5 Things Nobody Tells You About Living in Japan

Interesting read though I am not sure I agree with all of it.

5 & 4 I've found true.

3 I don't. Japan has a surprising (to me as a Canadian) number of little clinics which close, but I know for a fact that my daughter was hospitalised in off hours (midnight on a weekend) and we had access to her on New Years Eve and New Years Day.

2 is relatively true, though I feel at home here. Live in Canada for a year, and you can call yourself Canadian, but Japanese is about blood.

1 Yup, this is absolutely overstated by Westerners, partially since Western news loves weird Japan stories (like the recent bagelheads articles).

So it's mostly true.

"Hi! I sporadically visited Japan over the course of a decade, have a Japanese wife, and the de rigueur gaijin overinflated opinion of my Japanese ability. Here are a couple of kernels of insight scattered amongst a dozen bushels of stereotypes, errors, and misinformed bullsh!t".

Did I miss anything?

That is a pretty skewed and inaccurate representation of each item.

5. Low tech Japan just because he sees fax machines? Uh, every home in Japan has one. Where else would you see that convenience of sending some paperwork? Do offices overuse paper? Yes, but one little remark about one little device is not the equivalent of saying "Japan is low tech". Think about that the next time you sit on a toilet here, or use your ATM to do more than just pull out a tiny amount of money (psst, it does far more and allows much bigger transactions).

4. The houses have no heat. Sure they do. It's usually not central heating, true, but to say NO HEAT is ludicrous. And, to claim that portable space heaters are the only means is just plain wrong.

3. Hospitals closed on weekends. Nope. Crowded as hell on Saturday mornings. And, the ERs are obviously open when needed.

2. You will always be an outsider. This is true, but just how much do you want to integrate in a society where practically every face is Asian (and you may not be)? I think this is also a falsehood to say that "nobody tells you this". Japan has been insular for years, and if you don't believe it, read a history book. Oh, and Japan is NOT as homoegenous as you say.

1. The country really isn't that weird. Uh, who actually says that? This is the tail end of a post that should have been titled "Things I don't like about Japan", a typical collection of beefs.

The you-will-always-be-an-outsider mantra is one that I find typically comes from people who haven't made the effort to not be an outsider. It is easier to give all of Japan a black eye and cop out by blaming them for what is most typically a result of our own lack of effort and/or self-ghettoization. Gaijins do more to hold ourselves at arm's length from Japanese society than the Japanese do to hold us away from it.

I think some of you guys have lived in Japan so long you've lost your Western sense of humor (and sensibilities). The article is obviously tongue-in-cheek and aimed toward the newly-arrived gaijin.

5. Japan IS an odd mixture of low and high tech. I confess, I still prefer my own fax machine to email for sending important documents, so that aspect doesn't strike me as odd. For one thing, look at my age. And I've never had anyone hack my fax machine and send faxes to all my friends and clients asking them to send $5,000 to Dubai because I was supposedly in jail there.

But I've had to grudgingly go to email because that's how all my clients (who are going paperless) want documents sent. All except one -- a Japanese person and her Tokyo lawyers who want everything sent snail-mail because they don't trust email.

Credit cards in Japan? Might as well leave them home. No, wait -- they might be useful for slipping your door lock if you forget your key.

4. Have to agree with the author. I've lived with central heating ever since I was born more than fifty years ago. The coldest winters of my life were in Japan -- and look where I live now! Space heaters are a hardship for us spoiled Americans. And in a country where they have to heat in winter and air condition in summer, why on earth wouldn't they seal and insulate the walls? Especially given the high cost of electricity in Japan.

My wife just came back from visiting her family in Wakayama-ku, and says she froze her buns off. And she remarked how her family doesn't turn the lights on until it's fully dark. Been in the US too long, I guess.

3. I think the author is wrong here, unless he's talking about the small local doctor clinics. On my last visit three years ago we went to see my mother-in-law in the hospital on a weekend.

2. True, but not nearly as true as when I first went to live in Japan in 1975, newly out of two years' college Japanese language course and eager to practice and improve my Japanese. Only to find that hardly anyone would talk to me. They looked at me as if I were an ape trying to mimic human speech.

