It’s been a year since I set foot on the land of the rising sun with a few of my college mates. And although we might not have aced the competition we had been there for, the experience and the country at large taught us many a valuable lessons during our time there.
Let’s take a moment to travel back in time –
Just for the record, we landed at Chubu Centrair International Airport, Nagoya.
The prospect of familiarising myself with another country was pretty exciting. As an aspiring world citizen, this is something that will continue to be so for the rest of my life.

1. The Warmth:

As foreigners in Japan, the warmth and courtesy on offer at just about every nook and corner makes you feel wonderful about this place.

Considering the ever-increasing number of Indians abroad, Hindi is gaining ground around the globe and as a result, people in many countries do happen to be somewhat familiar with simple everyday greetings in the language.

We were surprised and touched when greeted with “Namaste!” at the bus stop outside the airport. Chances are, the arrival of Mr.Narendra Modi in Japan a day before we landed had fuelled all the warmth. Irrespective of the reasons for that, it’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

2. The Discipline:

The Japanese are all about impeccable discipline. We spent 10 days in the country and failed to notice –

a. People crossing the streets at random and showing no consideration to oncoming traffic.
b. Taxis being hauled around recklessly.
c. Taxi drivers fleecing customers.
d. Cars going down the wrong side of the road.
e. Vehicles changing lanes at random.

I can recall an incident that occurred on our first day. We were waiting to get across the road at a zebra crossing and had a few Japanese folk alongside us. The clock read 9:30 pm with barely a soul or vehicle on the road, and in spite of having no signs of oncoming traffic, people refused to budge. You wouldn’t see this in a similar scenario in India, which is why, anything of the sort seems ridiculous to us.

We aren’t accustomed to waiting at a pedestrian signal even in the presence of heavy traffic, let alone no traffic (Our kind of swag).

Lane discipline is a standout feature for traffic in Japan.

PS – I also appreciate their patience. I didn’t hear a single vehicle honk in 10 days. Dear fellow Mumbaikar, take note and stop abusing my ears.

3. Language isn’t necessarily a barrier:

Before our departure, we did go through a few everyday greetings in Japanese on Google Translate. Was that enough? Not really.

Clearly, if you intend to stay in Japan for a few months or even years, it is advisable that you know the language. And remember that you would be doing it for your convenience more than theirs. 

A lot of people we came across knew little or no English – now this obviously varies from place to place. (Our first stop, Hamamatsu had a very small number of locals familiar with English, this changed for the better when we arrived in Tokyo)

But even then, the Japanese went out of their ways to help us every single time – and this is unlikely to vary from place to place.

Be it with finding your way around town or looking for an item in a supermarket, you can and will always get help.

We thought we were lost somewhere in Tokyo while looking for a museum. After a while, we asked a local walking by if he knew where the place was. He didn’t understand a word, but asked for the map. We show him the map; he looks around and finds the place, asks us to follow him halfway to the place, points at it, smiles, acknowledges our thank you(s) and walks away.

Food for thought – How often do we go out of our way to help foreign tourists in our country? If behaviours shown in all the “Atithi Devo Bhava” adverts we see on TV were the norm, the adverts would never have to be made in the first place.

4. The Cleanliness:

Statistically, Tokyo is the most crowded city in the world and in spite of that; it’s also one of the cleanest.

If they can do it, I believe Mumbai can too. It’s all about the attitudes of our people. We can always make a conscious decision to not do certain things and abide by it. Problem is, most of us don’t. And when most of us don’t, it also discourages those of us who often want to. The feeling perpetuates and continues to grow. God save us!

PS – Start small. Start with yourself. You never know who’s watching and getting inspired to follow in your footsteps in the process.

5. The Timeliness:

The Japanese aren’t very fond of being late. This is evident at every place from offices to railway stations. Trains arriving on time are the norm here and I am pretty sure this rubs off on the people too.

This country has given the world all it could right from great cars to management principles that have taken a number of companies to world class over the years. It’s no surprise that they’ve made plenty of progress in little time. There’s so much you can learn from the people there, and it’s for everyone to see as they go about their daily lives.