That would be amazing! Some tips on intonation and pronunciation for common words as well as slang would be nice to hear too. Learning the written language alone is doable but speaking it correctly without native input... not so much lol.
I'd pay. He's very polite and friendly and I would gladly pay for lessons. He's also quite knowledgeable and personable and has solid experience in teaching.
What a cool idea! I love this language and when George speaks it sounds like music. I'm sure you're very busy George, but if you recorded the lessons you'd only have to teach them once. Something to ponder!
My aunt and her boyfriend actually got rejected when entering a restaurant in Tokyo. That´s because the workers at the restaurant were ”afraid” of not being able to provide a good service for them, because the people working there couldn´t speak english.
It is interesting, for a culture that is supposedly so super polite, to show a guest the door for no good reason (something that isn't their fault or did nothing wrong).
@@bencze465 Yeah I thought so too, but then again maybe from their perspective _they_ would be the rude ones and the ones in the wrong since if they don't speak english they think they'd provide poor services to their foreign customers and so they just resort to the "no serving foreigners" policy altogether ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Apparently honour is still very important to Japanese (or at least some) and so they take their role very seriously and diligently, and if not speaking English means they'd have to sacrifice their pride and honour, well they'll just flat out refuse to offer their services to non Japanese rather than risk a "poor performance" on their part.
Totally true! The part where the youtuber said about it some japanese restaurants don´t allow foreigners its true! I´ve got a friend who went to Japan, like 4 years ago, and this kind of situation happened to him, we´re from Brazil. He told me he got very unconfortamble and felt bad. This is not a "tale" or something, unfortunately it´s true :(
I can understand that honestly. Japan is popular and nice place and lot of people visit it ,which can make some of you uncomfortable. So that might be reason for this. But I am not Japanese (I am Czech :P) ,so I might be wrong. Anyway ,it's kinda fascinating how much traditions Japan have and keep.
@@chrisprizzle278 No man ,my english is pretty bad and I do a lot of grammar mistakes. So anyway how long have I been speaking english ? I started in 1st grade and now I am high schoold student ,so it might be around 10 years now. In Czech - English is 2nd language you learn since 1st grade of elementary school. I also speak little bit of Russian (But it's not that hard since Russia and Czech are both Slavic countries)
Is it just the language issue though? I heard someone saying that it has to do with them being afraid that they won't be able to comply to foreigners' needs but idk how much truth there is to it.
I experienced a “no foreigners” restaurant, but responded to the host in Japanese and she let me in. I’m sure there are some xenophobic places but I think most of them are just a result of Japanese people getting nervous about having to speak English.
That was my thought. Any "no foreigners" places I saw, I just assumed they didn't have anyone proficient in English. At the end of the day, I'm in their country, if I can't speak the language, that's on me *shrug*
@@KennesuM I lived in Japan for a year (I was studying Japanese so I could speak it). I never encountered any places that turned me away. Even when I was in Tokushima (where I only saw one other foreigner the three weeks I was there) I was never turned away. Maybe it's a language issue?
We saw SO many restaurants that wouldn't allow foreigners, in the fancy areas most of the time, even if we greeted in japanese they just nodded their heads. It was just CLEAR they didn't want us in there. Again its nice to think of a place thats perfect but no place is, im sure most of those places are what you described but there are some that purely dont want foreigners and at the end of the day thats fine since its their country like you said and i still enjoyed the hell out of japan.
How long did it take you to to get the language down to where you were comfortable speaking it? (Asking cause I am working on learning Japanese myself, sorry if this has been asked already)
On the shoe thing in Germany: German people ask when coming in if they should take off their shoes. The host decides based on the state of their home, like if the floor's already dusty and you plan on cleaning it later, most people let the visitor keep their shoes on. If you just cleaned the floor, you tell them to take their shoes off. Though it is normal to not take shoes off if it's just a quick visit of like 15 minutes. So, if a German invites you into their home, just ask.
Same with in the US mostly, the main thing is that the US and Europe don’t have Tatami floors. Tatami is very hard to clean, and fairly common in Japan, although not as much used as houses/apartments become more western.
French here, it works similar as in Germany. Depends where you go in the house too, if you stay in the living room with a tile floor it may be fine but shoes is bedrooms with carpet floors or wooden floors are a no-go
In Czechia it's probably similar to Japan, a total no go for shoes inside regular homes (e.g. except cottages and stuff). Sometimes right behind the entrance door it might be ok, but anywhere further no. Only 1 time in my life I was in a house here where they didn't take off shoes and it felt super weird
The Japanese-only restaurants do exist. There’s a few in the more shady areas of Shinjuku. Sometimes though it’s just because they don’t have space, or (as a lady attempting to eat by herself) it’s just not safe.
I definitely have been turned away, usually very politely about "not enough seats" or "no english speaking waiters". I think generally a (polite) excuse is used to save face in nicer areas, like near myogodani.
I wouldn't consider that really a Japanese thing. I have seen those in a lot of countries. The kind of backalley bar with a lot of regular customers who will all be indifferent, unfriendly or even hostile to tourists or even native strangers. I even know such premises in my own town.
@@boooster101 No, literally on the door there’s a sign in English saying Japanese Customers Only. There’s a back alley one near my apartment, and they held no issues with me being there, but when it clearly says in English and Japanese that it’s only Japanese customers, it’s a little bit more than “only local customers”. Plus, the point was- in the video, he said they don’t exist. We were just supplying our own experiences to say they do - not saying it’s only Japan or not.
@@katiemelin9317 Ah okay, I know a very few where it's implicitely not allowed to come as foreigner. Also some foreign communities where they are absolutely against outsiders. But you won't find any signs because i am from Austria and you know what happened here about 80 years ago. Any shop or restaurant doing that officially would be shunned by the people, media and the government.
@@boooster101 Agreed, and that is true. In fact, I thought of a few different bars in different countries I’ve heard of being unfriendly to outsiders. I’ve never been myself, but I know that there’s quite a few places that detest tourists, so I know it’s not just Japan. Honestly, those bars in my experience -are- pretty rare. The two times I’ve gotten turned away was when I was a lady going by herself to a drinking establishment. The look on their face was just they didn’t feel it was a safe idea.
Lol I'm in the US. I tried to make a rule about not wearing shoes around the house, but my boyfriend wouldn't listen. It's very frustrating 😅. In contrast, I once studied abroad in Spain. The Spanish woman hosting me hung signs in her house that listed rules for the foreign students. One of the rules is that we MUST wear shoes at all times except in the shower or when we go under the bed covers. Maybe she was concerned about the smell of feet? She never explained the reasons, so I don't know why. However, the other Spanish households I visited didn't seem to care if you had your shoes on or not.
Don't most Mediterranean houses have tile floors? I live in the UK people mainly have carpets here, but you do get some wood and lino floors. But I always take shoes off even if they tell you it's ok
No it’s totally true that there is “no foreigners” signs in Japan, even Tokyo. Plenty in Kyoto. That’s on restaurants a lot, or it will say “Japanese speaking people only”. One gothic fashion shop on the Main Street of Harajuku that I really wanted to go into had a sign saying no foreigners. Totally a thing.
It's not for xenophobic reasons though, or well most aren't, it's just a matter of them not being able to service you because you don't speak the same language!
Generally it's because they can't speak English, or are really self conscious about their English. If you speak a basic level of Japanese they'll usually be fine with you. So basically just make an effort.
@@nightcoreepidemic1104 It's kind of bullshit though. And it's quickly realized if you've ever had a deaf friend or coworker, or if you've ever been to a night market in Thailand. There is SO MUCH you can communicate with just numbers on a calculator and gestures. It's insanely easy to have a commercial interaction without even speaking the same language.
