So, on my Facebook page I put up a poll asking what you would like for me to discuss in my next entry and the winner was:
Differences/similarities between U.S. & Japan
BUT! There was also another topic which got just as many votes so I will also be discussing:
Japanese Hobbyists/Nerds a.k.a OTAKU!!
So, on to the first topic, shall we?
What I have learned from my travel to Tokyo and my knowledge of Japanese culture that I have gotten through out my years of fandom, firstly, here are some differences:
1. Do not tip in Japan. Not the waiters/waitresses, taxi drivers, house keeping, NOTHING. This is considered very rude. In Japan, they believe that they should always give excellent service, so tipping them for doing something they should be doing is insulting to them.
*this image is NOT mine, and was taken from google images
2. The way money is given/taken during a transaction in a store between clerk and customer. You do not hand your money directly to the clerks hand, instead, you put your money (bills first, then coins on top) on a little plastic tray on the counter then slid it to the clerk. I am guessing this is to exchange less germs, since Japan is so over populated, but I am not sure. Money in itself is not clean by far lol.
*this image is NOT mine, and was taken from google images
3. Students go to school 6 days a week, and yes on Saturdays. Saturday mornings mostly. Sunday is their day off so most placed are PACKED. We went to Harajuku on a Sunday and oh man. Couldn't even move!
4. How you address someone. Bowing is fundamental in Japan, and knowing how. Depending on the extent of your bow is how thankful you are, so the lower you bow, the better. But when you enter a store or restaurant, a very mediocre bow or "head bow" is fine.
And if you are ever in Japan on business, and meet a fellow businessman/woman, and they extend their business card to you (which is usually automatic) you must bow and extend both hands, palms up, fingers together, and accept. Then give them yours.
5. Vending machines are literally EVERYWHERE. And you can get anything imaginable from them. There were vending machines with drinks on every block (multiple ones lol) and I noticed they don't really like soda in Japan. The vending machines mostly had water, different teas, beer/sake (yes, alcohol)and juice. But you can get all kinds of food (hot and cold), and weird things...like seafood, porn, panties, live bugs, eggs and lettuce...
6. Table manners. Especially if you are with a group of people or a friend, but if its just you and your spouse its fine. Make sure to pour drinks for each other and not for yourself. And don't drink until everyone has their glasses filled. Also, be sure to use chopsticks correctly, there are plenty of ways you can seriously make someone upset by doing a simple thing such as sticking your chopsticks in the center of your rice face up when your not using then and/or passing food to another persons plate using chopsticks (both of these are signs of a funeral procession/death) Another thing, when you are in restaurants, they usually give you a wet towel when you sit down. Use this to clean your hands only (not your face, and don't use it as a napkin) and then fold it nicely and set it aside.
Another interesting tip (even though we didn't eat sushi during our trip to Tokyo.. blasphemous I know..) you are not to dip your entire sushi in to the soy sauce. The sauce is not to touch the rice, just the fish. And it is ok to eat sushi with your hands as well.
Oh and also, it is polite to slurp your soup. When we went to have ramen at Rokurinsha in Oshiage, this was my first crack at this tradition and I didn't do very well. I actually find it hard to slurp! But this is a way to get better flavor, since you are inhaling as well as taking it in your mouth.
7. I'm not sure if I posted any pics with people wearing them, but some of you may have noticed the surplus of Japanese wearing face masks or SARS masks. This is very typical, since Japan is so over populated, if someone has just a little sniffle, germs can be widespread in seconds. So they wear these masks (which can be found in any store, some even have cute faces/characters on them lol) and some are better than others. Some have bacteria killing film or scents on the inside. So don't be afraid when you see people walking around with them, they don't have some kind of flesh eating disease! They probably just have a cold =)
8. Public bath houses and toilets. I regret it, but we did not get a chance to visit an Onsen (or traditional public and sometimes communal bath house) when we visited Tokyo but there are a lot of very specific rules to follow when entering one. First, even if you showered before you left for the Onsen, you must do so again before entering the bath. Also, they give you a small white towel. This is not used to soak and ring over your head, or to wash your body parts lol this is used to show modesty when walking into the bath (cover your man/lady parts) and then it is to be placed onto of your head for safe keeping until you leave the bath.
