Quote:
Originally Posted by samurai007
It's probably at least as unobtrusive as the US, if not more. The one possible exception might be some bookstores, which may have an "adult section" not hidden away in some back room, but on the shelves like other section of books. But in general, Japan is fairly conservative in many ways, especially outside of the big cities. Some cultural norms are a little different, as was said before (bathing in the nude with the same gender is not considered scandalous, and mixed bathing is relatively rare), but Japan is certainly not like, say, Amsterdam, with pot in the coffee shops and prostitutes in the windows.
Second, Japanese people usually take responsibility VERY seriously. Hosting an exchange student is deemed a great responsibility, and most Japanese people who take it would watch out for the host student at least as much as their own kids, maybe more! While I was teaching in Japan for 2 years, I got to know the exchange students at my school, and they all said that their host families were very protective and doting (sometimes so much so that it annoyed the kids, who were more used to lenient western standards).
I have to wonder if this is all just an excuse for your parents to say "we don't want you to go"... If they are ok with letting you go anywhere for a semester, I honestly couldn't think of a safer place to go than Japan. But maybe going anywhere at all is out of the question for them. If that's the case, you'll have other chances later in life to go to Japan, perhaps in university or teaching English after you get a degree. Moving to Japan at the age of 24 was my first time living outside of my parents' house, and I got by just fine in Japan (without a host family or anything).
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Well, it's definately not an excuse for them to say no. My dad really wants me to go to Japan, we looks at it as a huge opportunity. I know that for sure