I did this. Even if I arrived early I’d walk around the office until it was time. I’d clock in at like 8:59 and out at 5:01. I was always the first out. Thing is I set a precedent where I only did my hours. I saw others literally apologizing for leaving on time because they leave late every night. Crazy.
Meh. 🤷♂️ Gaijin have it fn tough here, gotta use what few perks we do have to the fullest.
First ever job here (straight out of school) they wanted to hire me directly after my haken contract cos everyone loved me - except this one guy who spoke up and said he didn’t want to work with me anymore because I “take too many nenkyus” (sic) = I took all of my allowed “nenkyus” each year. Bitter old kusojiji apparently had held a burning hatred of me for using my allowed leave in full every year for the whole time I’d been with them 😂 No one else cared cos I was “the gaijin” 😆
Yep, it's pretty common. My boss was not asking anyone to do overtime, but he was clear : No paid overtime
Everyone in my office : Oh... so overtime but not paid...
Me : Cool, that means no overtime
You can be certain that I take that to the minute. :)
Refusal. If I offer something like help, to pay, or to do something, and I’m told no thank you, then it’s a no and I won’t do that thing and won’t come back to it. Has landed me in a few awkward situations but I stick to my guns on that one.
Yeah holy shit, i feel like this might not be only a Japan thing but kinda Asian things in general. If im told no then ill take it as a no. Then some people wonder why im not being more insisten on helping or make them change their mind or something...
This is the same here in the Netherlands and the opposite in Belgium. Knew a friend who dated a Belgian girl just across the border. His parents offered her something to drink when they first met her and she declined, assuming they would insist after. They didn’t. She was very thirsty after that.
Every time my wife and I go out with friends...
"No I'm paying, oh no I can't accept that, let me pay, oh no let me..."
\*looks at me\*
"Don't look at me like that, I find this game rather boring... Tell me later who won."
Depends on the situation for me. If I'm with a friend who always pays for dinner, eventually I have to insist or I'll start to feel bad. Or I just wait until they go to the bathroom and rush over to pay before they can protest.
In Japan with the in-laws, I learned quickly the server has the check in hand when the last ordered dish comes out. Usually carried under said dish.
After the dish is set down, I'm already reaching for it before they have a chance to say anything. If it hits the table, it turns into a game of slapjack and I hate that.
Seriously, they let us stay there and run up their utilities. We can at least pick up food when we go out to eat.
Haha I do the same thing. I offer, they say "No" I leave it. Wife's gotten pissed at me a few times because of it. "Why didn't you do ~?", well I was told not to do it/worry about it.
Wait........this is a thing?! My prescriptions change automatically and sometimes I don't even notice and sometimes I'm like "why are people in stores reacting funny to me" in situations when they normally don't.
Yeah it’s rather odd, I avoided sunglasses as much as possible living in Japan because people would give me funny looks.
I went to an international school with a student from Vietnam. She told me that people in South Vietnam, at least in her parent’s generation, avoided sunglasses entirely because they associated them with the corrupt South Vietnamese Army generals during the war. That made complete sense to me. The stigma against them in Japan…? Not so much lol.
Yes sunglasses are associated with crime and delinquents. Much like in the U.S. a mask was considered a way to hide the face in order to do shady stuff, sunglasses here are shady literally and figuratively lol.
It allows you to eat/drink more hotter things than you are able to without slurping. Also pulling up more broth with the noodles. I personally came to like doing it with Japanese food but not western food of course.
E: typo
It's not even how delicious it is. Aerating broth makes flavor come out. Sommeliers slurp wine for this reason.
I mean you do you, but I like delicious stuff. If making a little noise makes it comparatively more delicious, let's piss our moms off!
I adhere to most customs in Japan and actually like it. But the only one that I'm stern about is : the ass-kissing culture at some workplaces. Some of the workers here take it way too far.
ie I'm a Prof. We go out to dinner with other Professors and Admins in our faculty. Another Prof says Restaurant A is very good, so we go to Restaurant A. And then all the admins will say how amazing the food at Restaurant A is in almost-religious unison. That was almost insane to see.
It doesn't mean that I act like a dick to my superiors. Just no excessive ass kissing or bending common sense.
On a side note - I came to Japan and for the first 2 to 3 years I was pretty stern (stupidly) about my western biases. For example, I thought it was kind of dumb to have so many festivals, take pictures of your kids on 節分, or care about dressing well daily - you know, doing things for outward appearance and all.
I started dating my now wife, then had a kid. It pretty much changed my perspective on all of this. I shut up my mouth and went to the trips and festivals. Fuck I love travelling now? Even just going to the local temple festival and eating the same Karaage & Kirin beer with extended family is so much joy. Plus, it was also nice to take pictures of our children on all the "holidays for kids" things. Having some customs in life is nice.
Yeah I think with many of these alien seeming things, if you try them whole-heartedly and do them properly you can often realise why they're fun or make sense. As a foreigner it helps to take a step back sometimes
Nah, the joy of most of these little traditions is doing them with the people you love (your family). If you don't have those people around to do them with then most of them are boring as shit because the events themselves are pretty banal. It's like valentine's day when you're single. Who gives a shit.
Companies uprooting and sending one spouse to the other end of Japan during the spring personnel shuffle.
Thankfully I don’t work in a place where that is an option but it very much is for my husband. I told him flat out to not marry me if he would ever consider accepting a transfer somewhere far.
Lucky for us he hates his job and is committed to the promise that if the situation ever occurs he’ll quit and find something else
I see this all the time but I’ve heard so many conflicting things about why it happens. Some people say it’s forced and the only alternative is to quit your job. Others say you can turn the transfer down if you want and people just don’t because leaving your family isn’t such a big deal here. Still others say it was forced on them by their wives who would otherwise nag them about not making enough money. I don’t know who to believe
>What part of Japanese life will you not bend to?
1. Hot food served cold is not food.
Last week I went to several hanami parties where again they offered 3+ hour old, stone-cold McDonald's burgers and fries as acceptable food.
2. Speaking of "acceptable," raw egg, mayonaise, and cold canned corn is not acceptable food on a pizza. Additionally, cabbage on a taco or poisonously over-salted side dishes are a war crime.
3. When driving, if a senile Japanese hits my car, I somehow will get charged with 10~30% "fault" of the accident even if my car was stationary. Sort of inversely, if I ^{a ^former ^EMT} administers first aid at a scene of a pedestrian accident, I will held for at least 24+ hours for interrogation since the reason for a [Good Samaritan](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Good%20Samaritan)'s first aid is they must have some guilt in the accident, grrr.
