gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

A NY Times article covering the near-Osaka train accident puts blame on Japan’s punctuality culture. As a foreigner looking in, I have always seemed to be amazed with the extent of this mindset. Any activity - no matter how miniscule or large - became a practiced zen-like art form. The final product of this art form represents optimum efficiency and punctuality.

When citizens come to fashion their daily lives around the systematic schedules of mass transit, I can see with my own eyes the destructive path this type of mindset and culture can lead. It’s ridiculous to blame this accident solely on the Japanese culture. Sure they may be widely recognized as the world’s most punctual and efficient but any human who is subjected to an environment with tight schedules and pressure to perform would falter just the same. Look at what happened in Sri Lanka yesterday. A bus driver attempting to make up for lost time, attempted to out gun an on-coming train and 35 lives were lost.

These type of accidents unfortunately happen regularly. It’s a society flaw, not just a Japanese thing.

Link: Gen Kanai weblog: Japanese punctuality culture.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Day In Day Out, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.