Sat, Mar 29, 2008 page9

• Are Japanese manners taking a turn for the worse?

  In Yokohama, authorities have had enough. From next week, 'etiquette police' will patrol the subway to enforce common courtesy

  • By Justin McCurry / THE GUARDIAN
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  A young woman applies her makeup, pouting into a handheld mirror as she adds the finishing touches to her lips. In the next seat, a young businessman bellows into his mobile phone and across the aisle, a middle-aged "salaryman" executes chin-ups on an overhead handrail, blissfully unaware that his overcoat is brushing the legs of the woman seated in front of him.

  A montage of life on a Tokyo commuter train this week -- and proof that the Japanese, supposedly the most courteous people on Earth, are forgetting their manners.

  Decrying the decline in standards of public behavior is a favorite pastime the world over, but in Japan the handwringing is not confined to stuffy social commentators.

  A recent survey by the Asahi Shimbun daily found that nine out of 10 Japanese believe that manners have deteriorated to critical levels -- a trend that in recent times has prompted requests for members of parliament to refrain from texting during debates and for broadsheet readers to fold their newspapers on rush-hour trains.

  As they witness a rising incidence of "carriage rage" and other displays of what they consider "un-Japanese" conduct, many Japanese are wondering what has become of a society in which just about every social interaction was governed by a time-honored code of conduct.

  Japan is, after all, a place where business cards are exchanged with both hands and accompanied by a bow of appropriate depth; where a simple "Excuse me" can be delivered using one of several expressions; where blowing one's nose at the table is almost unforgivable; and where people over a certain age conclude phone calls with a respectful bow to their unseen interlocutor.

  Not surprisingly, the worst culprits seem to be concentrated among the millions who squeeze daily into packed commuter trains. Another recent survey found that more than 75 percent of people said their patience had been tested while using public transport.

  Topping the list of offenses was talking loudly in groups, followed by mobile phone chatter, unruly children accompanied by nonchalant parents and "leaky headphones."

  Other breaches include taking up more than one seat, rushing on to trains before other people have stepped off, applying makeup and reading pornographic comic books.

  In Yokohama, a port city south of the capital, transport authorities have had enough. From next week, a crack squad of "etiquette police" will patrol subway carriages and politely ask passengers to give up their seats to elderly, pregnant or disabled passengers.

  Members of the Smile-Manner Squadron, most of whom are well over 60, hope to embarrass young miscreants into vacating their seats rather than allow them to nap or, more commonly, to pretend to be asleep, while those in greater need of a rest are left standing.

  The 11 enforcers -- officially known as "manner upgraders" -- will wear bright green uniforms so that they can be easily spotted by offenders. Each will be paid about US$14 a day and accompanied by a younger bodyguard in case a snoozing salaryman takes exception.

  "Even though everyone talks about manners, you'd be surprised how tough it was to come up with definitions of what exactly is meant by proper behavior on trains," a spokesman for Yokohama's transport bureau told the Weekly Yomiuri magazine.

  "We're going to keep looking into this, but for the time being we're just going to issue gentle warnings to anyone who is clearly out of line," he said.

  Taizo Kato, a psychologist at Waseda University, told the magazine the Yokohama crackdown "symbolizes the collapse of the Japanese mentality and shows that we have reached a point where citizens are not aware of basic human manners."

  The manner malaise is spreading beyond trains and platforms. Among the other offenders cited in the Asahi poll are neighbors who fail to separate their rubbish into burnable and non-burnable items and smokers who puff while walking along crowded city streets.

  Many of the vices would barely raise an eyebrow in Britain. In a past attempt to stamp out inconsiderate behavior on public transport, the Tokyo government's list of etiquette crimes included carrying large bags, wearing strong-smelling perfume and -- one for the weekend golfer working on his swing -- using an umbrella as a makeshift 9-iron.
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