Safety First

As most people who watch the news probably know, there was a pretty bad train wreck here in Japan on Monday. Contrary to the early reports I read on NY Times.com, it was not in Tokyo, but in Hyogo Prefecture, just on the western side of Osaka. I had a few emails from friends asking me if I was okay, and another few wondering how such a wonderfully technologically advanced country could have such a horrible accident? Well, let me tell you. While the shuttle trains at the airport may not have drivers, all the normal trains do, and I think they're going to call this accident a result of human error. I feel bad for the driver, however. The trains here are always on time. If some idiot decides he wants to run onto the train, forcing the doors to open again, and then more people try to get on, etc, etc, the train is going to get behind schedule. And the people will get mad if the train is behind schedule. So the train driver has to make up for it. Did I mention once before that the families of suicide jumpers (onto train tracks) have to pay for all the time the train is delayed because of the accident? This is how strict this sort of thing is.

Anyway, my friend here asked me if I was okay with riding a JR train to go see a movie this week. Her mother is scared of riding trains now. I have no problem with it. I have no problem with anything having to do with safety in Japan. In fact, this is probably going to be bad some day. Japan is so safe that you can leave your groceries in your bike basket and go shopping in another store for an hour and you grocieries will still be there when you get back. Chances are, if you leave something, including your wallet, on the train someone will turn it in and you will get it back completely in tact. You can (and I have) walk home at midnight on a moderately lit street and never feel like there is anyone around that could pose any danger to you at all. Sure, every once and a while, someone gets mugged, some kid gets kidnapped, and the news makes a big deal of it. But that's because it doesn't happen at any where near the rate that it does in the US. It's big news because it is big news. My conclusion: Despite occasional train accidents and earthquakes, Japan is the safest place to live.