That’s not unique to Japan, tho. If I had a euro for every guy I met in my home country when I was doing OLD, that listed eating and playing videogames as hobbies, I would probably have enough money to buy one of them a PS5.
New on j-bumble? You haven’t seen the cat pictures and the yakisoba ones yet.
~~Jokes aside, Asian parents focus on education as the only way to move forward and attain/preserve that societal status. It leaves a void in the child’s life which he/she tries to fill with unnecessary overtime after growing up. As a person, you won’t have a life other than looking after your family and a job.~~
That said I’ve met incredibly talented people in japan who are passionate about their hobbies or sports.
I always say my hobbies are eating and sleeping. If I’m going to spend a third of my life doing those things, I might as well get shit good at them.
when did sleeping become a hobby?
Where are you getting your data? There seem to be plenty of people enjoying hobbies and many hobby stores and products around.
side note: Why do you think makeup and eating aren’t valid hobbies? There are so many magazines dedicated to these..
Interesting people with hobbies and social circles usually meet like-minded individuals by partaking in said hobbies and circles. The rest are on the apps.
I feel like a lot of Japanese people don’t want to seem “weird” so they tend to list boring stuff like that in their profiles, which probably have something generic like a cat or flower as their pic.
Of all the people I’m connected with on social media, the “normies” from Japan are the hardest to remember since they rarely post anything and even if they do, it’s rarely eye-catching. And then they get mad when I don’t remember them after not seeing them for a few years because I have nothing to remind me what they look like or are interested in.
People in general aren’t that interesting.
No time I guess ?…
Eating can totally be a hobby. Like trying different kinds of food, and restaurants around the city. One of my hobbies is going to cafes and by that I don’t mean the same Starbucks everytime. I check magazines, Google maps and Instagram to find new interesting places to go.
I feel that there is an expectation in Japan that you need to be over-the-top and extreme in your pursuit of a hobby.
Perhaps they actually do have a hobby, but they themselves feel that they aren’t proficient enough/haven’t spent enough money on something to consider it a hobby?
Because they feel the need to approach hobbies like this: Find out about thing from friends/family/social media/work. Research everything about it then go out and buy the top of the range equipment and fully kit yourself out with every possible item related before you ever even attempt hobby for the first time.
Could you afford many if you did that? The other reason may be simply like their work culture: treating it as a clan and giant family you must be loyal to. So they will stick to one sport which they play with others in some form of club for life out of obligation
I don’t think this is true, but most of the people I know outside of work are from my many hobbies…
Naraigoto. Lessons you took as a child but may continue as a hobby as an adult- musical instrument playing, martial arts, running, table tennis….
JP girls on Tinder be like : “美味しいものを食べるのが好き!” … No shit
Sounds like you have zero real life Japanese friends
Makeup is a hobby. Why do you think it’s less valid than say watching movies or golf?
Foodie culture is also a thing.
That’s a weird generalization. What is that based on? My Japanese husband is a hobby maniac, he’s had many over the time we’ve been together.
Really? I thought the people in my country were boring and the people here in Japan generally has pretty interesting hobbies
I know plenty of Japanese people with interesting hobbies from DJing to niche fashion styles to model painting.
But I will say in Japan the work life balance is heavily skewed to work which leaves most people with very little time for anything else.
Since you say “listing”, I assume it’s on some profile either on social media or dating platform.
People may just not be open to share all their hobbies publicly, and just list generic stuff. They are not looking for people to do their hobby with. Or they are on that site because they don’t have anything better to do.
Get to know people, and you find out their hobbies.
I met someone who said working and sleeping were his hobbies when I asked, lol. And when pressed, he really couldn’t think of anything else.
Later on I found out he **did** have hobbies beyond that, but maybe he felt put on the spot or just had trouble thinking of something to say.
That said, this is not a phenomenon unique to Japan. I’ve met people in the US who said things like their hobbies included eating, napping, and watching Netflix or sports.
I think just because something seems boring / basic to us doesn’t mean it can’t be a valid hobby that someone really loves and pours all their time into. People should do whatever it is they enjoy that brings them happiness.
There are hobbies that I’m willing to let others know, and there are my hobby hobbies.
I tell people my hobby is photography and music, as they are good for starting a little chat, and they can also evolve into some serious discussion if the others are into those as well.
I’d probably tell people that I love anime only if I’m 100% sure that they also watch anime, not because ‘I watch it with my kids’ but because ‘oh I LOOOOVE anime’.
And there ain’t no fucking way I’m telling anybody that I enjoy BL manga.
