Kultur 4

I rode my bike quite often when I lived in Japan.  The weather was fairly mild most months, and it didn’t snow where I lived, so biking was an integral part of my daily routine.  Nearly everyone owns a bike in Japan and most people ride their bikes regularly.  This can sometimes cause tension between bike riders, motorists, and pedestrians; but, because Japanese people tend to be extremely polite and relatively docile compared to people of western countries, you’ll rarely see someone scream and yell when they are inconvenienced.   Most tourists and foreign-born residents, however, have no problem expressing their frustration when confronted with an inconsiderate bike rider. 

The article about people in German tending to always open the pedestrian crossing lights reminded me of my time in Japan in well.  On more than one occasion, I received odd looks from people when I walked across a pedestrian crossing while the light was flashing.  My (and I think most American’s) belief is that while pedestrian lights are useful tools, I don’t need it if I can see that there are no cars are approaching.  I would never cross if I were standing in a location that prevented me from seeing approaching cars (like a sharp corner).  But why should spend extra time standing on a sidewalk when it’s perfectly safe to cross the street (even if an inanimate object is signaling it may night be)?  The interesting thing is, in Japan when I would cross the street under such circumstances, many people would immediately follow me.  It was as if they felt the same way, but didn’t want to be the first break the social taboo.