High on my list of favorite things about Japan is the fact that there is a system in place for dealing with one of my pet peeves:  people who stand in the middle of the escalator effectively blocking passage for everyone else.  It's so simple it can hardly be called a system.  Stand to the left, walk to the right.  How hard is that?

This photo was taken in the subway on a Saturday, with time for a leisurely ride. On weekdays there is steady stream of people charging up on the right.

Interestingly, in Osaka the standers are on the right, walkers on the left.  (This may be just the fact you need for a Tirivial Pursuit win.)

The stairs are a free-for-all, in spite of little arrows indicating which side is up and which down.  But the key is, no one impedes anyone else's progress.