I think it might just be you, and people trying to avoid you.
really? what is the basis to your claim?
every department store you go into there is always a shop for whatever hobby one can think of; which implies there is an actual demand for those things, specifically digital gaming.
but if you are referring to one person not having a diverse set of hobbies… that is because, in my observation, they mostly stick to a small set to master/to be really good at.
and some people just dont want to share about their hobbies because it will sound weird/abnormal to others/or simply “i want to enjoy my hobbies alone in secret”. like saying “i love anime, i am an otaku” isn’t something you’d want to say casually here.
Because in Japan life is school then work. Your “hobbies” or clubs relate to building relationships at those places. Having an actual hobby means you would not be cultivating the “important” relationships.
It’s because Japanese people don’t have souls. I thought this was well known
Spent a long time working at an eikaiwa seeing students (as well as plenty of online dating profiles) with “hobbies” like these, and besides the other answers (“people aren’t that interesting”, “people are basic”, etc) in Japan there’s a fundamental language-culture difference which makes this word tricky. I’m not by any means a linguistics expert and I got bored of trying to study Japanese by the time I got to around the barely-N2 level years and years ago, so most of this explanation is based on my having experienced thousands of individual answers (and having followed up by asking whether they understand what “hobby” means).
Basically, the word 趣味 being considered the de-facto singular translation of “hobby” and the general vagueness (or “high-context” nature) of Japanese communication are the reasons you get bland answers like “sleeping”, “eating”, “watching TV”, etc, in English.
In English, we think of a “hobby” as something:
1. skill-based (there are degrees of mastery, and you improve at it over time/dedication), 2. relatively individual/self-defining (in that it’s not something everyone does and many people may never do it, so you naturally stand out for doing it), 3. you willingly dedicate your free “active” time to (as in, not any time you’re eating, sleeping, working, or fulfilling any obligations), and 4. you sink money into without getting much out of it other than “fun/satisfied” (lots of little exceptions to this of course, but basically you aren’t working at them 40+ hours a week for a steady paycheck).
In Japanese, 趣味 can *potentially* mean those things, but in modern Japanese it’s almost always much closer to something like “the way(s) I spend my free time” or “free time activities”. There are no specifically implied nuances of skill growth, individual passion, time/money/effort costs, etc, but 趣味 is so vague that it basically encompasses “hobby”, “pastime”, “free time activities”, “non-work activities” – really any “-ing” (so yes, sleeping) you can imagine that isn’t tied to work, social role obligations, or familial obligations.
The vast majority of Japanese people I’ve met where I’ve been able to go into this topic and explore it with them have always agreed with me after some discussion, but the 趣味は何ですか being “what is your hobby?” textbook translation is so hard-baked into the English education here from such an early age that it’ll probably never be undone… so yeah. Just remember you’re in Japan, and here “hobby” is 趣味 and 趣味 can be anything you regularly do before/after work or school.
There are a million different niche places in Japan to visit, that’s why it’s one of the best places in the world to travel….
It’s not different from the rest of the world.
They may not have a lot of hobbies, but what hobbies they have they are wildly passionate about. That kinda balances it out for me personally.
For a Westerner gaming may be a hobby cause he’s got a PS5 and plays COD, but for Taro-san gaming is a hobby and he has every single Sony console with encyclopedic knowledge of every Square game released on them and a Miyamoto signed Famicon.
Sorry, what? Pretty much any hobby you can imagine from anywhere in the world has a active group of *very* dedicated fans in Japan. They probably have a few stores catering to their needs, at least in Osaka and Tokyo but also many cities you’d be surprised by. And they have real life meet ups and events. And drop tons of money and support copious publishing of magazines and books and random stuff being imported and sold at often wildly marked up prices. I dunno man, I feel like the default fandom here expects MUCH more of people than in the US.
I’m getting angry when ppl start asking about my hobbies. And they tend to ask it a lot. In my country it’s not common for those questions. So I just answer something boring to not get a long conversation about the thing I like with an unknown person/coworker that probably 99% not actually interested in my answer.
I think it’s the opposite. They take something as a hobby and now their entire personality is based on this “hobby”, like people obsessed with idols, trains, birds, specific anime and stuff.
In my country it was normal to enjoy different things, and people wouldn’t be like “Oh, this person like this? I’m pretty sure they’re like that then”, but here you have to choose A and be the “A guy” otherwise you won’t fit in the group of other A guys
Makeup and eating are legit “hobbies” or interests in other countries too. Like going to restaurants and discovering new foods and flavors. And doing makeup while watching makeup tutorials or whatever.