@@Adrominik Yeah, I just wanted to make sure people understood that this wasn't something racist but more like they didn't want to provide bad service. I do agree that it's an outdated mindset and there are probably some shops that work without anyone who speaks english and just gesture to the menu that we just haven't heard about.
@@nightcoreepidemic1104 Sorry, but I think that excuse is bullshit. There are plenty of restaurants in Japan that have menus ONLY in Japanese without any English speaking staff and they still welcome foreigners. Although in the west Japan is known for having the friendliest people, they have a long history of xenophobia, racism, and exclusivity.
Some of us were pranked by native Asians to rub the chopsticks as a joke. I was told by a friend of mine from S Korea that it is a sign of knowing your way around the culture. I had a little chat with him after I watched your first video - he thought it was funny. Almost as funny as when I told him in America you HAVE to yell when talking to people as it is a sign of enjoying the conversation. (I guess I had it coming LOL)
It’s actually true that there are Japanese only restaurants. I’ve sat down at a restaurant and the server ignored me and my friend for over 15 minutes and then Japanese people came after us and the server helped them immediately. It’s very rare but those restaurants exist in even Tokyo.
That happened to me a couple times on my first trips to Japan. But it's not because they don't want to serve foreigners, it's because they expect you to lift your hand or call them when you're ready to order! Sometimes servers in Japan they won't come up to your table unless you gesture to them that they can bother you.
@@NejisMate trust me, I called “sumimasen” many times. It was also a u-shaped counter, and he watched us take a seat. He made a choice not to serve us.
I had a similar experience in okinawa as well. One outright said no foreigners and did not admit us, another was extremely slow and ignored us most of the time. Main problem is that most of the staff spoke little English and the menu was entirely in Japanese with no pictures.
As a dane, the "don't wear shoes indoors" one surprised me a lot, i thought that would just be common sense everywhere, to not drag mud, dirt and potential poop indoors with your shoes.
Same, my family is Indian but moved to the UK and when I didn't see a bunch of shoes and slippers in the entrance I was like "wtf". Some people here where shoes inside the bed *vomit*
here in Australia, it is very common to leave your shoes on inside. unless they got some sort of hard to clean carpet which is rare then it is perfectly fine to leave them on. of cause we always take them off in our own homes because it is more comfortable.
I plan on doing a foreign exchange for high school in Japan, George you should make a video where you talk about some things to do and not do in Japan. I feel like it would be more trust worthy info coming from a Japanese person/citizen
I actually went to Japan for 4 months exchange earlier in 2016 Actually........ All the people were good and nice to me but one of the biggest problem I faced was to 1) making friends 2) Talking to people(I mean no one actually wanted to talk to me) I just talked to couple of people and the other girl who came with me as exchange student 3) and some were just not very appreciative Like I mean kind of bullying but not that extreme
@@louiejoon5993 I went as an exchange student to Japan in 2001. I had the opposite experience. I was a loner normally and was not used to all of the attention I received. I couldn't sit with my other American friends during lunch. I had a group that grabbed me and wanted me to sit with them. In class, during the break periods, I got surrounded. It was exhausting but fun.
South Africa, we either wear shoes everywhere or we go barefoot everywhere. Most public places have huge mats at all doors to catch the dirt and most houses have a welcome mat for the same reason.
Depending on individual upbringing though, it would be easier to develop a habit of taking off your shoes when you enter a building, than to dust your shoes off on a doormat. People usually just step over and on a doormat without dusting off their shoes
I was with a group of friends in the country side and we wanted to get some food so we stopped in a restaurant. we were told the they don’t serve foreigners. My friend was born in Kobe and she is white but speaks fluently Japanese.
I had kinda similar experience on Koya-san, it was pouring rain at lunch time in the off season, so all the tourist places were closed. a very elderly restaurant owner just kept yelling “eigo wakarimasen!!” (I don’t speak English!) As I tried to speak in Japanese to him... he was so confused by my white face and white friends that all he expected was English! Eventually I stopped and said, “excuse me sir, I’m sorry... I have a Tokyo accent, I am speaking Japanese” and he was like “?! Oh! You speak Japanese?! Come on in!” And he ended up giving us extra mochi with our udon as I tried my best to chat to him about Australia! Lol.
I've heard similar accounts. I wonder if George has only lived in the city, as this sounds like something you'd probably be more likely to run into in rural areas where foreigners are not as common.
Yep I’ve been turned away many times at many restaurants In japan. They never say they don’t serve foreigners, but more so come up with excuses like full or give hand signals for no when it’s obvious there’s room. From my understanding is they don’t want to go through the hassle of serving English speaking people. You only see this side of japan as a tourist.
Sort of late, but unfortunately foreigners are not allowed in some restaraunts. I was stationed in Yokohoma and at many bars we would get told "no gaijin" (gaijin means foreigner in japanese). It's unfortunate, yet true
Yeah. Sasebo was the same way. There would generally be a guy standing outside who would put his arms into an X as we approached to indicate no gaijin. It honestly never bothered me, but I'm surprised he doesn't know about that.
Maixlinh, not sure where your from. But here in parts of the southern U.S.A. Bless your heart or bless their heart. Is account to calling someone an idiot.
I ran into quite a few "Japanese only" places in Okinawa while stationed there. It didn't think much of it but it felt like those old western movies where the stranger walks into a saloon and everyone stops what they're doing...and then a little old lady makes an X with her arms while shooing you away lol.
That’s exactly what happened to my brother when he was stationed there! Maybe it’s specific to certain places in Okinawa? They did the X arms thing and said “Japanese only”
Loved the video George. You have an amazing culture and i did my best to learn its customs and practices! Hope to visit again real soon :) *also the "japanese only restaurant" thing is about the staff not speaking english! i should have mentioned that.
Unless they have changed in the past twenty years, and they may have, they don't wait for you to talk. It is based purely on your appearance. They will wave their hands in front of them in a cross and say 'No gaijin'. When I was over there we were advised to just leave.
In Mexico we use shoes in the house, the culture of removing them just does not exist. (Our floors are usually tile and we sweep and mop often) There is usually a mat in the entrance where one wipes his shoes before entering houses.
exactly the same in Australia, we only really have carpet in the bedrooms and rarely the loungeroom. the only time it is expected to take them off is real estate rental viewings cause they just cleaned the place and want it to stay looking nice to show off.
Same in the US. I don't know why everyone assumes we're dragging mud and dog shit in, when most people's daily life outside their home involves walking on concrete.
@@Fsilone are you telling me you don’t wash your doorknobs? A doorknob is more unhygienic than a floor, so just mess up the floor right? While we’re at it, a toilet is more unhygienic than a bathroom mat so I guess I should just shit on the floor. Because if one thing is dirty in my house, screw it. Clean that one dirty thing??? Pshhhh nah, make the rest of the house dirty to match!
"Japanese-only" restaurants exist all over Japan, and can be found in many places, notably, Kabukicho and Ikebukuro. When coronavirus is considered a "non-threat", I'd love to show you when I'm there again! I go frequently. It would still be fun to go places where I am accepted, haha.
It is so typical of humans to assume something does not exist because they, ( the party that would obviously not be exposed to this because they are not foreign and are a native Japanese citizen) have never encountered it themselves, or their friends. It happens, a lot. ignorance is bliss.
Honestly learning from a native speaker is a bad idea. I am a native speaker of russian, but I have no ida how to teach that or explain it. However I am fluent in chinese and other languages, and can teach them easily.
