Recently I wrote about how one of the more pleasant aspects of Japan was the high level of service you can generally expect. The Japanese version of “the customer is always right” is okyaku-san wa kamisama, literally “the customer is God,” and it’s not hard to see this attitude in action. Most of the time you’d expect store employee to try to sell you stuff you don’t need, but when I tried to buy some stupid plug-in cards for a camera I was getting, one employee went out of his way to tell me they were a waste of money. Once I dropped the tray that holds water to make ice cubes in my refrigerator, and when I went to order a replacement I expected them to charge me $100 or more, but to my surprise they charged me just $1, despite having me by the proverbial octopus balls. I’m also impressed whenever I get my car serviced at the Mazda dealership, operated by the company directly, as is the norm in Japan. As I pull out, the employee who was helping me walks out into the street to stop traffic for me, literally placing himself at risk of bodily injury to make that final good impression on me. The strategy might be working: I realize we’ve bought four cars from them over the years.
Getting your car serviced in Japan might make you feel like God.
