i kraken <i.kraken@gmail.com> wrote:

> "John W." <worthj1970@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:<4165DEAE.1090107@yahoo.com>...
> > 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).
> > 
> > John W.
> 
> the sword-drawing theory is used in the uk as well...

It is? I was told it was due to the whips wielded by carriage drivers.

> ... but as far as i
> have ever been able to see, it suffers from the massive flaw of not
> explaining why other nations with a similar history (to the uk, eg
> france) drive on the other side.
> 
> as for japan, the standard jidaigeki approach to passing on the road
> appears to be the 'less important person stands in the mud while more
> importand person goes straight down the middle' approach...

I thought it wasn't so much the sword-drawing as the problem of passing
another samurai who is going in the opposite direction, without bumping
sword-sheaths....

________________________________________________________________________
                   Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
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