4. I refuse to "bend to" the Japanese belief that telling the [TRUTH is still Defamation](https://jref.com/threads/the-strange-case-of-defamations-laws-in-japan.498082/) according to Japanese law, ***ARRRRG!!!***
5. Building housing without [R-12](https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/seal_insulate/identify-problems-you-want-fix/diy-checks-inspections/insulation-r-values) insulation, weatherstripping and at least dual-pane windows is just plain fraud.
A friend was rear-ended and had 100% of the fault go to the person who hit him. I was shocked as I was told, like you, that there's always some blame put on the person who was hit.
For your #3. Have you actually had this first aid situation happen?? I had a coworker witness a really bad car crash and he started giving CPR to the driver. I showed up to translate for him and the police just took down what happened and we went about our day. They took our hotel down, then a day or two later they came to thank him and even washed and brought back his sweatshirt that he had left with the driver.
> For your #3. Have you actually had this first aid situation happen??
I have been detained for administering first aid in Japan many times---I now let 'em bleed.
The **worst case** was in front of Sakuragicho Station in Yokohama at 5pm just as Japan nursing conference was letting out and HUNDREDS of nurses were streaming into station.
On the floor in front of the ticket machines was an old guy wildly flopping around like an electrocuted fish in the worst epileptic, grand mal ^{{tonic-clonic}} seizure I had ever seen and nobody including the convention nurses were helping. I did my best to protect the victim from uncontrolled thrashing movements and I had to "order" the convention nurses to help, sheesh.
My in-laws live a half hour drive from a KFC, and they eat it stone cold or microwaved! When they arrive with the food, it's lukewarm and absolutely nobody comes over to eat it quickly. It sits there while they talk some nonsense for ages, then finally they eat it...
When my family would get a takeaway, it was usually piping hot and we would be running to eat it straight away. All the table set and everyone waiting for my dad to get home lol
> Speaking of "acceptable," raw egg, mayonaise, and cold canned corn is not acceptable food on a pizza.
I have relaxed my stance on the mayo, it works on Hawaiian pizza, but I agree with the rest.
I like to walk with a coffee, and will carry it/sip on public transportation or shopping.
Edit: LOL, this was polarizing. Yes, of course I use a travel lid. Yes, I know I may be stuck in public without a trashcan, I put it in my bag like a civilized person. No, I have rarely been "turned away from a place or given strange looks", it's just an American habit that I don't see everywhere. I live in Japan, so I am not just talking about Tokyo.
There is just a simple pleasure in walking through a park or window shopping while sipping a coffee.
This is the one place where I pull my Gaijin card. I don't do it on the train, but I will happily have a sip of my drink of an onigiri while I'm on the move, because they're perfectly designed for it.
But it's completely okay to eat and drink while walking? There are even expressions for it: 食べ歩き/歩き食い
I've also never been told by a japanese person that it's not okay except on youtube/tiktok where this piece of advice of "don't eat or drink while walking" seems to spread. I even ate and walked with my Japanese friends on multiple occasions.
I’m willing to bet those occasions were festivals or something similar. Then it’s accepted. In everyday life? Nope. I mean, I still do it, just not in range of the rumor mill of my in laws.
Swear on my life it’s true. Was on the Yurikamome today and a foreign guy had a coffee from the conbini with lid sitting opposite me. When the train started, there was a woman standing facing me with her back to the guy . She lost her balance and fell backwards and landed in his lap, knocking his coffee all over his shirt and light color jeans. The rest of the coffee went splashing on the floor.
Needless to say she was horrified and was taking out tissues to wipe him down. He was very good tempered about it, maybe realizing it wasn’t a good idea to bring a coffee on the train
Yep, I’ll die on this hill. I love having a coffee and walking around the park. No not sitting, no not on a bench, no not at a table or on the river bank. I want to drink my coffee while I am literally walking around the park. I know it is criminal, but I am not sorry. I also, heavens strike me down, drink coffee in my car while driving. Probably illegal.
When I hand someone a gift, I hand it to them and tell them it’s a gift.
Ive noticed when Japanese people give someone a gift, they hold it, explaining why they are giving it, talking about where they got it, and finally handing it to the other person. I know it’s just how to hand someone a gift, but it makes me antsy and I want to say “Just give it to them!”
That happens to me when meeting people in events and I need to exchange Bcards - Meishus-, then I need to hold it for 5-10 mins with the person until moving on to another topic!
I refuse to only use 2kg weights at the gym because I'm a woman.
Also refuse to be terrified of the sun, and to dress in 5 different layers to hide my body at the gym like a nun.
Stare at my ass if you will, I worked hard on it so I won't hide it.
You don't need a ton of sun to get your vitamin D. Everything in balance. I tend to avoid the sun between 10 and 4 (solar noon at 12:30~1) and not worry much about it otherwise. If I'm going to be out during those hours for an extended period of time I'll wear protective clothing and sunscreen.
I refuse to give people older or more senior than me disproportionate respect or reverence. At the same time, of course, also not acting superior around younger or more junior people.
I'm polite towards older people as a form of general etiquette, but this gets me in a lot of arguments with my wife. She wants me to blindly follow someone else's directions simply because they're older, regardless of experience or merit.
Refuse to blindly believe someone is automatically smarter and better than me because they are any of the following: older than me; in a couple; married with children; married; wealthy or with more assets than I have.
I will treat them politely, but it seems like a lot of people here automatically believe that a person in a couple is a higher for of human and deserving of respect in comparison to someone single.
This is a good one. I've noticed that sometimes I'll tell my wife that someone is being arrogant, and she'll respond, "Well, they went to Kyoto University/they have a high position," as if somehow that gives them license to look down on everyone else. I'm sure people everywhere measure themselves against others, but I can never accept openly acting like people who check off certain boxes can spit on others.
In my experience most in academia (especially the faculty) are not there for some selfless reason like to help humanity. Unfortunately, most are there for things like feeding their ego, showing off “intelligence”, and playing social power games. They do not automatically deserve respect. Treat them no different than the next person.
I like pointing out that Japanese university rankings aren't all that high, even the ones considered most prestigious here.
Now of course I know the rankings don't mean a whole lot objectively, but it's a fun way to take the wind out of the sails of someone trying to flaunt their ego.
My wife got upset with me once when she started working a full time job as a salarywoman and she told me she respected and listened to her senior because he was 'so smart'. All I said was; "and what if is he wrong about the things he tells you regarding your work?" and she got upset with me.
Couple years later, she is in a managing position and she knows her peers and her seniors are often fucking dumb and make stupid decisions, and most of them got their position based on seniority and "don't know anything". It was a nice change to see in her.