1. I remember seeing my first girls panty vending machine on a street corner. I had no idea they were used, and couldn't figure out why women would want to buy wrinkled-up panties out of a vending machine. . . .

If I left my credit card home, I would miss a lot of meals while at work.

I can think of at least four convenience store chains where mine is accepted.

I also receive faxes quite often, and universally at a convenience store via the multipurpose printing station. I often have to get container dispatch orders or other shipping documents that way.

RolandtheHeadless said:

I think some of you guys have lived in Japan so long you've lost your Western sense of humor (and sensibilities). The article is obviously tongue-in-cheek and aimed toward the newly-arrived gaijin.

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It's not that obvious to many newly-arrived or to prospective gaijin. I got the humor. They may not.

But I've had to grudgingly go to email because that's how all my clients (who are going paperless) want documents sent. All except one -- a Japanese person and her Tokyo lawyers who want everything sent snail-mail because they don't trust email.

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How many people in your home country don't trust email (or even Amazon) for various privacy concerns? Japan is not alone in that.

Credit cards in Japan? Might as well leave them home. No, wait -- they might be useful for slipping your door lock if you forget your key.

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Major foreign credit cards work here. The problem is the exchange rate that is used on them, which should be obvious no matter which country you go to, not just Japan.

4. Space heaters are a hardship for us spoiled Americans. And in a country where they have to heat in winter and air condition in summer, why on earth wouldn't they seal and insulate the walls? Especially given the high cost of electricity in Japan.

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Not every place has electric heat. Not every apartment has 40-liter tanks for kerosene. People like foreign teachers end up in such places because they are cheaper for the schools to rent for them. I've lived in apartments where I never touched a can of kerosene. Americans are spoiled indeed, and they often tend to waste fuel with higher than needed overnight thermostat settings.

1. I remember seeing my first girls panty vending machine on a street corner. I had no idea they were used, and couldn't figure out why women would want to buy wrinkled-up panties out of a vending machine. . . .

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Are you saying places like the U.S. don't have weird things? POV.
From an Aussie:
Weird American **** ﾂｫ America….Bloody Oath.

From a Brit:
America is Weird: The Inevitable Culture Shock Post | bgreinhart

Eccentric America- Offbeat Roadside Attractions Throughout America

I think some of you guys have lived in Japan so long you've lost your Western sense of humor (and sensibilities). The article is obviously tongue-in-cheek and aimed toward the newly-arrived gaijin.

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I have lost the ability to think its amusing to treat Japan like its a freakshow, just because we can do that even if its not fair or true. So I always approach these articles with caution.

I don't care who its aimed at. I don't much appreciate making up misinformation for the sake of making jokes. (although I did not see that in the link really). Rather than some idea that I have lost something for not living in the west, I prefer to think that I have matured as a human being and would have no matter where I lived.

My take on the article: 5. "Japan is low tech". Nonsense. They don't use some tech we got used to and we don't use some tech they are used to. I pay my bills at the conbini. How many Americans still write a check and put it in an envelope? Washlets are very kind on your backside and just plain intelligent. How many Americas wipe it all around with copious amounts of toilet paper. You think wiping alone is anywhere near as clean? And it was not that long ago that cell phones were way behind. And fax machines? They are not that old and they do have uses. You want to speak of old? How many cars have I seen in America that are about to fall apart?

4. "No heat" As others have said, lack of central heat is not the same as "no heat". I remember my grandfather fixing the central heater EVERY damned winter. Glad I don't have to do that. Space heaters have their good points. Easy replacement and they carry to the next room for example. The real problem in Japan is the construction methods of older, but not ancient,houses, which gives you a lack of real improvement options, and the CRIMINAL lack of insulation in the walls, and again, no real option for fixing it.

3. "Hospitals on weekends". Times have changed. Its better than it used to be. But I suspect it might be a better situation in Tokyo than elsewhere. Had to send my wife to the ER last year on a weekend, and finding a hospital was no picnic, even with native help.

