Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    JAPAN, China’s close neighbor, has been heavily influenced by China’s culture, economy and religion. The most typical example is the Japanese language, a writing system that uses many kanji (Chinese characters).

    With a history of friendly exchanges for more than 2,000 years, China and Japan have enjoyed close economic cooperation and frequent personal exchanges.

    During my visit to Japan for the May Day holiday, I paid close attention to many small aspects of the Japanese society and life that most cultures would find beneficial.

    I had heard about Japan’s legendary cleanliness, but nothing was more compelling than seeing it for myself. Whether on an expressway, wandering a lonely back street or standing on a street corner in a busy city, I could hardly spot a single piece of litter, not even in the busiest shopping districts. I only saw a few pieces of litter deep in some roadside bushes.

    A few things deeply impressed me and served as clues to help me understand the high quality of Japanese nationals.

    While visiting Asakusa Temple, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, I sauntered around the souvenir shops outside the temple. I noticed a young girl keep wiping the glass counter of her tiny booth with a white towel even though everything was already immaculate.

    On a small, quiet street, a middle-aged man was cleaning a stand outside a restaurant, which seemed to serve as an advertising board and a reception desk. By any standard, the stand was spotless, but the man wiped it for at least 15 minutes until it shone.

    Along big streets and small alleys, there are at regular distances smoking sections with containers for cigarette butts. Smokers will stand there, puffing away, but you will hardly see anyone smoking in nonsmoking areas.

    A close observation of the sidewalks in Tokyo and Shenzhen reveals a huge disparity in the urban management levels of the two cities. In Shenzhen, sidewalks are seldom flat and smooth. Even new pavement is often bumpy. “Old” ones, which may only be a few years old, are usually pitted with holes and hollows and many tiles are missing.

    Sidewalks in Tokyo are works of art, created with as much attention and hard work as those used to build any skyscraper — they are solid, flat, smooth, and litter-free.

    Obeying laws and observing traditions are in the blood of every Japanese, and they instill these standards in their children.

    On my way to visit Asakusa Temple, I saw a group of kindergarten children participating in a fire drill. A dozen firefighters, in full firefighting gear alongside two fire trucks, were teaching the kids the basics of fire safety. Everyone took the drill seriously — the firefighters did every movement as if they were battling a real fire while the teachers patiently explained every detail to the children; the children, mostly 4 or 5 years old, were all eyes and ears.

    When I left the temple over half an hour later, the drill was still going on.

    We can learn from these small things.

    (The author is an English tutor and a freelance writer.)