Some interesting things about Japan

[steve88]

I've read this in one of the website and would like share with you. Please share if you've other intersting things about Japan.

Some interesting things about Japan which you might not have known!
1. A can of Coca-Cola costs more than one dollar US from a vending machine.
2. Japanese people, in general, can't drive very well.
3. Restaurants in Japan (including many fast-food places) give you moist towels or wipes before or with your meal.
4. At many businesses in Japan, they offer alcohol to the employees after six pm.
5. It is usually mandatory to give a landlord a gift of money of $1,000-$2000 when moving into his apartment building.
6. On Respect for the Aged Day, tobacco companies will hand out free cigarettes to the elderly outside of train stations and department stores.
7. The Japanese love corn, sesame seeds, and mayonnaise on their pizza.
8. There are no 24 hour ATMs in Japan (closed on holidays and many only open during normal bank hours).
9. Many Japanese teachers think that Japanese parents are lazy.
10. The green traffic light is called "blue".
11. Slurp your soup.
12. Newspaper editors make their headlines so as to not attract attention.
13. KFC is the place to be on Christmas Day.
14. Japan has about 1,500 earthquakes each year.
15. In the Japanese language, it is considered rude to say the word "no" directly.
16. It is nearly impossible to become a naturalized citizen of Japan.
17. You can smoke just about anywhere.
18. Japanese people take a hot bath every night, some do not have showers installed in their bathrooms.
19. There is no insulation in Japanese homes' walls.
20. Japan has roughly 200 volcanoes.
21. It is considered rude to show signs of affection toward a loved one in public.
22. When you go to a funeral or a wedding you must take a gift of money.
23. Three words: "heated toilet seats".
24. In Japan, flower arranging is an art.
25. The new generation of Japanese people are not as short as Westerners think.
26. You can buy batteries, beer, wine, condoms, cigarettes, comic books, hot dogs, light bulbs, and used women's underwear from vending machines.
27. Many Japanese people eat rice with or for their breakfast, lunch and dinner.
28. Never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice. This is an old Japanese custom and is what is done when food is offered to the dead. When it is not an offering it is considered to be a very ill omen.
29. In Japan you will find cars by the names of "It's", "Let's", "Sunny", "Perky", "Gloria", "Move", "Toppo", "Lepo" and "Dump".
30. McDonalds employees will run outside to give you your drive-thru order.
31. The Japanese visit shrines and give eachother money for New Year's.
32. It is impolite to tear the wrapping paper off of a gift.
33. Japanese junior high school students do not need to pass any of their classes to graduate. Education only through junior high school is compulsory.
34. Young women will hand you toilet paper outside of train stations.
35. There is almost no vandalism in Japan.
36. Gas station attendants will bow as the car pulls out of the station.
37. It is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public and urinate at the side of the road, but you cannot blow your nose in public.
38. Approximately 85% of Japanese people have never tasted turkey.
39. Japan is about the size of California and has half the population of the entire United States.
40. Snowmen in Japan are made of two large snowballs instead of three.
41. It will always take one to two hours for a pizza to be delivered.
42. There is at least one vending machine on every corner.
43. All you ever wanted to know about the world's largest phallus festival can be found here.
44. It is not uncommon to pay $2 for a single apple.
45. The sun is red in Japan and the country itself is referred to by Japanese people as "the land of the rising sun"

[reihiino]

Originally Posted by steve88

7. The Japanese love corn, sesame seeds, and mayonnaise on their pizza.

wow...I know that my sis friend went to England & told me that there were pizzas with beans on them...& eating beans with toast is common there too..
Latinos & the British...how alike we are to one another in some ways...lol

[clairebear]

Originally Posted by steve88

used women's underwear from vending machines.

This should be taken out - its illegal now.

[MMM]

Hooray another stereotypes thread.

2. Japanese people, in general, can't drive very well.

A meaningless statement, measured by what? It seems to follow that wonderful racist stereotype that Asians can't drive.

3. Restaurants in Japan (including many fast-food places) give you moist towels or wipes before or with your meal.

Never had one at a fast food place.

4. At many businesses in Japan, they offer alcohol to the employees after six pm.

Again, "many" is a meaningless word. There might be places that do this, but I have seen it more often in the US than in Japan.

6. On Respect for the Aged Day, tobacco companies will hand out free cigarettes to the elderly outside of train stations and department stores.

