Japanese Remembering Methods
Nope, this post isn't about learning the language - for that you need to look at the Learn Japanese post to see what I did to learn the lingo.
This post is to let you know why you often see train or bus conductors in japan pointing and speaking out aloud to themselves.
This is a method of remembering whether something has been done by pointing and saying out aloud the action or confirmation that an action has been performed.
This method of remembering or confirming that something was completed is called Shisa Kanko [指差喚呼].
Have a look at the lady operating the train below - although you cant hear her, you can see her pointing at her timetable and out the window at the train signals.
This method of remembering not only involves visual confirmation, but also the pointing gesture and verbal confirmation has been scientifically proven to decrease the amount of human error leading to accidents. The verbal confirmation in many cases ends with "Yoshi!" meaning "OK" or "Good" or "Confirmed."
I use this method when locking my door as I leave the house - point at both keylocks and say "Door Yoshi!" - this way I don't have the "did-I-lock-the-door" syndrome 30 mins after leaving home.
