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You can now be sure that they are going to show up at precisely 2pm and when they do arrive they will be meticulous in their safety checks and unfailingly polite.  But everything is like

this in Japan. If you get a piece of furniture delivered to your home, the delivery people – who always show up on time – will bring with them padding to lay down on your hallway and stairs

to ensure they make not the slightest blemish in your house.  If you order anything in a department store, every assistant seems capable of gift-wrapping it with a professional skill that

would win a prize in the UK.  And if it is raining the bag will be sheathed in a waterproof membrane. There is no better country in the world to go for a haircut, where they will give you a

wetshave, trim your nose hairs, put tonics on your hair and pomade you – all at minimal cost, in a manner unavailable in the UK outside of expensive male grooming parlours.  All of these are

tiny experiences but they add up to a universal atmosphere and they have the same things in common: people taking inordinate pride in the quality of the work they do and being genuinely

concerned to serve the customer to the utmost of their ability.  Imagine if you will, a society where everywhere you go, people are offering terrific, friendly, professional service, where

there is very little crime and a great sense of social cohesion.  Living in such a country, as a jaded Westerner, makes me instantly start to relax.  Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means

blind to some of the pitfalls of the Japanese system.  While it is wonderful to be the beneficiary of consistently good service, it can be a strain and limiting on the workforce supplying

it, many of whom endure social pressure to work long hours and take hardly any holidays.  There can indeed even be tragic consequences from the constant strive to perfectionism such as the

train crash in 2005 when 106 passengers were killed when the driver sped at 72 mph round a bend in a desperate bid to ensure his train was not a single minute late.  Inflexible bureaucracy

and officiousness can be overbearing in Japan. And while they beautifully wrap everything, you can’t but regret the wastefulness of it all. Yet, overall, I know which system I prefer.  When

Japanese tourists picked up rubbish – even after their team lost – as they left the World Cup stadiums in Brazil, they did so because of the intrinsic civic pride underpinning their system

of service.  This is a community where older people clip the grass on public verges outside their homes.  In the UK I find that the consistently abysmal quality of service you receive tends

to work on my nerves.  From gruff deliverymen ringing me with a supposedly friendly “Hiya mate” and then telling me that I must stay in for a six hour delivery slot and ready to launch into

a lecture about how busy they are or that they can’t come and it has nothing to do with them or else that the road is too narrow for their lorry and I should ring the company to re-arrange.

One delivery man I had recently hit the gate post of my office as he left and caused £200 worth of damage. I then had to send about 50 emails over six months chasing the company responsible.

  Everything in the UK radiates an attitude of not-bothered-mate egocentricity. Everyone seems to be concerned about what the world can give them, rather than what they can offer to society.

  JAPANESE WAY TO RELAX SEES ADULTS WRAPPED UP LIKE BABIES The word “service” in the UK is almost a dirty word associated with “servitude” from which people are keen to liberate themselves.

  In Japan, the dedication to “service” is derived from the samurai ethic.  The word “samurai” itself means “to serve”.  Back in the feudal era, the class system in Japan – with the samurai

at the top – was stifling and unprogressive, but it inculcated a sense of dignity and pride in work, which from the 19th century onwards the Japanese have brilliantly managed to transfer to

its reinvention as a modern capitalist state.  Japanese products – even those completely alien to traditional Japanese culture such as whisky and pianos – have an outstanding worldwide

reputation for quality.  As the UK withdraws from the EU and stands on its own two feet in a world market, the quality of the service we provide to the rest of the world will have a huge

impact on our economic future.  We need to cast aside our slovenly productivity and learn a Japanese-style dedication and pride in work and cultivate an ethic of customer service. GETTY -

STOCK Japanese food is beautiful FIVE THINGS THEY DO BETTER THAN US Trains – easily the best in the world.  Bicycles – everyone has a shopping bike and Japan is bicycle heaven.  Beautiful

food – Japanese box sets are a sumptuous delight.  Moss gardens – nobody appreciates the beauty of moss like the Japanese.  Eels – Revolting when served in the UK, a melt-in-the-mouth

delicacy in Japan.  FIVE THINGS WE DO BETTER THAN THEM Football matches – there’s no comparison in atmosphere.  Comedy – the Japanese have a great sense of humour, but the British are comic

geniuses.  Pubs – where else will you sit down to fish and chips with a pint?  Country Houses – what every Japanese tourist wants to visit when they come to the UK.  Music Festivals –

there’s no equivalent of Glastonbury or any of Britain’s other rock fests.