Culture shocks I've had in Japan!

As I was as preparing to go to Japan (the first time around) I would always get asked by people "do you think you'll get culture shock? Won't everything be so different and weird?" and part of me always wanted to laugh in their faces and proclaim that "an expert like me will integrate seamlessly of course!" (I obviously didn't say this) but I was cocky to say the least.

Fact is, after 5 years of studying the language, 3 years on the culture and countless hours wasted on watching Japanese TV shows I figured nothing would surprise me, how could it? I forgot of course that while I'd skimmed the surface of Japan and understood the basics, there is always so much more to any country or culture you experience! There is so much stuff you do on a day to day basis (or do so rarely you forget about it) that if you were asked to explain your own culture to someone, you would simply forget to include it!

So in this post I've picked out my top ten shocking/embarrassing/confusing moments in Japan THAT NO ONE WARNED ME ABOUT. So I'm doing you a favour and warning you now!

1. NO ONE LEAVES THE CINEMA UNTIL THE VERY END.

Now, I don't know if this is a Japanese thing or whether this happens in other places, but there was nothing more awkward then went I went to the cinema the first time with my friends and discovered this weird little cultural difference! In the UK, America, Europe (everywhere really, I had never seen it before!) you watch the film, maybe stick around for the fancy credits at the end or an extra scene…and then you leave, right? Oh no, not here in Japan you don't! 99.9% of people sit there and watch the credits. ALL THE CREDITS, right to the very end!

What makes this more bemusing to me is that even when the credits are in English (and I'm pretty sure most of the audience can't read things like 'second graphic testing director" and understand it because I don't either) THEY STILL STAY! Even to this day I can't bring myself to sit there with everyone until the end so I awkwardly scuttle out the exit. I asked a Japanese friend about this once and they said many people think it's respectful to the people who made the film to wait, which is such a sweet concept if that's the case…but sorry "chief rigging technician" I'm out of there!

2. Blowing your nose in public is rude as hell.

Who knew right? This little culture shock hit me mid winter when I was sat on the train surrounded by face-mask clad Japanese people REFUSING to use a tissue and just blow their nose! Instead everyone sits there sniffing their heads off and sounding like the 'flu choir group'. EW.

I figured this was a fluke, until a man on the train dared to give in a bring out a tissue one time and he was glared at like he had just farted on the person next to him. So that was that. To be honest I hate blowing my nose in public (I always end up making the problem worse it seems!) But this mass lack of snot clearing is so alien to me!

3. People don't do PDA. But they do get naked!

Okay, so this isn't exactly true, but coming from the UK and being around European people all the time I'm used to a culture of a lot of PDA and hugs and stuff, and Japanese people comparatively aren’t usually like that! Don't get me wrong, I am generalising here, and of course Japanese people do hug and stuff! But it's just not as prominent as I'm used to.

Example A, After a 2 week break from university I ran into my Japanese friend in the street and happily hugged her straight away,

Friend: "haha why are you hugging me?"

Me: "Er cause I'm happy to see you?"

Friend: "Omg you're so cute! I was so surprised you hugged me after only 2 weeks!"

So turns out I came across pretty hard core! For comparison, I've ran into friends I haven't seen for 2 years recently and we hug like you would expect old friends too! But I've yet to see any Japanese people kiss each other on the cheek, that might be just too European...

The flip side of this difference is because of the public onsen culture, and so on, taking your kit off around your friends (or strangers) isn't considered very weird. This kills my inner British prude believe me. This again is a generalisation and by no means am I saying people run around naked! But when you can go to a festival and see 1,000,000 naked man bums run across the street as standard you know you're somewhere that's not fussed.

4. You need a phone number FOR NO REASON REALLY.

Okay so I've signed up for a lot of contracts in my life, from mobile phones to bank accounts and ONLY IN JAPAN am I ever constantly asked to put a phone number down. Oh and no number? NO CONTRACT. I'm not joking. They always insist you have a phone number to put down just in case they need to contact you (because apparently my email and address isn't good enough!) Most annoyingly I have never, ever been called anyway!

My favourite example of this happened recently when I wanted to buy a new phone and set up a contract. So I'm buying a phone… WHICH CLEARLY MEANS I DON'T HAVE A PHONE RIGHT?! But no they still needed a phone number off me (in fairness a work, home, school or whatever would do) but I couldn't help but see the irony! So make sure you have some digits to put down on those pesky forms!

5. Japan is basically one of those sci-fi films from the 80's

You know those awful (but great) old TV shows and films made in the 80's that are full of high-tech but also dated technology? When I was a kid I used to watch Dragonball Z all the time and thought it was kinda weird that everyone was flying around in spaceships and using hover cars but were dressed like an episode of Saved by the Bell but now it all makes sense! That IS Japan.

It's a wonderfully high-tech place full of toilets with more buttons, sounds and spray options than anyone could need on the one hand…and fax machines and weird brown and green office décor on the other. I still to this day can't believe they still use fax machines here (but to be honest it seems useful so what do I know!?)

I guess the reason everywhere in Japan is a mix of old and brand new is that as a country they made stuff in the 70's, 80's and 90's that is still working great today and they don't need to update it! Most of the subway trains for example are clearly at least 20 years old but they are spotlessly clean, well maintained and run just fine. This culture shock is kind of ongoing for me as I'm always noticing it ( and secretly I like pretending I'm a sci-fi character) but it can be weird at times! Trying to guess if you'll get a squat toilet or the 'Poopanator 4000' in a public toilet for example!

So that's my little list of culture shocks, and don't get me wrong, by no means are these big problems or anything against Japan! I love being here, and finding little surprises like this in daily life is what makes being somewhere foreign fun! This list isn't complete either it changes and grows all the time so I'd love to know if you've experienced any of these things or have your own culture shocks! :)

#japan #cultureshock #crazyjapan