Culture tips

Most Japanese people really like Americans, and yeah, they've got a really polite culture in a lot of ways, and they're very considerate of others in a lot of ways. Like for example, in train stations there are lots of escalators, and everyone, if you're standing on the escalator, you stand on the right side. If you're walking up the escalator though, you do that on the left and everybody knows that, everybody does that. It's just kind of embedded in the culture. Japan has had a bit of a rough history with religion. There was a gas bombing of the Tokyo metro in, I think it was the 90s, and it was done in the name of some weird cult, and that turned a lot of people off of religion. Japan practices Buddhism and Shintoism, and they aren't necessarily exclusive.

Video 2 Transcript

Be respectful. Japanese people, the Japanese culture really values respect. So with the language, there's different levels of respect you can show people depending on your relationship with them. Just like entering people's homes and how you conduct yourself in people's homes and at dinner and like eating meals. That's different than America. Like using a genkan, like the entryway where you can put your shoes or using chopsticks, using chopsticks. I definitely recommend practice before you go.

Video 3 Transcript

Japanese are very nationalistic people, so learning their language, learning about their culture, learning about their history, it's going to matter to them that you care, that you know, that you take interest in asking questions, being very respectful and polite of your surroundings. They're very aware people and so being aware of how other people feel. So you don't eat in public, like you can eat in public but you have to like sit down, you would never like eat while you're walking. Even now I have trauma, I can't do it in America because it was such a such taboo in Japan. Just making sure that you're aware of people around you. If you see a situation, somebody falls over, like don't hesitate to help, like that's a very Japanese thing to do, to to be mindful, to look out for those around you.

Video 4 Transcript

Get to understand the culture of Japan. Get to understand the Japanese people, how they act, you know, like what they do on a day-to-day basis and kind of mimic that. And so that's kind of what I did. Be respectful, you know, the Japanese people are so respectful, they're quiet, they kind of keep to themselves. I mean, going into Japan as a foreigner as well, you kind of do have a little bit of, you know, power and kind of breaking those norms. But still, if you try to act like a Japanese person and you are respectful and you just kind of mimic their ways and talk the way that they talk and whatnot, you're going to be treated with the same amount of respect. And they're going to think of you as, you know, one of their own kind of, and it's really interesting.

Video 5 Transcript

Something interesting about the Japanese culture and I'm sure everyone's heard this before is they do a lot of bowing when they're greeting someone instead of saying like hey what's up or like shaking people's hand they'll be like they'll just like slowly bow their head and that's like a sign of respect. Another thing that's interesting is in Japan you know here in the United States when someone honks it's like considered kind of rude or they do it when they're upset but in Japan a lot of the times they'll use it as like a thank you they'll be like doo doo and it means thank you. In Japan you know of course they use lots of chopsticks so there is a few rules with chopsticks like you don't want to ever stab your rice you want to lay your chopsticks over your bowl for example as well as you know if you ever need to pass food to someone else you never want to pass with the chopsticks because that is something that's done at Japanese funerals and it's very disrespectful.

Video 6 Transcript

Be respectful, be nice, be quiet. You know, there are a lot of things that you could say, but one thing that I feel like is unique about Sapporo, I actually wouldn't know if it's unique about Sapporo, but they do like baseball a lot, which surprised me because I thought baseball was more an American sport that was, you know, dying off. I don't know, but they love to play baseball, or at least the younger generation does. And so I would say if anything, grab a ball and a bat and kind of learn how to hit baseball, even if you're not very good at it. Most of them aren't that good at it either. They just love baseball. So it's a good way to get to know people. So learn a little bit of baseball.

Video 7 Transcript

Don't stick your chopsticks straight up inside of food, no matter what it is. Like, especially rice. Like, um, in Japanese culture, they burn incense to say a prayer to their ancestors, and incense is like these long sticks that you set on fire, and they let them burn inside a bowl. And so if you stick your chopsticks inside of a bowl of rice, it looks like incense, which kind of makes it look like you're saying a prayer to your food, which in our culture it's like whatever, but like in their culture it's like really, um, bad. So, don't do that.

Video 8 Transcript

Definitely the biggest thing is obviously to be respectful and try to follow what they do, as in like not speaking too loudly, not shoving to get in front of the line, like to be first on the train or something like Americans do, I feel like.

Video 9 Transcript

The Japanese people are super friendly, super nice people. It's a culture of respect. Showing respect is very important. So you can't say, you can't say thank you, excuse me, too many times in that culture.

Video 10 Transcript

This is something you'll probably hear a lot is that Japanese people are really considerate of others. So when you walk into someone's house, you're going to take off your shoes. And normally this is in an area called the genkan and it's specifically set apart. Oftentimes it's on a lower level than the rest of the house for everyone to take off and put on their shoes. When you are entering into someone's house, you will also want to take off your outer coat. Same reason for taking off your shoes, you don't want to bring dirt into their house and disrespect them.

Video 11 Transcript

The Japanese people are a very reserved people, usually very quiet and try to usually keep to themselves. The same way definitely applies for eating, whether it's at home or at a restaurant. The exception, however, is ramen. The culture tip is that if you eat ramen quietly, they think that you don't like it. So you are allowed to be as vocal and slurp as loud as you want because it means that you love the taste and you want more.

Video 12 Transcript

You have to respect them and their culture really respect others So they don't want it to like hurt others feelings and all the stuff. They're kind of timid So but some of the people are not you can just figure out when you go there And I hope you enjoy the Japan

Video 13 Transcript

I would get ready as a culture tip for a very quiet people. You can go on a train with 150 people and it's just dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Just to be ready for people that are very about their personal space. They don't like to normally discuss religion or any kind of conflicting thoughts like that. They really like to keep to themselves. If they're busy or on their way they don't want to stop and talk. Sometimes they're really involved with whatever their current thought is. They're very polite and very kind. Be ready for people constantly helping you. They're the nicest people ever. If you show them love and appreciate their culture. If you try to love their food, try to appreciate their culture. Learn the language and learn different things. Culture like to slurp noodles like they do. Things like that. They will get so excited that you love it and love their food and love them.