Hey George, Love your videos! Unfortunately the “Japanese Only” restaurants do exist, I’ve been stopped at the door before but fortunately my wife is Japanese and I can speak Japanese and after they realise this, they let me in. This has ONLY happened at smaller privately owned restaurants or Izakayas, with older staff in the countryside. Once when it happened, the owner told me it’s because he doesn’t want to make a mistake with the order or provide bad service as he generally has conversation with many people!
had a moment where i visited a japanese restaurant with a pretty large group in my country, everyone decided to change places after ordering, waiter got confused he had apparently written down where everyone where sitting. service was pretty nice at that place
In South Africa, it is considered acceptable to wear shoes in the house, but also it is considered acceptable to go out in public barefoot. I remember all my primary school years i went barefoot.
Haha, you beat me to it. I would like to add that you might get something thrown at you if you put shoes on the furniture. I suppose it's because we live in a dusty country, not a wet country
@@secretlythreeducksinamansu3546 If you don't mind me asking, just out of curiosity... What is the perception of South Africa in New Zealand? Since we interact alot with things like Rugby, i was wondering if we are maybe seen differently than the normal stereotype of "No internet hunting Rhinos for food and living in huts".
@@johnlee6956 I do take my shoes off when I'm inside my house since I was most likely outside and don't want to dirty the house. But I would put them on while inside.
My mom (we're polish living in germany) always tells our guests to feel free to leave their shoes on and pretty much the most part of my family always does that too 🤔
Yeah but it was in Canada which they were canadian or maybe Americans which didn't know that was a Japanese etiquette for eating sushi but I'm Japanese- American & way eat it, I first removed fish off riceroll & then slide inside soy sauce & put back on roll that's my way eating sushi!!!!
in regards to #4, and the Japanese only restaurants, ya they do exist I've been to japan many times(i'm an American my step dad was sent there many times), and while they are certainly not common, there will be restaurants where they will come up and tell you to leave, HOWEVER, 9 times out of 10 it is because no one there can speak English and they don't want to offend with the English, or because there is a big wait time, if your fluent or conversational in Japanese more often then not just saying(in Japanese) "oh sorry, how long is the wait time?" and they'll be ok, however there ARE certain restaurants, more often than not in the country, that will not allow foreigners in there under ANY circumstances, HOWEVER those are super rare. edit: wow, wasn't expecting this to be that popular, alright. Also i want to point out that what country DOESN'T have those xenophobic type? I mean the person hes reacting to, Chris Broad, is from the UK.
I can never get enough of George's videos. Its addictive as hell. Ive always been fascinated with Japanese culture. Keep it up bro! Much love from the US
i’ve actually heard from a lot of people who took part of the JET program that there are many japanese only restaurants and maybe you haven’t experienced it because you aren’t a foreigner? i’ve even heard mixed japanese people saying they’ve been kicked out of restaurants even though they’re citizens
I have a friend who taught English in China and they have restaurants that don't allow Japanese people. There must be a lot of animosity between them still
@@chappy2121 Racism in East Asia is incredibly shocking. It was probably one of the most confronting things for me. Not many people behave that way, but when they do it's really intense and they don't hide it at all. A lot of the racist comments don't make any sense either. It's not at all different from racism in western nations.
@@sknkpop Well, I guess. You don't have lynch mobs or anything *actually* serious from the racism. Just some hurt feelings and maybe mild inconvenience. Most people there aren't racist, so I don't feel it is a big issue same as in the west. Almost all westerners aren't racist, in fact they are *anti-racist*, yet we make it such a big issue when it is a non-issue.
@@LilJbm1 I'm not sure why you're treating this as a race to the bottom. Given you only understand race relations in Asia as "hurt feelings" I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't know very much about the history in that region of the world. The United States is not the King of the castle. It's just louder than everywhere else right now.
@@sknkpop Well if we want to go back in time I guess we could look at mass raping etc. of other Asian groups, but I don't know if I'd even call that "racism". It was certainly awful, but was it done because they were a different race? I'd argue it was because they were of different nationality, which isn't the same thing, and those were war crimes. However, I was talking more about current events and not atrocities from the 1930s and 40s. I was also talking about Japan specifically, but of course China has done far worse and actually in modernity (those muslims being thrown into concentration camps). China is definitely *overtly* racist, especially against blacks, and more importantly their actions go past hurt feelings. They evict people from their homes, throw them in prison, concentration camps, blame them for pandemics and deport them. Anyway, my goal with my comment wasn't to make it a race to the bottom. My point was things are really not that bad in Japan and you people should have some perspective about the world. Same with the United States etc. There's a lot of racism in the US right now (but it isn't directed at the races you might think it is) and that racism has had actionable consequences to the people, not comparable at all to present-day Japan and its apparent racism. I don't appreciate you assuming I don't know anything about the Asian-Pacific region though.
The japanese only restaurant thing is 100% true. Had some co-workers there, tried to eat at one of the restaurants and they were all asked to leave and was told they would not be served there. This only happened once however the entire month they were there.
Hey George! discovered you today and watching through videos and wanted to share something: in 2010 I did a trip with friends to japan, a dream for all of us. We experienced first hand the "guy running toward us moving his hands saying Japanese only" toward a normal restaurant. Now, I very firmly believe that it's not a "no foreigners" policy, but more like a "no GROUP of foreigners" because when we met with a japanese friend the next day, we never had any problem for the rest of the month. the first 3 days when we were traveling on our own (6 people) we got all kinda stares, as soon as our japanese friend was touring us around those stares disappeared immediately. I had the feeling that "foreigners don't know anything about our culture, they will break the rules, but if someone is guiding them everything is cool"! Greetings from Switzerland
I wonder if there are anti-discrimination laws that would prevent this in Japan? For example in the UK, it is fully illegal to refuse entry to any business to anyone because of their race or disability and the company can be sued for doing it.
Wow...that's so rude...I mean, he said gaijin, which assumes you know what it means, which makes you know Japanese, which means they just don't welcome foreigners. If that was true, its just so bad..
I'm Japanese-American but was bringing my white friend from the US to a 居酒屋 in 千葉県 and was turned away because him. I didn't know it was a thing until that happened.
@@misseddy Hi, I just wanted to mention that you shouldn't really use this comment section to judge if it's rare or not. First, the people who are saying this happened to them are being represented unfairly, as people who did not encounter no foreigners aren't speaking about it, but of course the people who did, are speaking about it. I did not encounter any no foreigner stores or restaurants in Japan when I was there for 3 weeks, nor did my friend who spent about 6 months there or any one I know in real life who has spent time there. But yes, it appears to be happening.
@@Varlshunger I understand that. But it is ignorant to ignore everyone else in the comment section who says otherwise. Japanese people don't tend to be racist and I have personally have never experienced it with Japanese people. But even my own Japanese born friends have told me their own personal stories of when they witnessed biased against westerners. Im glad you and you friend did not suffer discrimination. But as a very unique looking person myself with piercing, im bound to get funny and judgemental looks from Japanese too.
I wonder if the restaurants that turn away people are Yakuza restaurants. Just like how some Italian restaurants in the USA would close down for Mafia business back in the day.
@@B.M666 I was thinking maybe it was more a hint on how to properly taste the sushi. But it could be that you'll be looked at as odd or unusual, and therefore a tip on how to blend in, or possibly that dunking it in condiments could be perceived as an insult, insinuating that the food is not delicious enough and the taste needs to be covered up with soy sauce. I don't see it that way, but perhaps they do.
I went to Wal-Mart about a month ago to return a pair of pants and get a refund. I didn't get cash back like before they just refund the money back into your bank account.
Actually, it's not really that right now. There's currently a shortage of coins in the US so many places aren't accepting cash because they can't give change (Although I think the coin shortages has since been solved)
When i was stationed in Kanagawa, there was a "Japanese Only" restaurant outside the base with a big sign stating that. I even went to take a peek inside and the waitress ran like her life depended on it to the front where i was looking in and hand signaled me not to come in. Didn't take any offense to it but i had always wondered what that was about. I also remembered a table with a group of older men, all in suits looking at me. Not going to assume it was a Yakuza meeting or owned restaurant but i had always wondered what all that was about. This was all during my time 2001-2005. Enjoying the vids, keep it up.
