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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 14, 2016 10:22:42 GMT 9
Please help.
I have taken on the task of giving an international exchange lecture on what surprises foreigners about Japan. The only problem is I don't really remember what surprises me about Japan besides offensive stuff or abstract things that are hard to convey.
I am basically breaking my convo into two parts: 1) When I first arrive 2) Now that I am a CIR
Help me brainstorm surprising things about NIPPON!
Here is what I have for #2 right now:
People sleeping standing up in train
Small children taking train by themselves
Radar Guns allowed
Students serve food to each other in school
Work time over work productivity
Porn is right next to Manga in Convenience Stores
Amount of hankoing in gov office Amount of stuff packed into a japanese student's day
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Post by Caic on Mar 14, 2016 10:36:28 GMT 9
kids cleaning in school
old people crazy fit
Super touristy ones: vending machines, toilets (washlet and WASIK), trains on time, lining up for trains, masks, pachinko, weird foods, weird peoples
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Post by むちゃRABU❤ on Mar 14, 2016 10:46:19 GMT 9
I always forget this too.
The size of pachinkos (does japan have a gambling problem?) Nomihodai alcohol The number of drunk people on the streets and people who don't help them (but i wouldn't want to bother myself either honestly speaking) The fact that something as small as your IC card (for trains etc) can be returned to you as long as it is identifiable The silence in the trains Black suits How there is a job for a man to just stand in a corner and wave people away from a construction area The train conductors robot-like hand gestures - WHY??
etc
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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 14, 2016 10:48:01 GMT 9
Perfect! Good stuff.
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Post by snell_mouse on Mar 14, 2016 12:25:15 GMT 9
No trash cans on the streets? Dentist covering your eyes with a towel (not sure if this is universal), fax machines/general lack of tech know-how.
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Post by miscreative on Mar 14, 2016 13:17:22 GMT 9
no trash cans but it is clean hankos. why. vending machines the convenience in convenience stores so little pop. so much ジャパニーズ tea public transportation! people's ability to wake up on time for their stop on public transit how are there not more people dying from alcohol? (between 飲み放題 and the aforementioned lack of caring for drunk people) everything is so 狭い and cramped. roads, buildings, etc no tipping! the 丁寧ness of customer service -can be to a fault when they dont drop keigo to someone who only understands です・ます so. many. bags. (i do not need my bag of garbage bags put inside of another bag when that is all i bought) the strictness of 手続き and following arbitrary rules 子育てstuff
some of these are more general. some of these are since CIR-hood but in no particular order. take what you wish
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2016 14:01:29 GMT 9
significant others are not included in social invitations e.g. if your bf gets invited to a wedding, you def wont be going unless you also know the person getting married as well bugs literally everywhere in summer and fucking massive no insulation in houses public transport in general clean and on time bells on tables in restaurants to call waiters how little young people care about the future of their country/politics lack of enjoyable green spaces to spend time in esp during summer. everyone goes on about how 自然豊か this country is but my idea of a perfect summer day is going to the park with hulemdos, playing football/frisbee/whatever, having a few drinks on the grass etc. large grassy areas seem to be extremely rare in japan so far in my experience. japan is very lacking in accessible green areas imo because their idea of "green" seems to be rice fields and disgusting woods full of spiders and extremely densely packed bamboo trees. why are there so few parks? i also feel like there are very few trees/flowers around towns and cities but that may be because england is obsessed with them. i like that there are so many small apartments. do i particularly like living in such small places? not really but they do allow me the luxury of living by myself instead of having to share with someone. e.g. in london it would pretty much be unthinkable to live by yourself unless you were extremely rich because rent is so high.
