Why Japanese People Can’t Walk and Talk at the Same Time

by 60 Comments

On the whole, Japan is viewed as a very polite society. I’m sure part of this is due to how most Japanese people conduct themselves in public, especially while walking around on the streets. There are a handful of things that are viewed as rude to do while walking around in Japan and I’ve listed a few of them here. Some of these aren’t as looked down upon as they used to be, especially with the younger crowd these days, but chances are if some old folks in Japan see you doing these things in public, they’ll wonder where your parents went wrong.

Walking While Talking

Just like it is on trains in Japan, having loud conversations on your cell phone while out and about is kinda rude. While those on vehicles will usually resort to the much more polite act of texting, if one gets a call on a busy street, it’s not unusual for them to take it aside to a more secluded area as to not bother others with their babbling.

I’ve always thought this was kind of strange though. It’s not very different from if you were just walking down the street with a friend and chatting it up with them. Maybe it’s just the idea that everyone around you only hears one side of the conversation and that is viewed as rude. It makes sense to me when people are on the train though because usually the trains are super quiet, so anyone talking loudly really stands out.

Walking While Smoking

One of the most profound discoveries I made while in Japan was how clean their streets and sidewalks were compared to those in America. One of the biggest offenders as far as litter goes in the US is cigarette butts. They’re everywhere. I never really noticed it until I got back from Japan and actually started paying attention to them. In most cities you can’t go more than a few steps without seeing another discarded cigarette. It’s sad, really. However this is not the case in Japan.

Smoking and walking is one of the biggest taboos while out and about in Japan. In some places, it’s even illegal. When you think about it though, it really makes sense. How many times have you been walking down the sidewalk and someone in front of you lights one up? You can either keep walking at your normal pace and deal with the fallout from the chimney in front of you, or you can speed up and overtake them. Either way, it’s kind of annoying. Now imagine this situation in a crowded area like Tokyo. Secondhand smoke all over the place.

Another reason is that with it being so crowded it becomes easy to accidentally bump into someone with your lit cigarette. If you bump into another adult, you might burn a hole in their clothes, or scorch the skin on their arms. And it’s even worse if you happen to bump into a small child. You run the risk of burning their face or getting hot ash in their eyes. Definitely not a pleasant experience.

So part of the reason that there are so few discarded cigarettes in Japan is because people are highly discouraged to smoke while on the move. Another reason is because of the many designated smoke areas that exist in Japan. They are places away from traffic where smokers can light up, smoke, and discard their cigs in special containers. I know we have things like this in the States as well, but how many people will really take the time to use them for smoking a cigarette? Not many.

While this is great and all, Japan unfortunately forgot to do anything about controlling smoking while indoors. Unlike Europe and the United States, smoking is perfectly accepted in most all Japanese bars and restaurants. Maybe one day they’ll fix that too.

Walking While Eating or Drinking

While not as dangerous as smoking while in public, eating and drinking while walking is also considered kind of a low class thing to do in Japan. You’d think it would be just the opposite with the abundance of vending machines they have over there, but it is quite the contrary.

It’s not quite as rude as it used to be, but it’s still considered to be kind of lousy. More often than not, when people use a vending machine they will just hang around the machine until they are done with their drink or snack and then continue on their way. Makes sense that a lot of these machines have started to implement free Wi-Fi.

When my friends and I were studying abroad in Kobe, we would head down to the local Lawson, one of Japan’s many fantastic convenience stores, get some breakfast foods, and eat them on our way back to the dorm. It was far from unusual for us to get some strange looks from the locals while doing so.

So what do you think about these social conventions in Japan? Think your country would benefit from any of them? I know I’d sure love it if America was more polite with their public smoking habits. Let us know in the comments!

[Header Image]

← Older Comments
  • http://www.zyphon.com willbradley

    I walk and eat too. I think the practical reason is that there are no public trash cans. Less litter

  • drayomi

    I hate walking and talking on my phone, and I hate talking on my phone on the train or around people in general. I need to stand still or I get distracted, and if I am around people my voice goes really quiet when I am talking on the phone (which kind of sucks for the person I am speaking to because I speak quietly to begin with – but it sounds loud to me). I don’t like disturbing the people around me. So I didn’t have to worry about this when I was Japan in May.