Video 14 Transcript

Don't eat in public. Don't talk on the cell phone in a restaurant or on a train or on a bus. Those types of things, while it may be like something that a younger person would normally start to do in Japan, it's still kind of a frowned upon thing. Be observant. Watch Japanese people. Watch how they do things and try to understand what they're doing and possibly why they're doing it. Japan is a very, very crowded country and so a lot of their culture reflects on being able to observe and be considerate of others because it's just tight packed and you're always in other people's space. So being aware of how people behave on the train, like never wearing your backpack on your back when you get on a train or a bus. Put it in front of you so that you can be more aware that it's not hitting someone.

Video 15 Transcript

For Japan, I would say probably the number one guiding principle you can apply there to fit in with the culture is to be polite. So everything you do, especially in the language that you use, you're going to learn two different systems, two different ways of speaking. It's called keigo. It's like the polite way of speaking. And so the more you can use polite, your polite form in your language is going to resonate with the people. They will typically respond better with more open hearts. And then also I would say before you enter homes, make sure you always take off your shoes. Every single Japanese home, without exception, you will always be taking off your shoes before you enter the house. And then probably the last thing is you can never bow enough. Always bow. Show respect, especially to your elders, as much as you can.

Video 16 Transcript

Definitely the Japanese people are very quiet, respectful people. So if you're loud and obnoxious, they're going to avoid you. But as long as you're, you kind of act a little bit quieter, you be very respectful to them and respect their space, they're going to be a lot more willing to listen to you. Like you'll be on a train, just full of people, and you'll be dead silent. So you just kind of have to respect them, respect the way they act, because if you stand out they're going to be kind of scared of you.

Video 17 Transcript

If there is one thing you're going to have to get used to in Japan, it's the way that they live. They are very quiet on trains. They are very respectful to their elders. School is incredibly important. Education, being on top of things, being strict, being obedient. These are all things that are very important to them. You'll find that they're quite shy. They kind of keep themselves. You'll see that they'll wear like a surgical mask. It's to keep them from getting sick, but it also kind of is kind of like a protection. It kind of keeps strangers and stuff away, but you just kind of have to go for it. It's a little bit different. You kind of have to break the social norm, but it's way fun and you'll love it. They are such hardworking, amazing people. They love you. They'll be so kind to you. They'll tell you that you're good at Japanese, even if you fail. It's amazing. They love you.

Video 18 Transcript

You know, we know about bowing and taking your shoes off to go in a home and kneeling down and all that kind of stuff. But one of the things that was interesting to me is just how blunt some of the people were in Japan. Like, I have a pretty big schnoz right here. So in America, when you first meet somebody, you probably wouldn't comment on their nose. But in Japan, it was like the first thing somebody said a lot of times was, holy cow, you've got a big nose, or you've got huge feet or whatever. And so just trying to understand that they're just coming from a different perspective would have helped. I wasn't really, you know, embarrassed about it. But I guess if it's something that I was worried about before, it might have been a little hard to deal with.

Video 19 Transcript

The best culture tip I can give you is just do what they do. If they eat with their fingers, eat with your fingers. If they bow, bow. If they are quiet, be quiet. If you notice people not playing music on their speakers on their phone on the train or eating on the train, follow, do the same. That's all you can really do because this place really is a personal space area, except on the train people will sleep on you. They'll fall asleep and put their head on your shoulder like a regular pillow. So enjoy the culture. It's definitely different.

Video 20 Transcript

You don't stick your chopsticks in the middle of the bowl of rice. That is something they do at funerals, so that's not good. And when you go in someone's house, you usually kneel down until they tell you you can relax. That's appropriate in houses. Japanese people are really beat around the bush type people. They don't like to be direct.

Video 21 Transcript

It is crazy how much they talk about food. I was really shocked by that because in my like family culture growing up, we didn't talk about food for like casual conversation, but in Japan they do. Just like, hey, how are you? What food do you like? What did you eat for dinner? Like that's, they ask people and talk about food all the time.

Video 22 Transcript

A few quick things in Japan that are not always obvious to Americans. One, don't write in red. Red is used for like kind of symbolizing death. It indicates death a lot of times. The other one is sticking your chopsticks straight up and down or any eating utensil straight up and down in a rice bowl for example or something that is going to be eaten. Don't do that ever in Japan. Chopsticks straight up and down in a rice bowl is what's done at a funeral for the dead person. For the deceased, they will have those chopsticks straight up and down in the rice bowl so it's like a way that they're still there with us. Also, sharing food with from one chopstick to the next chopstick, no no no. At a funeral, once you've cremated the body, they take the bones out of the cremation from with the chopstick passing it to another chopstick.

Video 23 Transcript

Being respectful to everyone that you don't know is a very big thing in Japan. It's not like America where everyone's pretty open and so you can be casual with everyone that you talk to but in Japan they're very reserved and so you got to respect their space and be polite and how you get to know them and it'll get to the point where when you become friends or well acquainted you can you will be able to tell the difference in how they speak to you and how you're able to talk to them.

Video 24 Transcript

Get used to feeling out of place a little bit and learning new things that you have to adjust to. But I'd say one of the bigger things is especially being quiet on trains and stuff and not answering your phone because the Japanese people are very like private people and so they don't really enjoy when people come in and are really noisy on trains. And so I'd say that would be a big adjustment maybe is to get used to maybe being quiet in places where you normally wouldn't be.