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Photo of Canadian cops doing something that would be unthinkable in Japan goes viral

Casey Baseel Jul 4, 2018
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None of the natives at this Canada Day celebration seemed to care, but in Japan, this would never happen.

Japanese Twitter user Yuma Tsuharu (@YumaTsuhara), who hails from Saitama Prefecture, was on Canada’s Granville Island last Sunday, which just so happened to be Canada Day. While there, he spotted something that’d be unthinkable in Japan, and snapped a picture as proof.

See if you can spot what surprised Japanese Internet users.

警官「どうして俺たちのスタバのコーヒーを撮りたいの？え、公務員が仕事中にコーヒーを飲んでたら日本では問題視される？ww それは…そうか。コーヒーだけじゃなくて俺たちの顔を含めて撮りなよ。撮ったら見せてなwそしたらSNSで日本に伝えちゃって。コーヒーは何も問題でない。Happy Canada Day!!」 pic.twitter.com/VA5PByrOVx

— 🇯🇵佑馬(Yuma) (@YumaTsuhara) July 2, 2018

No, it wasn’t the presence of police officers at the festivities, since you’ll see cops keeping an eye on the crowds at public gatherings in Japan as well. Nor was it the presence of firearms, since patrolmen in Japan are similarly armed. There was one piece of “equipment” that officers in Japan would never be seen carrying on patrol though: coffee.

Each officer is holding a plastic cup with the unmistakable green Starbucks straw, keeping themselves caffeinated while they keep the peace. In Japan, though, this would be seriously frowned upon, if not outright prohibited. Sipping on flavorful, colorful, or otherwise fun/discretionary drinks in Japan can be seen as unprofessional, as it can be construed as not being completely focused on your job duties, and the conduct standard for public servants, such as police officers, is particularly high. Because of that, Tsuharu’s photo of the coffee cops garnered plenty of attention on Japanese Twitter, racking up over 140,000 likes so far.

The officers were initially confused as to why Tsuharu wanted to take their picture. “Really? It’s seen as a problem in Japan if officers drink coffee while on duty?” they asked. When Tsuharu reconfirmed that it is, they said he could take not only a photo of their drinks, but their faces as well, adding “Let people in Japan know that it’s not a problem in Canada.”

Some commenters expressed concern about an officer’s reaction time being slowed down if he’s holding a drink in his hand while on patrol and needs to respond quickly to a dangerous situation. The overall reaction from Japanese Twitter, though, was largely positive. Several commenters said seeing the police in this humanizing way would make them feel more comfortable asking for help, as it makes the officers seem more like relatable, understanding human beings than hardened symbols of authority. One Twitter user went so far as to say that if the cops are purchasing their coffee at a local Starbucks branch, it shows a connection to and familiarity with the community, which would give her more faith in the police force and greater peace of mind.

“Happy Canada Day,” the officers told Tsuharu as they parted ways, having never expected that their beverages would become a cause o culture shock, but happy to have been of help all the same.

Source: Twitter/@YumaTsuhara