Japan Pedestrian Laws?

Question

I have been told that pedestrians have the right of way in Japan and that this law stems from the American post WW2 occupation. It was not uncommon for zelous Japanese to run over American service men and a law was enacted to protect all pedestrians. Is this true or just an urban legend?

Answer 1

I doubt that there were enough cars in Japan to be any threat to American servicemen in post-war Japan.

Japan does not have a lot of natural resources (oil, iron, etc.), which was one of the reasons the country went into the war in the first place. By the end of the war, women and children were trained to fight with *bamboo* spears if the enemy made landfall, because there was no metal to make decent spears, let alone guns.

Answer 2

The is no Pedestrian law like the western counties in Japan.

Car regulation and Road regulation were issued during Taisho era (1912~).
"The Road Traffic Regulatory Law" was issued in 1947. And today's "The Road Traffic Law" is since 1960.

Pedestrian is written shortly in "The Road Traffic Law" and there are only a few sentenses which suggest "Pedestrians walk on the right and cars/horses on the left."

I think your friend or the speaker can NOT specify what law and what year is the law they mentioned.

However, Japan changed the style of the Road Traffic Signs from European style to American along with The Geneva Convention. This change was in 1942 , not post war time. Maybe the story is about the road signs?

Japan still keep the same style abide by the The Vienna Convention. eg. Japan take the diamond with yellow ground for the "Danger warning" sign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals

Answer 3

I seriously doubt that pedestrians are protected, as courteous as Japanese people are. I lived in Japan for a while, mainly in the Tokyo area, Shinjuku to be precise. I noticed that most pedestrians are afraid to actually cross a street if they see incoming cars, i think cars have a more right of way. But there is an exception, something I learned through personal experience as a gaijin. While crossing, I noticed one person crossing the street on there own, even though the sign was flashing not to cross, soon after that, everyone started to cross the street. I decided to experiment, and crossed on my own, and before I knew it I had a small crowd of Japanese people who gathered there wits to cross together with me. One of my Japanese friends, told me of a japanese saying, I cant quote it exactly, but it said, if I we cross together, than we are safer together. Kinda funny, Japanese people follow the crowds, and try not to feel left out.

Answer 4

it may seem like people have the right of way, because the cars are so polite to pedestrians. I got a shock when I went to another country and cars zoom to cut you off as you cross at the lights. In Japan, even if you are standing on the side of the road, the car will slow down and let you cross, it can be so annoying sometimes, but I like it better. I am on holiday back in New Zealand at the moment, and I cant trust the cars, I dont know if they will wait, or cut me off. its scary. In Japan I never had that problem.

Answer 5

I am nof sure when it started, but I think the pedestrian has the right of way in Japan. There are signs, "Hokousha Yusen"(The peds have the right of way.) on the street. I like it.

Answer 6

Like the other answerer says, there would be few private cars on the roads during the occupation, and little gasoline. It wasn't until the Korean war began that the Japanese economic revival started.