(Osaka St Mary’s Cathedral photograph by Percy Aaron)
Despite the hordes of tourists everywhere, Japan is one of the best, if not the best, travel experience that I’ve ever had. I loved the food, the culture, the punctuality and the general efficiency of daily life. Social etiquette seemed designed to show the greatest consideration for others. This was especially noticeable on the packed pavements, where pedestrians walking up a street stayed on one side, and those coming down kept to the other. Even misbehaving tourists soon got the hang of things and generally followed the rules. I joked to my travel partner that the only voices to be heard were American, Chinese and Indian.
So, what stood out were two incidents that were completely at odds with my general opinion of the Japanese.
I was in Osaka on the 15th August, the Feast of the Assumption, a very important date for Catholics. My mother, who had been a fervent believer in Mary, would have been 100 years old that day. I checked on the internet and found that there was a 9.00 am service (what a coincidence!) at St Mary’s Cathedral about 8 km from my hotel. I asked the receptionist to write the address on a slip of paper and went outside to catch a taxi. It was raining steadily, with a strong wind was blowing. For a big city there weren’t many vehicles on the road, I thought. I would miss the service and went back to the receptionist to borrow an umbrella. She didn’t say anything to me and I walked quickly to the church using Google maps and fighting to hold on to the umbrella. By the time I reached the cathedral, I was drenched. The service was half way through. I sat in a pew at the back and saw that the church was about half full, with mostly grey heads. I was admiring the minimalist interior, so different from usual Catholic church interiors, when I heard a loud crash. I peered over the bowed heads and saw that somebody had fallen several pews ahead. Nobody had moved and I put my head down. After a while, I heard deep groaning. I looked up and saw that nobody had moved. I walked up to investigate and saw a frail old woman lying on her left side. She seemed to have broken her arm or shoulder. I very carefully picked her up and sat her down on her chair. As I was going back to my seat at the back, she started to topple again. I held her quickly, then placed a chair next to hers and sat holding her. Nobody even looked at us. After quite a while, somebody pushed a wheelchair towards me but said nothing. I gently lifted the woman into the chair and then a nun walked in and directed me to follow her. She led me to an infirmary and signalled me to put the poor woman on the bed. Another nun came in with a syringe and sedated her.
After the service a number of people came up to me and said something. I presumed that they were thanking me. Wherever my mother was I thought, she would have approved.
On the way back the rains lashed down and I was cold. I was really surprised that not a single shop was open even though it was around 11.00 am. Didn’t Japanese have coffee in the mornings, I wondered?
When I walked into the reception, there were more staff on duty and they looked at me in surprise. Then I found out that Osaka was under lockdown due to Typhoon Lan.
Two weeks later in Hakone, I took the funicular to get to the ropeway, so that I could, hopefully see Mt Fuji. As I got off the last stop, I saw an old woman struggling to push an even older man in a wheelchair up to the exit. It was too heavy for her and she was slowly being forced back towards the edge of the platform. All around people were just staring or walking past. I grabbed the handle and started pushing the chair until an attendant came up and directed us to a lift.
An Australian friend who visited Japan recently had a somewhat similar experience. A professional nurse, she administered CPR to a man on a Tokyo street, while people just walked past seemingly unconcerned.
© Percy Aaron
August 2026