This was one aspect of life in Japan which really surprised me. My presumption had been that a higher level of attention paid to general health and safety should follow economic development and political stability, i.e. as the chance of dying tomorrow in a famine or war decreases, more care would be taken to avoid dying in a decade from unhealthy/unsafe living habits. This did not seem to be the case.
The most obvious example was smoking. Not only is cigarette advertising legal and abundant in Japan, cigarette boxes carry only a tiny warning sticker, saying only "Be careful not to smoke too much"! One indication of the ineffectiveness of such "warnings" seemed to be the fact that every urinal in every men's public toilet which I saw had its own individual ashtray. Shortly before leaving Japan, I read a newspaper article reporting that a group of cigarette and tobacco retailers were suing a health club which had included in its members' newsletter some warnings of the long term risks of smoking. Their main complaint was that "[this article mentioned only the negative effects of smoking, completely ignoring the many benefits, such as boosting concentration and promoting communication]". I don't think any of the Japanese in my train carriage understood what I was laughing at so hysterically, but then we foreigners are always such strange people.
Road safety was another one. My friends thought it was hilarious that I always wore a seatbelt when I rode in a car, even (to their amazement) in the back seat. Even so, as we sped through light snow at 140kph on a 100kph highway whilst the driver talked on his (hand-held) mobile phone and adjusted the CD player at the same time, I took great comfort in the fact that it would be a seatbelt, not the seat in front, which would break my flight if the drunk salaryman in front of us stopped suddenly.
A similarly lax attitude towards health/safety issues was apparent at the company where I worked. Returning from our "Forget the year" (New Year's) Party, all the employees just hopped in their cars and sped off, apparently unperturbed by the fact that they had consumed somewhere between 7 and 12 beers and several "chuuhai" (Japanese highballs) over the last three hours. In the Technical Centre, and adjoining factory (including other offices, the dining hall and so on), there was not a single place which was smoke free, and cigarette machines were dotted all over the place. Even if the company wasn't concerned about its employees' long term health, surely it should be concerned about the amount of time wasted standing/sitting around getting a nicotine fix?
On my first day in the Quality Control Section, after learning and reciting the section motto, i was taken on a tour of the factory floor. At the first workstation which I saw, water dribbling from the equipment was accumulating in huge puddles on the ground, but the workers operating the adjacent heavy rotating machinery just stepped around them. Some forklifts hooned around the floor at 80 kph, whilst others stood unmanned, with heavy loads suspended high above the ground and the engines still running. When a customer came to inspect the factory, hardhats were distributed to all employees, and an order went out that they had to be worn at all times. Literally the minute that the customer left the plant, all the hardhats came off, and they were collected later that day to be stored away for the next official visit.
Oh, and what was the Quality Control Section motto which I learned? Isn't it obvious?
"SAFETY FIRST"