|
Is
this true? |
My Observation |
| The Japanese are
always on time. |
Oh my
goodness yes they are!!!
I was more scared of being late in Japan than anything else I have every
done. It was nuts. One of the girls in our group was late
getting on the bus and I thought our tour coordinator was going to fall
over. And of course, the Japanese were NEVER late to any meeting
or appointment. Oh how I wish I could be like that! |
| Picking your nose
in public is fine but blowing your nose is considered disgusting. |
I
tried not to laugh on the subway when I saw the guy picking his nose but
I couldn't help it. I had to turn my face to one side. In
the U.S. picking your nose in public is just not done but in Japan it's
ok. I saw it a bunch of times but it just gets to you when you see
a guy sitting there with his finger up his nose acting like nothing is
wrong. |
| Japanese
in-ground toilets vs. Western toilets (and the Toto toilet) |
When
I walked into my room at the Akasaka Prince and saw my Toto toilet, I
was amazed. A toilet seat that warms your bumper... how great is
that. Then I saw the in-ground toilets and I wondered how
can anyone possibly do that? Several people in our group managed
to figure out how to properly use them but I couldn't. Not until I
actually had to use one. It was strange... weird... but I managed.
Most places had a western toilet and even most homes but the schools had
mostly in-ground babies and well... many people waited until we returned
to our hotel. I give the Japanese lots of credit for keeping them around for so long. |
| Chopstick
etiquette is kept to strictly and completely. |
This
is completely and totally true in every way. I know how to use
chopsticks very well so I didn't have issues eating but I saw many of my
friends skewer their food and I saw many Japanese people watch us and
shake their heads. I tried very hard to remember all the things I
had read about chopsticks... No pointing with them, no skewering, no
passing food, no sticking them straight up in rice, no passing food with
the side that you ate with, no playing the drums on the edge of the
table while you wait for your food. I actually had an experience
with chopstick etiquette. I was eating food and there was something on my plate
that I didn't want but that the daughter did. So I went to give it
to her when I saw them all freaked out when I went to grab at it with my
chopsticks. I quickly remembered to turn the chopsticks to the
other side and then took the food and gave it to her. The sigh of
relief they gave reminded me to be mindful of customs. |
| Tipping is a
no-no. |
This
was strange considering that I come from one of the biggest tourist
traps in the world. But it is very true - they do not tip at all.
So instead of tipping them with money, I tried something different.
I tipped with tootsie rolls. Oh yeah... and it worked like a
charm. I did it at the Akasaka and it was so much fun to see the
maids, the bell hop, the cashiers, the conceirge, and all the other
people smile and say, "Thank you" about a million times.
|
| They do not shove
or push. |
I
never once was shoved or pushed even on the subways. They are very
polite and value personal space. It is a shame that they pack into
the subways like sardines but because of how they are, even when they
are tightly packed, they still don't push or shove. |
| Japanese eat rice
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. |
This
is true. Every meal had rice with it in some form - regular,
porridge, soup... it was at EVERY meal. Also, fish was with
every meal. I am talking about EVERY meal including snacks.
There are even snack foods that are completely made out of fish - like
dried fish on a stick. It was interesting. Because of all
the fish, I have not eaten a single thing of fish and don't plan on it
until August 1st. I need to get it out of my system. Ha! |
| There is at least
one vending machine on every corner. |
It
sure seemed that way. There were vending machines everywhere.
There were machines with beer, cigarettes, juices, toys, clothes... All
kinds of stuff. It was fun to go to the vending machine and see
what was in it. I even got a few toys from one myself.
|
| Japanese wear
kimono or yukata (light summer kimono) with the left side over the
right. The reverse is only for the dead at funerals. |
I was
at the ryokan changing into my yukata. We were told that we could
walk around the resort with our room yukatas on so that's what we were
doing. Getting comfortable so to speak. Well, I had my
yukata on and was about to walk out the door when one of my roommates
yelled at me to stop. I froze and slowly turned around. She
quickly ran over to me and told me, "So you want people to think you're
dead?" I didn't understand but she quickly explained that I needed
to fix myself because if I didn't, some Japanese person might think I
was dead. Hm... needless to say, I always checked my yukata after
this. |
| Taking a train
ride is a lesson in restraint. Not a single soul speaks on a
train. |
This
was the most interesting thing to me. Even with the trains filled
to the utmost, not a single person spoke. I would watch groups of
friends walk on the train, take a seat right next to each other, and
completely not say a single word to the other until they got off the
train. The only time I heard any speaking was from children but
that was it. Most of the people on the train were either listening
to their I-Pod, text messaging their friends/family, reading a book,
playing their Nintendo DS or PSP, or sleeping. And when I say
sleeping, I am talking hard core snoring. Absolutely nothing like
the trains in New York. |
| The Japanese are
very helpful. |
Everyone in the JFMF group had a story to say about how someone helped
them do something. A few friends and I were kinda lost when we
were trying to find Harajuku for the first time. We didn't
understand where we were and where to go. It was miserable.
This gentleman saw that we were "lost" and walked us to where we wanted
to go. This happened to several people with one person telling us
that this old lady left her store to walk them to the subway entrance.
Very, very, very helpful. |
| Road rage??
There's not road rage. |
True... I don't think that I heard a single horn honked until the
last day I was there. If there was any road rage, I didn't
see it. But I must say that the Japanese drive like they are in
the Daytona 500. My knuckles went white SEVERAL times when I was
with my host family. |
| Very few Japanese
people have seen a "real American". |
This
statement took me by surprise. Our translator told us that few
people have actually seen an American unless they watch t.v. Oh
yeah... This is why they acted the way they did when they saw us -
wonder, amazement, a little shock. Remember, everyone in Japan
looks pretty much the same and for some people seeing us was like a
treat. It was very unsettling at times. Every get that
feeling that someone is watching you??? I had it all the time while in
Japan. |
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