Do the Japanese like standing in line? According to experience and some research, it would seem so! In Japan, people stand in line for anything: whether it is waiting for a train or a table at a restaurant, you will see the Japanese lining up in order independently and with pleasure, without asking too many questions or showing impatience.

Waiting in line is a real art to be practiced standing up, without getting too close to others, in silence and with a Zen attitude, we might say.

If you are lucky, you can wait comfortably seated, but even here rules must be observed: you always stand in order of arrival starting with the chairs closest to the entrance, and each time a seat becomes vacant, everyone must promptly move up one position…until their turn finally comes!

While for us standing in line at a venue can be tedious and, rather than waste time, we prefer to change locations, for young Japanese it seems to have the opposite effect: a long line can mean that the place is trendy and therefore worth it, even if only to take a picture and post it on social media. This phenomenon is mainly visible in Japan’s large metropolises.

While in many cases it is enough to have common sense and follow others to queue, in other cases this is not enough and one must follow the signs. At major stations, in fact, there are signs indicating how to stand and which way to queue. These instructions may escape our notice as we are not used to, not least because our gaze is often upwards, monitoring display boards and timetables.

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