And as you saw from the pic I posted of the toilets, they are very different. Even the ones that are westernized are bidets or as I would like to call them "super toilets" and have a bunch of fancy functions and some even talk to you...telling you the weather and whatnot as your doing your morning routine lol. But, aside from the bidets, their toilets require you to squat, you do not sit on them. I'm assuming, this to, is due to the over population and spread of germs problem. Here is the way you use a Japanese toilet:
I was afraid to even try, so I did not lol in fear of falling in mostly...
9. From what we saw, Japanese crime rate is very low.
10. Japan's streets and trains/stations are exceptionally clean and there is no public smoking allowed. It was amazing. There weren't any trash bins in sight either, so I just think this is due to the fact that the Japanese are clean and just have respect for where they live (untilhereinNYCcoughcough) and on the trains, there isn't one speck of graffiti or trash at all, on the platforms or in the trains themselves. And also, when on trains, you are not to speak on your cellphone (put it on silent too), speak loudly or take photos/video.
And the fact that there is no public smoking is a great way to not have cigarette butts littered all over! Great! There are small sections you can find on the streets which are for smoking - you are to stand in the section, smoke there, then dispose of your cigarette in a bin there too. Very smart.
11. You can get anything in convenient stores! We saw these machines that look like a copy machine, which they were, but you can also book trips and buy tickets to various things (we would have bought our tickets to Gundam Front from a convenience store but it wasn't working when we went lol)
11. I will not go into much detail about it here since I went over it in my previous entry, but their train tickets are way different than our metro cards. To make a long story short, you don't buy a card for $20 and then take the train/bus as many times as it takes until your money runs out. Even though there are day/week passes like we have here but they are very expensive. You buy a ticket for a pre determined amount depending on where you are going and then put the ticket through a slot in the turnstile and it comes out the other side with a hole punched through it. Then after you take the train and get off, you go through the turnstile again, putting in your ticket and it takes it for good.
And, I think that is it for the differences. If more come to mind, I will update this entry.
Now, on to the similarities!
1. Food chain restaurants. They have McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks...and the interiors look exactly the same as ours. Also, they taste the same too, but I noticed a small difference in the taste of the meats and the soda they served.
2. Their trains were similar to our new trains in as they speak to you to tell you which stop you are on and what the next stop is and they tell you be careful of the doors lol
3. Tokyo is somewhat westernized and had many American influences in a bunch of things, like the layout of Tokyo, its buildings and such, reminded me of Manhattan so much. Also, Japanese our age or younger spoke some English (not as much as I thought though) but this is due to the fact that all Japanese are taught English in school.
And..well..I can't really think of any other similarities lol But I hope this portion was informative for you all!!
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And now, the BONUS SEGMENT!
All about OTAKU!
The term Otaku is used for a person, young or old, who is obsessed with certain aspects (computers, video games, manga, anime, trains..) of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills. In short, it is the equivalent of "geek" or "nerd" but it really relates to anyone with an large interest in any particular topic.
Even though, I put myself in the otaku category, this term can be both positive and negative. Most otaku are picked on and bullied because people think its weird to be so obsessed with a one thing, but albeit, some otaku are just TOO much of a fan, if you know what I mean. There is a stereotype that otaku become recluse and stay hulled up in their parents house surrounded by their fandom 24/7, are fat, have acne and really want a girlfriend that shares their same interests. This is true for some lol but not all otaku are like that. Here is what otaku are usually portrayed as looking like in anime lol:
All in all, being an otaku is a subculture that started in the 1980s in Japan, with the birth of anime (Japanese animation) and some say, with the creation of the specific anime series Mobile Suit Gundam (You can read up on it here if you are not familiar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam) which came out with a bunch of merchandise (Mobile Suit model kits) which holds a very high fandom. I have bought and constructed some Mobile suits myself. It's actually really fun!
We went to Akihabara during our trip to Japan and this was a hub for everything an otaku would need. There are dozens of stores specializing in anime, manga, video games, figurines, card games, and other collectibles. Another popular location in Japan for otaku is Nakano Broadway which we also went to. This place had floors and floors of shops catering to otaku, with animation cels, vintage toys, full of only gashapon (collectible toys in a capsule that come out of vending machines), model kits and more.
And here are some specific terms for certain types of otaku!
Fujoshi - female otaku who mostly like yaoi (male x male) manga
Reki-jo - female otaku who are interested in Japanese history
OK! I will end this entry here. I hope you enjoyed the read and learned something! I look forward to sharing what I have learned from my trip to Japan and through out my years as a Japan enthusiast with you all! Keep checking back for my next entry! And if you have a Google + account, why not follow my blog?
Thank you!
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