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Hachiko

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17 Jan 2004
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A gaijin's tale from the Japan Times:

Popping into a convenience store one day, I collected all the stuff that I needed to buy and went to the cash counter to pay. However, as the store clerk computed my bill, I put my hand in my pocket to get out my money but there was none there. My husband had given me 10,000 yen that morning and I had slid the bill in my pocket, but I must have dropped it on my way.
"Sumimasen, iranai, gomennasai" was all I could in my limited Japanese, and I fled the store.

Japan Times
 
That's definitely one of the positive sides of living in Japan: people are more honest than they are in the US, at least.
 
I couldn't help but post the rest of the story:

"A couple of days later, shopping in the same convenience store, I collected my things and went to the cash counter to pay. A woman appeared from the staff room and asked me why I canceled my shopping the other day.

I explained in a blend of Japanese and English that I had lost "okane, ichi man en."

She slid her hand in her pocket and pulled out a 10,000 yen bill, which she explained I had dropped near the entrance of the store, and which a customer had handed in after I left. "Yokkata ne," was all the shopkeeper said as she totted up my bill."



But even in Japan, that would be a rare occurrence.
 
That's quite amazing indeed 👍
Something like that would be impossible in the US, and not very propable over here as well.
 
That's an awesome story and I've been in quite a few situations like that myself. That common curteosy (spell?) in Japan is just amazing. Maybe I should post a couple stories myself.
 
amazing ? no

I don't agree in finding the situation amazing.
If I find a large amount of money on the floor in a store, or in a very definite place, I would assume that it was lost by someone who might need it and hand it over to the store manager (not the employee). I would not feel at ease if I kept it. Furthermore 10'000 yen does'nt seem so much, but for some people it will get them eating for a few days, specially if children are involved.
If I find the same in the middle of nowhere or a road, in a non specific area such as an empty football ground or in a park, I would not hand it over to anybody, but donate it to some kind of an association.
One day it happenend to me just outside New York, I found a $100 bill on the walkway. Ten paces away, there were 2 policemen. I went to them and handed them the money (sorry, it's my education, silly as you might find it). It's almost as if they did not explode laughing at me ! So I did what they said : keep the money, lady and buy yourself something that will make you happy for the day.
I walked away and dropped the note on the ground a little later.
 
Ha! I can beat that.

Try leaving 10 yen at a post office in the little change tray (most money in Japan is placed in a little try as it is passed from customer to clerk) and come back a week later to have someone come out from behind the counter and return it to you.

That is what I call customer service. It also helps that I live in a very, very small town, but I would not have missed the ten yen, unlike the lady with the 10,000 yen.

Also agree with yimija - returning dropped money should not be something so amazing. I find it sad that we often find it to be so.
 
Well, I think that the reaction of the cops shows you just how rare and amazing the act actually is. I can tell you that most people on the planet would just keep the money. BTW, you don't think that $100 is that much money? That would be a significant hunk of change for me.
 
$100 is nothing

Glenn said:
Well, I think that the reaction of the cops shows you just how rare and amazing the act actually is. I can tell you that most people on the planet would just keep the money. BTW, you don't think that $100 is that much money? That would be a significant hunk of change for me.
well, again, it's not much for you if you drive a Rolls Royce, it's nothing for me if I drive an Audi RS4, but it's a hell of a lot of money if you don't even have a decent pair of shoes to wear in winter.
It's only a question of proportions.

Mandylion said:
Ha! I can beat that.

Try leaving 10 yen at a post office in the little change tray (most money in Japan is placed in a little try as it is passed from customer to clerk) and come back a week later to have someone come out from behind the counter and return it to you.

That is what I call customer service. It also helps that I live in a very, very small town, but I would not have missed the ten yen, unlike the lady with the 10,000 yen..
Yes, it does happen from time to time, specially in small villages. And there is nothing amazing. It's not a question of amount, but a question of principle. I think...
 
I would venture to say that most of us don't drive Rolls Royces or Audi RS4's, so for most of us it would be a fair amount of money. That's why I figured that it would be a fair amount of money for that person, because there is a good chance that he is in the "most of us" category.
 
Glenn said:
Well, I think that the reaction of the cops shows you just how rare and amazing the act actually is. I can tell you that most people on the planet would just keep the money. BTW, you don't think that $100 is that much money? That would be a significant hunk of change for me.

