Hospitality

Allow me to generalize. Japanese know how to do hospitality right. Never have I been anywhere that folks go to such extremes to please the customer. We could learn a lot from Japan's customer service.
Almost everywhere we went, our experiences were enhanced by exceptional customer service. The post office, hotels, cell phone rentals, buying train tickets, street vendors - everyone was friendly
and efficient and really eager to please. That kind of attention makes you feel good about spending money.

As an aside, some of the most lackluster service we saw was in convenience stores. They seemed to have the same kind of "I'm ready to go home" attitude that we have in the US. After a while we became accustomed to being treated well. Coming home it was quite a culture shock when we met our surly immigration officials in Chicago. I could only think about how much more effort it would take to be pleasant to people. Not that much.

That's a big part of what I love about Japan. It seems second nature of people to want to be helpful. Everywhere you go, you're a guest, and folks treat you like one. On one occasion I asked a young
couple for directions to a temple. They weren't sure of the way, so they insisted on accompanying me along the 15 minute walk to where I was going. This kind of behavior isn't uncommon.