——_—_—_—_—_—_—

TRAVEL

Regulations and romance
make the Japanese tick

A CLOSE friend gave me two bits of advice before I left
for Japan: never try to understand the Japanese people

and never travel on the subway in rush hour.

It didn’t take me long to violate
both rules.

I have purposely stayed away
from Asia in all my years of trav-
el. The reason is simply that 1
have a fear of crowds.

One recurring nightmare is to
be surrounded by a hoard of peo-
ple, all running toward me, mak-
ing me run in the other direction.

The faster I run, the closer the
hoard. Scary stuff.

In fact, I've just described the
Tokyo subway in rush hour.

This was when I first began try-
ing to understand the Japanese
people.

Crowds generally lead to chaos.
The Japanese code of behavior
prevents this. First, they know
where they’re going, how they’ll
get there and what time they must
appear. The unwritten rule is that
you don’t interfere with the
system.

That's where the tourist runs
into trouble. He’s got no-idea of
any of the above.

Now the second rule of Japa-
nese behavior cuts in. Courtesy.
They simply ache to help out.

Brian and | had an appointment
at 10 a.m. in Kamakura, about an
hour out of Tokyo by subway.
We were instructed to go to the
nearest station, buy tickets and in
due course, we'd arrive. Easy, eh?.

We took a cab from the hotel
to the station. Before we left the
hotel, we had our destination
written out for us in Japanese (an
essential — always get both your
destination and return address in
writing. Think of yourselves as
parcels requiring forwarding).

The Japanese subway system
does have English subtitles. Un-
fortunately, these translations are
in fine print. If you can, allow
yourself an extra hour to interpret
the maps, the fares and the right
track, Otherwise, ask for help.

We were running scared. Help
was essential and was graciously
given. I rushed up to a young
couple, obviously engrossed in a
private discussion and asked: ‘‘Do
you speak English?’’

CLOSE
YOUR
WINDOWS

HELP STOP THEFT
FROM AUTOS.
PROTECT YOURSELF.
ICBC AND YOUR LOCAL POLICE.

A polite bow followed and the
answer was:

“A little.”’

I explained that we needed to
get to Kamakura, immediately.
They discussed the problem quict-
ly in fast Japanese. ‘‘Come!"’

We were literally taken by the
hand to the ticket machines and
our fare was pointed out. Then,

travelwise
Barbara McCreadie

Ne tiet

when we gave them the money,
they punched in the figures,
dropped the bills in the slot and
gave us tne change and the tickets.

They took us to che right gate,
again by the hand, and pointed to
the proper track. Then they gave
us the next important bit of in-
formation:

‘Nine stops!"

I did what I felt was right. ¢
bowed, said ‘‘Domo arrigato”’
(which means thank you very
much) and then smiled and said
“Thank you for being so kind.”’
They replied, ‘It is our pleasure.’’

It is unfailing. Wherever you go
in Japan, expect kindness and
courtesy.

When we arrived in Kamakura,
our instructions were vague. We
were told ‘‘across the street’’
when we should have been told
“next door to the station.’’ Our
destination was the office of the
Japan Tourist Bureau.

Across the street was a bank.
Lost, and 10 minutes to deadline,
I barged in and tried to explain
our problem to the dcorman. He
led us to an elevator. Was this
where we were going? Not at all.

Upstairs, we were led to the
foreign exchange department
where the officer consulted the
telephone book and _ pointed
politely out the window at a small
building adjacent to the station.

Wherever we went, we found
the same sort of treatment.

But we also found ourselves in
acultural exchange gap.

NORTH
SHORE

On one subway trip, we were
with a guide provided by the
Japan Tourist Bureau. She was a
delight — Mrs. Adachi was a vol-
untecr, as are all guides provided
by the agency. She had lived in
both Alaska and California.

But despite her exposure to
Western influence, she confided
that she was downright uncom-
fortable when Brian escorted us to
two empty seats and stood, hang-
ing on to a strap. ‘I should not
sit while the man stands!”

Another guide, a_ retired
businessman, also felt embarrass-
ed with us. He explained that he
was accustomed to always going
ahead and that Brian’s way of
walking behind me left him in an
uncomfortable position — where
should he walk?

“Please, Mr. Yago — lead the
way!” I replied, but he answered
that he wanted to do things our
way.

We semi-settled the problem by
walking three abreast.

1 think I found a few small keys
to opening the Japanese soul.
They are incurable romantics. A
young Japanese woman explained
to me that although the majority
of marriages in Japan are arrang-
ed by the families, she cherished
the dream of ‘‘falling in love.’

There is no doubt that men are
top dogs in Japan. I wouldn't
want to be a Japanese wife. More,
I wouldn’t want to be a Japanese
wife with 'nree daughters.

How could you ever tell a
bright young woman that she’d
better put her brain on hold,
marry some guy she’d hardly laid
eyes on and do exactly as she was
told from that day forward?

My three daughters would hang
me out to dry by my ears.

Another key was found in a
book [ bought in Tokyo. It’s titl-
ed, Gems of Japanized English: Is

that ‘L’ as in ‘Rome’? No, it’s ‘R’ ™

as in ‘London’.

Although there are many belly-
laugh translations, the overall
flowery turn of phrase stands out.
Where wou'd you find a transla-
tion like this? ‘‘On snowy hills
hares and foxes hop around and
in streams trouts and chars swim
about. Also you will enjoy the
glare of sun beams and fresh
ozone.”’

So, in a short visit, I think I
know what makes the Japanese
tick. Regulations and romance.

It seems to be working — my
Honda runs like a charm and our
Sanyo hasn’t quit once.

And both of us would go back
to Japan tomorrow.

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