2. "Insular Japan" Sorry, that one is pretty true. But you have to take into account that is not just foreigners faced with it. Japanese do it to EACH OTHER too! Japanese seem to be brought up to admire cold, stiff, unfriendly people and burying true feelings under a cold facade that they theorize promotes equality, but more than that fosters a lack of compassion and humanity, as seen in Japan's "ijime" problem. Its hard to tell if you have been accepted. Most Japanese wonder around still doubting it themselves, in constant fear of being out of the loop.

I am sure someone like Glenski has busted his butt to fit in. Well guess what? That is EXACTLY what everyone is expected to do, even Japanese themselves, anytime they join a new group, like a new company. Well guess what? That's BULLOCKS! If my only way into a group is to kowtow and kiss ***, I don't want in! But that group may find me a force to be reckoned with one day, since I do not weaken myself as they weaken themselves through that degrading process. Sorry, but I am nobody's dope.

But the stuff about the Koreans has a huge flaw. The Koreans born here have the option of attaining citizenship. I think they don't because I think they have to give up their real surnames for Japanese ones. Well, I don't think that is fair, but on the other hand, the Japanese want proof that they really want to be Japanese. If they can't let go of a surname then it looks like they don't. I don't agree, but I can understand.

1. Japan is as different and not so different as any other country and culture.

About the sex stuff, everybody thinks other cultures have weird sex ideas, including America as viewed by the Japanese. The real difference? Japanese don't feel the need to go on and on and on and on about it.

Its always a bit of a joke to me to hear western men so down on the panty vending machines as if they would not have liked to have a pair when they were a horny teenager. And you know what? I bet more blow up dolls are sold in America per capita. I cannot choose between them as to which is weirder. Why bother? Its not like anyone is going to fess up to a desire for a pair of panties or a blow up doll, is it? They won't tell you if they have any. So I always look at any "holier than thou" proclamations that seem to declare "I am sexually proper" with a hell of a lot of suspicion.

If you don't think the article is supposed to be humorous, take a better look at the site where it appears.

I'm sorry, I never had any desire for women's used panties, even as a horny young man. I really had no idea what need the vending machines were supposed to satisfy, but I guess it's better than selling used jockstraps.

I'm surprised people think the tech point is so off. Japan is not a rural back woods, but I was surprised when I got here. The reputation of Japan, particularly in the 80's and 90's was of some Blade Runner type place crafted by Sony. Then I got here, and for every electric toilet, there was a bank machine that closed at 6 pm. At that point in Canada, the bank technology was such that every store in the country took bank cards, and most could charge and give you $20 back on top of that. So Japan was ridiculously backwards to me in that respect. Plus, my Canadian bank card was good in backwoods Thailand, but useless except at the post office here. The Internet is fast and cheap with no caps, but the concept of a Tivo-like machine was a mystery for years, and they are still a ways away from a NetFlix. Of course Japan has automatic taxi doors. I prefer Apple products and mp3s over mini-discs any day, which still seem to be used a lot. It's better than before though.

So, I don't know if Japan was ever really ahead of the West by much, but it seemed to be behind the West's technology in a number of places. Like, if it's not invented here, Japan takes its time adapting to it. When I came, they were still holding onto PCS (?) cells. So, I related to that point in the article. It is exaggerated though, since most of the office computers I've used in the last few years has Office 2003, not 1998 :/ It's a comedy article though.


And the heating system here is poor to say the least. I need to get a fill up from the touyou man every month, or else I'll freeze... or rely on the electric rug. My grandmother-in-law is still relying on the wood stove in the center of the living room system. I can't fathom my grandparents living in a house that way. They were at least up to the standards of technology of the 1970's. My in-law has a 19th century heating system in the room with a flat-screen TV. Just plain anachronistic.

Maybe everyone here has different ideas of technology and good heating.

Not everybody here is familiar with what overseas perceptions of technology in Japan were in the eighties or nineties. Nor with the state of technology in the U.S. during that period.

Mike Cash said:

Not everybody here is familiar with what overseas perceptions of technology in Japan were in the eighties or nineties. Nor with the state of technology in the U.S. during that period.

