Korean student rescues woman

Last month I wrote about a minor collision I had with a bus, and the ensuing discussion in the comments prompted me to write another post about the apparent tendency of Japanese to not help strangers in need. In replying to the very interesting comments generated by that post, I mentioned a news story from 2001 in which two men, one Japanese and one Korean, died trying to save a man who had fallen onto the tracks of a Tokyo train station.

On Sunday there was a near repeat of that incident, with eerie similarities but a much happier ending. At the same train station, just metres away from the original accident, an intoxicated young woman fell onto the tracks. She was rescued by Shin Hyun Gu, a Korean student who attends the same language school as Lee Soo Hyun, the Korean who died in the 2001 accident. Luckily, the similarities end there and both Shin Hyun Gu and the unidentified woman survived. Read about it here.

Without knowing more about the story, it's hard to use this as an example of Japanese failing to help. But I thought it was interesting enough to mention here.

Meanwhile, I'm a bit less pessimistic about this, having been reminded a few times recently that people here do help more often than not. Me being a major klutz, I find myself in the position of needing help quite a bit.

Like the other day when I knocked down a row of bikes while trying to park and lock my own. The fallen bikes joined together in a tangled mess as usual (this happens to me all the time), and as I was struggling to pick them apart and set them upright, a young women came and gave me a hand. I apologized profusely, automatically assuming one of the bikes were hers- why else would a stranger help me? But after heroically untangling the bikes and getting them all standing, she took off, leaving me surprised and ashamed of my assumptions. I wish she had stayed a bit longer so I could thank her. But maybe she did the right thing by leaving, as I was so touched I wanted to cry and probably would have made a scene. Seriously, she's lucky she escaped without a hug.

Comments

[carlyn]

Amy;
...congrats to the young man who bravely rescued the young woman.. again, 20 bystanders watched as this young man lifted the young woman to safety. I'm still perplexed.

[katie]

I think most Japanese are only too happy to help in situations such as your bike episode *grin* (I'm clumbsy too and i've had a few experiences with the domino effect while parking my bike)where there is little chance that they'll lose face. However in situations where the outcome and what happend before the incident is less certain (such as the fight in shinjuku), there is little chance that they would help because to them it's too risky. Bystander apathy is very common even in countries outside Japan. People make judgements and don't go out of their way to help. Recently in Australia an Aborignal woman was lying down at a uni bus-stop very sick and nobody helped her for hours because they assumed she was a drunk, it just so happend that a Japanese student helped her!.

[syuhei]

Now,this article is doubted in Japan.
please wait a little more

[Amy]

Carlyn,
The thing is, the 20 people were apparently mostly old folks. And the Okubo, where this station is, is a Korean neighborhood, so they weren't necessarily Japanese. And given the time, I susprect more than a few of them were as drunk as the young lady...

Katie,
Glad to know I'm not the only bike knocker-overer! I agree that people tend to be more likely to help with minor things, like when you drop something or need directions. And good for that student!

Syuhei,
I thought was interesting that this became big news in Korea before Japan. How is the story doubted?

[James]

pretty heroic, if you ask me.

[Medea]

I wonder if it's less to do with Japanese and Korean, as it is to do with already being an outsider. Maybe the foreigners "see" things better, things no one else would notice as they retreat into their everyday world. Or maybe they just know what it's like to need help?

I'm glad that woman helped you though. Good deeds really do make the world go round.

[Amy]

James, I agree.

Medea, that's a great point and I think you're totally right. Outsiders really do tend to see things that those who belong might miss. We simply have to be more observant to survive. And yes, I suspect the average foreign resident is a bit more empathetic to others in need.