I’ll go first: bonenkai. It’s a shitty affair here, it’s shitty back home. I don’t want to spend more time than necessary (and unpaid at that) with my boss and my boss’ boss and their boss for several hours after work every day in December.
How about everyone else?
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Four seasons
The unmanned fruit stands outside of farms or people’s personal gardens. People talk about “high trust society” and how it would be impossible for that to happen in America. But I’m from southern California and we have those there too and I know it’s not uncommon in a lot of other places.
Some foreigners seem to think “kuuki o yomu” and “honne/tatemae” are uniquely Japanese. “Reading the room” and face-saving “white lies” are just as common in Canada. Sure, there are nuanced differences for the specific definitions, but nothing that should cause culture shock.
Hocking phlegm in public is acceptable here and in my home country. The only difference is that here they swallow it back (erhhh! Sorry, I almost vomited on my phone), but back home they spit it right out onto busy thoroughfares or around places that people typically like to walk.
I am of course talking about the elegant country of England,but more specifically, the great and proud city of Plymouth.
Queuing and the unspoken manners culture – Japan is culturally very very familiar to me as someone from the UK.
Things are a bit more extreme here, but I’ve never been totally lost trying to understand people’s behaviour. The honne and tatemae nonsense is an overplayed and forced narrative. It’s literally just basic decorum.
Vending machines. I use them to get water and dr. pepper here, I use them to get water and dr. pepper there.
The kindness of strangers.
The world is fulll of good people. Its the less than good people who get all the attention, sadly.
I think for Americans, the concept of a bidet is foreign. Nothing like that exists in the US generally speaking.
Of course for many other non-Japanese, a bidet is a normal thing. Not necessarily as high tech as in Japan, but certainly exists in one form or another.
People being kind or returning lost items.
Omiyage.
It’s not uncommon for people to put out morning tea snacks from overseas when they return to work. Bringing back cigarettes for smokers has always been popular too.
Taking your shoes off indoors. Seriously, are people *really* wearing outdoor shoes inside their homes in some countries?
Indirect language. Yes, Japanese say a lot of things in an implied and indirect manner. “それはちょっと難しい。” often means “No.”, that sort of thing. But of course “That’s going to be a little difficult” also often means “No.” in English. All languages and cultures do this all the time. You just don’t notice the indirectness in your home language; you hear the implied meaning loud and clear.
So many people think that the concept of “saving face” or “面子” is unique to Asia. And you really need to understand the concept of “face” in order to fit in with Japanese society.
In reality, it’s just universal human nature. People don’t like to be embarrassed or called out in front of their peers.
Umami… Why are people pretending like this is a flavor profile that has gone unnoticed until 10 years ago when some goon ate in Japan
Any kind of small thing is often seen as “wOw jAPaNeSE pEOpLe hAtE fOReiNerS”.
Like, no Jason, just because one old guy looks at you weird for too long or people don’t wanna sit next to you on the train one day doesn’t mean Japanese people are uniquely adverse to foreigners. This sub is notorious for spreading this image. EVERYWHERE has racism or prejudice. It’s a human condition, not Japan specific
Sorry Jason but your not special because one angry old man called you a Gaijin. Find a different personality trait other than oppressed white guy.
Dressing decently.
In 2 respects:
Actually trying to dress nicely/make an effort, even though it’s not a special occasion.
Not dressing like you are at the beach, every time you go outside during the summer.
(Although in this case “foreigners” would more mean westerners)
Keigo: it exists in every languages. Maybe it’s not used as often as in Japan but overly polite idioms are not a japan only thing at all.
Onsens.
Dude, Canada has these too! They are called natural hot springs.
Sakura trees
Not saying things directly or saying something just out of politeness is very common in the region I came from, unlike within the rest of my own country. That leads to other fellow countrymen asking me “Why are you all liars? You all say ‘let’s have a coffee some day’ but you don’t really intend to”. I see many foreigners complaining about the same thing in Japan, but for me it’s very natural.