Thank you so much for these videos! I would like to travel to Japan soon after things have calmed down and these videos have been very helpful, especially from the perspective of someone that has lived there!
In mexico we wear shoes in other peoples house, when its in our own we can use but since its more comfortable to not use we just go about on socks or slippers
Here in England we are trying to be card only when paying for goods due to Covid and just using contactless payment. Some households here allow shoes in the house. Some let shoes while you're downstairs but take them off for upstairs, it depends on the individual household.
The restaurants not allowing foreigners is definitley a thing, personaly i've only seen it in tourist areas. What i was told was that either the restaurant just wants to serve the locals, not tourists so they have a place to eat peacefully, or that because the staff cannot speak english or other languages they don't want to risk giving poor service as the service culture in japan is pretty adamant about pleasing the customers. Though I've also heard that some bars and clubs will refuse access to people of darker skin tones (usually black men/women) which seems to be more racially motivated
why spread propaganda that makes negative implications about a place when you're going off hearsay? that's exactly what's wrong with the world right now
@@tictacterminator the restaurant bit is actually first hand experience. as for the other, i've heard it from multiple sources, japanese only bars exist, and pretending racism doesn't exist in japan doesn't do anyone favours. Every country deals with racism.
@@silverliening6511 homogeneous societies are inherently racist to a certain extent. They might not all think they are the superior race, but they can certainly be xenophobic.
@@bowmanc.7439 exactly, from everything ive seen in japan it's not the same aggressive physical, confrontational type of situation you see in other countries. Its more like you can't live here, eat here, or work here. Does that mean that japan as a whole is racist? no, but there are racist actions in effect. It also doesn't mean that you can't live in japan as someone who is not japanese and never encounter that kind of stuff.
Yeah pretty much. It's not a big deal you can usually tell if the owners shoes are by the door neatly. Plus vacuums exist so it's no biggie and if your not staying long it'd be weird if you took them off. Unless your muddy but you'd take them off anyway for that reason soooo.
For sure Americans almost ALL dont worry about shoes in the house. As someone else said, its very easy to see if a certain residence does NOT allow it because you will see all the shoes inside the door when you walk in. I dont know if we (americans) do this for any specific reason, but when i went to London, England and to Wales they also did NOT remove shoes in almost all of the houses i was in. America's culture comes directly from England so maybe this is just a part of the culture that has survived the trip across the Atlantic Ocean...?
@@JabuticaJenkins its a mix. It was done in europe commonly before the modern era, so it would have come from all over europe (majority of population in our formative years as a country)
I will never forget the time when we visited Japan with my friends. We were so conscious about following the “no talking in the train” rule that we weren’t able to communicate properly which station to get off . We ended up being separated because got off in different stations...Hahaha😂
In Germany there’s rarely a place were you need to take your shoes off and even if you visit friends/other ppl it’s normal to ask if you should take your shoes off or not, some ppl will even tell you to just leave them on right away, so yeah pretty common to step into ppl’s houses with your shoes on!
How do you keep your home clean? If you or your guest don't take off shoes at home, then you are bringing in all the dirt and germs from the ground outside. That means you will have to vaccuum and mop afterward every time friends come over. It is tiring no?
@@ladolcevita2326 Most people in cities tend not to trudge through the mud on a daily basis. If you do, and the shoes are incredibly dirty, they are of course still taken off. Also - regarding the germs, they will get inside anyway and already are.
Yeah but in Germany you always have to ask first. In the US people almost never take their shoes off. If you ask someone to take their shoes off in the US, you are seen as a germophobe or uptight.
I'm from Germany, too, and I can tell that this is not true for all the houses I have been to. Yes sometimes they tell you, you can leave on your shoes but I consider it very rude when someone does not take theirs off in my home. So better ask.
@@SpikeTheWolf OP was saying its ironic that Japan holds such a negative stigma for tattoos when theres a whole category of tattooing based on japanese art and culture.
Haha, I'm half Norwegian/Filipino so I was happy to hear you'd like to visit both of my countries! Born and raised in Norway, so I could be your guide if you come here haha. And I'm kinda nervous about my next visit to Japan since I have way more tattoos now than the first time. I can still cover them up with regular clothes, but I want to go to a proper onsen. And the last time I was there I was turned away from an amusement park because of my tattoos :c I'm a girl, and I'm 1.63, so I'm not really that scary haha. Great video!
I am trying to learn Japanese and come to Japan with my friend because both of us enjoy hearing about Japan and their culture .😍I really like your English because it so good and fluent . You did a great job and studied it because many people find it hard to learn.
I went into a “Japanese Only” Resturaunt in Machida once. My girlfriend was Chinese and they didn’t know she was a foreigner, too. As soon as we walked in they started telling her to take me out of there. When she spoke, they figured out that she wasn’t Japanese and told her to leave, as well. I’ve found several Izakaya that were also Japanese only, but I think that’s because they cater more toward Japanese businessmen who are relaxing after work than because they didn’t want me there. I was pretty upset at first, but knowing how people in the US sometimes treat foreigners, I got over it pretty fast. It is what it is, and there are plenty of places that welcomed me and I’d rather do business where I’m wanted.
I believe they don't want to serve foreigners because they don't have English menu and no staff can speak English. It is quite common in Japan when you are not in Tokyo and Okinawa. Luckily I learned Japanese so I can enjoy the meal in this kind of restaurant.
@@bcjai I would believe that about the Izakaya. In the restaurant I was with my girlfriend. She could speak, read, and write Japanese reasonably well. There was no language barrier there.
@@PrinceAlberts Oh.....I have never walk in to this kind of izakaya. Maybe I only went to Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Ishigaki island, Fukuoka. These cities have so many foreign tourists. They cannot compete if they only serve the local. Or maybe I didn't go to any high-class Izakaya? 😂 Anyway, I really want to know the truth.
@@bcjai I believe it was Gustave Flaubert who said “There is no truth. There is only perception.” My truth is that I don’t know why we were asked to leave. I lived near Tokyo, but the Resturaunt was in Machida, a smaller town outside the city. That was about 15 years ago, so it may have changed but now, anyway.
@@bcjai _> "I believe they don't want to serve foreigners because they didn't have English menu and no staff can speak English."_ That doesn't explain why they wanted only the foreigners in a mixed group to leave, since the non-foreigners would work as interpreters. (Although in this case they thought the Chinese person was a non-foreigner, but the point still stands)
In my experience, shoes are not worn in houses when someone expects to stay inside for more than about 10 minutes. But if someone is just stopping over real quick, or just running inside to grab something, shoes may stay on. An exception to that is typically when someone is hosting a medium/large gathering of people. If there are more than about 15 people, shoes will often stay on. But it also depends on how dirty someone’s shoes are. They (usually) wouldn’t be so rude to track mud and snow through someone’s living room. My house growing up has always been a pretty strict no-shoe zone, apart from some exceptions mentioned above. Oh also, if I were to wear shoes inside, I would absolutely avoid walking on carpeted floors. Wood and tile only.
I’ve eaten with chopsticks since I was a little kid when ever my family would go get sushi( I’m Italian and German and my grandparents were born in the US). I’ve never seen anyone here in the US rub chopsticks together so I don’t know where that came from. I’ve also never seen anyone stick their chopsticks in rice like that
Me either I'm from America and I never seen that happen. I grew up watching anime too so idk who started that rumor but that is no unnatural. If I see the wood breaking off on a chopstick I just throw them out and get another set. I do see people stick their chopsticks in their food like that because it holds the chopsticks place so they won't loose them or drop them on the floor.
