June 6: Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

When I was in Thailand, I read an article written by an American journalist. This man grew up in the States, but had lived in Bangkok for almost twenty years and worked at The Nation English language newspaper. For some reason he had returned to the States for the first time in nearly twenties years and had some interesting observations to make.

He found that the USA was cleaner and more civilized in general than his present home of Bangkok, however there was something that seemed very cold and strange. There were too many signs. He said that everything thinkable was prohibited in some way in some where in America. I encountered the same kind of culture shock when I returned from Nepal to Japan.

There is something comfortable about living in a clean and orderly society. Everyone agrees that some laws are necessary in order to keep people in line. However, some countries, like the US, Japan, Singapore, etc seem to go a little overboard about warning people.

Some of my favorite signs in Japan are as follows:

• "Please don't run to get onto the train." Posted and announced at every subway, train or streetcar platform.
  
• "No Smoking." One classroom at school holds about 15 students and has eight signs (two on each wall) reminded people not to smoke tobacco.
  
• "Please take your shoes off before stepping up here." I recently went to a big sporting goods store where they had tents hanging on the ceiling. If you climbed up the wall somehow, they want to make sure that you remember to remove your dirty shoes before entering the tent.
• "Please turn off your cellular phone while you are in the restaurant." This one is becoming very popular on trains and before meetings too. I recently saw a play here at Waseda and they asked that all the trend-setting students switch off the beeper on their cute little phones.
• "Don't throw your garbage here." My favorite signs are the ones that remind us of things that are common sense. People in Tokyo seem to throw garbage anywhere they like on the streets and sidewalks, so authorities have put up numerous signs at particularly bad areas reminding us not to throw our garbage there.
  
• "Let's all work together to keep the urinals clean." Posted in one way or another at almost every public restroom in Tokyo. Some go so far to tell us not to throw our gum, cigarette butts, and papers in the urinals.
  
• "Please don't speed through the intersection after the light is red. We thank you with smiling faces." Posted on huge 6m tall posts at dangerous intersections. I particularly like the smiling face part.
  

As a previous believer in the utopia of Japan, I was particularly surprised by the poor driving manners of most people. Despite the annoying bell that chimes when our minivan goes over 85kmh my host father general speeds as much as possible. People frequently run red lights and seldom move over or slow down for police or ambulances.

I love to visit road construction sites in the middle of the night when there are no cars around. Despite the overabundance of signage and flashing lights, there is always at least one (if not three or four) people employed to stand and wave a little red flashlight. The one time when I nearly fell in a huge hole on my bicycle, the flashlight man was evidently off duty. Sometimes there are electric dummies that just stand there and wave till their heart is content.

I am not saying that it is bad to remind people to be safe, but sometimes it is a bit annoying. For instance, I was stopped on my evening bike ride home from school the other night. I always wear a helmet, a red flashing light on my rear pocket, and a headlight on the front. I ride with the traffic, but stay out of the way. Anyway, some policeman recommended to me that I ride my bike across the crosswalks at intersections and then reenter traffic on the other side. I found this to be rather dangerous. I told the officer that I did not wish to die, so I was already be as careful as possible. I assured him that I was much safer than the average drunk businessman returning home on his granny bike with no rear light or helmet. He reminded me that many people are victims of hit and run accidents. I couldn't help but think he was talking to the wrong person. Anyway, I thanked him for telling me the police emergency number and assured him that I would call the police right away if I were ever killed by a wild driver.

Honestly my examples are not the best here. Some signs are genuinely helpful (like the one at every police booth that tells how many people died yesterday in traffic accidents in Tokyo). People need lots of information in a complex society. We have all come to live with big brother looking after us. We are probably better off. Personally, I am going camping this weekend in the mountains of Nagano. I plan to think about why we have all left the hills for these annoying cities where there are signs, signs, everywhere signs.