John Linton
Sadly, this is our last day in Japan - we get an evening flight back to Australia later today. We have all, I think, had a very good time in our very different ways and the purpose of the trip may have been achieved with three of my children being more than impressed with what they have seen and perhaps (like me so many years ago) being impressed enough to change the way they view life on the planet generally and the part they play in it as a very 'ordinary' person of no stature or influence. I have mentioned in passing over the last few musings some of the more obvious difference between Japan and Australia to the casual 'tourist type' observer. I think the most remarkable aspect of Japan is not that 140 million people are directed by their government to be polite, thoughtful of others and to be 'culturally aware' but, individually, live their lives according some set of principles that results in that overall general behaviour.
Some things you can't help noticing in Tokyo and Kyoto:
1) There is no graffiti anywhere - something that makes Sydney such an ugly city - and when I say none - I mean in all the hours we walked round Tokyo and the day we spent in Kyoto there was zip, zero, nada.
2) I saw two pieces of litter on the streets over the past five days - one obviously an escaped plastic bag blowing down the street in the Ginza and another plastic bag trapped in a tree branch. For a city population that smokes a lot, I never saw a single cigarette butt.
3) Apart from on a building site, there were no weeds growing in the cracks in the pavements or where the pavements meet the walls of buildings. All of the trees on the city streets were immaculately 'groomed' and the many plantations hardly had a leaf out of place. The pavements and the streets themselves were in immaculate condition and we encountered no 'emergency' road works.
4) When there is a red pedestrian light no-one quickly checks to see if they can make it across and moves against the light - they wait without 'jostling and only cross when the light goes green.
5) Similarly, when riding in the various taxis we took the taxi driver, and the other traffic, would never try and increase speed to get through a light about to change to red and, with one or two exceptions, no horns were heard in the extremely dense traffic conditions we encountered on almost every trip.
6) In highly crowded public places (train stations, food courts, road intersections) I was never jostled and on the days when it was raining when everyone seemed to have an umbrella up there were not the constant 'umbrella clashes' that is a feature of Sydney streets.
7) The cleanliness of the many trains we took was inconceivable to anyone who has ever had to use a Sydney train. Not only was there no graffiti, litter, scuff marks or general wear and tear each carriage we went in was as hygienic as you would expect in a hospital ward.
8.) Every shop we entered had a device in which you inserted your umbrella and when you withdrew the umbrella it was wrapped in plastic to eliminate water dripping inside the shop. Everyone entering the shop also carefully wiped their shoes on the mats provided before entering.There was, naturally, a disposal bin for the wrappers as you left the shop.
9) If someone blocked your path (in entrances and exits, lifts, escalators) they invariably apologised and stood back to allow you to pass through first.
10) I dropped my umbrella on one occasion and before I could stoop and retrieve it someone picked it up and brushed it off before handing it back to me handle first. I saw several similar incidents.
11) My eldest son pointed out to me that all the cars on the road, despite the plentiful rain, looked like they had just been washed and there were no clunkers or dents.
12) Day or night, we saw no drunks, rowdy 'gangs' of teenagers or homeless people - we also saw no 'badly dressed' people in the five different districts we spent time in.
I could go on and list many other, common, actions of the general population we mixed with over the last five days but they would just be additional examples of overall politeness and consideration. All of this is achieved without constant "No Littering" signs or "Wait For Green Light" exhortations etc, etc and we saw very, very few police either on the streets or on the roads.
If you are an Australian you cannot help (I would have thought) coming away from Japan without the belief that Australia would be a much better place if each Australian showed the same regard for their fellow citizens that is so very evident in Japan.