Walking through the streets of Kyoto, yesterday during the day time and at night. I am so surprised that in either of the times I didn’t hear any noise on streets, or from houses. It was very serene and peaceful but makes me really curious about how is this possible, how do people spend the day in on weekends across Japan? Thanks in advance!
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/13uzg6x/curious_about_daily_routine/
4 comments
I just asked my Japanese husband who is from a small/medium town 1 hour away from Tokyo, he said it depends of course on the people. I asked him about his parent’s routines. His dad usually goes to eat and drink in an Izakaya with friends, and his mom stays home and just rests, pet their cat, etc. Sometimes she goes out to a café with a friend to drink a coffee and eat a cake, talk a bit. My husband was always a homebody person so he enjoyed staying home when off work and read manga or watch anime.
He also said week-ends are often less ‘friends’ or ‘party’ oriented than in the West, and there’s more emphasis on the family circle, especially if there’s a kid around. Also it’s not a common practice to invite people over for dinner or drinks, people meet outside in restaurants, izakaya or such instead. If there is a child, the family can for example go to have a pic-nic, shopping in a mall, go to an amusement park, etc. This is all that I can say from my husband’s perspective, as for me I’m not Japanese and didn’t grow up there so cannot talk for myself. Of course he insists on saying this is just a generality but not everyone acts the same of course.
But I noticed the same thing as you, both in Tokyo, Kyoto or the towns we usually go to with my husband (His birthplace Sawara and his house in Inashiki), it’s indeed very quiet.
So most people that work or visiting the city side lives outside of Tokyo.Most people live in Kanagawa.I don’t know if that answers but just a notice.
A. Japanese people, in general, try to be quiet in their neighborhoods. If you ever have a Japanese Significant Other, you will learn this when you visit their home.
B. Sundays are for shopping or golf or short trips. Get out of the house as a group or individually. Saturdays are less predictable because some fathers may work, and some kids may have school, cram school, or lessons in music or martial arts or…..
C. You have to remember that many homes don’t have space to support the kind of noises you expect. No yards to mow. No real convenient space to work on a car. No space for kids to run around except at the corner parks.
Some of us who live in apartments have contracts that state certain rules. In my contract, I’m not allowed to play musical instrument at all or have pets.