When one thinks about Japan, more often than not, the first thing that comes to mind is either this:
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| Sushi at its best |
This:
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| Ninja! |
Or this:
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| Higashi Hongan-ji Temple |
While you're not 100% wrong, there really is much more to the culture and nation than those three things (but they play a huge role.)
1) Food
This is a given. With every different nation, there will always be food that you will love. (See my post about my favorite Japanese food here) I especially miss how when I arrived into a resturant, I was given complimentary water (for free might I add!) and an Oshibori. An oshibori is a wet warm or cold hand towel (temperature depends on the season!) to wash my hands with. Just think for a second... how many handrails you have touched and money you have handled until you sat down to eat. Just imagine how many people didn't wash their hands after using the toilet. Soon you'll be grateful for those things!
2) The train jingles
Ahh the wonderful train jingles! They are cute little noises that are played at each station, and although most Japanese people don't care for it, us foreigners can't get enough of those tunes! They were made to make people feel calm and relaxed after leaving the train, and also to promote them to hurry up. It's a cute way to do it if I can say so myself! But right after the jingle is an announcement, even now just listening to it sends a nostalgic feeling in my heart. I really miss it.
3) Separated bath and toilet
This one was a bit of a cultural shock for me when I had arrived in Japan. I knew that it was a separated thing, however to see it, it made me very surprise. Now that I have returned to America, it makes me sorta disgusted to think that I am bathing myself in the bathroom that someone did a #2 in. Just think about that for a second, and you'll see my perspective soon enough.
4) Those fancy Japanese toilets
All those fancy buttons and unknown kanji to is like an adventure when pressing them! Well, truthfully, I never pressed them, only because I didn't want my bun to be power washed by a water hose. I don't have buns of steel! However, there was one thing that I enjoyed, and it was the flushing noise. It has a motion sensor so that when you sit on the toilet, it makes a very loud and fake flushing sound. Like the water is swirling in the bottom of the toilet. You know someone was peeing, but it gave you the privacy to use to toilet without worrying about the person in the next stall hearing you.
My male friends said that at the school, the toilets in their bathroom didn't have any noise. But of all of the toilets that I went to while I was in Japan (the ladies room) had the flushing noise. I was pretty happy, I'm the type of person who can't stand it when someone is in the bathroom with me! Privacy please!
5) The Japanese hospitality
This one sounds a bit vague, and you really can't understand their hospitality unless you've experienced it yourself. To explain it simply, the Japanese people practically bend-over-backwards for their customers and guests. They treat everyone with high regards and often address the customers as Okyaku-sama. Which translates to: "Humble Guest" in some translations.
6) No tipping!
Yep, no tips are allowed in Japan. None at all! Whenever I tell my friends and family about this, it's amusing to see their baffled expressions, soon followed by: "What do you mean no tipping?! Why!?"
To Japanese people, tipping is considered an insult. They are suppose to give their 110% effort on the job, and to give them money is like telling them to do a better job next time. Although most Japanese people that work in big cities such as Tokyo, often understand this as a cultural difference and will politely decline the money. So yep, that means you save yourself the extra cash!
7) The Genkan=no shoes inside the home!
The Genkan is a small sunken floor (usually) that is right inside of your home. It's covered in tile and it's the place where you remove your shoes. In Japan, it's impolite to walk into someones home with your shoes on. Just like how the oshibori is for cleansing your hands, and the separated toilet and bath, this is to keep your home clean. It's pretty nice since you're not tracking in mud or the dog poop you stepped in before!
Upon returning to Japan, I felt pretty sad to walk around my house with shoes on. I felt gross after walking around my host families home with no shoes on. I quickly got use to it and returned to my American habit though! But I miss walking around with no shoes on. I enjoy going with my socks on in my home, but since the floors are dirty, my socks will turn black. This results in my Grandmother trying to go at my throat... haha...
8) People calling me cute- simply because I'm a foreigner
Yep, that's right. Free compliments, even if you're not cute! I have pretty low self esteem, but after traveling to Japan, the compliments boosted my ego a bit. Just because you look different than everyone else, lots of the time you'll be stared at, or called cute. (Kawaii, kakkoii, ikemen, kirei)
9) Greetings from shop owners/employees
Even if you step one foot into the door, a Japanese employee won't fail to cheerfully (once again, usually) call to you and say: "Irashaimasen!" It's a greeting to the customer that translates to... well... welcome to the store! You're not suppose to say anything back, but sometimes people bow their heads towards them. I do too, I feel awkward if I don't, it's like I'm not acknowledging their existence if I'm not!
