Suggestions

I realise that living in Tokyo one is frequently and gently urged to do certain things, or to take specific actions, on the recommendation of someone. Two examples: on the TV weather news, it is very common for the weather person to suggest, at the close of the report, that we should take care to take an umbrella, to take care driving, to take care in putting the laundry out to dry, to take care, to take care....secondly, in most parts of Tokyo at 5pm the local council plays a chime on the public address systems scattered throughout the streets. This is something I remember from my childhood and is, I think, a very long tradition in Japan. It at once warns kids that they should start heading home, parents start to worry and the city begins to gently transform from its day time persona into its shadow. I dont know if these kinds of things point to a 'Nanny State'. But anyway, one is certainly made aware by others of how to act, what to do, when to act. I guess it keeps the population in check. If the friendly-looking weather girl suggests it, well, you just got to do as she says....I think the weather people are agents of the Prime Ministers office. The weather makes for the perfect backdrop to disseminate subtle messages as to how we should behave, and be good citizens.