How about being more considerate?

Maybe it was the case of first time luck for me but there’s no denying that the quality of food and customer service standards are kept high among the Japanese.

Another thing I missed most about Japan are the toilets.

Yes, Japanese toilets – they are the best, not only because they are highly advanced (heated seat, bidets and even water flushing sound function to mask the noises from your er... activities), washrooms in Japan are spotless.

From upscale departmental stores to the public ones on the street and subways and even to the dingiest underground clubs filled with drunken partygoers– Japanese people keep their toilets clean and dry.

It is almost impossible to walk into a dirty one. I tried to - the closest I could find was the public lavatory at the Osaka Castle Park that came with specific instructions in Chinese characters on how to use the squatting toilet the right way (complete with pictorials!).

This article is not intended to muse about toilets, especially not at a time where the nation is plagued by more important doggie issues, sedition charges and sodomy trial, again.

My intention, simply, is to draw attention to the easily doable things that we can emulate from our Asian friend, which is mainly their culture of having consideration for others and cleaning up after themselves.

In Japan, commuters don’t talk on their cellphones on the train or subway so as to not bother other passengers. They are also encouraged to keep their phones on silent mode.

At fast-food eateries, it is highly unusual to see trays or trash left on the table after a meal, save for a group of Malaysians who did not do so (we made sure the tables were spotless after the first slack!).

Of course, on escalators, always keep to the right side if you intend for a leisurely stroll, unless you want to be the target for vilification for holding up human traffic.

Encounters with cashiers and taxi drivers were also always pleasant and the conversations punctuated with many arigato gozaimaisu (thank you) or kudasai (please).

One taxi driver we booked even took the initiative to find out the train schedule and arrived early at our rented house to get us to the station just in time for the next train.

At first, I dismissed the thoughtfulness and good manners as attributes practiced by non-city Japanese dwellers.

So, it was a bizarre moment for me when I walked into a big Starbucks outlet, located at the busiest juncture of the shopping and entertainment Dotonbori district in Osaka, and saw that everyone was seated orderly, chatting quietly in the cafe. I actually thought I walked into a library!

Japan is a society-oriented culture whereby each person has a responsibility to help it run smoothly. Hence, they place high consideration for others as they expect the same in return.

No doubt such values are inculcated since young (Japanese kids clean their school toilets); it can also be argued that such consideration for others is based on fear, so as to maintain harmony.

Politeness is obligatory - anything less than what is expected by the Japanese standards is frowned upon and that is a big no-no, as pointed out by a not-so-impressed British friend who had lived in Osaka for a few years.

Whether forced upon or based on sympathetic consideration, it felt good to be amongst people who are thoughtful.

It was a joy not having to deal with rude taxi drivers in KL, or fear I might get run over by a car even at a zebra crossing (do pedestrian crossings mean anything to drivers here?), or suffer the displeasure of having your feet wet because the girl in the next lavatory decided to hose down the toilet.

Of course, the sceptics will say – won’t happen in Malaysia lah! We are not a civic-minded lot.

I beg to differ. Malaysians can do it. My travel companions went to the extent of keeping their used cigarette butts in their pockets so as to not litter the Japanese streets. However, the same people also had no qualms about putting out their cigarettes on the grimy Malaysian tarmac as soon as they stepped out of the KLIA arrival hall.