I’m from the UK and I see people rub their chopsticks all the time, if they’re the wooden ones you pull apart, if they use them at all 🙄 it drives me mad!
George: **apologises for being unable to respond to every comment** American Narrator: _"This is because in Japan it is considered rude not to reply to somebody as it is a great dishonor to their ancestors who spent many centuries creating language."_ 🤔 Haha I feel like the more I watch these the more I understand American tourists.
4:45 SORRY GEORGE, but this happened to me in Osaka. I walked into a restaurant and waited to be seated but the employees ignored me. Then, I noticed a yellow sign on the door that wrote "JAPANESE ONLY. NO FOREIGNERS." I was surprised, but it's not my country and not my rules. I'm just a visitor lol.
Two things from the perspective of someone living in the Netherlands -It's not actually uncommon for visitors to wear shoes in the house (at least in my area) This kind of depends on how close you are with the person you're visiting or who's visiting you, and how long they're going to be there. But I'd say most of the time, especially for visits that don't last the whole day people will wear their shoes inside. (Of course you can ask them to take them off) -If you do come to the Netherlands and you need somebody to help navigate and who speaks both Dutch and English (And little tiny bits of Japanese) I'm right in Amsterdam!
In america (the usa) it's not unheard of for people to wear shoes in their house. Though in my home growing up it wouldn't be surprising hearing my moms "dragon voice" from the other room say "SHOES" if she can hear you still are wearing your shoes inside. She is the same about hats.
In our house, it's an unwritten rule to leave your shoes at the door. We don't make visitors do it, but if a visitor does take off their shoes we see it as a sign of them being comfortable with us.
The money tray is a thing in Northern Italy as well, not all stores etc do it but a decent 80% do, I have also seen this in Romania, I've been to Berlin, Reykjavik, NYC, Amsterdam and Cracow also and I don't recall the money tray being used there.
(4:40) I haven't been to Japan myself, but I've heard that in some regions, they aren't too welcome to foreigners/tourists. But for what I've understood, this isn't a widespread thing, so this isn't exactly a Japan thing but more a specific-location thing. - It is likely that a Japanese person wouldn't experience this in Japan, and miss it happening to actual foreigners. Just like me, as a Swede, I don't know how foreigners are in general treated in Sweden, since I'm not treated as a foreigner. But as said, it isn't a common thing anyway.
Hahah my friend is on Master's in Sweden and she mentioned she feels a bit alienated because not too many Swedes want (even if they know them) to speak any other language than Swedish, even with foreigners present. Funnily enough, she's half-Mexican/Canadian and I'm Serbian so we use English to teach each other our languages 😅
the best for your skin would be to even stop wearing socks, so skin can breathe and feet relax at least we should take shoes off when ever we can, wearing shoes in the house is just insane
@@MakamaFEET Just watching tv serie and movies i have seen only americans wearing shoes in the house. It's always "funny" seing them, being surprised, that it's not the same in other countries.
The part about Restaurants NOT LETTING IN FOREIGNERS. Its Not actually about the fact that you are a foreigner ,this is referred to foreigners who are especially black ,white , south asian , hispanic and also to west asian + north african ,which the last 2 (west asia + north africa) im referring to the middle-east (since middle-eastern is referred to any volks in west asia and parts of north africa) so anyhow. If you notice ,that the people who work at this restaurant , dont want to let you in ezc, this is mainly NOT because you are foreign, its because a lot of the workers at the restaurants think that you probably can not speak japanese and it IS a hassle for some japanese people to deal with you when both cant understand eachother (mainly this also especially happens if the restaurant has a LOT of customers at the moment ,which is already stressful or CAN be very stressful , a foreigner who cant speak japanese will be a + to theyr stress level that theyr already in. I have white friends who experienced this before, they did not want to let them in (they were 4 people) , but unlike a lot of other foreign people ,they can speak enough japanese , they answered the man who didnt want to let them in , in japanese, and told him that they are good enough to communicate in theyr language. Thats when he said ''OH OK'' and finally let them in... he probably realised that it wont be hassle with them (the restaurant as far as they told me was also pretty much full). As for southeast and east asians (yes i do include southeast asian, since there ar in fact enough of them who look very east asian) , sometimes they would not even notice that youre foreign (only by appeareance) ,so if you are or look east asian they just let you in... (if they heard you speak a different asian language or dont look similar to japanese than it might a diff thing) ,so in that case it depends.... my younger 20 year old niece is Thai but has VERY light skin since she was born and her facial features are somehow very much like japanese women look like, she was always mistaken as japanese in japan countless of times too(none of my relatives has japanese roots though ,theres no evidence in dna tests at least, she still just looks like this, her sister on the other hand looks the opposite) ..she does not speak japanese though except for a few words, which is how she never experienced this... while one of my chinese relatives who is actually very brown (south chinese people are for a good part brown, some even very brown and can also look more southeast asian but still be 100% chinese, just a quick info here on this) and definitely doesnt look japanese at all experienced rejections at restaurants in japan before. (my fam. is mainly south chinese + thai mixed with very few who have theyr roots in north china and north thailand who lives all over thailand. So i have several SEA fam members who look more east asian and some chinese who look more SEA, it can go both ways ,so.... this is why i said its different with asians in japan depending on how you look ).
It really stems from their intense collectivism and conformity. Even if you are right to complain about something, it makes you stand out. It doesn't mean everyone is kind. They may be cursing you out in their head while smiling at you. I've had Japanese friends in university who said they felt so much more at ease in the U.S. They didn't feel the extreme social pressure of always being nice as to not stand out, especially when they actually disliked someone.
Regarding the cash tray segment, here in Australia this year, pretty much every store has banned the use of physical money, except for self-serve/robotic checkouts
In Southern Europe, like Spain or Greece for example its also common to wear your shoes in house.. Ofc it depends on the region and the individuals.. But I think it is because it's almost never rainy and most of the dirt in houses is sand which can be cleaned quite easily.. At least this is my experience, also with the family of my girlfriend which is Spanish
If you ever come to the UK, once the Covid pandemic has eased, you've got a family of fans here who'd be more than happy to put you up and give you tours!
4:15 basically, in Italy people still mostly hand cash directly to cashiers, sometimes people pull down the mask to “have a better communication” and just “bypass” the plexiglass barriers lol
Yeah... latina here and I've never seen someone take their shoes off unless they're wet or muddy. You can walk barefoot, with socks, slippers, regular shoes, whatever... it isn't a thing
Spain here and it's the same, we don't take the shoes off anywhere (except for sleeping of course), I know of people at their houses that take the shoes off but it isn't very common so I think that is more related to some cultural stuff and apparently latinos don't take shoes off, in some european countries they do but I think that it might be cos the weather in those countries it isn't good and you could carry mud in your shoes and it's a measure to keep the house clean but in countries where the weather is relatively good and not influenced by culture (like the english one) where the weather was bad, you don't take your shoes off.
Ohh lol, that makes sense. I'm Filipino and Salvadorian and at home, we grew up taking our shoes off, but any time I visited my family on the Salvadorian side, they always wore their shoes inside and would tell me I didn't have to take mine off (which confused me as a child haha).
I’ve experienced #4. I feel a little sad when it happens, but I try not to take it personally. I’ve also had people move their seat on the subway when I sit near by. Subtle micro aggressions here and there, but it happens rarely. I’m a black female, but I’ve seen it happen to white males too. Probably less likely to happen in major cities. I fell in love with Japan in college and visit almost yearly since 2005. It’s the first place I’ll go once this pandemic is over. Can’t wait!
