I wanted to capture some of the small differences that I’ve noticed between the US and Japan. At this point, I’ve been here over a month and have settled enough to notice the small things. I’ll keep adding to this list in other posts as I think of more things I’ve noticed.
Emergency Vehicles
I’m going to generalize here, but I think that when most people in the US see or hear an emergency vehicle, there is a real sense of urgency to get out of the way. Cars pull over, people stop, they make a hole for the ambulance or fire truck to get through. In NYC they even have the “fire lane” painted on the street to designate a lane that people know to get out of in an emergency. There isn’t a similar system in Tokyo that I have seen. There doesn’t seem to be the same sense of urgency by people to clear a path for an ambulance. Nobody is purposely blocking it, but to see it play out again and again, this is how it feels.
- Japan – Hold on, I’ll make some room when I get a moment.
- US – NOW!
In Japan, ambulances have to obey the speed limit. There are good reasons for this, like not wanting to make a situation worse by getting into an accident on the way to the hospital. To see it first hand, it goes against the “seconds matter” mindset that I think most US folks have. Again, this is just me witnessing these events while I’m out and about. I haven’t talked to anyone about it. I don’t know the mindset of the drivers, nor the specific laws around impeding an emergency vehicle.