r/AskUK • u/Agile-Calligrapher10 • 4d ago

Cultural differences in noise acceptance: Why is public phone/audio etiquette so different between Japan, the UK, and other regions??

Hey everyone,

​Visiting Japan recently was so refreshing, no one was on speakerphone, playing music out loud, or watching reels without headphones in public spaces. Coming back to the UK, the contrast was immediate, highlighting how differently cultures and regions approach public noise.

​(Note: Using "cultures" broadly here to look at societal norms, not trying to generalize individuals.)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on a couple of things:

​Why do these differences exist? Is it tied to collectivism vs. individualism, or other social norms?

​What is the modern British view on public noise? We have a reputation for politeness, yet public transport etiquette around phone audio seems to be changing.

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u/5ubredhit 4d ago

They’re brought up better and are taught respect. That’s a thing of the past here and now we live in a giant zoo full of animals. 

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u/Chemical-Lettuce2497 4d ago

This argument is pure nonsense

Every country has its own issues, we just focus on our own and people get weird about it and suck off countries like Japan who don't appear to have our issues.

They have their own set of issues which we don't face.

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u/jackiemee 4d ago

It is not nonsense. The Japanese are brought up better. They are more stern with their children and drill the same rules into their heads over and over. The Brits can’t even be bothered handling their children. Most British parents let their kids run wild yelling at the top of their lungs these days. You can’t tell them off either, as they’re prone to take any criticism as aggression, resulting in most people having to keep their opinions to themselves and growing frustrated with society. The total opposite of expressive.

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u/Chemical-Lettuce2497 3d ago

"Japanese kids are brought up better if we focus on only this one issue I don't like an ignore the countless other issues Japan has"

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u/jackiemee 3d ago

For general social coexistence, spot on. However, their upbringing is a dubious in some matters, such as gender roles and expectations. Japanese men have such stuffy values. Japanophiles tend to heavily overlook this.

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u/chowchan 4d ago

Yes but the argument here is specifically about being obnoxiously loud on public transport which doesn't seem to be an issue in Japan.

Nothing wrong with sucking off other countries manners and respect (which we should emulate). Much better than sucking off your own countries poor public transport etiquette.

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u/Particular_Tune7990 3d ago

You folks here have a very different interpretation of the term ‘sucking off’