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Post by songbanana on Mar 14, 2016 14:05:29 GMT 9
Not just dentists--hairdressers and masseuses and pretty much anytime I'm laying on my back my face is covered by a towel. It blocks the ceiling light and is usually warm and feels nice though. People on the job take it very seriously. In other countries you might see a security guard checking his phone when no one is around, or an info desk person might slouch a bit. Not so in Japan. Nobody makes eye contact with the presenter during a meeting. Even if the meeting is 2 people they will never look at each other. Adults never touch other adults, playfully or kindly or otherwise, but kids are giving each other piggy-back rides and hanging off each other and sticking their fingers in each other's SYZYGIUM JAMBOOOOOS. Also touching each other's heads--I might smack a hulemdo on the shoulder as a joke but I would never touch someone's head
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Post by むちゃRABU❤ on Mar 14, 2016 14:13:10 GMT 9
significant others are not included in social invitations e.g. if your bf gets invited to a wedding, you def wont be going unless you also know the person getting married as welllack of enjoyable green spaces to spend time in esp during summer. everyone goes on about how 自然豊か this country is but my idea of a perfect summer day is going to the park with hulemdos, playing football/frisbee/whatever, having a few drinks on the grass etc. large grassy areas seem to be extremely rare in japan so far in my experience. japanhonshuu is very lacking in accessible green areas imo because their idea of "green" seems to be rice fields and disgusting woods full of spiders and extremely densely packed bamboo trees. why are there so few parks? i also feel like there are very few trees/flowers around towns and cities but that may be because england is obsessed with them. i like that there are so many small apartments. do i particularly like living in such small places? not really but they do allow me the luxury of living by myself instead of having to share with someone. e.g. in london it would pretty much be unthinkable to live by yourself unless you were extremely rich because rent is so high. 1. WHUT. I assumed otherwise but I guess I'm wrong but wow. Aren't such social events the EXACT time to bring a significant other?? 2. there are two major parks within the city centre alone here. and several others spread out throughout the city. I have been to all and I love all of them some more even hoho. too bad they're covered in snow/inaccessible half of the year.
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Post by snell_mouse on Mar 14, 2016 14:13:46 GMT 9
lack of enjoyable green spaces to spend time in esp during summer. everyone goes on about how 自然豊か this country is but my idea of a perfect summer day is going to the park with hulemdos, playing football/frisbee/whatever, having a few drinks on the grass etc. large grassy areas seem to be extremely rare in japan so far in my experience. japan is very lacking in accessible green areas imo because their idea of "green" seems to be rice fields and disgusting woods full of spiders and extremely densely packed bamboo trees. why are there so few parks? i also feel like there are very few trees/flowers around towns and cities but that may be because england is obsessed with them. Could be because it's hard to secure open areas in big cities/large grassy areas are 確かに pretty hard/costly to maintain. Or because they're seen as something you should look at, not walk/play on (I think this is a thing in China too).
That said my city has a few big parks with green/grassy areas (iirc we are one of the cities with the most parks per capita or something like that), though most of the "parks" are mostly bare or have gravel instead of grass (or sometimes are just very small squares of land designated as parks because the city didn't know what to do with them or something like that). I feel like there are plenty of trees and flowers around where I am, but apparently the last mayor's thing was for us to be 花の都市 so that could be why.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 14, 2016 14:21:44 GMT 9
We cleaned our school every day for a half an hour before leaving, both elementary schools I attended and first year of secondary school.
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Post by Caic on Mar 14, 2016 14:26:02 GMT 9
We cleaned our school every day for a half an hour before leaving, both elementary schools I attended and first year of secondary school. realllly? thats unusual tho I'm pretty sure. Even in my japanese oral for leaving cert they used a picture of kids cleaning to spur on a conversation about that IBUMKA
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 14, 2016 14:36:04 GMT 9
We cleaned our school every day for a half an hour before leaving, both elementary schools I attended and first year of secondary school. realllly? thats unusual tho I'm pretty sure. Even in my japanese oral for leaving cert they used a picture of kids cleaning to spur on a conversation about that IBUMKA I know all the schools in my town did it. There were like 5? The convent school which my sister attended did too because I remember her getting in trouble for not helping out enough. My parents' schools also did I think. Maybe its a public school thing? Its not to the same extent that Japan does it so I guess that is why the photo makes sense. Also we wouldnt do it in secondary school in Leaving Cert years. But I remember you would have people running to try to get the dustpan and brush and then you would have people who wipe the desks and stuff, bang the dusters, clean the board etc. etc. Getting me all nostalgic.... ^^
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Post by Caic on Mar 14, 2016 14:56:09 GMT 9
realllly? thats unusual tho I'm pretty sure. Even in my japanese oral for leaving cert they used a picture of kids cleaning to spur on a conversation about that IBUMKA I know all the schools in my town did it. There were like 5? The convent school which my sister attended did too because I remember her getting in trouble for not helping out enough. My parents' schools also did I think. Maybe its a public school thing? Its not to the same extent that Japan does it so I guess that is why the photo makes sense. Also we wouldnt do it in secondary school in Leaving Cert years. But I remember you would have people running to try to get the dustpan and brush and then you would have people who wipe the desks and stuff, bang the dusters, clean the board etc. etc. Getting me all nostalgic.... ^^ tbh i could just be forgetting... but yeah its not like cleaning the floor level. Maybe using a sweeping brush, or wiping your desk etc. Its a bit fo a different level
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2016 15:27:29 GMT 9
lack of enjoyable green spaces to spend time in esp during summer. everyone goes on about how 自然豊か this country is but my idea of a perfect summer day is going to the park with hulemdos, playing football/frisbee/whatever, having a few drinks on the grass etc. large grassy areas seem to be extremely rare in japan so far in my experience. japan is very lacking in accessible green areas imo because their idea of "green" seems to be rice fields and disgusting woods full of spiders and extremely densely packed bamboo trees. why are there so few parks? i also feel like there are very few trees/flowers around towns and cities but that may be because england is obsessed with them. Could be because it's hard to secure open areas in big cities/large grassy areas are 確かに pretty hard/costly to maintain. Or because they're seen as something you should look at, not walk/play on (I think this is a thing in China too).