I understand and agree with what everybody is saying but typically (I am referring to most Americans) would just pocket it and walk away. The part that I find amazing is the common courtesy of Japanese people as a whole. I mean, what other countries/societies can you classify as a whole that you could say that about. This is my two yen and it is worth less than that.
 
traditons

Buddha Smoker said:
I understand and agree with what everybody is saying but typically (I am referring to most Americans) would just pocket it and walk away. The part that I find amazing is the common courtesy of Japanese people as a whole. I mean, what other countries/societies can you classify as a whole that you could say that about. This is my two yen and it is worth less than that.
It's a question of EDUCATION based on TRADITIONS and RESPECT. Japan has both for centuries and centuries. Americans have no traditions, excepted for the one where you can make money and Halloween - and even that one comes from far away but has been turned into a juicy circus for $$$.
So, of course, you cannot expect to find the same kind of attitude in general and towards money in particular. You'll find about the same kind of respect in Europe where centuries of traditions are still alive and well, just like in Japan. Even if it is somewhat changing with younger generation everywhere.
 
Buddha Smoker said:
I understand and agree with what everybody is saying but typically (I am referring to most Americans) would just pocket it and walk away. The part that I find amazing is the common courtesy of Japanese people as a whole. I mean, what other countries/societies can you classify as a whole that you could say that about. This is my two yen and it is worth less than that.

I agree with you. Although I think americans can be just as curteous as japanese, I think japanese, in general, have better manners than americans.
 
GoldCoinLover said:
I agree with you. Although I think americans can be just as curteous as japanese, I think japanese, in general, have better manners than americans.


Exactly, my point. There is always courtesy people everywhere but it's just not the same. But, I think you understand what I've saying. :)

yimija said:
It's a question of EDUCATION based on TRADITIONS and RESPECT. Japan has both for centuries and centuries. Americans have no traditions, excepted for the one where you can make money and Halloween - and even that one comes from far away but has been turned into a juicy circus for $$$.
So, of course, you cannot expect to find the same kind of attitude in general and towards money in particular. You'll find about the same kind of respect in Europe where centuries of traditions are still alive and well, just like in Japan. Even if it is somewhat changing with younger generation everywhere.

Europeans that I have known too are the same but I think the isolation of Japan helped in their forging too...one thing most counties haven't had. Alas, you are right....younger generations are changing everything...no matter where you are or where you go. We can just hope that it is for the better.
 
Lina Inverse said:
That's quite amazing indeed 👍
Something like that would be impossible in the US, and not very propable over here as well.

However, in 1982 I took a Greyhound bus from Indiannapolis, IN to NYC. My dad picked me up at the Bus station, so I didn't realize it until I got home, but sometime during my bus ride my wallet had fallen out of my pocket.

A few days later, I received a package in the mail with a note with only a smiley face on it, and my wallet was enclosed with all my cash untouched. I wanted desperately to contact the sender and thank him/her but the person did not include a name or return address.

All the person had to do was call me and I'd've come back to pick it up, but he/she mailed it to me. Wherever you are, I hope you're still alive and well.
 
Well, I would like to say that where I live(in the U.S., I might add), we still have the honor system. Farmers' markets will still have scales so that you can measure your own vegetables and leave the money in their box. Most people not only leave the amount of their purchase, but also tips.

It depends on where you are in a country. Where I live is a rural farming community, which might be somewhat different from NYC?

Something kind of related is a story from a Japanese friend of my husband's who was on his way to Florida once. He got a flat tire and was stranded on the side of the road. He was amazed that a man actually pulled over and helped him change his tire. He said that where he was from in Japan, no one would've ever considered doing that.

Generalizations...
 
The thing that makes the original story so extraordinary to me, though, is that this person dropped cash at the door of a store, and the next day came back and found that someone had found it and given it to the cashier, who remembered the person and returned it to him.

Finding a wallet and returning it to someone is something that I have both done and had the favor of receiving, but that is a different matter. I think with that it becomes more personal because there is ID in the wallet, not to mention the wallet itself is a possession. I think that there is something about money that is impersonal and leads people to think not about the person who lost it, but just about the money itself, which can in turn lead to thinking things like "I could really use some extra cash." Also it seems that money may not be thought of as a possession per se, but a means to acquire them. Let's face it, if you find money on the street, there is no real way of knowing to whom it belongs, and it is nearly impossible to get it back to them (mostly from not knowing who they are).
 
kirei_na_me said:
Well, I would like to say that where I live(in the U.S., I might add), we still have the honor system. Farmers' markets will still have scales so that you can measure your own vegetables and leave the money in their box. Most people not only leave the amount of their purchase, but also tips.

It depends on where you are in a country. Where I live is a rural farming community, which might be somewhat different from NYC?

Something kind of related is a story from a Japanese friend of my husband's who was on his way to Florida once. He got a flat tire and was stranded on the side of the road. He was amazed that a man actually pulled over and helped him change his tire. He said that where he was from in Japan, no one would've ever considered doing that.

Generalizations...

Don't get me wrong it happens in Japan too...where nobody will help you but on the majority it hasn't. Generalizations can be bad too, though.
 
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