Top Ten Most Bizarre Facts About Japan are…
Doris | December 11, 2015 | A Fancy World, Beauty, Brave, BREAKING NEWS, BUSINESS, ENTERTAINMENT, ENVIRONMENT, Fashion, Finance, Health, Holiday, LIFE, LOVE, Marketing, News, Pleasure, THEBLOT LOVE, Travel, WORLD | 31 Comments
https://www.theblot.com/top-ten-most-bizarre-facts-japan-773156
Japan is a bizarre place.
When Americans hear the word “Japan,” a mishmash of ideas pop into our heads — sushi and rice, manga and anime, kimonos and sumo wrestlers and Japan’s alphabet that looks like hieroglyphics in black brush strokes. We see mosaics in our minds of Samurai swords, origami, geisha robes and Mount Fuji, soba noodles, and oodles more. Here is a carefully compiled list of ten tantalizing and, well, weird aspects of Japanese culture that you probably never even thought of:
1. Hygiene:
- Stick deodorant is not available. Spray deodorant exists, but it’s not commonly used.
- Companies hire people to hand out small packages of tissues to pedestrians. But, get this, using tissues in public is considered rude.
- People carry around a small towel to wipe sweat from their forehead.
- Before one takes a bath they must shower first. Members of a household use the same bath water.
- Most toilets in Japan have a built-in bidet system, called Washlets, for spraying water on your tush. These are the norm in homes and nicer restrooms. In some public bathrooms you may still find the traditional Japanese “floor toilet” where you will need to squat. Oy.
2. Shoes
- Most people know that the Japanese remove their shoes indoors, but you may not know these interesting specifics:
- Genkan is a Japanese entranceway. At the entrance to a home in Japan, the floor will usually be raised about 6 inches, indicating you should take off your shoes and put on house shoes, which are like slippers. If the house has a tatami mat room, its floor may be raised 1–2 inches to indicate that it is time to take off your slippers.
- Whenever shoes or slippers are taken off they are placed neatly, pointing towards the door.
- Most homes have extra house shoes for guests.
- Now get this, when you use the restroom in a residential home, you will put on designated bathroom slippers so as not to “contaminate” the rest of the home.
3. Table Manners
- When eating noodles, especially soba (buckwheat), you must slurp loudly. That indicates the food is delicious. It is considered rude not to slurp.
- Sniffling, clearing one’s throat, or swallowing phlegm is not considered rude, but eating or drinking while you’re walking is.
- When you have a bowl of food — rice, for example — you must pick it up and bring it up to your mouth to eat. If you don’t pick up the bowl, people think you are eating like a dog.
- Never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice. That is only done when food is offered to the dead. When it is not an offering it’s considered a bad omen.
4. Transportation
- Bus drivers turn off the bus during red lights to help reduce pollution.
- Public buses have no priority over other cars, and no separate lanes.
- Bike riders wear gloves to protect themselves from the sun, but no helmets.
- In Tokyo, a bicycle trip is usually faster than a car.
- Gas stations are usually full-service; attendants will bow as the car pulls out of the station.
- Trains are so crowded that railway staff workers are employed to shove passengers inside before the doors close.
5. Masks
- People wear masks in Japan, and they’re sold everywhere in various sizes. You can find masks in any color, with Hello Kitty, flowers, hearts on a leopard print, or with a lemon or orange smell.
- If you’re sick, you wear a mask so you don’t spread your sickness.
- If you work in a hospital or in a store, you wear a preventative mask in case you’re exposed to sick people.
- Masks are used by hay fever or allergy sufferers — most likely so they won’t sneeze on you.
6. Mochi
- For New Year’s Day and during the beginning of January, the Japanese eat mochi. It’s made with boiled sticky rice.
- To make it, one person places it into a shallow wooden bucket and pats it with water. Another person then hits the mushy mess with a large wooden mallet to mash the rice. This forms a sticky white dumpling.
- Mochi is an extremely sticky texture, so there are many January choking deaths.
- Each year the death toll is reported in the newspapers.
7. Hikikomori
- The word means “pulling inward, being confined.” This is an extreme social withdrawal, similar to what we call agoraphobia.
- A person stays in their room.
- Oddly, the sufferer doesn’t seem to have any other psychological problem that would explain this peculiar behavior.
- Some people remain in isolation for years or even decades.
- The Ministry of Health estimates that about 3,600,000 hikikomori live in Japan.
- One third are 30 and older.
- Among these are the hikikomori that are now in their 40s and have spent 20 years in isolation; this group is generally referred to as the “first-generation hikikomori.”
- This age group is known as “the 2030 problem,” because when they are in their 60s, their parents — who have been taking care of them — will start to die, so there is concern about whether to try to reintegrate them into society. If not, there may be no one able to take care of them.
8. Consumerism
- In Japan, Hello Kitty is everywhere.
- Japan is the number one importer of reggae.
- Japan imports approximately 85% of Jamaica’s annual coffee production.