4:42 this has actually happened to me in Kyoto. I think it has more to do with restaurants where the staff only know Japanese and the menus do not have pictures, so if you are a foreigner they would just no let you in as they would just assume you do not know Japanese(which to be fair would be most of the times when it comes to tourists). I would still take this with a big grain of salt as it all the visits I've had to Japan, 5 in total over a period of 6 year with extended stays(around a month each) this has only ever happened to me in Gion where we were told in 3 or 4 separate establishments "no English" and were not allowed to enter. We still managed to find a place to sit down but it took over an hour so it was not fun.
I have spent about a year in total in Japan, this "Japanese only" thing only happen to me once for a bar, but never ever for a restaurant. But I do speak a little Japanese though.
It's so common for Americans to wear their shoes all over the house, as long as there isn't mud or something like that on the shoes. I even keep all of my shoes in my bedroom instead of in common areas.
Yeah agreed. A lot of "Americans" claiming "most" households don't keep their shoes on, but pretty much *every* household I've been to in America, my own included, doesn't care one way or another about shoes. I recently adopted a no-shoe policy for my bedroom, but that is 100% because of Japanese influence.
I think a lot asian countries also dont allowed shoes inside their house or room, because its unhygienic. Here in Indonesia we don't use shoes inside our house :)
@@lucydrill7125 wearing shoes in the house isn't the cleanest, goodness knows what you've been stepping in But it's just most Americans either don't think about it or don't care 😅 I only keep my shoes in my room because there isn't anywhere else to keep all of my many many shows 😂
I’m American and we always where shoes in the house unless we are staying for a long time. For example for the rest of the day we kick our shoes off. But if I’m just over for dinner we all where shoes including the home owners.
I was refused entry to a bar in Ginza, they told me they did not serve foreigners, so it does happen. However, I lived in Japan 2 years and this only happened once, so it is very uncommon.
Here in the UK, it’s basically up to the home-owner as to whether you wear shoes in the house. I grew up with multiple dogs with long black hair, so wearing shoes was never an issue as we had to tidy the house every day anyway. But most of my friends (especially the wealthier ones) had a strict ‘no shoes in the house’ policy. I’ve been living alone for 7 or so years now, and in my various accommodations I’ve been pretty lax on it. Most people I have over take their shoes off and leave them by the door out of politeness, but I’d never demand it from anyone. Thanks for these videos by the way, they’re super informative and interesting! I hope to apply for the JET Programme in October, so have been trying to learn as much as possible. Keep it up, man! ✌🏻
As for the "non-foreigner-friendly restaurants", I never had the experience myself, but I heard about very unwelcoming bars to foreigners at Golden Gai (Shinjuku). I don't know if it's the truth, maybe it's truer if you don't speak Japanese, but I'd like to know if someone ever encountered this kind of problem. As for the shoes in the house, in France it really depends on people : as far as I'm concerned, I ask people to take off their shoes at my place, but when they don't stay for long or if it bothers them, I don't insist.
I live in America, in a mostly Cuban community. Here, the residents of the house typically wear flip flops or bare feet around the home, but as a guest it would actually be considered a bit rude to take off your shoes. Whenever I stay over at a Korean or Japanese friend’s house I always forget to take off my shoes immediately!
When i was over in Japan , i wanted to celebrate my birthday with two people that i met over there. We were in Himeji and decided to go out to some bars. We were rejected to enter at about 3 - 4 different places without really been given a reason. At some point i asked a group of locals (gladly they spoke english) and they told us that we were in an area where only locals were going out. Apparently the area where this was happening was quite small, but we were still a bit shocked first. (only untill we found out why we were actually rejected)
@@janshegers7667 Some bars over there don't want foreigner in there. Not because they don't like them , but they wanna have a few spots where japanese folks can drink without the gaijins going crazy.
I'm from Switzerland and sometimes when we have guests who just want to bring or take something we tell them to just leave their shoes on so they don't have to take them off and on right away. Often when our grandma comes over we tell her to let her shoes on so she doesn't have to bend over. But we usually take our shoes off in the house, in my family we are just not that strict with it.
I’m Australian, and in our country wearing shoes inside isn’t really a big thing. It definitely depends on the house, a lot of people will ask you to take your shoes off before coming in, but a lot of people don’t care about it either, and will tell you not to worry about taking them off.
To be fair, in Australia most houses have either tiled floors or linoleum floor coverings, so getting the floor dirty and cleaning it isn't so much of an issue. iirc the reason it's the norm to take your shoes off before going inside in Japan goes back to the days when most houses had Tatami mats, which are much easier to get dirty or damaged & much harder to clean/expensive to replace. Also, at least where I live in Australia it's pretty common for people to just not wear shoes most of the time to begin with, people here only really wear shoes if they're going out somewhere.
#4 Japanese only; Several years back when I was stationed on Okinawa that happened a lot to us. We quickly learned the further in town we went the less welcoming we were unless we had someone who spoke or was Japanese with us. Mostly we just stayed near the military bases.
there are actually many Japanese-only restaurants (and clubs). Some even have signs on the door that says"no foreigners allowed" lmao that's so messed up. Also there are some in South Korea as well.
It's not like they want to be "Japanese only" but I walked in sometimes and would have been turned away if I wouldn't have made it clear that I can at least tell them my food preference. So mostly they just don't want to disappoint you. On the rare occasion that it is "Japanese only" its because they just don't want random tourists in their unofficial local meeting point for the neighbourhood ^^
I like the reactions here! It's fun to see you realize little details that you take for granted, that are new and interesting to me. Like, "What, no? Oh, huh...yeah, yeah."
I would absolutely love it if he did a basic Japanese course. His voice is so relaxing.
That would be amazing! Some tips on intonation and pronunciation for common words as well as slang would be nice to hear too. Learning the written language alone is doable but speaking it correctly without native input... not so much lol.
I'd pay. He's very polite and friendly and I would gladly pay for lessons. He's also quite knowledgeable and personable and has solid experience in teaching.
i love his voice!!
What a cool idea! I love this language and when George speaks it sounds like music. I'm sure you're very busy George, but if you recorded the lessons you'd only have to teach them once. Something to ponder!
True
George's smile is precious.
Protect him at any cost
Lol he ain't a endangered species😂
@@rahuladhikary7708 he is .Because there is no one else like him .😂
No
He is a man among men we must protect also#letsgettoamillionwithgeorge
@@Dezlarmoazeru Awwwww someone has a crush. 🙂 😉
My aunt and her boyfriend actually got rejected when entering a restaurant in Tokyo. That´s because the workers at the restaurant were ”afraid” of not being able to provide a good service for them, because the people working there couldn´t speak english.
I experienced something similar
imagine playing adc in s10
It is interesting, for a culture that is supposedly so super polite, to show a guest the door for no good reason (something that isn't their fault or did nothing wrong).
@@bencze465 Yeah I thought so too, but then again maybe from their perspective _they_ would be the rude ones and the ones in the wrong since if they don't speak english they think they'd provide poor services to their foreign customers and so they just resort to the "no serving foreigners" policy altogether ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Apparently honour is still very important to Japanese (or at least some) and so they take their role very seriously and diligently, and if not speaking English means they'd have to sacrifice their pride and honour, well they'll just flat out refuse to offer their services to non Japanese rather than risk a "poor performance" on their part.
Totally true! The part where the youtuber said about it some japanese restaurants don´t allow foreigners its true! I´ve got a friend who went to Japan, like 4 years ago, and this kind of situation happened to him, we´re from Brazil. He told me he got very unconfortamble and felt bad. This is not a "tale" or something, unfortunately it´s true :(
as a japanese these restaurants definitely exist and it's sad to see others denied because they can't speak japanese
I can understand that honestly. Japan is popular and nice place and lot of people visit it ,which can make some of you uncomfortable. So that might be reason for this.
But I am not Japanese (I am Czech :P) ,so I might be wrong. Anyway ,it's kinda fascinating how much traditions Japan have and keep.
