Made in Japan

 The people of Japan have managed to achieve a near-perfect balance between tradition and modernity, a fact that is clearly visible in its capital city of Tokyo

Every public dustbin ensures the segregation of waste, diligently enforced by the citizens themselves.

Can you imagine this kind of discipline on the Mumbai locals?

Traditional Japanese wedding procession at a local Shinto shrine

The first impression that Tokyo creates is similar to the one created by any big metropolis in the world, and there is hardly any distinction between the Japanese capital and Dallas or Manhattan. However, upon closer scrutiny and prolonged exposure, there are several mind-boggling differences that jump out at any visitor to the city.

The first of these differences that caught our attention was the incredible cleanliness. The streets were spotless, and no matter how hard one tries it is impossible to find a single item of litter anywhere. This fact is even more commendable considering our next observation, which is that there are far less garbage cans than expected, and it speaks volumes of the Japanese people’s inclination to keep their surroundings clean.

Along with this unparalleled sense of hygiene comes an immense responsibility towards the environment. Every single one of the aforementioned garbage cans, though few and far-between, was divided into separate compartments for wet, dry, combustible and non-combustible waste. Moreover, in the midst of the concrete jungle that is Tokyo, there exists abundant greenery in the form of expansive parks, gardens, and even clusters of trees. Nestled in the midst of a plethora of humongous skyscrapers, the beautiful surroundings of the Imperial Palace, which span an incredible 3.41 square kilometres, serve as the lungs of the city, with a variety of trees and vast stretches of lush grass, which are visited by huge crowds on a daily basis. The Hama-Rikyu gardens, built by a Japanese feudal lord in the 17th century and the Ueno Park are the other two major contributors to Tokyo’s foliage.

At Akihabara, also known as the “electronics district”, Tokyo lives up to its reputation as a techie’s paradise, with over 40 humongous buildings packed to the brim with anything that flashes, beeps or runs on batteries, or as the famous James Bond character, Q, would put it, “All the bells and whistles.”

When it comes to technology, the Japanese do not follow any worldwide trends, but prefer to use devices that are suited to their own cultural norms, which are poles apart from what the rest of the planet relies on. As their Kanji script is read from top to bottom instead of left to right, the most popular phones are the elongated flip-phones manufactured by the leading service provider in Japan, NTT Docomo. From what we saw in Tokyo, about nine in every ten people make use of these phones (or a similarly customized variation of them), and this is probably why I did not spot a single Blackberry in the week I was there, and could count on one hand the number of iPhones I saw people using.

The citizens of Tokyo also have an impeccable sense of discipline and public responsibility that borders on the obsessive (albeit in a good way). For example, whenever there is an escalator, everyone stands in a perfectly straight line on the left side, so that the right side is left free for people in a hurry to walk past. Such lines are also a common occurrence on the subway system, where the commuters are seen standing in equidistant lines in front of each carriage (yes, really!). They wait patiently for the people inside the train to alight, and slowly filter in one-by-one without any pushing, shoving or shouting. What amazed us even more is that these rules of public decorum, which are so stringently followed, are not displayed anywhere, nor could we see a single person of authority enforcing them! Try as we might, we could not even begin to imagine the same scene in an Indian metropolitan setting.

For tourists, the language can certainly pose a challenge, but even with the limited amount of English they know, all Japanese people are very friendly and extremely helpful. The desire to create a good impression on visitors is so strong that they will go out of their way to make sure you manage to find your way around. We were greeted with loud cries of “ Ohayo Gozaimas!” and “Kon Nichi Wa!” whenever we entered a shop, and we heard the phrase “Arigato” so many times that we were saying it ourselves by the end of the trip.

The most significant revelation about Japan was that its citizens have achieved a near-perfect balance between tradition and modernity, marching on the path of progress without compromising on their cultural values and ideals. This realization struck me after I visited the ultramodern Tokyo Tower, a modern structure that is modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and then visited ancient places of worship like the Meiji Shrine and the Asakusa temple, all on the same day. Visiting the famous historical landmark Mt. Fuji and returning by the sleek, progressive N700 Bullet Train (or Shinkasen as the natives call it), created a similar vibe.

The Japanese people have retained every last bit of their rich cultural heritage, and in spite of industrialization and modernization that has made them a force to reckon with in the global community, they have never showed the slightest inclination of mindlessly aping the West, which is something our own country can certainly learn from. Their customs and traditions have not only been preserved, but also continue to thrive today admirably.