In this video, Nick Kemp shares his awe-inspiring experiences in Japan, highlighting the cultural value of omoiyari—thoughtfulness and selfless acts of kindness. From being personally walked to a destination by strangers to witnessing peaceful interactions at intersections, Nick recounts moments that showcase Japan's unique sense of politeness and empathy.
Experiencing omoiyari in Japan
Nick: I've had similar experiences in Japan. One thing that almost always happens, if I asked for directions, is the person will walk me to where I'm trying to get. And sometimes it's a long distance, it's not just around the corner and here you are. It's like up all these stairs are crossing the streets and round a corner and walking 20 meters, then another corner.
Then you thank them, and they're like 'oh, no', and they just kind of, they're quite happy, and then they leave. Then you're left amazed thinking, wow, that person spent five minutes of their time to take me here and they're not seeking anything in return.
One of my favorite aspects is to actually, if I do take a friend to Japan to see how they react to these acts of omoiyari, or just general kindness or acts of non-confrontation or non-conflict. One night, and this was with a friend, I was with my brother-in-law, and we were driving and we got to an intersection, small intersection, and another car was coming.
Both cars slowed down and stopped. And I think my brother kind of nodded and put his hand out to say, go ahead. And this guy slowly bowed, and slowly pulled away. And, you know, it took quite a bit of time. If that happened here, one of the drivers would be angry, like, come on, hurry up, there'd be this tension because you're taking so long.
And my friend couldn't believe it like, wow, that difference, it was so peaceful here. There's no sense of anger or frustration. And yeah, I think that says a lot about Japanese people, that these interactions with strangers, there's this approach of I'm just going to be polite, kind, helpful, and there's no sort of anger or reaction.
Miku: No expectations.
Nick: It's always a joy for me to go back to Japan. I feel like I'm going back to a second home. And I have another story, this is in the 90s, and my mother came to see me. I just bought a brand new camera, and it was a really good camera.
I was working, and I think she was going to Kyoto or somewhere for the day. And I said take my camera and take some photos. And she left in on the shinkansen. And then she's thinking, 'Oh on, I left Nick's camera on the train.' And she didn't tell me. Because I met her at the train station, and she didn't want to tell me for some reason.
And then we had dinner or something. And then the next day, she went back to the train station. I think it was Shinjuku and said, 'Oh, look, I've lost a camera.' And yeah, it was found and put in lost property. Maybe it was a cleaner, or maybe it was another passenger.
And that's maybe quite common in Japan. But in Australia, if that had been Australia, your camera would be gone. Because there's no way you'd get it back. It would be a bonus for someone else.
Miku: Wow. I think I dropped my wallet as well, and nothing was taken--all my credit cards were there, my money was there. Nobody took it and it just came back as it was.
Nick: I think that happens outside of Japan, but maybe not to the same degree.