Where is the wa?

Less than hour after landing at the Detroit airport on the flight from Tokyo, I was on a domestic flight to Charlotte. While taxi-ing the runway, I was stunned by both the size (height and girth) and the manner of most on board. Of the six people in my row, I was the only person under 200 lbs. I was one of two people who did not use their cell phone immediately before or after take-off/landing. And I was one of only a handful of folks on board who wasn't speaking to their seatmates.

This came to me quickly:

Enormous strangers
Chatting loudly side-by-side
On and on and on


In fact, I had been rather looking forward to being back in a place where folks who don't know eachother converse. In Japan, strangers rarely chat. But, I was struck (put off?) by the air of self-importance with which many Americans carry themselves. No doubt I carry this same air about me in Japan--head always up, daring others do make eye contact, moving most deliberately. But seeing so many people like this in a narrow space, I immediately thought of the ever humble Japanese, ever aware of others' personal space, and ever preserving the "wa" (harmony).