The third thing I noticed about Tokyo was how incredibly nice and gentle the Japanese people are.
They smile and bow all the time and they are always happy to help you out, even if they have no idea what you are saying. Apparently, it is an honor to serve others, even total strangers.
The first time we tried to master the very busy and totally confusing train system a young man coming from an early morning boxing class who spoke no English was happy to help. Because we couldn’t communicate, we pointed to the train we wanted on the Tokyo subway map. He smiled, bowed, and then cheerfully led us through the labyrinth-like Ginza Train Station, down several escalators and across winding corridors filled with hordes of people heading quickly to work, and finally to the train platform we needed. Then he bowed and thanked us before retracing his steps back to where his train was leaving. And this was a regular occurrence for our first few days in-country until we figured out how to buy our tickets from the weird machines and navigate the multi-leveled trains stations.
Can you imagine that happening anywhere in America? Well, in Japan, it happens all the time.
The first time we tried to buy a ticket on the Shinkansen Bullet Train in the Tokyo Train Station, the young lady at the information desk left her office and led us to the machine where she bought the tickets for us. We paid, of course — I mean, the tickets are quite expensive and the Japanese are not that nice — but she handled the complicated purchase. And then she thanked us with a kind bow.
Every time we walked into a business — even a McDonalds or a 7/11 (which, by the way, are everywhere) — we were instantly greeted with a friendly hello and a bow. They seemed genuinely grateful for our presence and our business. Have you ever had that happen in America? I certainly haven’t.
When we went to the register to pay, they thanked us and bowed again. And when they handed us our change, they placed the money in both palms and bowed, like it was some rare item of great value. Then they thanked us and bowed again.
And while I have encountered some pretty happy people in my travels, in counties like Italy and Brazil, for instance, no one can hold a candle to the Japanese when it comes to pure happiness and joy. Everyone has a big smile on their face wherever you go. I’m guessing it’s partly that Buddhist thing, but the plain and simple fact is that the Japanese are truly happy just to be alive. Every day is like a special gift. It really is quite amazing. And I came to think of them all as little squeezable dolls.
But the weirdest thing I found about the whole ritualized friendliness was the Japanese absolutely love Americans. You would think that after our troubled history they would be a tad resentful. But, no. They can’t get enough of us. We are exotic — sort of like pandas.
