The Moral Vision
Constructive Temperament
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CONSTRUCTIVE TEMPERAMENT
Dr. Abdul Jalil of New Delhi, once had the
opportunity to visit Japan in 1970, where he stayed
for six months. He later recounted an incident to me
which cast a significant light on the Japanese
character. It seems that during his stay in Tokyo, he
would often take a 15-minute ride on a suburban
train to a place just outside the city. One day, when
the fifteen minutes had passed and there was no
sign of his station, he began to feel uneasy. Sure
enough, when the train stopped, it was at some
other station, and he realized that somehow or the
other he had boarded the wrong train at Tokyo. In
some agitation he tried to get help from the
Japanese who was sitting next to him, but since
neither could speak the others language,
conversation was impossible. Dr. Jalil then thought
of writing down the name of his station in block
capitals and showing it to his travelling companion.
The Japanese could apparently read that much and
promptly pulled the communication cord to stop
the train, which had just begun to move out of the
station. He hurried Dr. Jalil off the train and took
him to another platform which was for trains going