I never saw this, but if they did do it, I doubt they do it any more.

7. The Japanese love corn, sesame seeds, and mayonnaise on their pizza.

Again, a meaningless statement that sounds like Japanese are of one mind. Why not say "corn, sesame seeds and mayonnaise are available on pizza in Japan." I knew no Japanese that "loved" pizza, with or without those toppings.

9. Many Japanese teachers think that Japanese parents are lazy.

I worked at a public high school for three years and never once did I hear a teacher say a parent was "lazy".

11. Slurp your soup. and be called rude. Slurping your noodles, on the other hand...

12. Newspaper editors make their headlines so as to not attract attention.

Why would this make sense?

13. KFC is the place to be on Christmas Day.

If you like fried chicken, I suppose.

15. In the Japanese language, it is considered rude to say the word "no" directly.

This CAN be true, but it depends on the situation. People say "no" all the time.

I don't have the energy to keep going...

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by steve88

45. The sun is red in Japan and the country itself is referred to by Japanese people as "the land of the rising sun"

Actually "the land of the rising sun" is kind of a translation of the kanji (Chinese characters) that make up the name Nihon. The reason the country is named so goes back to competition between China and Japan long ago. China's name in kanji is meant to symbolize "the center of the earth" or the most important kingdom in the world. Japan in the spirit of one-up-man-ship said you may be the center of the world but the sun rises on us before you since Japan is to the east.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by reihiino

wow...I know that my sis friend went to England & told me that there were pizzas with beans on them...& eating beans with toast is common there too..
Latinos & the British...how alike we are to one another in some ways...lol

Beans on pizza isn't common, but beans on toast definitely is. I don't like beans though, yuk! Haha.

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by steve88

2. Japanese people, in general, can't drive very well.

It isn't so much that people in Japan can not drive, but rather people from outside of Japan who drive here don't understand the mind of the Japanese driver. You could say the exact same for different regions in the US.

By the way, those green lights are kind of bluish.

Also I know where a few porn (underwear) vending machines are, but yes for the most part they are all gone.

[japanarama]

You can smoke just about anywhere.

If you're on fire.

There is no insulation in Japanese homes' walls.

I live in Tokyo. It's now November. I'm sitting on my balcony at 11:00 wearing a T-shirt. Why do I need wall insulation?

Three words: "heated toilet seats".

Three more words: "What about it?"


In Japan, flower arranging is an art. 25.

Isn't it where you live?

You can buy batteries, beer, wine, condoms, cigarettes, comic books, hot dogs, light bulbs, and used women's underwear from vending machines. 27.

You forgot to mention i-pods and PSPs.


Many Japanese people eat rice with or for their breakfast, lunch and dinner. 28.

Substitute "many" for "all". Rice is the staple diet of the majority of the worlds population.

Young women will hand you toilet paper outside of train stations. 35.

I've lived here for 15 years and it has yet to happen to me.

There is almost no vandalism in Japan.

Only a gaijin could consider that to be strange.

It is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public and urinate at the side of the road, but you cannot blow your nose in public.

Yes, that would have been true at one time but it's not unusual to see someone blowing there nose now.

Approximately 85% of Japanese people have never tasted turkey.

That could be because it has all the flavour of wet cardboard. (yes, I did spell 'flavour' with a 'u'. That's because I come from the U.K.)

Snowmen in Japan are made of two large snowballs instead of three. 41.

You've lost me on this one.

It will always take one to two hours for a pizza to be delivered. 42.

That's because it's a very long way from Italy. (Oh, I'm sorry --- did you think pizzas were American?) BTW, I'm not anti American. I love America and I have a lot of very good American friends. But most of them do seem to believe every thing is the sole property of America. (My genuine appologies to those of you Americans who don't think that way).

There is at least one vending machine on every corner.

Are you confusing Japan with Tokyo?

Anyway, if you're interested in world culture -- the UK is the land of the free.-- We can have anything we damn well like on our pizza.
Have a nice day! -- That's an order !!

[AAres]

Originally Posted by steve88

2. Japanese people, in general, can't drive very well.

Please change this too:
Girls in general can't drive very well.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by AAres

Please change this too:
Girls in general can't drive very well.

Girls have less car accidents, hence the reason our car insurance is cheaper than yours ^_~