Japan through Participant's Eyes

Country:Jordan
Name:Mr. MANSOUR Watheq Abdelqader Mohd
Course Title:Public Personnel Administration for Middle Level Officials
Course Period:2018.01.28 - 2018.02.17

People from Another Planet

Have you ever thought what you, Japanese people, are called by Arabs?

"People from another planet" This is how we call you.

The reason is that, although Japan has been a strong nation for so long, people in the country retain humility and consideration for other people and also they prioritize good manners and etiquettes.

After WWII, with suffering from the devastation, Japan had succeeded in rebuilding the nation with remarkable speed and grown into a huge economic power. There is no place else like it anywhere in the world.

There is clearly no doubt that the U.K and the U.S had been the Great Powers in the past few centuries. They left us both good and bad things. We know that Japan has always committed to making clean contribution to our nation with ODA and NGO supports.

Towns and People of Japan

Japanese people are not very talkative. As I walked on a local street, silence dominated a town thoroughly. No one was shouting, fighting, and honking horns. I didn't hear any noise that I would usually hear in my neighborhood. I couldn't believe I was in megalopolis Tokyo. I wondered where all 13 million Tokyoites resided.

I arrived in Japan at night. I woke up in the next morning, opened up a window, and saw the snow covering the whole garden. Perfect tranquility rested in the chilly air. I felt as if I had never had more peaceful feeling.

One of the things that particularly caught my eye was the cleanness of public streets. There was not one single piece of litter on the ground because trash boxes stood everywhere. Sadly, that's not the ordinary scene of the capital of my country. Roads are littered with garbage. Not many trash boxes are placed outside in public. Even though there is one, I often see litter scattered around the trash box because no one puts their garbage into the box!

Every time my family and I went to a picnic, we always took our garbage home and even someone else's leftovers. I felt happy to know that I have the same sense of feeling about social norm as Japanese people.

I was impressed by seeing people neatly making lines while waiting for a train and they never skipped the lines until they got on.

While I was staying in Japan, I visited many places. Wherever I went, people were never discriminatory and I never got any threats. If I went to some other big cities in the world, it might be difficult to feel safe and secure. Everyone I met in Japan was very nice and gentle to me.

Japanese people are more Muslim than us.

As I came to Japan and spent a few weeks here, this came across my mind, "Japanese people are more Muslim than us." Japanese people seem to understand the Islamic teachings although they don't read Quran and Hadith because they are calm, respecting people, caring for others. These things are very difficult to put into action. Muslims believe in Allah but I wonder how many people actually adhere to precepts of our religion and I am not confident enough whether I am following all precepts. I never expected that I would think deeply about my religion by looking at the behaviors of Japanese people.

It was only a short period of time, but my stay in Japan was fulfilling, meaningful, and enjoyable. I am grateful for what I have learned and gained here during my stay. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Japan and Japanese people.

• Please click here for the Japanese version.