So we’re back in Japan for the 45th Tokyo Motor Show. On our first night, as per usual, we step out of the hotel and go for a walk to see the neighborhood. The place is Ginza, an upscale shopping district in Tokyo. As such, the area is teeming with people, both tourists and locals, going around on foot.

You’d think a location like this would look like Midtown Manhattan in New York, where cars and humans clash in one chaotic scene straight out of a Woody Allen film. In a sense, yes, it does, but Ginza’s pedestrian crosswalks still manage to look like this…

Yep. Walkers can freely cross the street without fear of getting grazed by a speeding SUV. That’s because Japanese drivers treat the pedestrian lane as a sacred part of the road.

There aren’t even traffic officers in sight to force drivers to follow the rules. Motorists are simply educated and disciplined. And it doesn’t matter whether there are pedestrians crossing or not.

And if you think only dorky Japanese drivers are law-abiding, you’re mistaken. Even those who own sporty cars respect pedestrians.

Plus, no need for traffic lights to tell drivers to stop. Even crosswalks without traffic lights are treated with the highest regard.

Don’t you just wish we could all practice this in the Philippines?