Japanese Culture 101: Part 1

Japanese culture 101

Things I learned about Japanese culture in my first 24 hours.

-People are not allowed to walk and eat at the same time. Ditto goes for smoking. In fact, I still haven’t seen a single smoker in Japan since we landed.

-Japanese drive on the left side of the road, like the Brits. Same goes for walking on the sidewalk. 

-Japanese love clear plastic umbrellas. When it rains, they can be seen everywhere.

-Japanese women don’t wear shorts of any kind here. Dresses, capris, pants are good. Pencil skirts are very in right now. I think I’ve seen one pair of denim shorts and they were worn by a teenage girl. Heels are also very popular. 

-Slacks and a white collared shirt is practically the uniform for Japanese men on their way to and from work.

-Japanese know how to cue. Complete opposites of Italians. 

-Women carry around and use gorgeously patterned fabric umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. 

-Anime and manga are everywhere and are read by kids and adults alike! And you can buy them at any bookstore. (Truth: I already knew this, but it was really neat to see in person!) 

-Garbage cans and recycling bins are extremely hard to fine. Still, the entire city is completely spotless. How is that possible you ask? Toshi, our food and cultural tour guide told us that people take ownership over their trash and recycling, carrying it around with them until they get home or find a receptacle. There are also very many people whose job it is to get up very early in the morning and clean the streets.

-Japanese grapes are much larger than grapes stateside. They are extra sweet, too.  Oishi! 

-Tokyo is extremely accessible for people of all abilities. All of the crosswalks have visual and audio cues for those who are blind. Detectable warning fields with tactile, high color contrast lines are in every transportation station. Curb cuts are everywhere. And there are easily accessible elevators to and from the lower level metro stations.

-Napkins are rarely used in restaurants. I suppose, they don’t have the “Renee” gene that causes you to spill something at every meal 😏

-Japanese public restrooms have ambient noise machines for extra privacy.

-Personal space is a big thing here. Again, complete opposite for Italians.

-There’s a lot more English used around the city than I had expected. A welcome surprise! 😁