What do Japanese people do?

While I do not seek to generalize the behavior of all Japanese people, I can provide my thoughts on characteristics of Japanese people that stand out to me because of repeated observations of their behavior. As a foreigner living in Japan, these aspects stand out to me mostly because they are different from what I know of my own culture, although they still may be familiar to some degree.  

One thing I have noticed is Japanese people tend to always do things in groups – if you are traveling or eating alone, for instance, most Japanese people are surprised. Because of this dynamic, they are usually good at keeping a conversation going, constantly providing stories as well as feedback to other people who are talking – it is a dynamic that is encompassed in the language as well.

I feel as though Japanese people are also very attentive to people around them, something that can be felt as soon as someone walks into a store or engages with other workers in the service industry. This is also reflected in fashion to a certain extent. A friend told me that since Japanese are constantly observing and comparing themselves to those around them, they are very fashionable. This is also related to the fact that Japan is a very consumer-based society. Every product is competing with others, begging to be bought. For this reason, Japanese are very good at presentation – shop interiors, products, and even food dishes reflect careful attention to design and aesthetics. When I walk into a store or a restaurant, I often really feel like purchasing something, particularly because of the way things are presented in pictures and on shelves.

Japanese people love documenting their activities with their cameras. They also seem to always be connected to their cell phones.  There was one occasion when I was riding the train back from Osaka in the afternoon, and all the seats lining the cabin were occupied with people holding iPhones, with headphones in their ears. I sat down in one of the empty seats. This phenomenon is common in America as well – people seem to use their phones as a way to escape engaging with strangers around them, instead engaging with their own music, photos, and internet identities.  Soon however, an old man in a cast and an old woman boarded the train, and the woman let her husband take the one empty seat. She stood in front of him, trying to maintain her balance, while he held their bags. Nobody nearby looked up because they were all on their phones – many were young people as well. The woman seemed tired so I soon got up and stood even though the train would not arrive at the station for a while. With the seat vacated, the husband gestured for the woman to sit down across from him. The woman gave me an appreciative look and sat down. I was surprised that other young people didn’t give up their seats – after all, the woman had been standing for a while. To me, it seemed that they wanted to have a place to sit down so they could hold their bags in their laps and still be able to use their phones, something that would be more inconvenient were they to stand and have to hold the hand straps.