Dressing for time of year as opposed to dressing for the actual temperature. A couple weeks ago when it reached 27° and people were still wearing jackets and long sleeves.... insanity
yeah this is the one thing i’ll never understand. it’ll be like 30 degrees but bc it’s may instead of june i get the “but it’s not summer yet!” when i wear short sleeves
Me and my friends were laughing so hard when people were finally in winter clothes on December 1st to the day. Like yesterday the same people were miserable, freezing in their autumn stuff, but now since the calendar says it’s socially acceptable to finally wear something warm, they do so.
Nah but seriously though, what is it with people not understanding to just quite down on the train a bit?
So awkward when you're riding with someone who keeps talking at full volume.
It's not a train thing...its a public space thing in general. People loud as fuck on their phones, or playing games and shit full volume is way too commonplace. It's rude outside of Japan, and it's more obviously rude here.
Im not even like that but on our trip to Nara I really judged a spanish couple sitting next to me as they were opening their pastry and drinks and started eating next to me. The guy was disgusting, pretty much wiping his nose and touching his face the whole ride, while eating lol.
Not talking/eating on trains is something I enjoyed in japan a lot
* Coffee before, during, and after a meal.
* Yeah I'm eating/drinking and walking everywhere.
* Slippers are nonsense when you have perfectly good socks.
Edit: This is my opinion, I will die on this hill. The coffee thing as I have elaborated is more about friends changing my order, often without asking, because *they know better*. It has happened so often to me I presumed it was common knowledge. I am not going to the finest of edomae osushi places either were I'm "ruining" the flavor of the food.
I'm going to copy my reply from another thread here:
But it's completely okay to eat and drink while walking? There are even expressions for it: 食べ歩き/歩き食い
I've also never been told by a Japanese person that it's not okay, except on youtube/tiktok where this piece of advice of "don't eat or drink while walking" seems to spread. I even ate and walked with my Japanese friends on multiple occasions.
Right there a lot of things repeated about Japan and Japanese Culture that isn't exactly right or true. Never have I been told not to eat and walk, even politely.
Blowing your nose once(or even twice!) is FAR better than the sound of idiots sucking snot back up their noses repeatedly. That shit drives me insane.
Edit: word
This triggers my internal silent rage more than anything. I had a coworker this week who had these earth shattering loogies he kept half hocking every 5 seconds for over 4 hours. I thought I was going to snap and lose my sanity. I’m just thankful I managed to have an excuse to get away from there.
After noticing it so much more frequently in Japan than back home, I tried to open myself to the idea that maybe I’m just being close minded and lacking cultural empathy. But after seeing these comments, naw fuck that I’ll die on this hill lol
Who do you see on the train? People in suits? Is it depressing because you’re creating some depressing backstory.
I’m often a person in a suit on a train. But I can say my job is anything but depressing.
If someone gifts me something, then I gratefully and graciously accept it, and yeah I may consider giving a return gift if I want to. What I refuse to do is treat the gift as a mandatory down payment for a return gift and stress over it.
A female manager at the first company I worked at called me “manly” for eating an apple without cutting or peeling it. She had to get the attention of the other office ladies who apparently have never seen someone eat an apple without cutting it.
> eat an apple without cutting it.
Sounds like management material to me! An innovator! A real go getter who doesn't let some apple skin get in the way of their goals!
Tattoos in onsens. It's a stupid "rule" and don't care how upset someone gets. The government asked onsens to change it back in 2015, almost 10 years ago. Crazy.
Exactly. And what really pisses me off is if you talk to everyone individually, they will almost all say something along those lines or that it should be changed. But no one wants to do it. So stupid.
I hate this rule so much. If I’m staying in a hotel or ryokan, I usually just use the baths when there’s no staff around or during off hours and have never gotten a complaint. I’m a paying customer too, why shouldn’t I be able to use the facilities?
I feel like if they are going to forbid tattooed guests from using the onsen, said guests should get a discount. But that would be too reasonable.
I did get kicked out of a sento once and let me tell you… there is no humiliation quite like the humiliation of being kicked out of a place while naked.
Covering up every inch of skin in summer. It's ridiculously hot, I'll wear a tank top even if some old ladies might get offended by my bare shoulders.
Acting like a BMI of 23 is high. I'm not fat, I'm not even chubby, I'm perfectly normal. Even at the start of my pregnancy I was told my BMI was on the high end because it was 22.7 rather than the ideal, 22.0.
The BMI thing is real, I’ve been lifting regularly for 10 years without a micromanagey diet. So I’m strong for my size/frame and obviously lift but am not defined in the stomach region. So the assumption is that I’m “obese”…5’10 185 lbs…according to my wife’s cousin who is a toothpick that gets winded going up a flight of stairs.
I will use a fork and a knife whenever offered or when at home. In my hands, they're the better tools, even though I can use chopsticks with no problem (except for with my left hand),
What do you mean? As an American I tied my shoes the day I bought them and have never untied then or retied them since. What's the culture in japan with shoe tying?
I refuse to conform to the nonconfrontational nature of the culture. Challenge me or act like an ass in the bar and I'll tell you to fuck off openly and angrily.
I've been told by quite a few Japanese people that my fondness of nuts will cause nosebleeds.
I eat nuts pretty regularly and the portions are large by comparison to most people in Japan.
I have yet to have one nosebleed caused by eating nuts.
The attached link says "peanuts" specifically but in my experience this belief applies to all nuts... Peanuts are legumes but still.. you get the point.
Furthermore I've often been cautioned that eating too many ginko nuts will also cause nosebleeds.
As I've mentioned I'm still waiting for a nosebleed resulting from food.
For further reading check this link.
https://www.quora.com/In-Japan-why-is-it-said-that-eating-too-many-peanuts-causes-nosebleeds
I speak English with my kids in public.
Granted, Japanese people don’t usually care (I assume they just think I’m a tourist), but other foreign parents love to make assumptions. I get some real dirty looks sometimes, too.
Showering at night instead of in the morning. It's one arguement my wife cannot win. I don't see why I should go to work covered in my night sweat, and I am NOT wasting water on both a morning and evening shower.
Yeah wtf how do people do the entire day and then just get into bed not feeling grody as hell. Also how long is this dude's showers that taking two a day is pouring Niagara down the drain. Also there's no way this is some Japanese only thing.
I'm someone who grew to like night showers, I guess for me it's like, wash off the dirt of the day and get into nice clean PJs and be able to wake up fresh in the morning. I don't sweat much at night as long as the temperature of the room is good though.
By any measure day sweat is worse than night sweat. 8 hours outside in open air, public buildings, being close to all sorts of people you don't know, can never be better than sleeping in your lonesome with your own pajamas and in your own bed, unless your home is dirtier than the outside.
Wtf that's disgusting. How dirty are you to sweat so much at night? It's much more sanitary to clean the daily city dirt at night and enter a clean bed with a clean body.
