Tape Players - Random Observation

Random post. I just recorded a listening final with a teacher and noticed that the play button on the tape player we were using was backwards (the arrow was pointing the wrong direction). Then we used the forward button to rewind the tape. I know you can just use the other end of the tape and it has the same effect, but the teacher thought I was kidding when I said the arrow was backwards. Hmmm... is this a thing with Japanese stereos that I haven't noticed?

I just checked the department boomboxes (mostly CD/tape decks) and they look normal. Might have just been that player... or maybe Japan used to make their players differently back in the amtrack/tape days and have now converted.... but have any of you in Japan noticed this?

On a more random note, though, I actually found it sort of strange using a tape player at all. Seriously, when was the last time you actually used a tape player? MD players have essentially replaced tapes in this country (and are MUCH easier to use... esp for editing purposes), but with other media outlets like CDs & data files (like my iPod), I think it's been years since I had really used one!! Brings you back to the days of mix tapes :)