lijunlaopo.com

Queueing

I noticed an interesting article in The Japan Times this morning. Yoko Hani has written a series of articles about the Japanese love of queuing.

Yoko’s quotes from queuers gave me a better understanding of the long lines that still exist outside our local doughnut store:

“I came here after hearing about the long line,” [one queuer said of KK] “I queued for about 1 1/2 hours. I feel so happy to get doughnuts that you cannot easily get.”

Now I am beginning to understand. These people are not queueing for the doughnuts at all! They are queuing for the queue!

“I always line up when I find a long queue,” said Shizuko Watanabe, 38, who often joins lines outside food shops in department stores. “I line up first and then ask the person in front of me what we are waiting for,” she explained.

Aha. I confirmed this with a few students today, who denied enjoying queueing, but all admitted to going to ask what a line was for if they had seen one.

So, just as I am beginning to discover the joys of queueing, I am about to move from the land of lining up for everything, to the land of lining up for nothing.

This may be a difficult adjustment.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Tokyo, craziness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Comments

HDReader | June 7th, 2007 | 2:22 pm

There are many things for which I can say “Only in America”…but this queuing thing is definitely not one of those. In fact, I would think it’s “Only in Japan”. Maybe it gives them the time to play with their cool cell phones!!?

lijunlaopo | June 7th, 2007 | 5:21 pm

It’s odd isn’t it! I asked another group of students about it and they said it is related to the Japanese gregariousness, and difficulty in making independent decisions.
They said this is also the reason for the huge popularity of designer brand goods here (Japanese customers account for something like 55% of Louis Vuitton sales).

HDReader | June 7th, 2007 | 2:22 pm
There are many things for which I can say “Only in America”…but this queuing thing is definitely not one of those. In fact, I would think it’s “Only in Japan”. Maybe it gives them the time to play with their cool cell phones!!?
lijunlaopo | June 7th, 2007 | 5:21 pm
It’s odd isn’t it! I asked another group of students about it and they said it is related to the Japanese gregariousness, and difficulty in making independent decisions.
They said this is also the reason for the huge popularity of designer brand goods here (Japanese customers account for something like 55% of Louis Vuitton sales).