Random acts of kindness the Japanese just can’t do
If you asked a group of western foreigners what kindnesses they thought the Japanese were failing to do, undoubtedly Ladies First would appear near the top of the list. However, when goo Ranking asked the Japanese what kindnesses they themselves couldn’t do, Ladies First appeared nowhere on the list, not due to all Japanese men thinking they always show respect, but just due to the fact that Ladies First is not a concept that appears anywhere in Japanese etiquette.
Q: What random acts of kindness or public good can you just not do?
Rank Act Score 1 Telling noisy people in public places to shut up 100 2 Gently pointing out undone zips or other embarrassing mistakes that people haven’t themselves noticed 60.3 3 Helping old ladies or gents across the road 59.3 4 Giving up one’s seat in the bus or train 58.6 5 Picking up rubbish 49.7 6 Helping people loaded with luggage 43.6 7 Picking up fallen down bicycles 39.9 8 Cheering up people when they’re down 31.3 9 Helping out people who are lost 24.9 10 Helping search for lost items (contact lenses, etc) 19.9 11 Delivering misdirected mail to the right person 19.2 12 Pointing out mistakes in change 17.4 13 Stubbing out discarded cigarettes 17.4 14 Handing in lost property to the police 16.7 15 Helping lost children 16.2 16 Letting those in a rush go ahead 11.0 17 Yielding the road, pavement, sidewalk 10.5 18 Lending stuff 10.5 19 Replacing used toilet paper 9.3 20 Holding the door open for other people boarding a lift 8.4
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Liberal Japan » Blog Archive » Kininaru and O-Kiniiri News said,
June 18, 2007 @ 06:36
[…] Random acts of kindness the Japanese just can’t do, What Japan Thinks; “What random acts of kindness or public good can you just not do?” Check out the post to see which answers achieve a high ranking. […]
Goddess Carlie said,
June 18, 2007 @ 09:40
“Ladies first” is an out dated concept anyway!
Here, I find people have no problem telling others to shut up if necessary.
Goddess Carlie said,
June 18, 2007 @ 09:41
Oops… forgot to mention that *here* is Australia
tychon said,
June 19, 2007 @ 16:14
Some of these I can understand and appreciate from my limited understanding of Japanese history and culture, but some of them I wonder about. Films often tout the upstanding young boy that helps an obaasan across the street — why exactly is this something one can’t do? It doesn’t seem to break any social norms that I’m aware of.
Someone mind enlightening me?