Japanese Culture Tips

[Jose7822]

@Ayara012

I find that it’s very time/place dependent – mid-day on the train heading into downtown Osaka? Yep, there’s gonna be tons of folks chatting, it’s totally cool just don’t start a screaming match or something weird.

10 pm on the last train heading out to your local stop 45 minutes away from the city? It’s quiet. People are tired. If someone is talking/being loud, it is probably someone drunk and no one nearby looks very happy about it. Probably best to be polite to the folks around you and not hold any loud conversations. (Quiet whispering to someone next to you shouldn’t get you any murderous looks, usually.)

Basically: 空気を読もう、みな！

Yes, of course. My point is that it’s not as serious as some people make it seem to be on YouTube for example. It’s just a matter of common courtesy to try not to be loud, that’s all. But, most importantly, 空気を読む as you said.

@Ayara012

If you’re a fellow American and rarely use military time; be very careful with any sort of tickets you’re buying. Don’t be like me and buy a ticket for a thunderbird train for 7:00…when you need one for 19:00. That was a moderately expensive mistake to make, for sure.

Even though I already knew this, because we are so used to everything being shown in non-military time in America as you mentioned, I did reserve a Shinkansen ticket for the wrong time, lol. Thankfully I had the JR Pass (RIP), so I simply took the next train and went to the non-reserved seating car. No money lost.

BTW, in case someone reading is wondering why I wrote (RIP) next to “JR Pass”, at least last I heard, the JR Pass is no longer as economical for tourists as it used to be before October of last year. I’m not sure what’s the status on it as of today, but that’s my current understanding. IIRC, I believe the prices were increased to the point of it being more economical to simply buy tickets as you need them (unless you’re gonna be traveling a lot). Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, moral of the story, be mindful of those military times. If you’re not used to them, they might get you, especially given that some places require reservation.

@PowerAWBS

Purchasing something with the cashier

This video pretty much sums it up:

Japanese at Convenience Store - コンビニの日本語 🇯🇵

She has tons of shorts for pretty much any situation if anyone wants to check them out before traveling to Japan. They’re spot on.

[SudoNymm]

@Jose7822

BTW, in case someone reading is wondering why I wrote (RIP) next to “JR Pass”, at least last I heard, the JR Pass is no longer as economical for tourists as it used to be before October of last year. I’m not sure what’s the status on it as of today, but that’s my current understanding.

I looked into it for my trip last November, and yeah, it’s basically just flat out not economical unless you’re jamming a Shinkansen trip into as many days as humanly possible. I’m not surprised this has been done though; I have an inkling it might be because the unprecedented influx of tourists at the moment is causing infrastructure issues. Seriously shopping in 心斎橋 was like being in a cage match with the population of Hong Kong jammed into one shopping strip.

[Jose7822]

Oh man!

When I went to Tokyo last May it was great in terms of the amount of tourists. I plan to go back around October, but you and also one of my Japanese friends are saying that there’s a lot of tourists in Tokyo right now. That’s gonna suck .

[Duolingo]

@Asher

It gets confusing with smaller companies/supermarkets where you may only spend $5 but they still ask you if you wanna split it. In this case it’s usually cause the company has a deal with credit companies where the client pays no lending fee, regardless of the amount, and the shop itself will handle the 負担 ‘credit fee’.

The shop paying the ‘credit fee’ is the normal way of business (although now some stores are adding on a fee for using a credit card). But you said ‘it’s usually cause the company…’ So what happens when the company does not have a deal with the credit card company? Are we told that there will be an added fee or is it just tacked on and we might pay it without realizing there is an added fee?

[imsamuka]

It’s pretty common here when you are buying big stuff like furniture and over, but if they asked me to split when buying daily groceries I would find that quite odd kkkkk

[bunnypro]

Never try to pick up / drink beer using chopsticks. It doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work one bit at all #bunnyfail

[Ayara012]

@Jose7822

Yes, of course. My point is that it’s not as serious as some people make it seem to be on YouTube for example. It’s just a matter of common courtesy to try not to be loud, that’s all. But, most importantly, 空気を読む as you said.

