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Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

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Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#81

Post by Camillo »

Nadya wrote: post #74
Camillo wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreigner, "right on red" seems insane to me.

I agree entirely, I also have an issue with "yield on green". Green means "go" at 99% of the lights I run into. Then there's that one left turn I make that's "yield on green" and I'm not supposed to turn. I'm not surprised at all that the intersection has the most accidents annually. I don't think many people are used to yield-on-green lights... so many T-bones its amazing they haven't changed the traffic flow.

You mean this? http://www.epermittest.com/road-signs/left-turn-yield-green

Isn't that just a normal green light on a two-way street? Do you mean all intersections should have protected left turns?

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#82

Post by joseph »

Camillo wrote: post #72
saosebastiao wrote: post #28

I would love to be able to do this with my 3yo son...but there are two things stopping me: Cars and helicopter parent culture. Cars, and the entitled culture we have fostered around them, make streets hostile to pedestrians and likely fatal to small children, even if children followed the laws and common sense. I experience it practically daily. Every time I cross the street at a marked intersection, cars will stop f…

As a foreigner, "right on red" seems insane to me.

I've heard this before and I have to wonder, do stop signs also seem insane to you? Because right on red is no different. You stop, look both ways, and go if it's safe to do so.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#83

Post by kuschku »

mgbelisle wrote: post #57

I spent four years growing up in Japan (my parents were ESL teachers) and I attended Japanese public schools for 2nd/3rd grade and sophomore year of college. What the article says is very true; I feel like strangers can be trusted in Japan but not here in NYC. There is strong pressure in Japan to do what's good for others: be clean, be quiet, be honest, be economical. There is also strong pressure to follow the socia…

Hm, especially the risk-aversion seems very similar to Germany. And the effects on the startup culture are interestingly the same.

It’s interesting how unicorns are only possible in countries where no one cares about consequences of their actions.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#84

Post by aianus »

Nadya wrote: post #74
Camillo wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreigner, "right on red" seems insane to me.

I agree entirely, I also have an issue with "yield on green". Green means "go" at 99% of the lights I run into. Then there's that one left turn I make that's "yield on green" and I'm not supposed to turn. I'm not surprised at all that the intersection has the most accidents annually. I don't think many people are used to yield-on-green lights... so many T-bones its amazing they haven't changed the traffic flow.

What's yield on green? Isn't that a regular green light (you can't turn left unless nobody is coming at you)?

That's how the vast majority of green lights work here in Canada...

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#85

Post by mikeyb555 »

kevinnk wrote: post #65
kuschku wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany in most places the same, lost a laptop, got a few days later a phone call (had my phone number on the laptop login screen displayed) and they asked where to bring it.

I left my wallet and phone on a subway in Manhattan. Both got returned to me (including about $50 cash I had in the wallet). My girlfriend's iPhone 6 fell out of her purse in a nightclub in San Francisco. It got returned to her the next day. In college, my bike got taken during the night and returned a few days later with a sickynote saying the person who took it was drunk and didn't want to drive home. While in Japa…

That only happens in Roppongi, one suburb in all of Japan. There are hundred of places that would happen in the US.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#86

Post by monopolemagnet »

saosebastiao wrote: post #28

I would love to be able to do this with my 3yo son...but there are two things stopping me: Cars and helicopter parent culture. Cars, and the entitled culture we have fostered around them, make streets hostile to pedestrians and likely fatal to small children, even if children followed the laws and common sense. I experience it practically daily. Every time I cross the street at a marked intersection, cars will stop f…

Move? Sister-in-law and husband homeschooled their kids on a crop produce ranch they rented in north/central California.

And there's always the Appalachia's. ;)

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#87

Post by po »

Cadsby wrote: post #77
ajkjk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone perceives New York as safe enough for sending children out alone.

Native New Yorker here. Growing up in the 80's and 90's (when crime was at it's peak), it was common among everyone I grew up with to ride the subway/bus alone and generally explore the neighborhood alone/with friends. I remember my mother being slightly apprehensive when I started commuting to school alone in 4th grade, but it wasn't a major issue. As many have pointed out, the culture has simply changed. Crime is w…

Part of the problem is that there is no longer a woman in the token booth.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#88

Post by lexcorvus »

It's impolitic to notice it, but America used to be a lot like this as well. See, e.g., Bowling Alone by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam (http://www.amazon.com/Bowling-Alone-Collapse-American-Commun...). One of Putnam's main conclusions: a principal factor undermining social cohesion (corresponding to a decline in "social capital") is diversity. We're constantly bombarded with messages that "diversity is our strength," etc., but you'll note that Japan isn't exactly diverse by our standards. Neither does it face much pressure to allow massive immigration to change that.

You may still believe in the benefits of diversity, but there are also costs. One of them is that little kids can't ride American subways alone.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#89

Post by quasse »

georgeott wrote: post #80
Nadya wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree entirely, I also have an issue with "yield on green". Green means "go" at 99% of the lights I run into. Then there's that one left turn I make that's "yield on green" and I'm not supposed to turn. I'm not surprised at all that the intersection has the most accidents annually. I don't think many people are used to yield-on-green lights... so many T-bones its amazing they haven't changed the traffic flow.

They removed all the "Yield / Unprotected Left Turn" lights in my town, just for this reason. People simply don't understand. It's a bummer to sit and wait, but it does save lives.

I guess I don't even follow what this means, does every single stop light where someone could possibly turn left now have the green arrow in your town? That seems ridiculous to me, coming from a city where thousands or tens of thousands of stoplights would need to be retrofitted just because people don't know how to turn left on a two way street.

Re: Why are little kids in Japan so independent?

#90

Post by slavik81 »

mgbelisle wrote: post #57

I spent four years growing up in Japan (my parents were ESL teachers) and I attended Japanese public schools for 2nd/3rd grade and sophomore year of college. What the article says is very true; I feel like strangers can be trusted in Japan but not here in NYC. There is strong pressure in Japan to do what's good for others: be clean, be quiet, be honest, be economical. There is also strong pressure to follow the socia…

When I last visited, I found it interesting that the silent mode on phones was named 'manners mode'.
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