It was supposedly common practice to keep to the left during the Edo period, whether on foot, in a rickshaw, whatever…

You’re definitely right about the adoption of the British railway traffic convention. Unfortunately, some of the facetious nature of the article was missed by most readers, I think. My poor writing skills are to blame
Some facetiousness (is that a word?) here:
“Every Japanese person I’ve ever met says this is common knowledge.”

While it’s true that left-hand-side road travel was common practice in parts of Japan during the Edo period, I don’t think anyone (except some proud Japanese people) believes that the road-traffic rules of Japan’s highways and byways were developed from that practice

The version that I have heard is that during the Meiji era, Japan hired British consultants to help build the railway network. The British designers followed the British convention of having the trains run on the left hand side of the track, and when auto traffic took off a few decades later the Japanese carried the convention over to the roads.

Also, driving on the left makes a lot of sense … the 90% of people who are right handed keep their dominant right hand on the steering wheel while they are changing gear.

Can’t put the pictures up though. I see that deplorable behavior enough in real life; it would kill me to have to witness it on my own website

I am totally with you that there needs to be samurai around to put etiquette and order back into walking in this crazy city (Tokyo). I often say I would VOLUNTEER my time to do this in Shinjuku (where I live and walk every day). Getting bumped by people walking two and three abreast while I am walking alone all the way to the left is the MAIN reason why I am leaving Japan next year, well, either that or the constant stream of cigarette smoke one is forced to inhale, or I could go on.

Will miss my fiber Internet connection and washlet though. And courteous (if robotic) convenience store employees.

Also, good point about escalators, it makes sense, although I do like how Japanese stand all the way to the left because I never allow a machine to do all the work for me so I always walk both up and down escalators.

Yeah, good post, best one I’ve read on anyone’s Japan site in a long time. Informative and true. The only suggestion I would make would be putting up a few photos of people walking/not walking on the left side.

Someone mentioned about being confused in Nagoya…it’s the same in Tokyo or Yokohama too. Often thinking left is the side to be on, I’ll get to a stair case with arrows pointing up on the right side. What gives.

While on the subject…there should be a law for moped riders that goes like this; “Ride/drive on the left. Stay on the left…oh, and behind me. Or else suffer the consequences.” No offense to any moped riders that may be reading this.

About the pedestrians behavior, I think that if you drive on the right or on the left when you use your car, you tend to do it in the same way when you are walking.