Last week, I was at the intersection in front of the neighborhood supermarket. Same intersection where the kimono woman had tripped while crossing the main street. This time, I'd already crossed the main street and was waiting for the light to change so I could get past the cross street to get to the store. Next to me was a middle-aged woman, maybe mid- to late-40's, wearing a heavy fur coat and sunglasses, very self-absorbed and focused solely on a point on the ground a few inches in front of her. She'd also just crossed the main street next to me, and without stopping, walked into the smaller cross street without even looking up or around her to see if the light had changed or if there was approaching cross traffic.
The light for us was red, and some guy on a scooter was racing through the intersection to beat the light before it turned green for us. Three other people were standing at the same corner, and no one said anything about the impending accident. I ended up calling out "abunai, abunai" (it's dangerous, look out). The woman looked up, saw the light was still red, then looked at me. The scooter screeched to a halt a foot from the woman, and she turned to see the guy for the first time, just as the light turned green for us (yes, he was running the red light for him). Everyone apologized to everyone else, and went on their own ways as if nothing unusual had happened.
It's amazing that more people don't die in traffic accidents here.
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