Japan Top 10

In 20 years in Japan, I have honked my horn only three times. And all of them in the past two years. Twice this year. At cyclists riding (probably drunk) all across the lanes.

While riding your bicycle drunk (something that may have happened to myself) is a misdemeanor, the police will not care as long as you are not involved in an accident. And the only people who did it used to be salarimen on their way home from the last train.

But things have changed. The number of very elderly – so old they can not get a drivers license – has increased drastically. Many of them are agile enough to move about, even if they no longer hear or see so well.

You are likely encountering them crossing the street, making their way across parking lots, and holding up buses by counting out the exact fare. Or riding bicycles across the lanes.

As Japan ages (there are now more people above 65 than under 18) society changes accordingly, to accommodate their worse eyesight, degraded hearing, and diminished ease of movement. Decreased reasoning abilities may also occur, even if full-blown dementia is far away. In the past 20 years, this has become increasingly noticeable. The elderly have come to dominate Japanese society. Including traffic. I am likely to have to blow my horn at them many more times.