One of my colleagues at Maruti Suzuki went to Japan on a business visit and went to stay at his Japanese Counterpart’s house.
He narrated his experience, listening to which we realized that it could happen only in Japan.
(Typing the narrative as it was told)
So in Japan, there is an abundance of Oranges in residential gardens. (The Japanese call them Mikan)
The beauty of the Japanese is that if Oranges fall from a tree, no one can claim that Orange except the owner of the land on which the Orange has fallen. So in essence, the landlord/house owner. You can find many Oranges lying around which are unpicked.
One day, after lunch, I came out my counterpart’s house. We saw that there was a thief who picked up around half a dozen of those fallen Oranges and started carrying them away. My immediate reaction was to shout “Thief! Stop!”
He held my shoulder and stopped me with a smile. And then what my counterpart did, dumbfounded me. In a very polite tone, he said: “Sumimasen. Korera no mikan o gen ni modoshite kudasai” which translates to: “Excuse me, Sir. Please put those Mikan back”
But the thief, did not run, but walked away without paying any heed to his words. So this guy went behind him and repeated the same thing: “Mikan ga hitsuyōda to wakatte imasu. Shikashi sore wa anata no monode wa arimasen. Modotte modotte kudasai”, which translates to: “I understand you need the Mikan. but it is not yours. Please return them back”
So the thief turned back, instead of running away. And instead of giving them to the owner, he walked past the owner and put them back at the exact locations from where he picked up those Oranges.
And then, in a very polite manner, the thief said: “Sumimasen. Watashi wa hijō ni uete iru. Korera no mikan o toru koto wa dekimasu ka?” which translates to: “Excuse me. I am very hungry. Can I take these Mikan?”
The owner gave him a customary bow, showed his hand in a pleasing manner and said: “Onegaishimasu” (“Please. Go ahead & eat”)
And then the so-called thief picked up exactly those Oranges which he initially picked up, gave the owner a bow and then turned towards his wife and apologized with a bow. And then walked away.
As far as I know, you can find this culture of mutual respect only in Japan.