A hobby is whatever you like to spend time on and enjoy.
Also, I think a lot of people have other hobbies that they don’t really consider hobbies like mobile gaming or just surfing the internet, or even just socializing. Or they could be really into anime and don’t want to be associated with being an otaku.
The culture neither fosters individual expression nor encourages free time.
Hobbies are possibly the least stereotypical japanese thing I can think of. The only acceptable hobbies are usually subcultures (so again, not an individual pursuit, but a group to be a part of) and even then people hide these as if they were a dirty secret.
“Makeup, sleeping, eating” is either because they work all the time and have no time for themselves, or cover for “I don’t want to tell you the truth”
You forgot driving lol.
Every Japanese friend I have have hobbies and are crazy about their hobbies. Mountain climbing, music, art, jazz etc.
I thought it’s a joke question at first.
I find Japanese people to have an insane amount of hobbies. For example, a 90 years old lady I know sings in a choir, goes to takarazuka, learns a new language, travels abroad… another 70-something lady does yachting, attends two different dance classes, does shodo and I suspect she also has a lover or two. And I can list examples like that for a while.
That said, in Japan just like anywhere there is a good amount of people who are boring to the bones. No hobbies, no interests, nothing. Or just shallow bullshit like going to expensive drinking spots and pretending to do golf for instagram, which is a hobby by itself, although of questionable quality. It’s just that they’re not the majority. More often than not it’s young people in their twenties coming from the countryside. Also, boring people congregate together, just like people with hobbies. If you happen to be in the boring circle… change the circle.
The truth is that Japanese are usually shy (I think actually afraid of being ridiculed) and don’t go around telling others about their pastime.
Is this sarcastic?
Every Japanese person I’ve met has a specific hobby they can declare that they enjoy, the way all kids can tell you exactly a favorite color. Often way more so than Americans for sure.
you will not tell others your hobbies are hentai games right?
That’s a good question.
On places like Tinder and what not, I only see listed “Drinking” or “drinking”.
I would guess the long working hours would eat into having free time for hobbies. But that’s just a guess since I’ve never been there and only read about their working hours.
43 comments
Because people in general are basic af?
That’s not unique to Japan, tho. If I had a euro for every guy I met in my home country when I was doing OLD, that listed eating and playing videogames as hobbies, I would probably have enough money to buy one of them a PS5.
New on j-bumble? You haven’t seen the cat pictures and the yakisoba ones yet.
~~Jokes aside, Asian parents focus on education as the only way to move forward and attain/preserve that societal status. It leaves a void in the child’s life which he/she tries to fill with unnecessary overtime after growing up. As a person, you won’t have a life other than looking after your family and a job.~~
That said I’ve met incredibly talented people in japan who are passionate about their hobbies or sports.
I always say my hobbies are eating and sleeping. If I’m going to spend a third of my life doing those things, I might as well get shit good at them.
when did sleeping become a hobby?
Where are you getting your data? There seem to be plenty of people enjoying hobbies and many hobby stores and products around.
side note: Why do you think makeup and eating aren’t valid hobbies? There are so many magazines dedicated to these..
Interesting people with hobbies and social circles usually meet like-minded individuals by partaking in said hobbies and circles. The rest are on the apps.
I feel like a lot of Japanese people don’t want to seem “weird” so they tend to list boring stuff like that in their profiles, which probably have something generic like a cat or flower as their pic.
Of all the people I’m connected with on social media, the “normies” from Japan are the hardest to remember since they rarely post anything and even if they do, it’s rarely eye-catching. And then they get mad when I don’t remember them after not seeing them for a few years because I have nothing to remind me what they look like or are interested in.
People in general aren’t that interesting.
No time I guess ?…
Eating can totally be a hobby. Like trying different kinds of food, and restaurants around the city.
One of my hobbies is going to cafes and by that I don’t mean the same Starbucks everytime. I check magazines, Google maps and Instagram to find new interesting places to go.
I feel that there is an expectation in Japan that you need to be over-the-top and extreme in your pursuit of a hobby.
Perhaps they actually do have a hobby, but they themselves feel that they aren’t proficient enough/haven’t spent enough money on something to consider it a hobby?
Because they feel the need to approach hobbies like this:
Find out about thing from friends/family/social media/work.
Research everything about it then go out and buy the top of the range equipment and fully kit yourself out with every possible item related before you ever even attempt hobby for the first time.
Could you afford many if you did that?