10) Low crime rate
If this was a list from order of most missed things, this would probably have to be it. Although crime still occurs in Japan, it's not as high as in America. I've made a blog post mentioning the low crime rate. I don't feel any danger walking around Tokyo, and I had done it by myself once at nighttime. I even went home by myself twice.
I'm a very nervous person, so if that doesn't prove that Japan isn't safe, then I don't know what does.
11) The woman's only section on the train
Since Japanese Train Perverts (aka Chikan) are a huge concern in Japan. JR Lines have a train cart dedicated to woman during certain times of the day. This is because during rush hour, women are targeted by these train perverts and are sexually touched in public. I myself-- was a victim to this during the first day. It was rush hour and their was little room. This man was trying to pull down my shirt (since it was loose, and he was tall) luckily, it was only one station. But at the time, I was too scared to do anything, nor did I know what to do! This is why the woman's only section exists on certain trains.
P.S, if you are ever touched by a chikan, make sure you evaluate the situation. Did he touch you by accident? Is he continuously looking away when you look at him? Was it just his bag that bumped against you? If he is continuously looking away and touching you when it's not an accident. Shout: "Chikan!" and then grab his arm so he can't get away if someone else doesn't do it. Someone on the train will report him since it's a crime to do it. It's heavily frowned upon, but since the Japanese culture is very reserved, even if someone sees it happening, they won't do anything. They don't want attention drawn to them, but that isn't always the case. It differs from person to person. However, once you mention it, they won't hesitate to help you.
12) The Japanese way of standing on the escalator
One side is for standing only, and the other side is for walking down. There is no standing in the middle like a bump on a log! Nope! I wasn't aware of this when I first arrived and stood right dead-smack in the middle. Luckily though, my host brother told me to stand on the right hand side so people could walk past me (on the left hand side)
Since in Japan, there are things to do, people to see.
13) Random greetings/friendliness
Don't get this mixed up with the greetings in the store. Just walking in the street will get you a bow of the head and a "Ohayou-gozaimasu." (Translates to: Good morning) in the morning. Not all Japanese people will do this, but it makes me really happy when someone says something to me. It's like: "Hey you! You're important and I notice you!"
14) Rice
To this day, I still cannot cook Japanese styled rice, no matter how many times I wash my short grain rice, I can't do it. Unlike in America where we stick instant rice in a bowl, pour some water and then pop it into the microwave, the Japanese carefully wash their rice by hand before letting it sit. Later they then cook it in a rice cooker where it's yummy and ready to serve.
There are also a lot of delicious toppings you can put on their sticky rice, like konbu tsukudani. Which is a seaweed cooked in soy sauce and mirin. A Japanese alcohol. It's super yummy and sweet!
15) Mai-Mai game machine and the arcade
The Japanese arcade is dedicated to teenagers to hang out after school ends. Being a teenager myself, my friends and I had a blast playing there. There is ranges from video games, crane machines, Dance-Dance Revolution, musical games, Taiko drums, and my favorite, the Mai-Mai machine.
Mai-Mai is a big game where you hit buttons to the beat of the music. But the screen is touch-screened so you can hit that too. People have gotten so fast that you can barely see their hands. I'm not kidding. You have to wear some sort of gloves if you want to play that game. You can borrow a pair from the front counter in the arcade. Or buy yourself a pair at the convenience store.
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Abrupt ending, but an ending that has brought tears to my eyes, these are the top 15 things I miss in Japan. I can't wait to return. I apologize for the lack of activity on my blog, I have been busy with school and YouTube.
See my YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rpUPdCXKjyqsp3S592dcA
Photo credits:
"2007feb-sushi-odaiba-manytypes" by Nesnad - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007feb-sushi-odaiba-manytypes.jpg#/media/File:2007feb-sushi-odaiba-manytypes.jpg
"Hokusai-sketches---hokusai-manga-vol6-crop" by Katsushika Hokusaiderivative work: AMorozov - Hokusai_sketches_-_hokusai_manga_vol6.jpg. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hokusai-sketches---hokusai-manga-vol6-crop.jpg#/media/File:Hokusai-sketches---hokusai-manga-vol6-crop.jpg
"Higashi Honganji Honden". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Higashi_Honganji_Honden.JPG#/media/File:Higashi_Honganji_Honden.JPG
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