@@kabelactomas5957 Wow your English is pretty good how long have you been speaking English? Do they teach it or did you learn it on your own?
@@chrisprizzle278 No man ,my english is pretty bad and I do a lot of grammar mistakes.
So anyway how long have I been speaking english ? I started in 1st grade and now I am high schoold student ,so it might be around 10 years now.
In Czech - English is 2nd language you learn since 1st grade of elementary school. I also speak little bit of Russian (But it's not that hard since Russia and Czech are both Slavic countries)
Is it just the language issue though? I heard someone saying that it has to do with them being afraid that they won't be able to comply to foreigners' needs but idk how much truth there is to it.
This is true I lived in Japan for a bit and they have Japanese only bars / clubs. And they will cross their arms in an “X” because it’s Japanese only
I experienced a “no foreigners” restaurant, but responded to the host in Japanese and she let me in. I’m sure there are some xenophobic places but I think most of them are just a result of Japanese people getting nervous about having to speak English.
That was my thought. Any "no foreigners" places I saw, I just assumed they didn't have anyone proficient in English. At the end of the day, I'm in their country, if I can't speak the language, that's on me *shrug*
@@KennesuM I lived in Japan for a year (I was studying Japanese so I could speak it). I never encountered any places that turned me away. Even when I was in Tokushima (where I only saw one other foreigner the three weeks I was there) I was never turned away. Maybe it's a language issue?
We saw SO many restaurants that wouldn't allow foreigners, in the fancy areas most of the time, even if we greeted in japanese they just nodded their heads. It was just CLEAR they didn't want us in there. Again its nice to think of a place thats perfect but no place is, im sure most of those places are what you described but there are some that purely dont want foreigners and at the end of the day thats fine since its their country like you said and i still enjoyed the hell out of japan.
@@Zoidbergirl which fancy places? I have never seen a place that doesnt allow foreigners
How long did it take you to to get the language down to where you were comfortable speaking it? (Asking cause I am working on learning Japanese myself, sorry if this has been asked already)
the 3 things i noticed that takuya really likes
1. THE BLACK T SHIRT
2. HIS FANS
3. THE OUTRO BGM
A nice black wardrobe can work very well for someone with all black pets.
@@Laura-mi3nv black lab dogs dude. their coat is so pleasant to look at.
Black is the best color. Goes with literally everything
On the shoe thing in Germany:
German people ask when coming in if they should take off their shoes. The host decides based on the state of their home, like if the floor's already dusty and you plan on cleaning it later, most people let the visitor keep their shoes on. If you just cleaned the floor, you tell them to take their shoes off.
Though it is normal to not take shoes off if it's just a quick visit of like 15 minutes.
So, if a German invites you into their home, just ask.
Same with in the US mostly, the main thing is that the US and Europe don’t have Tatami floors. Tatami is very hard to clean, and fairly common in Japan, although not as much used as houses/apartments become more western.
French here, it works similar as in Germany. Depends where you go in the house too, if you stay in the living room with a tile floor it may be fine but shoes is bedrooms with carpet floors or wooden floors are a no-go
I think this is the same almost everywhere :)
In Czechia it's probably similar to Japan, a total no go for shoes inside regular homes (e.g. except cottages and stuff). Sometimes right behind the entrance door it might be ok, but anywhere further no. Only 1 time in my life I was in a house here where they didn't take off shoes and it felt super weird
It's still considered polite if you just take your shoes off even in Germany ;)
The Japanese-only restaurants do exist. There’s a few in the more shady areas of Shinjuku.
Sometimes though it’s just because they don’t have space, or (as a lady attempting to eat by herself) it’s just not safe.
I definitely have been turned away, usually very politely about "not enough seats" or "no english speaking waiters". I think generally a (polite) excuse is used to save face in nicer areas, like near myogodani.
I wouldn't consider that really a Japanese thing. I have seen those in a lot of countries. The kind of backalley bar with a lot of regular customers who will all be indifferent, unfriendly or even hostile to tourists or even native strangers.
I even know such premises in my own town.
@@boooster101 No, literally on the door there’s a sign in English saying Japanese Customers Only.
There’s a back alley one near my apartment, and they held no issues with me being there, but when it clearly says in English and Japanese that it’s only Japanese customers, it’s a little bit more than “only local customers”.
Plus, the point was- in the video, he said they don’t exist. We were just supplying our own experiences to say they do - not saying it’s only Japan or not.
@@katiemelin9317 Ah okay, I know a very few where it's implicitely not allowed to come as foreigner.
Also some foreign communities where they are absolutely against outsiders.
But you won't find any signs because i am from Austria and you know what happened here about 80 years ago.
Any shop or restaurant doing that officially would be shunned by the people, media and the government.
@@boooster101 Agreed, and that is true. In fact, I thought of a few different bars in different countries I’ve heard of being unfriendly to outsiders. I’ve never been myself, but I know that there’s quite a few places that detest tourists, so I know it’s not just Japan. Honestly, those bars in my experience -are- pretty rare. The two times I’ve gotten turned away was when I was a lady going by herself to a drinking establishment. The look on their face was just they didn’t feel it was a safe idea.
Dude don't ever apologize for not responding. We all have a life, we get busy. No sweat
He's Japanese
@@jf1376 He is indeed 👍🏻
@@jf1376 Japanese do have a tendency of apologizing to anyone over anything, don't they...
@@FalconWindblader Canadians too lol
@@racheltorres668 Uggh the struggle is real...I should count how many time is say ‘sorry’ in a day 😂
Lol I'm in the US. I tried to make a rule about not wearing shoes around the house, but my boyfriend wouldn't listen. It's very frustrating 😅. In contrast, I once studied abroad in Spain. The Spanish woman hosting me hung signs in her house that listed rules for the foreign students. One of the rules is that we MUST wear shoes at all times except in the shower or when we go under the bed covers. Maybe she was concerned about the smell of feet? She never explained the reasons, so I don't know why. However, the other Spanish households I visited didn't seem to care if you had your shoes on or not.
for me, like we wear house slippers because it’s rumored (?) that walking on tile with no shoes will make you sick
Don't most Mediterranean houses have tile floors? I live in the UK people mainly have carpets here, but you do get some wood and lino floors. But I always take shoes off even if they tell you it's ok
Well there is one thing you could do: Make your boyfriend hoover and wipe the floors every day if he doesn't want to take his shoes off at the door.
Leave him.
@@linisnotreal1120 thats not true.
No it’s totally true that there is “no foreigners” signs in Japan, even Tokyo. Plenty in Kyoto. That’s on restaurants a lot, or it will say “Japanese speaking people only”. One gothic fashion shop on the Main Street of Harajuku that I really wanted to go into had a sign saying no foreigners. Totally a thing.
It's not for xenophobic reasons though, or well most aren't, it's just a matter of them not being able to service you because you don't speak the same language!
Generally it's because they can't speak English, or are really self conscious about their English. If you speak a basic level of Japanese they'll usually be fine with you. So basically just make an effort.
@@nightcoreepidemic1104 It's kind of bullshit though. And it's quickly realized if you've ever had a deaf friend or coworker, or if you've ever been to a night market in Thailand. There is SO MUCH you can communicate with just numbers on a calculator and gestures. It's insanely easy to have a commercial interaction without even speaking the same language.
@@Adrominik Yeah, I just wanted to make sure people understood that this wasn't something racist but more like they didn't want to provide bad service.
I do agree that it's an outdated mindset and there are probably some shops that work without anyone who speaks english and just gesture to the menu that we just haven't heard about.
@@nightcoreepidemic1104 Sorry, but I think that excuse is bullshit. There are plenty of restaurants in Japan that have menus ONLY in Japanese without any English speaking staff and they still welcome foreigners. Although in the west Japan is known for having the friendliest people, they have a long history of xenophobia, racism, and exclusivity.
