necoandjeff wrote:
> John W. wrote:
> 
>>necoandjeff wrote:
>>
>>>Does anyone know the origin of driving on the left side of the
>>>street in Japan? I seem to recall hearing from someone a long time
>>>ago (it may have even been my Iaido buddies) that it was actually an
>>>established custom long before automobiles, and that passing on the
>>>left had to do with drawing one's sword (if you were to pass on the
>>>right it would be difficult to draw your sword and strike in the
>>>event you are attacked since you draw from left to right.) A friend,
>>>on the other hand, seems to think it was a more recent development
>>>and had to do with an early association between Japan and British
>>>motor car companies. I did a quick Google search and didn't come up
>>>with much.
>>>
>>
>>Did a Yahoo! search for [japan driving on the left why] (no brackets),
>>and came up with ample results. The first one I checked out was
>>Japan-Guide, which led to http://www.2pass.co.uk/japan.htm. Confirms
>>the samurai theory, with some historical notes from folks who
>>witnessed the behavior.
>>
>>I always thought a lot of the automobile and other related engineering
>>came from Germany. What I've always found interesting is that people
>>tend to walk on the right side of the sidewalk, escalators, etc.; I'd
>>expect it to parallel driving (for some reason).
> 
> 
> Aha. I did my search in Japanese with 左通行の始まり and some variations and
> came up with nothing.
> 
> What you say is interesting though. My experience is that people in Japan
> generally walk and pass on the left too, although there are certainly those
> who don't follow suit (basically the same people who stop at the top of the
> escalator, stop and stand on the walking side of the escalator or moving
> sidewalk, etc., without giving a blankety blank that there are actually
> people around them upon whom they are inflecting much meiwaku...)
> 
It might be a Kansai thing. In that page it says Osaka originally went 
with a driving/riding on the right mandate. It might also be that I 
haven't actually been in Japan in a couple of years and am viewing it 
through US colored glasses.

John W.