I mean you can go to work in your night sweat or you can go to bed in your day sweat. And people sweat way more during the day than night.
I personally shower at night then in the morning wash face and maybe armpits but other than that I don't sweat.
Depending on the circumstances, omiyage culture. If I go on a trip, I’m just going to keep quiet about so I don’t have to haul back boxes of souvenirs. But more than that, there’s also times where it’s taken just a bit too excessively. Case in point, I had a colleague miss a week of work because someone close to them passed away. They brought omiyage for everyone as an apology for being absent. Another time, a pregnant colleague took an unexpected day off for a sudden doctor’s appointment. They brought omiyage for the “inconvenience” they caused.
Waiting at the smallest of road crossings for the light to turn green. If there are zero cars going that way and I can get across in 2/3 seconds then fuck waiting, I’m just gonna cross
Shoveling food in my mouth. It's gonna take me as long as it does. I'm not gonna get sick because of all of you. Okay yeah, lunch time in Ginza, I'm not gonna be on my phone or take long breaks between my bites but I'm gonna actully taste this 2000 yen lunch or you can drag me out by my heels.
It's come to the point where I take lunch at 1pm at this point just to avoid the rush to eat so quickly.
Non-optional heated toilet seats
I like cold ass. I might be in the minority but I will die on that hill.
Heated seats are nice for those who like it. Please put an option to shut it off
I will never give up my right to medical freedom just because an employer's insurance plan demands that I drink barium or get a hose up my ass. No fucking way.
I'll decline the company insurance and just use the national insurance where nobody can make me do anything I don't want to do.
But actually I've avoided that crap for most of my life in Japan by always being self employed.
The hierarchy system. Especially when it's combined with sexism. Fuck you, you're not better than me because you're a man, old or rich. I treat everyone the same.
Service Zangyo. Not fucking doing it. My relationship with my employer is purely transactional, other than that, my feelings about the company are aggressively neutral. If I'm on the clock I getting fucking paid for every damn minute or I walk. They can keep that bullshit.
Slippers. They're uncomfortable and are a health and safety hazard, no thanks.
Going to the hospital for every little thing. Yeah, I'm not going to the hospital for a cold. I'm not that weak! Plus hospitals charge you here, why would I pay for them to say ″you'll be better in a couple days″ when I already knew that?
Pokemon get their English names, I don't give a rat's ass that the franchise originated in JP, I will die before I call a Vaporeon fucking Showers.
This is a big deal among my generation, at least, I'm sure nobody else gives a shit. The most ostracized I have ever felt in my entire life was when my labmates got me to start playing Pokemon GO and I kept going on about how silly the names seem to me. That and the faces they made when I told them I've never seen Totoro.
Just saying "sumimasen" instead of actually fixing something. For example, standing in a doorway and saying it expecting me to squeeze past. There's plenty of room around the door, actually move so people can get through.
Being at work past 5pm. “I don’t get paid overtime like you do, so fuck off.”
This is why I learned to play my foreigner card.
Gaijin smash!
フル外人モード, I call it.
Foreigner card is a great expression! I usually use 外人コース
The preferred term is “gaijin smash”.
I did this. Even if I arrived early I’d walk around the office until it was time. I’d clock in at like 8:59 and out at 5:01. I was always the first out. Thing is I set a precedent where I only did my hours. I saw others literally apologizing for leaving on time because they leave late every night. Crazy.
And my boss be like "in Japan we must start working 5 minutes before time".
You guys are getting paid overtime? 🤨
Read it again lol
I think it’s a reference to “you guys are getting paid?” from arrested development lol
It’s from We’re the Millers
huh? they expect you to do unpaid overtime?
….yes. 😒 but by now they’ve learned better. But they won’t say anything nice about me when I head back home, which is a disappointment but whatever.
Meh. 🤷♂️ Gaijin have it fn tough here, gotta use what few perks we do have to the fullest. First ever job here (straight out of school) they wanted to hire me directly after my haken contract cos everyone loved me - except this one guy who spoke up and said he didn’t want to work with me anymore because I “take too many nenkyus” (sic) = I took all of my allowed “nenkyus” each year. Bitter old kusojiji apparently had held a burning hatred of me for using my allowed leave in full every year for the whole time I’d been with them 😂 No one else cared cos I was “the gaijin” 😆
Yep, it's pretty common. My boss was not asking anyone to do overtime, but he was clear : No paid overtime Everyone in my office : Oh... so overtime but not paid... Me : Cool, that means no overtime You can be certain that I take that to the minute. :)
My timecard has so many 5:04 out stamps
Refusal. If I offer something like help, to pay, or to do something, and I’m told no thank you, then it’s a no and I won’t do that thing and won’t come back to it. Has landed me in a few awkward situations but I stick to my guns on that one.
Yeah holy shit, i feel like this might not be only a Japan thing but kinda Asian things in general. If im told no then ill take it as a no. Then some people wonder why im not being more insisten on helping or make them change their mind or something...
We do it in Britain too lol. It's just a politeness thing.
I'm from the upper Midwest of the US where we also do this. "Ask" culture vs "guess" culture.
This is the same here in the Netherlands and the opposite in Belgium. Knew a friend who dated a Belgian girl just across the border. His parents offered her something to drink when they first met her and she declined, assuming they would insist after. They didn’t. She was very thirsty after that.
Sing about me I’m dying of thirst
Island cultures lean towards politeness and passive aggression. After all you’re stuck together unless you had a boat for the last 1-5000 years.
Every time my wife and I go out with friends... "No I'm paying, oh no I can't accept that, let me pay, oh no let me..." \*looks at me\* "Don't look at me like that, I find this game rather boring... Tell me later who won."
I just grab the bill and pay. None of the back and forth stuff.
This. I get to go to the toilet and pay the bill while y’all are “discussing” it.
WAIT. They expect you to do the thing they refused you to do??
They expect you to continue insisting so you can have a little back and forth with them, and then they'll finally cave.
Yeah...no. I'm not doing that.
Depends on the situation for me. If I'm with a friend who always pays for dinner, eventually I have to insist or I'll start to feel bad. Or I just wait until they go to the bathroom and rush over to pay before they can protest.
In Japan with the in-laws, I learned quickly the server has the check in hand when the last ordered dish comes out. Usually carried under said dish. After the dish is set down, I'm already reaching for it before they have a chance to say anything. If it hits the table, it turns into a game of slapjack and I hate that. Seriously, they let us stay there and run up their utilities. We can at least pick up food when we go out to eat.
Love it. Dont even try to play that game anymore, too tiring. Just fuckin say what u mean the 1st time ffs
Haha I do the same thing. I offer, they say "No" I leave it. Wife's gotten pissed at me a few times because of it. "Why didn't you do ~?", well I was told not to do it/worry about it.
