In Japan, everyone knows that cars drive on the left side of the road. But did you know this habit extends to walking too?
While there is no official law requiring pedestrians to walk on the left, it has become second nature for many Japanese people.
In crowded places like festivals, shrines, or tourist spots, people naturally walk on the left, even without any signs or traffic control.
If you walk on the right side in these situations, you might end up bumping into people coming from the opposite direction and waste unnecessary energy trying to avoid them.
・At train station
At train station platforms, depending on which direction your train is going, you may need to move toward the right side.
However, even in those cases, people tend to walk on the left side of the right platform.
This is a shared cultural habit, so you usually won’t see any signs or instructions about it.
Keeping this habit in mind will help you move more smoothly through crowded areas during your trip in Japan.
