The fake internet meme - Japanese people waiting

You all know what an internet meme is by now, right? This is when someone posts a video, pic or link to some info, and before anyone knows it, everyone is linking to it and it spreads around online like a virus. The idea encompasses everything from lolcats to the nyancat, Angelina Jolie's left leg, Kanye West interrupting people, and my own personal favorite, Hitler reacting to shit.

This week I saw on a Japanese TV show a meme I hadn't heard about: Japanese people waiting at traffic lights. As the show presented (and to the agreement of a panel of foreign guests), it's become a bit of a running gag among people of the world how obedient Japanese people are to the point that they'll idly wait at a red light even if there aren't any cars on the road.

They showed a pic a "tourist" in Japan had taken of a woman on a bicycle waiting for a light to change, and then explained to the panel why it was funny. They all had a laugh about it, agreed that while it might be funny to some foreigners it was a good part of Japanese culture, and how it's a hell of a lot safer than people running around willy nilly like they do in some countries, blah blah blah...

Only thing is, I've never heard of this ever.

Ever.

Do a search online for Japanese people waiting for traffic or anything like that and you don't get any results. The closest I can find is a series by a German photographer (Wait for Walk) where he records the expressions on people's faces in New York waiting for lights to change.

Yes, there are some sites online that poke fun at Japanese people waiting in line, but you can't see anything about waiting at traffic lights anywhere. If someone does find a good reference please send it to me. I don't know every site online so I could be missing a huge movement. But I doubt it. From the looks of it, it looks like this supposed meme simply doesn't exist.

If anything, there are a lot of pictures taken of rows and rows of scooters waiting at traffic lights taken in Taiwan and other Asian countries, but when you look for pics of people you get nothing.

How strange. I would ask what the point is of bringing up a non-existant meme to air on a TV show, but that question answers itself.