When you arrive at Narita airport what immediately strikes you is the cleanliness and politeness. So many times you have to bow to say hello that people with back pain should not go there because it will not be good for your back pain.
I spent three months there in a shipyard observing a ship being built and had a rare view of the life in Japan as I visited some homes and also made some friends.
Honesty is a way of life but it is changing
You see it all the time and everywhere. You can board a train and pay at your destination and they will accept your point of start of Journey as you tell them and charge accordingly. Trust is common phenomenon and part of life. Though one should realise the younger generation is not following it in their work ethics. They are as lazy and unreliable as any present day youth is in most of the world. They are also getting away from the traditions and the Japanese way of life.
Automation at its best in everyday life
What stirkes you immediately in life in general in Japan is the very good use of automation in everyday life. Since Japan does not have any source of energy they have to ship everything from other parts of the world. They value energy saving and accordingly conserve it. For Japanese small is beautiful and saving energy is the watchword.
Can they sing?
Japanese after finishing work do not go home straightaway. They stop on the way and have a drink in small pubs where each one of those have their bottle of Suntory with a number tag and they come and drink from it everyday. While drinking they open their heart to the pub owner who is generally a mature woman. These pubs are so small that one can pass it as a small room with just a few seats. The pub has also a young girl who pours the drinks. This a very common view that a man after a couple of drinks gets a bit emotional and talks all about his work and life to the pub ladies and some even start singing. They also have karaoke and boy o boy can they sing? They keep singing and pass the mike around. The wife waits at home!! J apanese work too hard and get really tired so after their singing and a couple of drinks when they take onward walk or journey they are dead drunk and it is a scene to watch at stations after 9 pm where the same people who are so disciplined during the day are so drunk they virtually do not know where are they going!!
Are Japanese punctual?
I remember when we had a big party where there were about 150 people and as the singing and dancing was going on there was a man who was announcing to the people when is the next train for them to leave. It was quite normal to tell the people enjoying the party to be aware at what time is their next train and the host was making sure they get to station in time. Japanese by choice do not drive once they have consumed some alchohol. Train is their next best alternative. Do I need to mention the party started as clockwork and finished in the same way on the dot of the agreed time!!
Respect for other nationalities!!
During parties as all were singing - our Indian contingent was asked to sing some songs too. Some of our Indian officers who know the english language more than Hindi sang some english songs and they were duely clapped by all. After sometime some of the Japanese said they think English is not our mother tongue so why people are not singing in Hindi. They repeatedly requested for Hindi song though they do not understand it and then someone did sing a hindi song that got more applause than any other song. They were not embarrassing us but making us aware of our own heritage.
Are they still at war?
Older generation takes life as war and they still feel they need to keep doing well to keep their dominance in the world by their quality products. Their whole life revolves around improving productivity and maintaining decipline as if it is a war at some front that they need to keep going and doing their best. The younger generation is though going away from this and just want to have fun and McDonald hamburgers!
Emotional Japanese
You see this in a number of small graveyards that are next to temples where people who loose their babies or dear ones adopt a small statue for a year or so and visit it as if they are meeting the person who is no more and do things for the statue what they would have done for that person. This is a very emotional scene and a rare glimpse to the life as Japanese value it.
Lastly
Japan is an expansive destination but it is a unique experience and this is something you will not forget easily. I have been there few times and would like to do it again. A great place to go!!