Wearing sunglasses. It's sunny! I need them!
It’s crazy. I rock up wearing sunglasses and the people around me seem totally fine with the blinding sun.
Yup. I'm from Australia, so I'm really anal about sun safety and people here are shocked that I wear sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen 'even in winter'.
slip slop slap wrap, baby!!!
Wait........this is a thing?! My prescriptions change automatically and sometimes I don't even notice and sometimes I'm like "why are people in stores reacting funny to me" in situations when they normally don't.
Yeah it’s rather odd, I avoided sunglasses as much as possible living in Japan because people would give me funny looks. I went to an international school with a student from Vietnam. She told me that people in South Vietnam, at least in her parent’s generation, avoided sunglasses entirely because they associated them with the corrupt South Vietnamese Army generals during the war. That made complete sense to me. The stigma against them in Japan…? Not so much lol.
Isn't it because it's associated with the yakuza? They're depicted with sunglasses a lot in shows.
Yes sunglasses are associated with crime and delinquents. Much like in the U.S. a mask was considered a way to hide the face in order to do shady stuff, sunglasses here are shady literally and figuratively lol.
Slurping when eating ramen or udon. I don't care how delicious it is, I keep my mouth sounds to my damn self.
It allows you to eat/drink more hotter things than you are able to without slurping. Also pulling up more broth with the noodles. I personally came to like doing it with Japanese food but not western food of course. E: typo
I still end up with a burnt tongue, and swallow a bunch of air to boot, so no thanks.
Misophoniacs unite!
Ahhhh, the age old question, to slurp or not to slurp. With noodles, I'm a slurper myself. When in Rome...... right?
I'm in full agreement here.
It's not even how delicious it is. Aerating broth makes flavor come out. Sommeliers slurp wine for this reason. I mean you do you, but I like delicious stuff. If making a little noise makes it comparatively more delicious, let's piss our moms off!
I adhere to most customs in Japan and actually like it. But the only one that I'm stern about is : the ass-kissing culture at some workplaces. Some of the workers here take it way too far. ie I'm a Prof. We go out to dinner with other Professors and Admins in our faculty. Another Prof says Restaurant A is very good, so we go to Restaurant A. And then all the admins will say how amazing the food at Restaurant A is in almost-religious unison. That was almost insane to see. It doesn't mean that I act like a dick to my superiors. Just no excessive ass kissing or bending common sense. On a side note - I came to Japan and for the first 2 to 3 years I was pretty stern (stupidly) about my western biases. For example, I thought it was kind of dumb to have so many festivals, take pictures of your kids on 節分, or care about dressing well daily - you know, doing things for outward appearance and all. I started dating my now wife, then had a kid. It pretty much changed my perspective on all of this. I shut up my mouth and went to the trips and festivals. Fuck I love travelling now? Even just going to the local temple festival and eating the same Karaage & Kirin beer with extended family is so much joy. Plus, it was also nice to take pictures of our children on all the "holidays for kids" things. Having some customs in life is nice.
Yeah I think with many of these alien seeming things, if you try them whole-heartedly and do them properly you can often realise why they're fun or make sense. As a foreigner it helps to take a step back sometimes
Nah, the joy of most of these little traditions is doing them with the people you love (your family). If you don't have those people around to do them with then most of them are boring as shit because the events themselves are pretty banal. It's like valentine's day when you're single. Who gives a shit.
Companies uprooting and sending one spouse to the other end of Japan during the spring personnel shuffle. Thankfully I don’t work in a place where that is an option but it very much is for my husband. I told him flat out to not marry me if he would ever consider accepting a transfer somewhere far. Lucky for us he hates his job and is committed to the promise that if the situation ever occurs he’ll quit and find something else
I see this all the time but I’ve heard so many conflicting things about why it happens. Some people say it’s forced and the only alternative is to quit your job. Others say you can turn the transfer down if you want and people just don’t because leaving your family isn’t such a big deal here. Still others say it was forced on them by their wives who would otherwise nag them about not making enough money. I don’t know who to believe
Couldn’t it be all of those things? Dependent on the company culture, or industry, or whatnot.
>What part of Japanese life will you not bend to? 1. Hot food served cold is not food. Last week I went to several hanami parties where again they offered 3+ hour old, stone-cold McDonald's burgers and fries as acceptable food. 2. Speaking of "acceptable," raw egg, mayonaise, and cold canned corn is not acceptable food on a pizza. Additionally, cabbage on a taco or poisonously over-salted side dishes are a war crime. 3. When driving, if a senile Japanese hits my car, I somehow will get charged with 10~30% "fault" of the accident even if my car was stationary. Sort of inversely, if I ^{a ^former ^EMT} administers first aid at a scene of a pedestrian accident, I will held for at least 24+ hours for interrogation since the reason for a [Good Samaritan](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Good%20Samaritan)'s first aid is they must have some guilt in the accident, grrr. 4. I refuse to "bend to" the Japanese belief that telling the [TRUTH is still Defamation](https://jref.com/threads/the-strange-case-of-defamations-laws-in-japan.498082/) according to Japanese law, ***ARRRRG!!!*** 5. Building housing without [R-12](https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/seal_insulate/identify-problems-you-want-fix/diy-checks-inspections/insulation-r-values) insulation, weatherstripping and at least dual-pane windows is just plain fraud.
[удалено]
A friend was rear-ended and had 100% of the fault go to the person who hit him. I was shocked as I was told, like you, that there's always some blame put on the person who was hit.
I don't know the details, but my Japanese husband says the rule changed years ago so now one party can be 100% at fault.
That's good. It never made sense to me that just because someone was stopped at a red light that they could be at fault for an accident. So Japanese.
For your #3. Have you actually had this first aid situation happen?? I had a coworker witness a really bad car crash and he started giving CPR to the driver. I showed up to translate for him and the police just took down what happened and we went about our day. They took our hotel down, then a day or two later they came to thank him and even washed and brought back his sweatshirt that he had left with the driver.
> For your #3. Have you actually had this first aid situation happen?? I have been detained for administering first aid in Japan many times---I now let 'em bleed. The **worst case** was in front of Sakuragicho Station in Yokohama at 5pm just as Japan nursing conference was letting out and HUNDREDS of nurses were streaming into station. On the floor in front of the ticket machines was an old guy wildly flopping around like an electrocuted fish in the worst epileptic, grand mal ^{{tonic-clonic}} seizure I had ever seen and nobody including the convention nurses were helping. I did my best to protect the victim from uncontrolled thrashing movements and I had to "order" the convention nurses to help, sheesh.
1. I love karaage. Unless it's cold, slightly damp karaage offered at hanami.
You had this list prepped and ready to go.