    Smoking in public is one of my Pet Peeves. It is one of the reasons I don’t like big cities or being downtown. People are especially awful when I am waiting for the bus at the Go Station in my city. There is a designated smoking area, and there are signs that say no smoking in the bus area (there is a long and big roof over the bus area which makes it almost like smoking inside despite how high the roof is) but people still smoke right near where people wait in lines to board the bus. It drives me crazy.

    The smoking in restaurant thing in Japan was pretty bad. It was especially bad in the Denny’s. I can’t eat with the smell of smoke from those cancer sticks. I hope they change that as well.

  • clara.montgomery

    Yeah, I was astounded by the lack of public bins!! Of the few that ARE about, they seem to be limited to PET recyclables. I must admit, I threw food into one once, and I felt very guilty, but I had to escape some really disgusting food!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Garcia.Juan.Pablo Garcia Pablo Juan

    According to my older Japanese friends, all these things stem from the same place. A long time ago, doing two things at once was considered rude. Any two things. It has to do with being a “jack of all trades” vs being “a master of one”. If you are doing 10 things at once, your attention is divided, therefore those 10 things aren’t going to get done with the same level of quality. But if you put all of your attention, 100 percent, into doing just one thing, the quality is usually going to be higher. And that way of thinking became prevalent in Japan a long time ago. That way of thinking slowly worked it’s way into many different areas of Japanese society including cultural morals and values. Just the other day a teacher at my school got mad at the kids. I asked him what happened and he said they were talking while eating. He said that when he was a child, families and friends ate dinner in silence, because doing two things at the same is rude. Of course, I’m sure there are exceptions.

  • littlekoi

    What about waking up late and running to school with a piece of toast in your mouth?

  • Jack is Wack

    I think it’s rude the way the American government and the womens movement disrespect mens compliments and men in general is blatant and overreact inappropriately and rudely.

  • Jack is Wack

    The U.S. government should apologize to it’s people for making marijuana and drugs illegal, for making compliments of breasts and cleavage illegal and for making the mistake of mindless,legalized murders of infants who were not allowed to become children. It’s rude and disrespectful to impose yourself and your distorted views of compliments on others is wrong to call compliments, “rude”,”unwanted”, and to add further insult to injury to insinuate that its socalled “harassment” that it’s supposedly sexual. The United States of America set a very bad example for the rest of the world when we made one of our biggest mistake in nineteen seventy six, when very foolishly we passed haphazardly a satanic,insideous,etc. “law” called I’m too dumb to realize that when he said I have large, beautiful breasts, if I knew what was good for me I should have accepted his compliment about my breasts and cleavage without acting like a big baby tattling to the police to jail him because I’m a brainless moron. This is the stupidity that is the myth of socalled “sexual” “harassment”. Womens movement brainwashed liars, puppets of Lucifer to play with. It’s disrespectful the way women in North America overreact to mens whistles and complimentary stares compliments. Their incorrect responses are from the devil.

  • TheRitzyMuffin

    I wish the restriction of smoking in public spaces would be more wide spread in the U.S. I live in New York State and we have a lot of laws for smoking in public. It’s considered quite rude to smoke in public places, especially near public buildings. At my College they have smoking areas, but they’re all the way out in the parking lots. Whenever I go to other states and people light up next to me it’s very annoying and I often forget that they’re allowed to do it.

  • linni

    I´d be dead if I couldn´t light up a cig whenever..
    Or maybe I´d be more alive, idk xD

  • Jenna Merritt

    America is just a lazy nation but also hypocritical. People complain about stamped freedoms when such issues come up. Oh no smoking on campus’ that’s my right I have to do it never mind if its not safe or not. (rolls eyes) for starters its a privilege not a right second we’ve become so arrogant that manners have gone out the window. (black friday) need I say more?

← Older Comments