Have you noticed a difference in how Japanese people rate things on google, amazon, restaurants etc?

25 comments

1. I love their reviews that are hilarious

2. I’ve seen some on Amazon that have been like-

   “This product arrived yesterday and it is as described. I haven’t used it yet- 3 out of 5 stars”

   Why not wait until you’ve used it before you write a review?

3. Perhaps a bit off topic but im curious why negative reviews on googlemaps always have a lot more likes than good reviews. I havent checked for spots abroad but in Japan a bad review always gets a lot more likes.

4. Have definitely noticed and wondered about this.

   I often check the ratings of public schools I’ve worked at, and they’re generally abysmal (despite the students and staff being generally lovely). The negative reviews often concern something one student did outside of school grounds and hours, or that the students are noisy at the train station (which I’ve never noticed) or walk in groups and block the sidewalk (how dare they want to chat with friends on the walk to school!)

   Or like your examples, they like a place or thing but give a low star rating, or discredit it for a super minor reason. It’s weird.

   I wonder if a lot of people suppress their frustrations in daily life and feel online reviews are a safe place to vent?

5. Recently saw a 1* google maps review for a restaurant: “Saw another review which was 1*, so chose not to eat here.”

6. I did notice that restaurant reviews always have pretty low average scores, even places that people tell me are amazing will be like 3.7 on tabelog.

7. Yup. A new drug store opened near me recently. First review: I saw this while driving past. I don’t know what kind of store it is, but the car park is big. 3/5 stars

8. Its the culture of rating here. A 3 means something was just as expected, nothing wrong. 4 more means it exceed your expectations and a 5 is extremely good. Its quite rare to see a 5. 2 is little below expectations and 1 below expectation. Its not harsher per say just normalized around 3.

   In general a 3+ is good. Ive seen this in all places like restaurant reviews, job review sites, amazon etc. Most things seem to be in the 3-3.5 range which is just as expected

9. Japanese people rating things is def one of the funniest things ever. My friends and I made it a thing to read reviews about everything just for the laughs.

   I still remember my last year as an ALT. I was assigned to a new school so I decided to google it. It had 1/5 stars. I thought oh damn this is gonna suck. I later arrive at the school and to my surprise learned that it was an upper academic school, top 10 in the prefecture. Confused, I decided to read the actual reviews.

   “The students take too long crossing the road in the morning. They need to learn how to walk faster. 1 star.”

   “Some students go to the McDonald’s after school and sit there for many hours studying. We couldn’t find a table to sit. 1 star.”

   Apparently reviews like these are common across all schools.

10. If you’re looking for the conversion, 3/5 in Japan = 9/10 in the US.

11. I know of a restaurant that was rated so low even before it officially opened. Main cause seemed to be bullying and pettiness.

12. I side with OP. The barometer for judging products here is baffling. I just bought toilet paper off Amazon. The two reviews I remember were one star because 3 rolls got squished (just squeeze the sides and that’ll fix it) and another 1 star because the toilet paper had a scent. MFER IT SAYS SCENTED IN THE TITLE, PRODUCT DESCRIPTION, AND ON THE BAG.

13. ”I needed a shelf for a 59 cm space so I bought this 60cm shelf and it doesn’t fit” 1 star (not word for word but I read something similar once.)

    another one was for a local fishing port “It was raining when I visited” 2 stars.

14. I wonder how Japanese people would rate the Haribo sugar free gummy bears.

15. >I was watching this episode, it was awesome… But, I missed the ending because my aunt called.
    >
    >2/5 **—

    What in the horse testies, man?!

    >I went to this restaurant, the food was delicious… But, then I saw a kitten emerge from the bushes across the street.
    >
    >1/5 *—-

    ​

    >I go to this lunch bento place every day for lunch. I tried to go after hours, but it was closed. :S
    >
    >1/5 *—-

16. Great food and great experience. I had to five more paces than usual to reach the toilet, 2/5.

    Yeah, they are insane. South Park made fun of Yelp reviewers and that was great, but they would have a field day here.

17. Airbnb and hotel reviews are hilarious as well.

    Hotel is just like photos. Nice reception. Early check in.

    I wanted to book on Hondori but too expensive. Booked on Chuodori instead.

    1/5

    Beautiful resort hotel. Delicious food.

    Rained entire trip.

    1/5

18. I generally agree with the rating system, 3/5 is what’s expected and anything over that exceeds expectations.
    I feel I see a lot more bad reviews here compared to back home where the customer has clearly made a bad choice and decide to blame the product instead of themselves. For example the small sink I bought at Ikea to be able to wash my hands in the upstairs bathroom had a 1 star review. The reason was that it was too small. Like, the measurements are there, you can see it in person at the store. You chose this by yourself. I don’t get it.

19. https://preview.redd.it/z3x9hhabor8b1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=72066650e2222080d7ca39c1176403b5e4eb1096

20. I’ve definitely noticed it as well and I think a lot of people here are missing your point. It’s not about the rating scale being different, 3 being average and 4 or 5 being excellent makes sense. It’s the methodology and thought process behind the reviews, because often the text very clearly describes a 4 or 5 star experience even by that standard, and then seemingly gets docked down to a 2 based on some completely irrelevant point that has no bearing on the service or product and is often not even the business’ fault.

    “This restaurant is the best ramen I’ve had in Nagasaki, delicious food and the owner is great! Unfortunately, there was road work happening across the street on that day so I had to park around the block. 2 stars.”

21. i was once rated low (eikaiwa) because the student didn’t like how the lesson was conducted *according to the rules i was instructed to follow.* manager still twisted it as my fault…

22. The Yoshinoya next to my house got a 1 star because “phone reception was very weak in the store”.

23. 1/5 the food was delicious and the price was good but the girl clearing the tables looked bored

24. Not a review but I have a student at the school I own tell me about a review he left at a curry spot in Tokyo. He gave it a 1/5 and I asked him why.

    “No, the curry was amazing and probably the best I’ve ever had. But the shop was crowded and there was a long line outside, so I think the owner is rich and arrogant. I hate arrogant people”

    He also said he never stops to give cars the way if it’s a Porsche, Benz etc. because the drivers rich and of course arrogant.

    I know some Japanese masquerade their bitterness and jealousy like this but I’ve never met someone as extreme as this geezer. The type to call a high school to complain if he sees kids laughing at the station because they were being too loud and arrogant. Of course he’s single.

    I’m actually raising prices next month in hopes of getting rid of him. Knowing my luck I’ll lose a bunch of cool students and he’ll stay and pay like 3 years in advance.

25. Not an online review, but a supermarket I used to go to had feedback forms and a magnetic black board where they would post them, including management’s answer, for everyone to see. One that stuck with me was something along the lines of:

    “The man who was stocking the meat shelves looked tired. He didn’t even smile once while restocking the shelves. It really ruined my mood! You should tell them to smile more!”

    And to my disappointment, management apologized and promised they’d instruct their staff accordingly…