Absolutely! Sorry, I didn’t intend for my response to dismiss that – I’ve absolutely met folks who are a bit too spooked by the “quiet on trains!” reputation. I just wanted to add some context for folks who might be worried.

@Jose7822

I did reserve a Shinkansen ticket for the wrong time, lol.

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who’s made this mistake

[Sidgr]

@PowerAWBS

I already forgot the term but the first time I heard it I kept saying hai and then they got confused

ポイントカードを持ちでしょうか？
Every day

For me one that caught me is that you should not say あけましておめでとう to someone if they lost a close family member in that last year. As it is not something to celebrate.

[Sidgr]

I like the Dan Carlin line on this “Japanese people are like everyone else, just more so”

You are not wrong in that there is a system of politeness that developed in both cultures. It’s a matter of degree rather than absolutes.

[SudoNymm]

@Jose7822

When I went to Tokyo last May it was great in terms of the amount of tourists. I plan to go back around October, but you and also one of my Japanese friends are saying that there’s a lot of tourists in Tokyo right now. That’s gonna suck .

Perhaps it might be time to consider the 田舎, my friend.

[Fuga]

Another thing I noticed is that pedestrians get the right of way when crossing an intersection. Japanese drivers are very conscious about it.

For clarification: Pedestrians have the right of way at intersections with crosswalks. Cars have to give way to pedestrians on crosswalks or else they will get ticketed. This is not the case for intersections without crosswalks, so please don’t assume they will stop if you are crossing a intersection without a crosswalk!

[Jose7822]

いやだ！東京が大好きだけど。

[rururun]

@Jose7822

When I went to Tokyo last May it was great in terms of the amount of tourists. I plan to go back around October, but you and also one of my Japanese friends are saying that there’s a lot of tourists in Tokyo right now. That’s gonna suck .

It really depends on where you go. For instance, there’s no tourists in my area but when I went to Akiba to buy keycaps a few weeks ago everyone I saw was a tourist except for the shop staff. Tourists are in touristy areas doing tourist things. If you want to get out of the tourist bubble, simply go outside of the tourist districts.

[Keaka]

Something I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is the absolute lack of spatial awareness/caring in Japan, especially places like Tokyo. Don’t be surprised or get upset if people occasionally bump into you or walk directly in front of you. It’s a pretty rude thing to do in many western countries, but it’s pretty much a ‘cultural norm’ here at this point. (Doesn’t mean I have to like it though )

[Jose7822]

Going to Tokyo and not visit Akihabara is like going to NYC and not visit Time Square.

無理ですよ!耐えなきゃ。

[rururun]

Akiba died though. All of the good stores have either gone online or opened (better) locations elsewhere. Most of what’s left is just tourist junk.

[SudoNymm]

I like Ikebukuro for being lower key partly because of this. There’s lots to do and it’s not so overtly otaku land (though still has plenty). Plus, there aren’t so many other tourists to trip over (but it’s not devoid of them either).

I find the shopping pretty good (keep in mind I’m female though, so I kind of suit the target demographic).

[rururun]

Ikebukuro isn’t low key at all, it’s a major shopping area and attracts lots of tourists. It even has a Pokemon Center.

[SudoNymm]

I meant “lower key compared to Akiba”. And also “less tourists compared to Akiba”.

I should’ve been clearer.

[Jose7822]

Man, I wrote a whole thing about this but my browser crashed and I lost everything, so here’s the short version.

Unless things have changed dramatically since I visited in May, I thought Akihabara was great! Right outside of the station is the main Tamashii Nations store (for those of us who like action figures), as well as the Square Enix cafe (which I admit is not great, but it’s still a must visit place for Final Fantasy fans like myself). There are also tons of arcades, electronic stores, maid cafes, etc. It’s such a vibrant part of town.

My absolute favorite area of Tokyo is Ginza, but that’s a different story. I still enjoyed Akihabara a lot, and I highly recommend it, especially for those who like manga/anime and the whole Otaku culture in general.