Pokemon Go, Pokemon No

(If you click on the images,  they get bigger so it is easier to read!)

Pokemon Go came out a couple of weeks before I left for Japan, and it had been out for about a week and a half in Japan when I got there, so I'm not sure if the same kind of craziness that was going on in the States happened in Japan in the beginning and it just mellowed out by the time I got here?  But I noticed a distinct difference in how people play, as well as how the game is set up, in both countries.  In America, people were running around catching pokemon all over their neighborhoods and walking dogs to hatch eggs... it was so crazy that it made newspaper headlines!  So when I got to Japan and saw a bunch of people just standing completely still in parks and in front of train stations, just staring at their phones, I almost didn't recognize that they were playing the same game!  Instead of running around chasing pokemon, they stand near the Pokestops and just let the pokemon come to them, then catch them, all without moving.  Very different than in America!  Maybe it has something to do with how Japanese culture places emphasis on doing one thing at one time rather than multitasking, which is why you almost never see people eating or drinking while walking.  I've also noticed a difference in the location of Pokestops; in America, there were at least four Pokestops within a mile of my house, which was located in a residential area of a suburb.  In Japan, I almost NEVER see Pokestops in residential areas.  There's one in front of the high school near my apartment and one in front of the post office a couple of kilometers, and that is it.  However, when I go downtown and go in front of the train station or to the large park near the sea, there are at least three or four Pokestops all within a hundred feet of each other.  I guess it's because they don't want people running around neighborhoods catching pokemon, which can be a little disruptive, but by all means, do it in the park.  Of course, when you do go to the park, everyone is just standing motionless.