- Japan is the world’s largest consumer of Amazon rainforest timber.
- Japan is the largest automobile producer in the world.
- After you’ve shopped in a store, the cashier or clerk will follow you outside; they will bow and offer you cookies and tea.
9. Food
- Kit Kat bars have the following flavor choices: Sweet Potato, Passion Fruit, Sakura Flower, Pumpkin Cheese Cake, Red Bean Paste, Apple Vinegar, and Green Tea covered with chocolate.
- Japanese pizza toppings include corn, mayonnaise, and sesame seeds.
- The most popular pizza topping is squid. Ew.
- It takes 1–2 hours for a pizza to be delivered.
- Raw horse meat is a popular food in Japan.
- Although whaling is banned by the IWC (International Whaling Commission), Japan still hunts whales under the premise of research. The harvested whale meat ends up in restaurants and supermarkets.
- Tsukiji market in Tokyo is the world’s largest fish market.
- Octopus, squid, jellyfish, and other unusual seafoods are very popular.
- Ramen noodles are a popular food in Japan, and it is widely believed extensive training is required to make a delicious soup broth. This is the subject of the movies Tampopo (1985) and The Ramen Girl (2008).
- Some farmers grow square watermelons in Japan.
- There are touch-screen menus at bars and restaurants.
- Beer cans have braille next to the flip top.
10. Vending Machines
- Japan has around 5.5 million vending machines. You can find them on almost every block.
- Japanese vending machines contain batteries, beer, wine, condoms, cigarettes, comic books, hot dogs, lightbulbs, crepes, soft drinks, coffee, juice, noodles, eggs, sandwiches, and toys.
- It is difficult to find a vending machine in Japan that dispenses chips or candy bars.
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31 Comments
they crazy
They are interesting people. 🙂
A few things:
1. Stick deodorant is available and deodorant is used.
2. Hello Kitty is not everywhere.
3. Pizza delivery is generally 30 min or less.
4. Raw horse meat is not popular.
5. Whale meat is rare at stores. More common in smaller Japanese bars.
6. Store clerks following you out and offering cookies and tea is not at all common.
I confirm.
Stop the bull… about Japan being a weird country. It might be different in many aspects, but don’t spread legends.
These people are FREAKS I am never going to japan
Actually, they’re not that much of freaks! I’m japanese, btw. They’re polite, unlike most other people- like you!
Fine, you are not welcome here anyway.
I love Japanese people and their life style.
What, this is absolutally ridiculious. THEY HUNT WHALES…. I LOVE WHALES….
CULL THEM ALL.
What about the dolphins that are captured and slaughtered in Taiji ! Barbaric!
same here
I love the Japanese. They are cute little people who are meticulous about everything.
but they slaughter cuter animals
Please don’t tell like that if you don’t know about japs…jist don’t believe everything the web tells you..if you go and see once you will understand I am not Japanese but we are tripurian sino-tibetians(search the web if you like) we know about them,the are friendly with “gaijins” not everywhere but they are really good people
Please don’t tell like that if you don’t know about japs…just don’t believe everything the web tells you..if you go and see once you will understand I am not Japanese but we are tripurian sino-tibetians(search the web if you like) we know about them,the are friendly with “gaijins” not everywhere but they are really good people
wow amazing facts of japan read more facts at i like specially no. 3,8, 13. I personally want to shift japan after reading this blog. you people really doing good post. know more about japan http://adtubeindia.com/blogs/2016/05/15-facts-about-japan-which-will-stun-you/
Excuse me, I would just like to say that some of these facts are true, while the majority aren’t. There are many things written on the internet that may not be completely honest. No offense intended, please try to withhold from making stereotypes based on facts that aren’t incredibly trustworthy.
[Don’t mind me, I’m just a bored Japanese girl. (#^ ^#)]
Which ones are not true about the Japanese? Their sushi or their invasion of the Philippines that millions were slaughtered?
STEREOTYPE! NOT COMPLETE TRUE. YOU FORGOT THE JAPANESE LOVE SUSHI!
I think im turning Japanese I think im turning japanese I realy think SO!!!
Japan has always interested me, they are very intelligent and kind. I woukd absolutely love to visit the Country ^3^
A great article. So true! The Japanese are indeed like these. Great sushi too.
WOULD YOUNSTOP I AM JAPANESE AND YOU ARE DISCRCRACING MY HAIRITGE NON OF THIS STUFF IS TRUE EXEPT FOR SQUARE WATERMELON ,TOUCHSCREEN MENUS AND NO SHOES IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!
I though the Japanese are all about watching porn movies and eating raw fish? What’s not true about it?
These people are nasty perverts??
I love this article. It’s true.
It is an interesting post to read. I have found a similar resource about japan. It is a video.
The Remarkable Facts About Japan That Will Surprise You
Japs Chinese korien they are all the same man
So true!!
Fact or fiction ? Nippon peoples and all asian male have small Dicks
So bad , i love them