“Do you really want to go to Japan?” asked my group leader. I said “Yes I want to go to Japan only in case there is any assignment”. “Well, most people are after assignments to the USA or UK/Europe and do not want to go there,but so be it!” shruggedmy group leader. I had been tothe “sought after” destinations for assignments but given an opportunity, I would choose to follow the urge to visit Japan once in my lifetime. It was partly due to the convincing stories told by one of my previous leaders and by the experiences told by people who have visited Japan. The B&B landlady in Edinburgh (where I spent about 4 months) had told me that in Japan, the daily cleaning staff had no work
On a sultry Mumbai evening in August, I boarded an Air India flight for my assignment to Tokyo. In those days, the flight used to hop to Delhi and then take a northeast arch over China overnightto land in Tokyo at the break of dawn. It was a full moon night when we were flying over the Himalayas and the pilot was adroitly navigating the calumnious area around a thunderstorm. After supper was served, I went to sleep. I was woken up by the sliver of the risingsun through the window shadeand I realized that we were lockedfor our landing at NaritaAirport. As the flight resumedthe descent, a lady seated across the aisle suddenly got up. She appeared to be on the verge of vomiting and was rushing towards the restroom against instructions of the cabin crew to not leave the assigned seats.In the whole mele that ensued we landed at Narita and there was a mess that had been created. Most of us were trying to help in as small a manner as possible. Suddenly,a Japanese co-passenger got up, rushed to the restroom to fetch a pile of tissue paper,glass of water and soap solution. She kneeled on the flightfloor and started cleaning everything saying in case the cleaning is not done quickly it will stainthe seat coversand floor of the flight.I was stunned with the selfless drivethis Japanese lady had for a person in an air carrier. That day I realized that dignity of labor is taughtfrom a very young age but it is sometimes difficult to executein these situations but comes very naturally to the Japanese.
Once I landed in Tokyo, I was provided very clear instructions in both English and Japanese in a handout on how to reach my accommodation. The final leg of the journeywas a Taxi ride from Shinjuku station to the residence. Due to the obvious language barrier, it was a silent movie being enacted between me and the Taxi driver to make each other understand. I noticed the Taxi driver making a turn to the right and then stopping the meter and coming back to the point where we had taken the right. Then he took left and started the meteragain.
Upon reaching the destination he stopped the meter and startedgesticulating that the map of residence and textual addressdoes not match. Now I am talking of a time when mobile phones were nonexistent. Here I am in a foreign country where I cannot talk to anybody so it was a sure recipe for panic but the taxi driver started moving to different houses and asking people. He finally took the Taxi to a place and went up to confirmbefore taking the luggage to the apartment which was allocated to me. Upon opening the apartment door, I found a small 8” by 8 “ square which I attempted to cross with my shoes on. The taxi driver stopped me and told me to remove my shoes. He assisted me with my luggage and I was trying to settle the bill.
It is customary in my country either the taxi driver keeps the change or we give them a tip. But here the guy returned me the exact amount back. I was wanting to give a small tip for all the effortshe had made against all odds to settle me down. He returned the money back with a frown and left. I was in a foreign land unable to communicate with a faulty address and he could have fleeced me of money by keeping the meter on (for the wrong turn made by him or till I told the right directions) but no, another lesson that I learnt was that it is a pride of duty whichprevents the Japaneseto avoid such wrong deeds including accepting a tip which they consider an insult to service delivered.
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