A shift in the flow

At a certain time of year, the flow of the city begins to change.

Stations become crowded. Airports fill with people. Long lines form on the highways.

Something is clearly happening.

And yet, nothing has actually begun.

No signal, no instruction

There is no clear signal.

No one is giving instructions. No announcement is telling people when to move.

And still, people begin to move in the same direction.

Not one by one, but almost at the same time.

Before anything happens

The event has not started.

Nothing has officially begun.

And yet, the movement is already there.

Why do so many people move at the same time?

In Japan, people do not always move after something happens.

Often, they move toward what feels like it is about to happen.

It is not a calculation. It is not a precise prediction.

It is something softer than that.

If you're curious how Japanese expresses this kind of “something that seems about to happen,” you might find it in the way the language works.
→ Read: "-sou" — Sensing What Is About to Happen

A shared sense

Somewhere, people are sensing the same thing.

One person moves. Another follows. The movement spreads.

Before long, the entire city seems to share the same rhythm.

It is not forced.

It is not coordinated in any visible way.

And yet, it feels synchronized.

A movement that spreads

In this country, movement does not remain within the individual.

Something invisible passes between people.

A shared flow begins to take shape before anything has fully started.

No one is trying to align.

And yet, people move in the same direction.

Before anything happens, the movement is already there.

May Series: Why Japanese Move Before the Season Changes

• 5/4 Why Japanese Move Before the Season Changes
• 5/7 Why Clothes Change Before the Weather Does
• 5/11 Why Windows Open Before the Air Changes
• 5/14 Why Everyone Moves at the Same Time — Before Anything Happens (this article)
• 5/18 Why the Rain Is Prepared For Before It Exists
• 5/22 Why Distance Changes Before the Moment Arrives
• 5/27 Living Ahead of Time — How Japan Moves with the Invisible

This May series follows the quiet ways Japan moves before change becomes visible.