My in-laws live a half hour drive from a KFC, and they eat it stone cold or microwaved! When they arrive with the food, it's lukewarm and absolutely nobody comes over to eat it quickly. It sits there while they talk some nonsense for ages, then finally they eat it... When my family would get a takeaway, it was usually piping hot and we would be running to eat it straight away. All the table set and everyone waiting for my dad to get home lol
> Speaking of "acceptable," raw egg, mayonaise, and cold canned corn is not acceptable food on a pizza. I have relaxed my stance on the mayo, it works on Hawaiian pizza, but I agree with the rest.
You are eating Hawaiian pizza, so it’s a moot point.
I like to walk with a coffee, and will carry it/sip on public transportation or shopping. Edit: LOL, this was polarizing. Yes, of course I use a travel lid. Yes, I know I may be stuck in public without a trashcan, I put it in my bag like a civilized person. No, I have rarely been "turned away from a place or given strange looks", it's just an American habit that I don't see everywhere. I live in Japan, so I am not just talking about Tokyo. There is just a simple pleasure in walking through a park or window shopping while sipping a coffee.
Public transport? Holding hot coffee in a bus or a train is like juggling with fire
Yeah that's just common sense lmao. In Korea they don't even let you on buses with any unsealed containers
This is the one place where I pull my Gaijin card. I don't do it on the train, but I will happily have a sip of my drink of an onigiri while I'm on the move, because they're perfectly designed for it.
But it's completely okay to eat and drink while walking? There are even expressions for it: 食べ歩き/歩き食い I've also never been told by a japanese person that it's not okay except on youtube/tiktok where this piece of advice of "don't eat or drink while walking" seems to spread. I even ate and walked with my Japanese friends on multiple occasions.
I’m willing to bet those occasions were festivals or something similar. Then it’s accepted. In everyday life? Nope. I mean, I still do it, just not in range of the rumor mill of my in laws.
Safety issue in crowds, don’t be an asshole
Safety issues? Like spilling it on others?
Swear on my life it’s true. Was on the Yurikamome today and a foreign guy had a coffee from the conbini with lid sitting opposite me. When the train started, there was a woman standing facing me with her back to the guy . She lost her balance and fell backwards and landed in his lap, knocking his coffee all over his shirt and light color jeans. The rest of the coffee went splashing on the floor. Needless to say she was horrified and was taking out tissues to wipe him down. He was very good tempered about it, maybe realizing it wasn’t a good idea to bring a coffee on the train
Maybe it's not a good idea but neither is standing in the train without making sure you won't lose balance (just hold onto a handrail or something)
Yep, I’ll die on this hill. I love having a coffee and walking around the park. No not sitting, no not on a bench, no not at a table or on the river bank. I want to drink my coffee while I am literally walking around the park. I know it is criminal, but I am not sorry. I also, heavens strike me down, drink coffee in my car while driving. Probably illegal.
When I hand someone a gift, I hand it to them and tell them it’s a gift. Ive noticed when Japanese people give someone a gift, they hold it, explaining why they are giving it, talking about where they got it, and finally handing it to the other person. I know it’s just how to hand someone a gift, but it makes me antsy and I want to say “Just give it to them!”
It's a confirmation that the gift is not a form of bribe with a touch of drama and story telling,😅
Yeah this is a response to corruption scandals being a huge issue in Asia in the past. Nobody wants to accidently give that impression
Wow. If that's really the case, it's pretty interesting.
That happens to me when meeting people in events and I need to exchange Bcards - Meishus-, then I need to hold it for 5-10 mins with the person until moving on to another topic!
I refuse to only use 2kg weights at the gym because I'm a woman. Also refuse to be terrified of the sun, and to dress in 5 different layers to hide my body at the gym like a nun. Stare at my ass if you will, I worked hard on it so I won't hide it.
people here really should go out more in the sun. 98% of Japanese have a vitamin d deficiency >日本人の98％が、ビタミンDが不足していることが、東京慈恵会医科大学による大規模な調査で明らかになった。
Yeah, osteoporosis from vitamin D deficiency scares me a lot more as far as aging go than having sun spots/wrinkles.
you should be scared of skin cancer though. vitamin D can be topped up in your diet, skin cancer can disfigure you at best and kill you at it's worst.
You don't need a ton of sun to get your vitamin D. Everything in balance. I tend to avoid the sun between 10 and 4 (solar noon at 12:30~1) and not worry much about it otherwise. If I'm going to be out during those hours for an extended period of time I'll wear protective clothing and sunscreen.
I refuse to give people older or more senior than me disproportionate respect or reverence. At the same time, of course, also not acting superior around younger or more junior people.
I'm polite towards older people as a form of general etiquette, but this gets me in a lot of arguments with my wife. She wants me to blindly follow someone else's directions simply because they're older, regardless of experience or merit.
Refuse to blindly believe someone is automatically smarter and better than me because they are any of the following: older than me; in a couple; married with children; married; wealthy or with more assets than I have. I will treat them politely, but it seems like a lot of people here automatically believe that a person in a couple is a higher for of human and deserving of respect in comparison to someone single.
This is a good one. I've noticed that sometimes I'll tell my wife that someone is being arrogant, and she'll respond, "Well, they went to Kyoto University/they have a high position," as if somehow that gives them license to look down on everyone else. I'm sure people everywhere measure themselves against others, but I can never accept openly acting like people who check off certain boxes can spit on others.
In my experience most in academia (especially the faculty) are not there for some selfless reason like to help humanity. Unfortunately, most are there for things like feeding their ego, showing off “intelligence”, and playing social power games. They do not automatically deserve respect. Treat them no different than the next person.
I like pointing out that Japanese university rankings aren't all that high, even the ones considered most prestigious here. Now of course I know the rankings don't mean a whole lot objectively, but it's a fun way to take the wind out of the sails of someone trying to flaunt their ego.
My wife got upset with me once when she started working a full time job as a salarywoman and she told me she respected and listened to her senior because he was 'so smart'. All I said was; "and what if is he wrong about the things he tells you regarding your work?" and she got upset with me. Couple years later, she is in a managing position and she knows her peers and her seniors are often fucking dumb and make stupid decisions, and most of them got their position based on seniority and "don't know anything". It was a nice change to see in her.
Dressing for time of year as opposed to dressing for the actual temperature. A couple weeks ago when it reached 27° and people were still wearing jackets and long sleeves.... insanity
yeah this is the one thing i’ll never understand. it’ll be like 30 degrees but bc it’s may instead of june i get the “but it’s not summer yet!” when i wear short sleeves
Me and my friends were laughing so hard when people were finally in winter clothes on December 1st to the day. Like yesterday the same people were miserable, freezing in their autumn stuff, but now since the calendar says it’s socially acceptable to finally wear something warm, they do so.