That said my city has a few big parks with green/grassy areas (iirc we are one of the cities with the most parks per capita or something like that), though most of the "parks" are mostly bare or have gravel instead of grass (or sometimes are just very small squares of land designated as parks because the city didn't know what to do with them or something like that). I feel like there are plenty of trees and flowers around where I am, but apparently the last mayor's thing was for us to be 花の都市 so that could be why.
yeah i mean, if im being fair then yes, i know why its like this, the uk definitely has a lot more space to do things like that but its interesting what you said about them being considered things to look at rather than physically enjoy... that probably plays a part. also i cannot 納得 with the idea of a park being anything but mostly grass. gravel/dirt/baseball field does not = park for me, hue. i heard that grass is pretty hard to keep alive in japan because the summer temperatures are so high.
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Post by CaptainSeery on Mar 15, 2016 14:55:19 GMT 9
Mizo (those deep deep gutters alongside roads, mostly in the inaka) and lack of guardrails on mountain roads
Slow speed limits
All the irasshaimaseing
School kyushoku is (usually) good and healthy
But sometimes there are like three carb-based dishes
How rice is such a staple that sometimes people even have it as a side to other carbohydrate-y dishes
On similar lines yakisoba pan is still a mystery to me
Cost of highway tolls
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Post by telly on Mar 15, 2016 16:32:00 GMT 9
...that seem to mean nothing, considering that here on SHIKOK everyone usually drives faster, sometimes more than 20km/h over the limit.
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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 15, 2016 16:55:28 GMT 9
Mizo (those deep deep gutters alongside roads, mostly in the inaka) and lack of guardrails on mountain roads Slow speed limits All the irasshaimaseing School kyushoku is (usually) good and healthy But sometimes there are like three carb-based dishes How rice is such a staple that sometimes people even have it as a side to other carbohydrate-y dishesOn similar lines yakisoba pan is still a mystery to me Cost of highway tolls Definitely using this hahaha. Kansai is notorious for eating carbs for all of its dishes.
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Post by CaptainSeery on Mar 15, 2016 17:11:58 GMT 9
...that seem to mean nothing, considering that here on SHIKOK everyone usually drives faster, sometimes more than 20km/h over the limit. It does depend on where you are. In Old Placement everything was far apart and so everyone sped everywhere. I got used to driving 80 km/h in some areas. Here it's more crowded and people don't tend to go over 60. That feels agonizingly slow after Old Placement.
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Post by telly on Mar 16, 2016 9:42:43 GMT 9
Certainly there are regional differences, but this is just something that comes up for me a lot as someone from Germany because everyone believes the German Autobahn works like driving in Mad Max Fury Road, but people tend to drive safer.
Another that would be interesting is how driving in and of itself is so slow in Japan. Stops and lights everyone. Driving does not seem to be adjusted for making it flow, but rather to keep it slow, seeing as you do not get a "green wave" of not having to stop as long as you keep within the speed limit.
Also, streets to bypass for people who just want to drive through a place instead of going to a shop are developed, but since people start driving there, shops open up to make money and in the end it also becomes one of those stop and go streets where traffic flows badly because people are addicted to pachinko.
