A few days ago I became aware of an interesting phenomenon - no matter which side of the road I walk on, when there is no sidewalk, only lines designing where to walk, about 70% of the oncoming people insist on moving toward the center of the road to let me pass on the inside. This is interesting because there seems to be no general agreement on rules, or manners, like there are in the US where people learn to keep to the right.
What is intriguing about this is that, if I am walking facing the oncoming cars, the other person moves out into traffic with their back to the cars - rather dangerous in my view.
I started experimenting in order to explore this a bit more. When a person approached me, I would move further toward the center of the road attempting to pass them on the inside. Almost invariably, the other person moves further to the center. I have had people cross the center line in order to stay on the road side of me - and with their back to the oncoming traffic. Of course, if they have actually crossed the center line, they would be now facing the oncoming traffic in their lane.
I guess I will just chalk it up to Japanese inscrutability, and move as far away from the road as conditions allow.
About Me
- Charles
- Nakagawa-machi, Chikush-gun, Fukuoka-ken, Japan
- I have lived in Japan since 1976 and now consider it to be my permanent home. I have a very varied background having studied engineering, Japanese and East Asian studies, and education at the university level. I spent ten years in the Army where my job involved Area Studies, mostly in East Asia. When I started to teach in Japan, it was at a post high school level and, after I completed a PhD in education, I moved to a university where I become a full professor. After retiring, I taught part-time but am now completely retired and spend my enjoying myself. I am reasonably fluent in Japanese and at present all of my friends are elderly Japanese.
No comments:
Post a Comment