful. Politeness is a mannerism, but respect is a virtue. These
admirable traits of the Japanese that should be emulated by other cultures,
are not. Instead, they are skipped on a trip through Asia, never to be
known. |