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Post by songbanana on Mar 16, 2016 10:14:10 GMT 9
Agree with the comments on driving slow. Everywhere I've driven in Japan (highway, regular road, dirt road, wherever) people usually drive 20kmph above the speed limit unless there is a slower car in front of them. The slowest car on the highway is usually doing 80 and the speed limit is 70. If you actually drive 70 people tailgate you so badly that it's really dangerous to drive that slow. Traffic gets really congested in certain areas but I'm not sure if that's also to do with urbanization--a lot of the places that are tough to drive around have a lot of stores and crosswalks and there's no land space to make a road around it, or it turns out like telly said where they all become the same thing.
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Post by snell_mouse on Mar 16, 2016 14:14:01 GMT 9
Remembered another thing: how divided the genders seem to be, in terms of hulemdo groups and things.
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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 17, 2016 8:59:38 GMT 9
Also, the amount of red lights run. I feel like I see tons of red lights run all the time.
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 22, 2016 15:12:51 GMT 9
I have never had to pull over to the side of the road more in my life than here due to how much tailgating happens and it making me scared that the person will not pay attention if I have to suddenly brake or the fact that my engine is smaller and can't go faster on certain hills. I feel like I have more road rage here and I come from AZ where driving can be quite bad...
It's like they believe "Oh, I'll stop in time if need be" with all of the tailgating and squeezing around.
It's even scarier at night on coastal, twisty roads with their headlights blinding me...
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Post by telly on Mar 22, 2016 16:18:36 GMT 9
I have never had to pull over to the side of the road more in my life than here due to how much tailgating happens and it making me scared that the person will not pay attention if I have to suddenly brake or the fact that my engine is smaller and can't go faster on certain hills. I feel like I have more road rage here and I come from AZ where driving can be quite bad... It's like they believe "Oh, I'll stop in time if need be" with all of the tailgating and squeezing around. It's even scarier at night on coastal, twisty roads with their headlights blinding me... So much, so much of it.
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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 22, 2016 16:34:23 GMT 9
I have never had to pull over to the side of the road more in my life than here due to how much tailgating happens and it making me scared that the person will not pay attention if I have to suddenly brake or the fact that my engine is smaller and can't go faster on certain hills. I feel like I have more road rage here and I come from AZ where driving can be quite bad... It's like they believe "Oh, I'll stop in time if need be" with all of the tailgating and squeezing around. It's even scarier at night on coastal, twisty roads with their headlights blinding me... Out of curiosity (never driven in Japan before), does double taping the breaks not work here?
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Post by King Quailbee on Mar 22, 2016 17:21:04 GMT 9
I have never had to pull over to the side of the road more in my life than here due to how much tailgating happens and it making me scared that the person will not pay attention if I have to suddenly brake or the fact that my engine is smaller and can't go faster on certain hills. I feel like I have more road rage here and I come from AZ where driving can be quite bad... It's like they believe "Oh, I'll stop in time if need be" with all of the tailgating and squeezing around. It's even scarier at night on coastal, twisty roads with their headlights blinding me... Out of curiosity (never driven in Japan before), does double taping the breaks not work here? I definitely do it but no, it doesn't back them off enough. It's like they almost get closer in anger or something...
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Post by songbanana on Mar 22, 2016 17:23:49 GMT 9
I have never had to pull over to the side of the road more in my life than here due to how much tailgating happens and it making me scared that the person will not pay attention if I have to suddenly brake or the fact that my engine is smaller and can't go faster on certain hills. I feel like I have more road rage here and I come from AZ where driving can be quite bad... It's like they believe "Oh, I'll stop in time if need be" with all of the tailgating and squeezing around. It's even scarier at night on coastal, twisty roads with their headlights blinding me... Out of curiosity (never driven in Japan before), does double taping the breaks not work here? I'm too scared to try for fear they'll rear-end me or worse, slam on their brakes and be rear-ended.
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Post by Researcher Irish on Mar 23, 2016 14:19:04 GMT 9
As a non-driver I have never heard a driver praise driving in another country or area or anything.
It makes me think driving must be spoopy like literally everywhere.
Here is a list of all of the countries in which people apparently cannot drive: Korea Japan Germany Italy Spain The US
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Post by telly on Mar 23, 2016 14:37:23 GMT 9
As a non-driver I have never heard a driver praise driving in another country or area or anything. It makes me think driving must be spoopy like literally everywhere. Here is a list of all of the countries in which people apparently cannot drive: Korea Japan Germany Italy Spain The US What bad things would people say about driving in Germany? That people adhere to the speed limits? That reds means red and stop means stop?
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