Public introverts, Private extroverts

One of the habits I inherited from my mom is the tendency to ‘people watch’ when in public areas and large crowds. I can derive long periods of amusement and entertainment from simply sitting on a street bench and watching people pass me by. Japan was certainly no exception, although I found there to be an unexpected uniformity to the masses as compared to America. Based on conversations I had with some of the KGU students, I would speculate it’s due to the general expectations of being in the public eye. There definitely seems to be this crowd mentality that demands politeness and uniformity from everyone in a public setting (with the exception of bars and entertainment-specific establishments). In general, you could expect people on the streets and public transportation systems to avoid eye contact, often playing on their phone or portable gaming device, sleeping, or staring absently at nothing. Public conversation was minimal, and hardly anyone was ever talking on his or her cell phone (I’m told this is because it’s thought of as inconsiderate). In fact, the only widely noticeable difference between any two people in a crowd was their dress – there was every type of pattern, fabric, layering, fashion fad, etc. – you name it, I probably saw at least one person wearing some version of it. I’m sure that, as a result of this seeming uniformity, our group stood out like a sore thumb, not just because of our nationality or attire, but because we were often loud and talkative.

However, get some of the Japanese in a smaller group in a more intimate setting, and their entire demeanor and behavior seem to change. This was nowhere more evident than our wonderful takoyaki night with the KGU students on the KGU campus. The entire night was filled with chatter, laughter, and even a spontaneous dance party. It was completely different from the general behavior of the public, wholly unexpected, and absolutely a blast.

Another general trend I noticed was the general lack of children or babies. Whether this was because most kids were in school and most babies are raised strictly at home, or for some other unthought-of reason, I rarely saw anyone who appeared to be under the age of 18. The exception to this was when we visited Nara, though a brief discussion with Dr. Katz led me to conclude that this was simply because any town with deer in droves is going to be a natural children’s attraction and family outing spot. Overall, I couldn’t help but wonder if the distinct lack of children was a directly observable result of the increasing age gap and declining birth rate in the country as a whole. For some relatively light reads (not sure how reliable) about this issue, you might check out the following articles: the first is titled “Japan Encourages Young People To Date And Mate To Reverse Birth Rate Plunge, But It May Be Too Late,” written by Palash Ghosh in the International Business Times (Article 1), the second was written by the Editorial Board of the New York Times, entitled, “Boosting the Birthrate” (Article 2). Both were written earlier in the spring of this year – I cannot vouch for their accuracy or reliability, but they nonetheless describe an interesting situation, which, if true, means that the long-term sustainability of the Japanese population is definitely at risk.

As a whole, at least in public, the Japanese population is a generally unassuming, politeness-oriented group about whom I have nothing truly negative to say.