If you ever want to give a Japanese visitor a significant culture shock, ride with them on the train (whether it's SF, NY, DC). Untimely train schedules. Disor

If you ever want to give a Japanese visitor a significant culture shock, ride with them on the train (whether it's SF, NY, DC). Untimely train schedules. Disorderly conduct. Blatant disregard for the rules. I took the 7 Train from Grand Central to Flushing with a visiting Japanese colleague in NY. The face of concern he gave while on the train was like he was witnessing purgatory. I remember he looked at me and said, "Is this safe?", to which I replied, "I don't know, I guess so". Retrospectively, the honesty did not ease the anxiety. The crowdedness part he had no trouble in managing, given how packed the Tokyo metro could be. What struck the most was: 1. The lack of fucks people gave on train, 2. How much of a free-for-all the US metro systems are, and 3. How on-edge people are. There's people who take naps with their phones out on Japanese trains. On the NY metro, he was wide awake and clutching his belongings for dear life the entire ride. Of the various things to appreciate about the U.S., that was certainly not a highlight.