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Mar 04 2007 3 Comments

Ministerial manners

With what appears to be a bid to boost the already oppressive nature of a Japanese government building, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Tokyo has disallowed discourse in its elevators. In fact, even a wary wee whisper is considered out of line, as silence only is suggested.

japanese manners

A move that has allegedly been watched with interest over at the Ministry of Culture, with rumours abound that it is all set to ban smiling and eye-contact in its building from April.

Categorized: Culture, Odd

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. shinobi says

    3/5/2007 at 5:44 am

    If it didn’t say “” Silence Please” in english above it, I would have come to the conclusion that it was a sign advacating nose-picking.
    Japanese signs are always messed up like that….

    Reply
  2. Shanghai-Sam says

    3/5/2007 at 5:57 pm

    Talking is one thing.

    Elevator Farting is another. They should tackle that issue first.

    Reply
  3. Paul says

    3/5/2007 at 10:49 pm

    Indeed. Talking is the only way to mask the sound of farting. Shanghai-Sam should be congratulated for bringing up this important point.

    Polite citizens find it nigh on impossible to discuss fart ettiquette in lift-based situations. All too often a short report such a quack or a parp is emitted, usually totally innocently below the murmur of conversation. In a silent lift, the cheese cutter is quickly identified and shunned, leading to ostracism and in many cases, death. Social stigma is avoided in a noisy lift. Stench is a shared burden, (sometimes even an ice-breaker) and therefore the social impact is smaller.

    Reply

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