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That's okay. Most of the people reading Cracked are probably American as is the author, and they're the target audience, so you might need to read it keeping their perspective in mind.

I'm also American.

Mike Cash said:

I'm also American.

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So then you fully understood the article. You won't have any of the problems some others here might have who aren't familiar with what overseas perceptions of technology in Japan were in the eighties or nineties. Nor with the state of technology in the U.S. during that period. Seems to be no problem.

Just imagine that post you just replied to was aimed at those others who are unfamiliar.

Why do you assume I'm not one of them?

Mike Cash said:

Why do you assume I'm not one of them?

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Why do you think I'm going to leave this conversation with you at this point?

I don't have any frame of reference for what the state of technology should be other than what it actually was and is. Don't have a clue about America.

The elephant and the blind men story.

Threads like this always remind me of the elephant story. Each person is convinced their perspective of the subject is correct and the other person is crazy in their thinking, LOL.

Uncle Frank

Regarding the technology thing, I agree with Mark of Zoro: "They don't use some tech we got used to and we don't use some tech they are used to."

One thing that did surprise me a lot when I came to Japan about 7 years ago was that almost nobody was using internet banking and everyone just goes to the combini or does it automatically.

Is there anyone here that does internet banking here in Japan? and what's your opinion regarding that?

I've used it in the past. No big deal.

Well, I think we need differentiate at this point the difference between the ability to provide technology and the actual providing of it. There is nothing in consumer tech the Japanese could not provide. But for various reasons, not everything is being provided.

I am not surprised net banking is not being used so much. Even I cannot really see the benefit. Oh, I see the POTENTIAL benefit. But I tried net banking with Citibank and it did nothing for me. The biggest reason I tried was to attempt to profit from exchange rates. But with the fees of Citibank there was really no way to do that. Fees? Yes, fees. The top reason in my mind that was the attraction to net banking was lower fees. I got nothing but robbed until I closed that garbage down.

Now I am sure those familiar with net banking can tell me a whole slew of wonderful things about it. But I am good with cash. I am not worried about getting mugged for all the cash I carry. My system for paying bills is all set. Why would I want to change? I think Japanese people are basically the same. Everything is fine. It all works. There is no reason to change.

You might also bring up stocks, investments and other things with net banking, but I don't think most Japanese do that for the big reasons that Japanese stock payouts are crap and so are generally available bank investments. The P.O. gave me 3 yen interest rate for my account there. Why even bother? If the goal is to promote investing, that is actually worse than nothing!

So again, what they have the ability to provide and what they do provide. You can come up with the most technologically advanced whatever, but its no good if people don't buy it. There is always that risk, and Japanese entrepreneurs probably know better what will and what won't catch on in Japan than we do.

For me the biggest thing I agreed with was how amazingly low tech Japan was.

I'm not talking about fax machines either,

I thought going to Japan would be akin to going to the future.

and it really was like going to the past.

the reasons for which are legitimate.

In Europe for example - a police car will ALWAYS be the latest model of the car. when a new BMW is released, often even before it is officially released to the public, the police have got it. They tune it up (which they officially deny) and fill it to the brim with the latest bits of technology.



This is because regardless of who is in power Europe is actually very left leaning.
The right leaning conservative party in the UK for example is actually more left than the Democrat party in the US.
This is the case in all of Europe. even the most right wing parties still hold fast to some pretty high socialist ideals.

This is reflected in the money that is given to instruments of the state (fire, police, ambulance, army, government buildings etc)

Japan is a very right wing country. This is a mindset of small government (the exact opposite of socialism)
Thus the instruments and state infrastructure clearly have less money spent on them.

So for this reason, I felt Japan was actually quite backwards.
Seeing police cars that were clearly several years out of date, with red lights on them that were not strobing LED type, and fire engines that looked positively cute...compare the 2 for yourself

Small government? Japan? Not socialist? Japan?

Perhaps not politically socialist, but certainly culturally so.

I don't understand what cop cars being a couple years old and using revolving lights instead of strobes has to do with anything. Or in what way the fire fighting apparatus isn't adequate to the task.