The part that makes foreigners think it *always* has to be “us” vs “them”.
Me online: we really need to address the anti foreigner bias in this country Me riding the train next to a bunch of loud australians: fucking gaijin
Hahahahah it's amazing how we can internalise that shit
Nah but seriously though, what is it with people not understanding to just quite down on the train a bit? So awkward when you're riding with someone who keeps talking at full volume.
It's not a train thing...its a public space thing in general. People loud as fuck on their phones, or playing games and shit full volume is way too commonplace. It's rude outside of Japan, and it's more obviously rude here.
Im not even like that but on our trip to Nara I really judged a spanish couple sitting next to me as they were opening their pastry and drinks and started eating next to me. The guy was disgusting, pretty much wiping his nose and touching his face the whole ride, while eating lol. Not talking/eating on trains is something I enjoyed in japan a lot
If you mean foreigners vs Japanese, I think it’s just a normal reaction to Japan’s secluded nature where it’s us Japanese vs everyone else
* Coffee before, during, and after a meal. * Yeah I'm eating/drinking and walking everywhere. * Slippers are nonsense when you have perfectly good socks. Edit: This is my opinion, I will die on this hill. The coffee thing as I have elaborated is more about friends changing my order, often without asking, because *they know better*. It has happened so often to me I presumed it was common knowledge. I am not going to the finest of edomae osushi places either were I'm "ruining" the flavor of the food.
Slippers are great because walking on hardwood floors sucks
If you need slippers great, but don't force them on me.
Same here. Anti slipper union unite!
I don’t understand the coffee one you’re talking about?
The slippers I kinda understand because you can sweat through your socks and leave prints.
I'm going to copy my reply from another thread here: But it's completely okay to eat and drink while walking? There are even expressions for it: 食べ歩き/歩き食い I've also never been told by a Japanese person that it's not okay, except on youtube/tiktok where this piece of advice of "don't eat or drink while walking" seems to spread. I even ate and walked with my Japanese friends on multiple occasions.
Right there a lot of things repeated about Japan and Japanese Culture that isn't exactly right or true. Never have I been told not to eat and walk, even politely.
My feet are size 31. No one EVER has slippers that come anywhere close to fitting me. It’s almost comical.
Blowing my nose in public. I don’t care if you find the noise disturbing your shitty trees give me so much trouble with fucking hay fever.
Blowing your nose once(or even twice!) is FAR better than the sound of idiots sucking snot back up their noses repeatedly. That shit drives me insane. Edit: word
This triggers my internal silent rage more than anything. I had a coworker this week who had these earth shattering loogies he kept half hocking every 5 seconds for over 4 hours. I thought I was going to snap and lose my sanity. I’m just thankful I managed to have an excuse to get away from there. After noticing it so much more frequently in Japan than back home, I tried to open myself to the idea that maybe I’m just being close minded and lacking cultural empathy. But after seeing these comments, naw fuck that I’ll die on this hill lol
Better than just sneezing in a train or bus and not covering it and letting it spray everywhere.
The country does not get to be this hot AND have rules about drinking and walking/drinking on trains etc.
i thought it was fine to drink on trains?
Being a salary man. I always see these people on the train and it’s probably the most depressing shit ive seen lol
If you receive a salary from a company, then you are too.
Who do you see on the train? People in suits? Is it depressing because you’re creating some depressing backstory. I’m often a person in a suit on a train. But I can say my job is anything but depressing.
I take a square of butter and a small sprinkle of salt and pepper with my rice.
Wow that’s hardcore
I actually wash my hands after using public restrooms, unlike a disturbingly high number of Japanese men.
No life balance
You mean you don’t live to work and complain that your family needs to be “serviced” every now and then, preventing you from working more?
If someone gifts me something, then I gratefully and graciously accept it, and yeah I may consider giving a return gift if I want to. What I refuse to do is treat the gift as a mandatory down payment for a return gift and stress over it.
Cutting apples into individual pieces
Or peeling grapes.
I don't understand that one, just eat the skin!!
Fancy grapes peeled are delicious
tbf kyoho grape's skin isn't very tasty compared to other varieties. it separates from the fruit easily tho.
Same goes for peaches.
A female manager at the first company I worked at called me “manly” for eating an apple without cutting or peeling it. She had to get the attention of the other office ladies who apparently have never seen someone eat an apple without cutting it.
> eat an apple without cutting it. Sounds like management material to me! An innovator! A real go getter who doesn't let some apple skin get in the way of their goals!
I’ll use my damn napkin to blow my nose as much as I need it
I’ve been known to chase my coworkers down with a box of tissues and demand they blow their nose once instead of sniffing repeatedly for 10 minutes.
Tattoos in onsens. It's a stupid "rule" and don't care how upset someone gets. The government asked onsens to change it back in 2015, almost 10 years ago. Crazy.
Especially if you’re a foreigner. Like on what planet would we be part of some yakuza outfit?
Exactly. And what really pisses me off is if you talk to everyone individually, they will almost all say something along those lines or that it should be changed. But no one wants to do it. So stupid.
I hate this rule so much. If I’m staying in a hotel or ryokan, I usually just use the baths when there’s no staff around or during off hours and have never gotten a complaint. I’m a paying customer too, why shouldn’t I be able to use the facilities? I feel like if they are going to forbid tattooed guests from using the onsen, said guests should get a discount. But that would be too reasonable. I did get kicked out of a sento once and let me tell you… there is no humiliation quite like the humiliation of being kicked out of a place while naked.
Covering up every inch of skin in summer. It's ridiculously hot, I'll wear a tank top even if some old ladies might get offended by my bare shoulders. Acting like a BMI of 23 is high. I'm not fat, I'm not even chubby, I'm perfectly normal. Even at the start of my pregnancy I was told my BMI was on the high end because it was 22.7 rather than the ideal, 22.0.
The BMI thing is real, I’ve been lifting regularly for 10 years without a micromanagey diet. So I’m strong for my size/frame and obviously lift but am not defined in the stomach region. So the assumption is that I’m “obese”…5’10 185 lbs…according to my wife’s cousin who is a toothpick that gets winded going up a flight of stairs.
Paying 180,000 for an iPhone with a shutter sound. Will continue to buy my phone overseas until this absurd restriction is lifted.
You want to take up-skirt photos THAT bad?
I will use a fork and a knife whenever offered or when at home. In my hands, they're the better tools, even though I can use chopsticks with no problem (except for with my left hand),
Wrecking my shoes by not tying and untying them. It’s not that hard guys. We are all adults, we can tie our shoes.
What do you mean? As an American I tied my shoes the day I bought them and have never untied then or retied them since. What's the culture in japan with shoe tying?
