25 September 2007

Japan 2: some differences between Sunderland and Tokyo

Sunderland has churches made of honey-coloured sandstone. Outside each church may be the street, or maybe a path through a graveyard. Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara have Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines made of wood painted black or white or tomato red. Each temple and shrine has a tori or a gatehouse. The place of worship is hidden behind a wall that encloses an open area. However, the open area is not a graveyard, although it is a place of peace.

When greeting a person, or acknowledging them, or thanking them, or when saying goodbye, Japanese people bow to each other. This action demonstrates respect, and when performed by both (or more) parties, shows mutual respect. How the people of Sunderland communicate respect is not obvious to me.

Pedestrians in Japan tend to obey road crossing signals. However, unlike in Germany where it is usual to encounter a group of people standing beside an empty road waiting for the green man to tell them that they may cross, in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara to be precise) they would cross the road if it made no sense to wait. In Sunderland it is a commonplace that pedestrians ignore road crossing signals, endangering themselves and road users.

In Tokyo, and particularly in Kyoto, cyclists ignore instructions and park their bicycles anywhere. Teams of municipal workers make monthly raids to clear the footpaths of illegally-parked bicycles. The bicycles are not locked because it is not expected that anyone would steal them. In Durham a cyclist is likely to be careful where they park and chain their bicycle so as to avoid it being stolen. Few people cycle in central Sunderland.

In Tokyo and Kyoto, the streets are clean because people rarely drop litter. In Sunderland and Durham the streets are clean because gangs of street sweepers remove on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis the litter that people toss onto the ground.

In Tokyo and Kyoto it seemed to be a matter of great personal importance to people whose job it is to serve that they give excellent service. Staffing levels are high. In North East England it is rare to encounter anyone in the service sector who is eager to deliver excellence with enthusiasm. The exceptions are noteworthy, such as a waitress at El Piano in York, and a young man at the Jorvik Viking Centre. Overall, staffing levels are low. This may be significant.

Japan has a massive railway system, with frequent trains that run on time to the second. Staffing levels are high, and the officials take their job very seriously. The North East of England has four railway lines, with infrequent train services that are often unreliable. Railway officials are little in evidence, and not known for their customer service.

In Tokyo (and Kyoto) supermarkets typically carry little fresh fruit, it is very expensive, and is often ready-basketed as a gift. In North East England almost every supermarket carries some fresh fruit, often a very wide range, mostly quite cheap, and ready for eating not gifting.

In Sunderland people visit the bookmakers, the casino, the slot-machine shops, the bingo and buy lottery tickets. In Tokyo and Kyoto, we saw people sitting feeding metal to metal, glaze-eyed as though zombies, in the pachinko parlours.

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