The ban on mobile phone calls on the Shinkansen has been lifted.

From today, you can freely make calls on your mobile phone on the Nozomi Shinkansen car No. 7. However, originally, in Western countries, even on trains, people usually talk openly on their mobile phones. Exceptionally, calls are prohibited only in "quiet cars". In short, in the West, the principles and exceptions are reversed. Why is only Japan banning calls on the train?

Reasons to ban in-car calls

In the first place, in-car calls were banned because as mobile phones became more widespread, railway companies were flooded with complaints that "in-car calls were noisy." In the manners questionnaire "Ranking of annoying acts in stations and trains" of the Japan Private Railway Association, "use of mobile phones" was ranked first from 1999 to 2003 when the survey was started.

So why do Japanese people find in-car calls uncomfortable?

Common sense would say that it's because the voice is loud and noisy, but this is strange. If it's noisy, youths who make a fool of themselves and seniors in machine gun talk are not defeated. What's more, mobile phones are frustrating even when talking about humor. Therefore, something that is not loud should be causing discomfort.

"Uchi" and "Other"

From a sociological point of view, it seems that the background of the discomfort is the "Uchi" consciousness peculiar to Japanese people. "Uchi" consciousness is to call your group "our company" or "our school", find your place there, and use it as a source of security and stability.

The set with this is the "other" consciousness. It is to think that it has nothing to do with the stranger (society in general) outside the group to which he belongs, and therefore to be indifferent and irresponsible.

"Uchi" is rooted in a specific place, while "other" is just somewhere else. Since it is the relatives who are in the "home" world, many things are done in secret, while the strangers who are in the "other" world show a strange attitude to each other .

Among the Japanese, this "outside / outside" dichotomy is clear.

However, this dichotomy is unclear among Westerners. This is because it is a dichotomy of "individual / social" for Westerners.

Furthermore, it seems that Chinese are closer to Westerners than Japanese. In other words, it seems to be individualistic. It is said that "one Chinese person may be worth 10 Japanese people, but 100 Japanese people are equivalent to 1,000 Chinese people." It exaggerates the individualism of the Chinese and the groupism of the Japanese, but it is undeniable that it has such characteristics.

In Western countries, individuals set up networks that suit their abilities and hobbies, and that is the society. People are floating in society without being tied to one place (single group).

However, in Japan, the group that belongs to them keeps people like a magnetic field and prevents the expansion of the network.

In short, Western societies are as easy to move as landlocked countries, but Japanese societies are as difficult to move as archipelagic states . The Japanese are familiar with and need to know one island (the "outside" group) in which they are, but hardly know and need to know the other islands (the "other" group). There is no such thing.

Is the train my home?

How would you feel if you invited someone into your room and that person started talking to another person on your cell phone? Don't you think "what a rude person"? If you think about it, that's what makes in-car calls uncomfortable.

In other words, even when you are on the train, you react as if you were in your own room, in the extreme, as if you were in your own house . The object of the reaction is an irreverent attitude that is in front of oneself, that is, "inside", but is not in the heart and is interested in "other" people. That's why it's unpleasant.

Professor Masato Ishikawa of Meiji University also said, "When you start talking on a mobile phone, only that person goes out to another world, and the sense of solidarity is broken and the surroundings feel uncomfortable."

The inside of the train should be a "public place", but in my consciousness it is still my room.

If this is the West, the story is easy. Under the "individual / social" dichotomy, in other words, the "private / public" dichotomy, you have to be aware that the inside of a train that is not your room is a "public place". Even if I feel uncomfortable, I have no choice but to convince myself that the public nature of the car must be respected.

However, "Uchi" in Japan is flexible. At least, it seems that the inside of the train is "Uchi". That's why, even while I'm on the long-seat train, I eat rice balls and hamburgers, make up carefully, and sleep soundly in a drunken state.

But abroad, drinking and eating in train seats is not allowed.

It must be a sign of "our" consciousness that many Japanese are reluctant to see the inside of the car with a surveillance camera.

In the UK, in contrast, surveillance cameras have been installed in cars for 20 years. In-car surveillance cameras have also been installed on trains in Spain and Italy, subways in Germany and China, and trams in the Netherlands and Australia. There is an understanding that since the inside of the train is a "public place", the same privacy as "our (private space)" is not recognized.

In this way, overseas, as long as the inside of the train is regarded as a "public place", there is no hesitation in accepting mobile phone calls, as in the case of on the road .

However, in Japan, mobile phone in-car calls are considered unacceptable because of their rude behavior in the "home" world.

The actual crime is hard to see

In fact, it is this nature of the "home" world that makes it difficult to see the true picture of Japan's criminal situation.

As mentioned earlier, the "Uchi" group is a small island, a fateful community that cannot go out. Therefore, it is necessary to disregard the abilities and personalities of each individual and unite them. The perfect rule for it is the wet "sweetness and in-law" . It's about sticking disjointed individuals together.

Giri is an emotional burden. Therefore, the content is infinite and infinite, but if it is fulfilled, it can be expected to be pampered by the group to which it belongs. However, if you neglect your step-in-law, you may be exiled to the island (Murahachibu).

Therefore, innumerable emotional rules (in-law) will be obeyed in a lawful manner, even if they are trivial or irrational. This is the so-called "peer pressure" .

On the other hand, in the West, where individualist consciousness is strong, the hurdle to get out of the group is low. Therefore, it does not have to be united like the "our" group. Rather, I hate being united. A good rule for a society where individuals move around is dry "rights and obligations." If an individual collides with another person and a problem occurs, all you have to do is make adjustments each time.

In this way, the Western-style group, unlike the Japanese "Uchi" group, does not try to suppress the trouble itself. Therefore, it is no wonder that crimes occur more frequently than in Japan.

However, the cohesiveness of the Japanese-style "Uchi" group can also encourage crime .

For example, a relentless attack is applied to a person who does not succumb to "peer pressure". It is "bullying". However, because of the strong entrainment pressure, none of the group members can say "it's strange" or "it's better to stop", and bullying escalate.

Corporal punishment is the same. Because of the strong entrainment pressure, neither teachers nor children can say that such guidance is unscientific and that violence is unacceptable.

The same is true for in-house sexual harassment and power harassment. Victims fall asleep for fear of being expelled from the "our" group. However, both the boss and the colleague pretend not to see because of the strong entrainment pressure.

Even if the trouble becomes apparent in the group, it is the highest priority for the "our" group to protect the group, so it is desperate to prevent the trouble from being known to the "other" world. It is a so-called "concealment constitution" .

If you tick for compliance, there is a high risk that you will be divided into Murahachibu for disturbing the "wa" of the group. Therefore, not only sexual harassment, power harassment, bullying, and corporal punishment, but also food fraud and architectural camouflage are hard to come out.

In this way, the crimes of the "our" world will be buried in the darkness .

Indeed, publicly (based on the number of criminal offenses recognized), the crime rate in Japan is lower than in other countries. However, it is just a number in the "outside" world.

How many crimes are there in the "home" world where no damage is reported and therefore not acknowledged? No one knows it. Perhaps the crime rate is the same between Japan and overseas when looking at the total of "Uchi" + "Other" .