Are Japanese people afraid of pigeons?

Just a short thought kind of post before my longer post later.

So I was walking to the store, or as I like to say supermarché, today and on the way, I noticed these 2 girls like freaking out over this pigeon. Like they literally STOPPED and would not go a single step further until the pigeon was out of the walk way. I was sitting there thinking, "Wow really?? It's just a bird lol.", but then I thought about it, and that certainly wasn't the first time I have seen that.

So then, I thought why does it seem like more people (maybe mostly schoolgirls idk) in this country are afraid of pigeons than perhaps in my home country? I know I can't make sweeping statements about an entire population, but in my experience so far living in this country, I do see more people cringe in fright over this bird here than I usually do in the US. But why is that?

Well, here's my theory. When I came to Japan, what I noticed about this country, even in big cities, is how CLEAN it is. I don't know how they do it, but Japan is amazingly clean. Also, I noticed that even some of the people very much try to stay clean oriented, even the guys. When I heard how long some guys take here to get ready in the morning, I'm thinking "Wow, I'm sorry lol...", especially considering my at-most 20 minute routine to do, you know, the normal things to keep myself nice and fresh! Although, there are PLENTY of American men who take just as long in the morning à la Jersey Shore. But I think it really depends on the person, hands down, especially considering those times I go into Book Off and the shounen manga aisle smells RANK of B.O.  And the whole handkerchief thing: everyone here keeps one around because public restrooms usually won't have paper towels, but I just wipe my hands on my clothes. I don't really care either way! I'll talk about Paris Syndrome in another post, but it does go along with the whole cleanliness thing here.

So what does this have to pigeons? Well, inherently, pigeons are very dirty birds, and so maybe because Japan is seen as a very clean place (at least in my eyes), people freak out. Whereas, the reaction people have in the US is to either ignore it or chase it (if you're like me!).

Just want to say that hopefully none of my posts come across as offensive! I try to be really honest with my blog posts in order to convey how I actually feel and what I personally observe during my stay here. I love being here in Japan, and I'm sure my blog shows that, but sometimes it's fun just to blog about differences and cultural norms that I find funny and/or ridiculous. Love you all and stay tuned for more! =)