It sounds like you are describing some sort of regimented behavior. It
was nothing like that when I was there. The most organized were the
groups of school children and they were just like kids anywhere except
a little better behaved. Tour group guides still carry something to
allow themselves to be spotted by their members in a crowd. Ours used a
furled orange umbrella. Members of the tour tend to gather around the
guide when an explanation is offered whether Japanese or American. When
offering you a service they are very focused and attentive, but the
Japanese that engaged to be quite relaxed and comfortable with
themselves whether engaging you in a a casual conversation or young
couples hand in hand on dates visiting the sights.
Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA
On Nov 8, 2004, at 1:07 AM, Moose wrote:
> Hasn't changed much then. I was in Japan in 1960. We thought it was a
> riot watching the Japanese tour groups at shrines, etc. They would come
> along at a dog trot following a guide carrying a little flag. They
> would
> circle close to the guide at each stop, listen intently to a brief
> spiel, say "Ah so" in unison, then raise their cameras in unison to
> take
> a pic. Then they were off to the races again.
>
> It was all very amusing to an American teenager at the time. Now, just
> a
> few years later :-) , I would be less amused than interested in how
> great the cultural differences are.
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