Cosmopolitan-san

A man away from home need feel no shame.

--Ancient Japanese proverb

That philosophy has been carried to an extreme by the Japanese, whose exquisite courtesy in their homes has long been matched by their exuberance abroad. The splendid prints of Artist Hiroshige (1797-1858), for example, chronicle the raffish behavior of long-ago Japanese travelers getting roaring drunk, raising havoc and chasing pretty maids all over the inn.

The passage of centuries has had little effect. As more and more Japanese tourists flood abroad (1,000,000 in 1970, 1,300,000 anticipated this year), their behavior can be expected to attract a correspondingly greater amount of baffled or annoyed attention. And it is a truism that no one is more critical of ill-mannered travelers than their own countrymen. To avoid tarnishing the national image, Japanese tourist agencies and the Foreign Ministry have now joined forces to produce a free booklet entitled, somewhat optimistically, "You, Too, Are a Cosmopolitan from Today."

No Shoving. In measured, reassuring tones, the booklet offers advice on almost every possible situation. Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (a veteran traveler) suggests in a preface to travelers: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do." That advice is hardly original to Westerners, but could be an immense help in making the Japanese realize, for example, that their custom of stripping to their underwear during long Kyushu train trips might cause a stir on the Rome-Milan express. Equally unseemly is the practice of wandering in hotel corridors clad only in undershorts, as Japanese tourists were seen doing in Paris and Los Angeles hotels last year. Shoving women aside to catch an elevator may be usual in Tokyo, but it is liable to cause comment in New York.

Airplane toilets? "If the sign outside says OCCUPIED," the booklet advises, "wait a while. Don't forget to lock the door once inside. After using the toilet, flush it. FLUSH is indicated on the button." The Japanese male's habit of relieving himself in public is sternly condemned: "Never pass water, even in the little side street or in the corner of a bridge, or it will be a police case." Even bathing tips are included: "Fill the tub to two-thirds of capacity and wash yourself in the tub, not on the outside like in Japan."

Perhaps the crudest blow of all is the rule against keeping money in one's domaki (a cloth belt intended primarily to keep the stomach properly warm, but which often doubles as a money belt). The hitch is that to get at the money, the traveler must first lower his trousers.

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