Quote:
Originally Posted by samokan
oh yes they really reallly really value their personal space / privacy. It was even discussed how far are we going to protect the personal space of each person. There was a case in the news last year, an old man living alone, was found dead cause he slip in his room and he was unconscious , no one bother to check on him when he did not go out because they thought he needed some privacy.. after a couple of days, the kanrinin finally decided to check on him and found him dead.
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This type of behaviour isn't exclusive to Japanese culture, though. It happens in the countries I live and have lived in too. People don't necessarily intervene as soon as they suspect something to be wrong, but generally choose to wait a few days and see what happens. Psychologists believe it to be some sort of primitive survival instinct, to stay away from potential danger... Of course, in the context of Japanese culture the space/privacy notion may be a better explanation for incidents like the one described above.
~annelie