A country that takes care of itself

Since I arrived six weeks ago today, I have been consistently impressed by the way Japanese people care for each other and the way their country cares for them. Previously I linked to an article about Japanese soccer fans cleaning up after their losses in the World Cup, and whenever I bring that up to people here they don't think much of it because for them it is an understood responsibility to tidy up after any large public gathering. This is just one of countless examples I've witnessed and I'll try to paint a picture of a few other key acts of kindness to show the degrees of this habituated caring.

A few mornings each week I've gone for a jog in Setagaya park which is near both of my homestays. The first time I went, I got confused on my way back to the homestay so I asked a passerby the direction of my host family's neighborhood. The next day, I saw this same elderly gentleman at the park and he stopped me to ask if I was doing well (genki, desu ka?). I responded affirmatively and tried my best to thank him for pointing me in the right direction. Then he gestured for me to open my hand and he placed an ice cube in it. There's really nothing better to receive mid-run than a cube of ice and I tried to express as much gratitude as possible. A few days later I saw him again, and again he stopped me asking how I was and suggested that I open my hand. He shook his canteen and an ice cube fell into my hand in addition to two pieces of Meiji milk chocolate. If there is something better to receive mid-run than just ice, it's ice and and chocolate, so I again did my best to express my thanks. Then he pointed to the chocolates and said something about American soldiers eating chocolate for energy. That's all the justification I need! Now every morning I go to the park, I see him walking and we briefly chat as he delivers what he's termed "morning service", two pieces of chocolate and a cube of ice.

The reason that we and at least a hundred others go to this park each morning around 6am is because at 6:30am there is "radio taiso", a 10-minute aerobic stretching program that plays on the radio and on NHK (the national tv station) each morning. This program has a long history and everyone in Japan seems to know it and recognize the song when it comes on. Schoolchildren used to be required to do it in school each morning, and now many companies have their employees do it at work. It is said to stretch something like 160 muscles in just a few minutes if done properly. I'm not sure if I buy that, but it's a great way to cool down from a run and I've made many elderly friends in the process! Japan is known for having a long life expectancy and while it's not solely because of radio taiso, I think it goes to show how Japanese people care about their health and how Japan does what it can to encourage healthy living. I don't think any similar free daily program exists in the states, and even if it did, I'd be surprised if Americans responded to it with the same enthusiasm and dedication as the Japanese.

These photos don't really show just how many people there are but I counted roughly 120 people and 9 pups this morning!

Another way in which Japanese media cares for it's people is through education. My host mom showed me that every day in the newspaper there is a socially and politically relevant passage that Japanese adults can cut out and rewrite. The passage is well-written and it uses some difficult vocabulary, so reading and rewriting it is a way to exercise the mind, especially since handwriting is very important in Japan with the three different alphabets. There is a version for children, as well, and my host brother proudly showed off his workbook full of newspaper clippings and his kanji. Additionally, there are radio programs every Monday to Friday morning that are devoted to teaching foreign languages to Japanese speakers. There's English for one hour and French, German, Italian, and Spanish each for 15 minutes, if I recall. Though 15 minutes isn't so long, 75 minutes a week is a solid chunk of time and 5 hours a week is a huge chunk so I think it's doing wonders for the avid listeners. These programs also come with workbooks where students can fill out exercises and read the dialogues as they listen. Again, I struggled to come up with an American equivalent. Obviously we have language books and tapes to purchase, but nothing free, regular, and regimented like in Japan.

This was the passage on July 26th

Additionally, people take lost and found seriously. My friend lost his camera as we were wandering around Asakusa, a crowded area full of shops and tourists. I doubted whether he'd see it again, but he knew to go to the police box (mini station) and check with them. Sure enough, some kind Japanese woman had found it, walked it over to the police box (about a 7-minute walk from where it was found), and submitted a form about where she found it and how to contact her if he didn't pick it up in a certain number of months. On this form you can check a box if you'd like to be contacted by the individual who lost the item, and she opted not to do so, but my friend wished she had so that he could thank her. This is not to say that no one in Japan steals, in fact my host mom just told me there have been of late a few reports of Japanese teenage pickpockets, but I think it's remarkable that someone took the time to do all of this, and even more remarkable that my friend wasn't surprised. He's lived in Japan for 10 years and he said he would have been more surprised if a Japanese person didn't turn it in.

A couple of short examples of this caring mentality: On most main sidewalks and in all if the subway stations, there are these bumps on the ground to help guide individuals who are blind, and many crosswalks have sound monitors to indicate when we should cross.

The post office has a discounted rate for greeting cards, and the only reason I can figure they do this is to encourage people to send letters and packages to their friends in and out of Japan. Even the electronic machines (at train stations or banks, for instance) are friendly. Usually they are voiced by chipper-sounding women, and the English translation on the screen at the bank was "please wait, I am inquiring now" which struck me as a kindly-phrased and personal request for a machine. Lastly check out this English sign in the subway that proves how much they want to please foreigners. Though the subway system is quite complicated, the docents at the information desks have helped me on countless occasions, as advertised:

What a mission statement! "We will attend everyone from around the world", and it's written in earnest. Not quite sure why they chose Santa but it makes the poster cute as Japanese are wont to do

This is an incomplete catalog of some of the many acts of kindess I've been privy to in the past six weeks. I've tried not to make such a bold generalization that everything in Japan is nice and happy, surely that's not the case. However, Japan does seems to encourage a sort of caring nature that Japanese people adopt, and there's a lot to like about a country that takes care of itself.