Elevators, Escalators and Automatic Doors!

It's an odd topic I know, but its something rather 'strange' about Japan for me and something I always notice.

Automatic doors are too slow. WAY TO SLOW. Every time I want to walk through one I end up stopping with my face a inch from the glass waiting for them to spring into action. The amount of times I've nearly face-planted myself on them is silly. It's not like I'm taking a run up either, it's just a normal pace, not even the fast London pace, more like a chilled stroll.

Where as elevators/lifts shut hard and fast without warning. And unlike back home, if you give them a gentle nudge and they open again, these don't. I saw a frail old lady crushed by an elevator door and had to dive for the button to save her. She looked stunned like deer in the headlights.

Escalators also have their own rules. Unlike at home, most escalators have signs indicating you cannot walk on them. Those that you can seem to have a rule that you stand on the left side, not the right side as in London. I had some angry looking people in Osaka because I was stood on the right.

In Japan, nothing is what you expect. And just when you think you've got it, an elevator door swings you a right-hook.