As the orange and white bus closed its doors at Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport, the passengers settled down for the 100-minute drive to their various hotels while, outside, three employees of the bus company, in neat cream-colored shirts and black pants, executed a deep, respectful bow as the vehicle left the depot.
Welcome to Japan, perhaps the world's most polite society, where everything is orderly and everyone seems helpful and respectful.
In this regard, Japan is perhaps the polar opposite of China, where people think nothing of pushing, shoving and shouting in public. Japan hopes to increase the number of visitors next year, when Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympics, to 40 million. Last year, 31.2 million tourists arrived in Japan, with 27 percent of them hailing from China.
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