Drinking culture ショック！

16 comments

1. >I have colleagues who arrive every day visibly tipsy.

   In the.. morning?

   I’d drink to that! /s (Or to copy your random Japanese かんぱい！レッツアルコール！)

   (Serious answer: alcohol is seen as a good way to overcome social barriers… or at least a good excuse to ignore them. “Drunk” == get-out-of-jail-free card for uncomfortable interactions and telling people what you really think. Important to note that the person in question doesn’t actually have to literally be drunk for this card to be played.)

2. Matches with uk culture so makes me feel at home whenever I want a cheeky pint any time of the day

3. Going to America it was very shocking to me how little and how rarely people drink. Someone says “I’m gonna go crazy!!” And they have maybe four beers and call it a night. I’m more used to a six pack just being something you work through watching a 90 minute movie, vs. enough for two people for a night.

4. Peer pressure, lack of other hobbies/interests, etc.

5. List of countries by [alcohol consumption per capita](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita). Japan has higher alcohol consumption than global average but lower among developed countries.

   France 12.6

   United States 9.8

   UK 11.4

   Japan 8.0

   Germany 13.4

   Italy 7.5

   Canada 8.9

   Also it significantly varies by [generation](https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000014.000021760.html) too.

   34.3% of 20s drink alcohol once a week or more compared with 51.4% of 60s drink alcohol once a week or more

6. People are over thinking it so much calling us depressed etc. Nope. We just like booze

7. same thing in many parts of the world. Aus, NZ, UK, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Ireland etc etc etc.. some people like to booze

8. As someone who does *not* drink, it can get annoying at times.

   Most people respect my wishes but that doesn’t stop them from asking so many variations of “why?”. Once I actually was straight up told I can’t go to a certain nomikai because I don’t drink, even though place had non-alcohols in their nomihodai plan, lol.

9. Was this supposed to be posted on r/Australia?

10. Japan celebrates drinking anytime anywhere, simple as that.
    You win at something? おめでとう。飲みましょう。
    You lose at something? 頑張りました。飲みましょう。
    No matter how big or small the accomplishment.
    Even if it’s something 100% out of your control. New Year? あけましておめでとう。
    Sakura blossomed? 乾杯 to that.
    Lost a shitload of money due to JPYUSD exchange rate? Have a drink and forget about it.

    One way or another, basically any drinking is encouraged. The only exception is if you need to drive.

11. 日本はのんべいのパラダイスだ！

12. Bartenders here are not mandated by law to cut off visibly intoxicated people. In the States if the continue to serve a VIP and are caught they could be cited and fined by the police or the liquor commission.

    The bar with a few violations could lose their liquor license.

    I’ve never seen someone cut off in Japan. Even after vomiting right in front of the cash register.

    Also Japanese drink hard to be able to say what they want. They will be forgiven the next day because “well they were drunk.”

13. Binge drink to deal with their shitty work/life balance or being unhappy but don’t you dare mention that devil’s drug weed.

14. ‘I have colleagues who arrive every day visibly tipsy.’

    Colleagues (plural)?? Where the hell do you work that this is normal?

    It’s one thing to show up hungover occasionally but you have coworkers who regularly show up drunk in the mornings? That’s not cultural, that’s alcoholism…

15. Guess I have the wrong friends. Or right ones, depending on context. One beer is enough to get them tipsy.

16. From NZ – to me Japanese drink often, but the shit they drink is barely alcohol most of the time. Lots of mixer cans that range from 2-5%, maybe the odd 8%. They also generally have a really low tolerance comparatively to people back home