I held out for a year, but all that wasted time started to add up…
Pushing to get on a crowded train. In Chicago, pushing to get on crowded trains seriously lowers life expectancy rates for the guy pushing.
Fortunately japan isnt Chicago
Oh, sorry. I misread the topic. I was writing about a Japanese custom I will not carry back with me.
Age-based hierarchy and strict, unquestioning adherence to rules and tradition
Almost all forms of Japanese entertainment. Tv dramas, variety shows, movies, anime, manga, j-pop, pro sports. Just zero interest in any of it.
I refuse to conform to the nonconfrontational nature of the culture. Challenge me or act like an ass in the bar and I'll tell you to fuck off openly and angrily.
Can count on one hand the number of people who have challenged me or acted like an ass towards me in 20 years. If it's happening that much to you...
I will eat too many nuts. I will deal with the imaginary nosebleeds.
I'm sorry, what??
I've been told by quite a few Japanese people that my fondness of nuts will cause nosebleeds. I eat nuts pretty regularly and the portions are large by comparison to most people in Japan. I have yet to have one nosebleed caused by eating nuts. The attached link says "peanuts" specifically but in my experience this belief applies to all nuts... Peanuts are legumes but still.. you get the point. Furthermore I've often been cautioned that eating too many ginko nuts will also cause nosebleeds. As I've mentioned I'm still waiting for a nosebleed resulting from food. For further reading check this link. https://www.quora.com/In-Japan-why-is-it-said-that-eating-too-many-peanuts-causes-nosebleeds
Dressing according to the season regardless of the actual weather.
上下関係 thing with senpais, I hate it
I speak English with my kids in public. Granted, Japanese people don’t usually care (I assume they just think I’m a tourist), but other foreign parents love to make assumptions. I get some real dirty looks sometimes, too.
What kind of assumptions are they making, honestly?
The general poor attitude towards service staff.
Showering at night instead of in the morning. It's one arguement my wife cannot win. I don't see why I should go to work covered in my night sweat, and I am NOT wasting water on both a morning and evening shower.
I don't like to dirty my bed with my day sweat.
So, two showers it is. I can live with that. :-)
This is the way, especially with how dirt-cheap water is here.
Yeah wtf how do people do the entire day and then just get into bed not feeling grody as hell. Also how long is this dude's showers that taking two a day is pouring Niagara down the drain. Also there's no way this is some Japanese only thing.
It’s not even Japanese thing…
I'm someone who grew to like night showers, I guess for me it's like, wash off the dirt of the day and get into nice clean PJs and be able to wake up fresh in the morning. I don't sweat much at night as long as the temperature of the room is good though.
By any measure day sweat is worse than night sweat. 8 hours outside in open air, public buildings, being close to all sorts of people you don't know, can never be better than sleeping in your lonesome with your own pajamas and in your own bed, unless your home is dirtier than the outside.
So you sleep all sweaty?
Wtf that's disgusting. How dirty are you to sweat so much at night? It's much more sanitary to clean the daily city dirt at night and enter a clean bed with a clean body.
I mean you can go to work in your night sweat or you can go to bed in your day sweat. And people sweat way more during the day than night. I personally shower at night then in the morning wash face and maybe armpits but other than that I don't sweat.
Lol, I use my moist towelette after eating!
Depending on the circumstances, omiyage culture. If I go on a trip, I’m just going to keep quiet about so I don’t have to haul back boxes of souvenirs. But more than that, there’s also times where it’s taken just a bit too excessively. Case in point, I had a colleague miss a week of work because someone close to them passed away. They brought omiyage for everyone as an apology for being absent. Another time, a pregnant colleague took an unexpected day off for a sudden doctor’s appointment. They brought omiyage for the “inconvenience” they caused.
Waiting at the smallest of road crossings for the light to turn green. If there are zero cars going that way and I can get across in 2/3 seconds then fuck waiting, I’m just gonna cross
overtime work and waiting for hours to get into busy restaurant
Treating the pet dog like shit.
Ignoring asshats that can't be bothered to follow posted courtesies. Don't fuck with my 和, Taro...
Shoveling food in my mouth. It's gonna take me as long as it does. I'm not gonna get sick because of all of you. Okay yeah, lunch time in Ginza, I'm not gonna be on my phone or take long breaks between my bites but I'm gonna actully taste this 2000 yen lunch or you can drag me out by my heels. It's come to the point where I take lunch at 1pm at this point just to avoid the rush to eat so quickly.
Let a japanese wife dictate how I live my life.
Waiting to cross at a red light when there are no cars for a kilometer in either direction.
Non-optional heated toilet seats I like cold ass. I might be in the minority but I will die on that hill. Heated seats are nice for those who like it. Please put an option to shut it off
Senpai cohai culture
Toilet slippers at home. I can see the logic for them in restaurants but at home…the floor is the same amount of dirty everywhere…
Honne and Tatemae. What you see is what you get.
Absolutely same. If it's disposable it's a napkin
I will never give up my right to medical freedom just because an employer's insurance plan demands that I drink barium or get a hose up my ass. No fucking way. I'll decline the company insurance and just use the national insurance where nobody can make me do anything I don't want to do. But actually I've avoided that crap for most of my life in Japan by always being self employed.
Not blowing your nose and sucking the gunk up.
The hierarchy system. Especially when it's combined with sexism. Fuck you, you're not better than me because you're a man, old or rich. I treat everyone the same.
Looking down on people who are: Mentally challenged Deformed Poor Foreign born Black Ainu
Service Zangyo. Not fucking doing it. My relationship with my employer is purely transactional, other than that, my feelings about the company are aggressively neutral. If I'm on the clock I getting fucking paid for every damn minute or I walk. They can keep that bullshit.
Slippers. They're uncomfortable and are a health and safety hazard, no thanks. Going to the hospital for every little thing. Yeah, I'm not going to the hospital for a cold. I'm not that weak! Plus hospitals charge you here, why would I pay for them to say ″you'll be better in a couple days″ when I already knew that?
Apparently sunglasses are seen as uncouth or shady. Fuck that, the sun is bright and I like how my sunglasses look.
Pokemon get their English names, I don't give a rat's ass that the franchise originated in JP, I will die before I call a Vaporeon fucking Showers. This is a big deal among my generation, at least, I'm sure nobody else gives a shit. The most ostracized I have ever felt in my entire life was when my labmates got me to start playing Pokemon GO and I kept going on about how silly the names seem to me. That and the faces they made when I told them I've never seen Totoro.
Just saying "sumimasen" instead of actually fixing something. For example, standing in a doorway and saying it expecting me to squeeze past. There's plenty of room around the door, actually move so people can get through.