People

One of the aspects of anthropology (sociology?) that I find most interesting is discovering the ways in which a mass of people attempting to accomplish the same goal will organize themselves, especially when it is done with no prior planning. I haven't seen much in the way of the spontaneous organization yet, but all around us there are signs of the Japanese's own special brand of unspoken rules and other means of making society run smoothly.



I'll give you one guess as to where these people on the ski lift are going....
Believe it or not, they're headed for the largest sand dunes in Japan. As you can see, the lift goes over the road, carrying the little obaa-chans and ojii-sans safely across while allowing the cars to continue down the hill at breakneck speeds. (God Bless the Inaka.) While this doesn't really fit into the "spontaneous organization" idea, I though it was a fantastic example of the degree to which the Japanese try to make big institutions such as major tourist attractions run like a well-oiled machine.
On a semi-related note, the terminus of this lift ended at the top of a large sandy bowl... Which the previously-mentioned senior citizens traversed with apparent ease.



This, on the other hand, is an example of the impromptu self-organization. On one of the raniest days we've had since the Japanese students started classes, the line at the closest bus stop went around the corner, down the street and around the next corner. Rather than trudge down the street for 10 or 15 minutes, these folks preferred to wait longer and take the drier route. Who started this line? Who decided it would go down this street, as opposed to down the sidewalk to the right? Who was the first to say, "Now the line will turn around this corner, instead of continuing down the street"? Whatever the means and motive, here are over 100 people waiting patiently for the bus to Hirakata Station.