11 Unique Facts About Japan !

Hello guys! I just got back from my International Study Excursion with my university program (IBM) + Holiday in Japan :)

So before I post my travel journey from 13 until 24 April 2014, I’d like to share you some unique facts about Japan - in my version.

1. Japanese like to bow until it feels awkward for both of us

One night, I called the room service to repair my toilet’s sink. An old man came in and repaired it. When he finished and I know that I must respect the one who’s older than me, I bow to him and said “Arigato”. Then, he bow back. I bow back again, and he do the same thing. I bow again for the third time, even lower than him, and he bow back again. In the end, I smiled at him and he smiled at me too. The end of the story, because my friend close the door. 

They love to help others, even when they can’t speak english - yeah, they use body language

There’s a time when my friends and I struggle to find this one place called Asahi Archery near Otsuka. So we asked a policeman there, and he helped us until he even open his map and show the way for us. Thanks policeman!! We asked lots of help for direction to the local people. Some of them didn’t help, but some of them were really nice even though they can’t speak English fluently.

2. Time = Priceless 

When you’re in Japan, especially Tokyo, you’ll see almost all Japanese walk really really fast, ignoring their surroundings. Not only their walking habit, they also eat super duper fast with a very calm gesture! If you think that you’re a fast eater, then try eating next to a Japanese.

Not only that, when you buy groceries in a supermarket, you have to pack your things by yourself to save more time!

People pack their things themselves after paying in a supermarket

3. They eat while standing! 

As I said, that time is priceless, there are several stores in Japan that don’t provide seats, so you can eat while standing. Guess what? The food is a cold food. I guess they are providing cold food so you’ll be faster in chewing the food. I ever try to eat in this kind of restaurant, and I can’t finish my food. In my opinion, the noodle taste a little bit weird because the soup and the noodle is cold.

One of Soba restaurant in Shinagawa Station

4. Eating alone is not a problem

That doesn’t mean Japanese don’t eat together, they still are. But lots of Japanese, especially employee / businessman, eating alone. That’s why they can eat fast and save time. 

They all don't know each other and eating alone. 

 

5. Every man employee wear suits

This is the unique thing. Even though you’re not a boss or manager, if you work inside a company, you will wear a suits! A very formal and complete one, with a hand carry on your hand.

6. Machine is everywhere and a must!

Even in a small store, you can buy your food through the machine, and then give the receipt to the waiter. Within 5 minutes, your order will come out. 

Vending machine is everywhere in the town - even in the small alley -

This fact shows that Japan is really want to be practical and make their life easier. 

7. Oh no, we don’t have enough land!

As we know, Japan is a small country and there’s no enough space for them to build their country. That is why they made the land on their own. There are two manmade island in Japan. One of them is Odaiba. 

In terms of vehicle parking, Japanese also use a kind of “Drawer-machine” so there are 3 cars inside a drawer. To bring your car out, you simple press the machine near it so the drawer will come out. The same thing apply for bicycle.

8. If they love something, they TOTALLY in it

Who don’t know anime and manga? Yeah it is from Japan. So there’s this one place called Akihabara, when you can find one street full of anime and manga. You can buy figure, posters, dolls, comic books, and so on in Akihabara. The collection is very complete and there are also old collection that they sell in a very high price !

Love playing games? Or Yoyo? There’s one store that only sells Yoyo - even the price can be up to 100,000 yen each!

Everheard cosplay? Harajuku style? You can found people dressing in Harajuku style and cosplay along Harajuku street.

9. They love cycling!

Japanese love to cycle. If you're in Japan, you'll see lots of people cycling around, even when they go to work, buy groceries, and sometimes you can see people with bike and their children at the back / front of the bicycle :)

10. SNACKS’ Heaven ;d

Okay, I’ll describe this a little bit longer , hahaha.

Ever heard about Kit Kat? Yeah it’s originally Japanese, and in Japanese they say it Kit(o) Kat(o), with an “o” sound in the end. Japanese has its own Kit Kat flavour like Green Tea, Black, Pudding, and so on. They are all yummy !! Kit Kat is very easy to find and you can compare the price from one to another store :)

How about Chocobi, or maybe Dorayaki? You name it! All Japanese Anime snack is available in the convenience store in Japan. You can easily find it. For example, Chocobi, a chocolate snack that Sinchan eat in the anime movie, is available in Daiso, and so on.

The last thing that is the only one in Japan is called Tokyo Banana > this is super delicious, you should try to bought every flavour when you’re in Tokyo. Tokyo Banana is a soft cake that contains Banana Fla inside that made it super soft and yum! Tokyo Banana is available only in big station such as Shinagawa and Tokyo station. If you can’t find it, you can bought it in Narita airport.  

Japanese snack is super tempting and delicious! It’s a must try when you visit Japan.

This is some snacks that I bought in Japan! 

11. Bunch of suicide happening, depression is everywhere

Unfortunately, this is very true. I’m very sorry to hear this. Maybe because of the busy life, expensive life expense, and the individualism in Japan, many Japanese experience stress and depression. There’s one night in Japan that my friends and I were stuck inside the MRT just because there’s “passenger injury”. But what I heard from the people inside MRT (we meet a Vietnamese people who live in Japan) it’s because there’s a suicide happening and this is happens a lot in Japan. That’s why no one is panic or something. 

Second thing ever happen in my 11 days visit in Japan, there’s a man whom - doesn’t know why - scream at us inside the MRT. My friends and I feels really scared and strange, so we moved a bit from him. Somebody inside the MRT told us that maybe he is having some problem with his job, that’s why he become stress like that. The more shocking thing, after a while, he punch a senior high school student! The most amazing thing is, their surroundings just do nothing and stay calm. Even so, there are more positive thing that you can find in Japan :)

That’s what I found interesting in Japan !! 

A closing words from me, Japan is one of the must visit place before you die!!

Ah, I also want to show this :

My most favourite food in Japan : This menu in Yoshinoya! Super duper yumm!

Get ready for my next post(s) about my Study Excursion + Holiday in Japan ;)

Note that during my posts in Japan, not all photos are mine, some of them come from my friends, but with my blog tag on it ;)

COMPLETE GUIDE JAPAN TRIP : 

Day 1 : OBKG, Osaka Mint (Sakura!), Osaka Castle, Umeda
Day 2 : Osaka-Kyoto-Osaka (Asahi Beer, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Shinsaibashi)
Day 3 : Nissin Instant Ramen Museum, Shinkansen to Tokyo, Shinagawa Aquarium (Meet with Kaze and Midori!)
Day 4 : Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Ginza
Day 5 : Nissan, Waseda University, Shinjuku Government Building
Day 6 : NHK Studio Park, Takeshita Dori, Asakusa Temple, Tokyo Sky Tree
Day 7 : Tokyo Disneysea 
Day 8 : Ikebukuro, Asahi Archery (Otsuka), Akihabara, Roppongi (Tokyo Tower)
Day 9 : Meiji Shrine, Odaiba
Day 10 : Shibuya (Hachiko Statue), Doraemon Museum, Cirque Du Soleil - See you Japan!!

BONUS : 11 UNIQUE FACTS ABOUT JAPAN

Thanks, reader(s)!

[Megan Faustine]

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