The other reason may be simply like their work culture: treating it as a clan and giant family you must be loyal to. So they will stick to one sport which they play with others in some form of club for life out of obligation
I don’t think this is true, but most of the people I know outside of work are from my many hobbies…
Naraigoto. Lessons you took as a child but may continue as a hobby as an adult- musical instrument playing, martial arts, running, table tennis….
JP girls on Tinder be like : “美味しいものを食べるのが好き!” … No shit
Sounds like you have zero real life Japanese friends
Makeup is a hobby. Why do you think it’s less valid than say watching movies or golf?
Foodie culture is also a thing.
That’s a weird generalization. What is that based on? My Japanese husband is a hobby maniac, he’s had many over the time we’ve been together.
Really? I thought the people in my country were boring and the people here in Japan generally has pretty interesting hobbies
I know plenty of Japanese people with interesting hobbies from DJing to niche fashion styles to model painting.
But I will say in Japan the work life balance is heavily skewed to work which leaves most people with very little time for anything else.
Since you say “listing”, I assume it’s on some profile either on social media or dating platform.
People may just not be open to share all their hobbies publicly, and just list generic stuff. They are not looking for people to do their hobby with. Or they are on that site because they don’t have anything better to do.
Get to know people, and you find out their hobbies.
I met someone who said working and sleeping were his hobbies when I asked, lol. And when pressed, he really couldn’t think of anything else.
Later on I found out he **did** have hobbies beyond that, but maybe he felt put on the spot or just had trouble thinking of something to say.
That said, this is not a phenomenon unique to Japan. I’ve met people in the US who said things like their hobbies included eating, napping, and watching Netflix or sports.
I think just because something seems boring / basic to us doesn’t mean it can’t be a valid hobby that someone really loves and pours all their time into. People should do whatever it is they enjoy that brings them happiness.
There are hobbies that I’m willing to let others know, and there are my hobby hobbies.
I tell people my hobby is photography and music, as they are good for starting a little chat, and they can also evolve into some serious discussion if the others are into those as well.
I’d probably tell people that I love anime only if I’m 100% sure that they also watch anime, not because ‘I watch it with my kids’ but because ‘oh I LOOOOVE anime’.
And there ain’t no fucking way I’m telling anybody that I enjoy BL manga.
I think it might just be you, and people trying to avoid you.
really?
what is the basis to your claim?
every department store you go into there is always a shop for whatever hobby one can think of; which implies there is an actual demand for those things, specifically digital gaming.
but if you are referring to one person not having a diverse set of hobbies… that is because, in my observation, they mostly stick to a small set to master/to be really good at.
and some people just dont want to share about their hobbies because it will sound weird/abnormal to others/or simply “i want to enjoy my hobbies alone in secret”. like saying “i love anime, i am an otaku” isn’t something you’d want to say casually here.
Because in Japan life is school then work. Your “hobbies” or clubs relate to building relationships at those places.
Having an actual hobby means you would not be cultivating the “important” relationships.
It’s because Japanese people don’t have souls. I thought this was well known
Spent a long time working at an eikaiwa seeing students (as well as plenty of online dating profiles) with “hobbies” like these, and besides the other answers (“people aren’t that interesting”, “people are basic”, etc) in Japan there’s a fundamental language-culture difference which makes this word tricky. I’m not by any means a linguistics expert and I got bored of trying to study Japanese by the time I got to around the barely-N2 level years and years ago, so most of this explanation is based on my having experienced thousands of individual answers (and having followed up by asking whether they understand what “hobby” means).
Basically, the word 趣味 being considered the de-facto singular translation of “hobby” and the general vagueness (or “high-context” nature) of Japanese communication are the reasons you get bland answers like “sleeping”, “eating”, “watching TV”, etc, in English.
In English, we think of a “hobby” as something:
1. skill-based (there are degrees of mastery, and you improve at it over time/dedication),
2. relatively individual/self-defining (in that it’s not something everyone does and many people may never do it, so you naturally stand out for doing it),
3. you willingly dedicate your free “active” time to (as in, not any time you’re eating, sleeping, working, or fulfilling any obligations), and
4. you sink money into without getting much out of it other than “fun/satisfied” (lots of little exceptions to this of course, but basically you aren’t working at them 40+ hours a week for a steady paycheck).
