One thing that will almost guarantee a double-take from first-time foreigners in Japan is that some of the pedestrian crossings play music when the light is green. The most common tune that they play is “Toryanse” which is a children’s song. The lyrics (translated) go as follows:

Let me pass, let me pass
What is this narrow pathway here?
It’s the narrow pathway of the Tenjin shrine
Please allow me to pass through
Those without good reason shall not pass
To celebrate this child’s 7th birthday
I’ve come to dedicate my offering
Going in may be fine but returning would be scary
It’s scary but
Let me pass, let me pass

Let me pass, it’s green and safe to go, hehe.

I’ve tracked down a video of one of the pedestrians crossings near Kyoto Station in action. For some reason, the pitch of the song is higher in crossings in Tokyo than in Kyoto. Go figure.

You can also find a midi of the song here.

Link:
Wikipedia’s article on Toryanse

The website How To Bow has been linked to by 3yen a few times before but it tends to focus on business etiquette only. Now, there is a unique way to learn and practice etiquette for Japan but with one catch: it’s in Japanese.

The four dots represent empty seats in a taxi. If four company employees were to ride in this taxi, which seat would the most senior employee take?

Answer: Behind the driver.

That’s a Nintendo DS screen shot you’re looking at. It seems that Nintendo has come out with an etiquette training game to go with all those Brain Training games. It covers the same business etiwuette that you’d find on How to Bow but it also has general “common sense” questions – which may not be so common sense to gaijin. A much more fun way of remembering your Japanese etiquette rules. A version in English is unlikely. But then again, you can practice your Japanese as well as your etiquette. It’s win-win!

Link:
Kotaku