In Japanese, 趣味 can *potentially* mean those things, but in modern Japanese it’s almost always much closer to something like “the way(s) I spend my free time” or “free time activities”. There are no specifically implied nuances of skill growth, individual passion, time/money/effort costs, etc, but 趣味 is so vague that it basically encompasses “hobby”, “pastime”, “free time activities”, “non-work activities” – really any “-ing” (so yes, sleeping) you can imagine that isn’t tied to work, social role obligations, or familial obligations.
The vast majority of Japanese people I’ve met where I’ve been able to go into this topic and explore it with them have always agreed with me after some discussion, but the 趣味は何ですか being “what is your hobby?” textbook translation is so hard-baked into the English education here from such an early age that it’ll probably never be undone… so yeah. Just remember you’re in Japan, and here “hobby” is 趣味 and 趣味 can be anything you regularly do before/after work or school.
There are a million different niche places in Japan to visit, that’s why it’s one of the best places in the world to travel….
It’s not different from the rest of the world.
They may not have a lot of hobbies, but what hobbies they have they are wildly passionate about. That kinda balances it out for me personally.
For a Westerner gaming may be a hobby cause he’s got a PS5 and plays COD, but for Taro-san gaming is a hobby and he has every single Sony console with encyclopedic knowledge of every Square game released on them and a Miyamoto signed Famicon.
Sorry, what? Pretty much any hobby you can imagine from anywhere in the world has a active group of *very* dedicated fans in Japan. They probably have a few stores catering to their needs, at least in Osaka and Tokyo but also many cities you’d be surprised by. And they have real life meet ups and events. And drop tons of money and support copious publishing of magazines and books and random stuff being imported and sold at often wildly marked up prices. I dunno man, I feel like the default fandom here expects MUCH more of people than in the US.
Edit: this, perhaps why it’s probably safer to write “sleeping, eating“
I’m getting angry when ppl start asking about my hobbies. And they tend to ask it a lot. In my country it’s not common for those questions. So I just answer something boring to not get a long conversation about the thing I like with an unknown person/coworker that probably 99% not actually interested in my answer.
I think it’s the opposite. They take something as a hobby and now their entire personality is based on this “hobby”, like people obsessed with idols, trains, birds, specific anime and stuff.
In my country it was normal to enjoy different things, and people wouldn’t be like “Oh, this person like this? I’m pretty sure they’re like that then”, but here you have to choose A and be the “A guy” otherwise you won’t fit in the group of other A guys
Makeup and eating are legit “hobbies” or interests in other countries too. Like going to restaurants and discovering new foods and flavors. And doing makeup while watching makeup tutorials or whatever.
A hobby is whatever you like to spend time on and enjoy.
Also, I think a lot of people have other hobbies that they don’t really consider hobbies like mobile gaming or just surfing the internet, or even just socializing.
Or they could be really into anime and don’t want to be associated with being an otaku.
The culture neither fosters individual expression nor encourages free time.
Hobbies are possibly the least stereotypical japanese thing I can think of. The only acceptable hobbies are usually subcultures (so again, not an individual pursuit, but a group to be a part of) and even then people hide these as if they were a dirty secret.
“Makeup, sleeping, eating” is either because they work all the time and have no time for themselves, or cover for “I don’t want to tell you the truth”
You forgot driving lol.
Every Japanese friend I have have hobbies and are crazy about their hobbies. Mountain climbing, music, art, jazz etc.
I thought it’s a joke question at first.
I find Japanese people to have an insane amount of hobbies. For example, a 90 years old lady I know sings in a choir, goes to takarazuka, learns a new language, travels abroad… another 70-something lady does yachting, attends two different dance classes, does shodo and I suspect she also has a lover or two. And I can list examples like that for a while.
That said, in Japan just like anywhere there is a good amount of people who are boring to the bones. No hobbies, no interests, nothing. Or just shallow bullshit like going to expensive drinking spots and pretending to do golf for instagram, which is a hobby by itself, although of questionable quality. It’s just that they’re not the majority. More often than not it’s young people in their twenties coming from the countryside. Also, boring people congregate together, just like people with hobbies. If you happen to be in the boring circle… change the circle.
The truth is that Japanese are usually shy (I think actually afraid of being ridiculed) and don’t go around telling others about their pastime.
Is this sarcastic?
Every Japanese person I’ve met has a specific hobby they can declare that they enjoy, the way all kids can tell you exactly a favorite color. Often way more so than Americans for sure.
you will not tell others your hobbies are hentai games right?
That’s a good question.
On places like Tinder and what not, I only see listed “Drinking” or “drinking”.
I would guess the long working hours would eat into having free time for hobbies. But that’s just a guess since I’ve never been there and only read about their working hours.
“Listening to music.”