Some of us were pranked by native Asians to rub the chopsticks as a joke. I was told by a friend of mine from S Korea that it is a sign of knowing your way around the culture. I had a little chat with him after I watched your first video - he thought it was funny. Almost as funny as when I told him in America you HAVE to yell when talking to people as it is a sign of enjoying the conversation. (I guess I had it coming LOL)
It’s actually true that there are Japanese only restaurants. I’ve sat down at a restaurant and the server ignored me and my friend for over 15 minutes and then Japanese people came after us and the server helped them immediately. It’s very rare but those restaurants exist in even Tokyo.
Had this happen as well, but they didn’t explicitly ask us to leave, just really slow for us!
That happened to me a couple times on my first trips to Japan. But it's not because they don't want to serve foreigners, it's because they expect you to lift your hand or call them when you're ready to order! Sometimes servers in Japan they won't come up to your table unless you gesture to them that they can bother you.
@@NejisMate trust me, I called “sumimasen” many times. It was also a u-shaped counter, and he watched us take a seat. He made a choice not to serve us.
I had a similar experience in okinawa as well. One outright said no foreigners and did not admit us, another was extremely slow and ignored us most of the time. Main problem is that most of the staff spoke little English and the menu was entirely in Japanese with no pictures.
i think the person meant japanese only as in language, not discrimination although i am sorry that happened to you :(
As a dane, the "don't wear shoes indoors" one surprised me a lot, i thought that would just be common sense everywhere, to not drag mud, dirt and potential poop indoors with your shoes.
Samme her.
Same, my family is Indian but moved to the UK and when I didn't see a bunch of shoes and slippers in the entrance I was like "wtf". Some people here where shoes inside the bed *vomit*
here in Australia, it is very common to leave your shoes on inside. unless they got some sort of hard to clean carpet which is rare then it is perfectly fine to leave them on. of cause we always take them off in our own homes because it is more comfortable.
While we wear shoes in the house here in America, we use the welcome mat to clean off our shoes before entering.
Not in America for whatever reason.
I plan on doing a foreign exchange for high school in Japan, George you should make a video where you talk about some things to do and not do in Japan. I feel like it would be more trust worthy info coming from a Japanese person/citizen
I actually went to Japan for 4 months exchange earlier in 2016
Actually........
All the people were good and nice to me but one of the biggest problem I faced was to
1) making friends
2) Talking to people(I mean no one actually wanted to talk to me)
I just talked to couple of people and the other girl who came with me as exchange student
3) and some were just not very appreciative
Like I mean kind of bullying but not that extreme
Nice pfp
@@louiejoon5993 I really want to go but i first need to start an education in where i can go.....
@@louiejoon5993 I went as an exchange student to Japan in 2001. I had the opposite experience. I was a loner normally and was not used to all of the attention I received. I couldn't sit with my other American friends during lunch. I had a group that grabbed me and wanted me to sit with them. In class, during the break periods, I got surrounded. It was exhausting but fun.
nux taku pfps do be looking good tho
South Africa, we either wear shoes everywhere or we go barefoot everywhere. Most public places have huge mats at all doors to catch the dirt and most houses have a welcome mat for the same reason.
🤣
Depending on individual upbringing though, it would be easier to develop a habit of taking off your shoes when you enter a building, than to dust your shoes off on a doormat. People usually just step over and on a doormat without dusting off their shoes
🤣 a mat that catches dirt
I was with a group of friends in the country side and we wanted to get some food so we stopped in a restaurant. we were told the they don’t serve foreigners. My friend was born in Kobe and she is white but speaks fluently Japanese.
That's terrible. Despite having someone with you that can translate. 😞
I had kinda similar experience on Koya-san, it was pouring rain at lunch time in the off season, so all the tourist places were closed. a very elderly restaurant owner just kept yelling “eigo wakarimasen!!” (I don’t speak English!) As I tried to speak in Japanese to him... he was so confused by my white face and white friends that all he expected was English! Eventually I stopped and said, “excuse me sir, I’m sorry... I have a Tokyo accent, I am speaking Japanese” and he was like “?! Oh! You speak Japanese?! Come on in!” And he ended up giving us extra mochi with our udon as I tried my best to chat to him about Australia! Lol.
I've heard similar accounts. I wonder if George has only lived in the city, as this sounds like something you'd probably be more likely to run into in rural areas where foreigners are not as common.
Yep I’ve been turned away many times at many restaurants In japan. They never say they don’t serve foreigners, but more so come up with excuses like full or give hand signals for no when it’s obvious there’s room. From my understanding is they don’t want to go through the hassle of serving English speaking people. You only see this side of japan as a tourist.
Sort of late, but unfortunately foreigners are not allowed in some restaraunts. I was stationed in Yokohoma and at many bars we would get told "no gaijin" (gaijin means foreigner in japanese). It's unfortunate, yet true
Damn sailors and marines ruining it for everybody!
Yeah. Sasebo was the same way. There would generally be a guy standing outside who would put his arms into an X as we approached to indicate no gaijin. It honestly never bothered me, but I'm surprised he doesn't know about that.
Just no Americans or no tourist from any other country as well?
Because US militaries (mainly ) trashes public places like bars, temples etc... A lot of them have no respect
@@Razorwindsg No non-Japanese.
You are such a kind and respectable person, bless your heart.
Maixlinh, not sure where your from. But here in parts of the southern U.S.A.
Bless your heart or bless their heart. Is account to calling someone an idiot.
@@alishialedger2322 "you're such a kind respectable person, *idiot* "
LmfAO
LMAO
I ran into quite a few "Japanese only" places in Okinawa while stationed there. It didn't think much of it but it felt like those old western movies where the stranger walks into a saloon and everyone stops what they're doing...and then a little old lady makes an X with her arms while shooing you away lol.
Next time walk in with white cane & sunglasses and pretend you don't speak Japanese.
Let's see how they solve the problem then.
That goes back to the 80's when I was there. It is most prevalent in the adult entertainment bars. They don't like foreign men around Japanese women.
@@horseshoe2blah201 You probably mean IN, not around.
That’s exactly what happened to my brother when he was stationed there! Maybe it’s specific to certain places in Okinawa? They did the X arms thing and said “Japanese only”
@@raynubee Did he responded with the universal thank you sign using a back-facing raised digitus tertius?
Loved the video George. You have an amazing culture and i did my best to learn its customs and practices! Hope to visit again real soon :)
*also the "japanese only restaurant" thing is about the staff not speaking english! i should have mentioned that.
Omggg!! Thank you for your comment 😍 I love your videos😊 You made my day✨
japan has manny nice things but in general the culture is to rigged and submissive for my taste.
O
@@Marcustheseer what do you mean
Unless they have changed in the past twenty years, and they may have, they don't wait for you to talk. It is based purely on your appearance. They will wave their hands in front of them in a cross and say 'No gaijin'. When I was over there we were advised to just leave.
In Mexico we use shoes in the house, the culture of removing them just does not exist. (Our floors are usually tile and we sweep and mop often)
There is usually a mat in the entrance where one wipes his shoes before entering houses.
exactly the same in Australia, we only really have carpet in the bedrooms and rarely the loungeroom. the only time it is expected to take them off is real estate rental viewings cause they just cleaned the place and want it to stay looking nice to show off.
Same in the US. I don't know why everyone assumes we're dragging mud and dog shit in, when most people's daily life outside their home involves walking on concrete.
@@iStrong113 a doorknob is less hygienic than the floor.
@@Fsilone are you telling me you don’t wash your doorknobs?
A doorknob is more unhygienic than a floor, so just mess up the floor right? While we’re at it, a toilet is more unhygienic than a bathroom mat so I guess I should just shit on the floor. Because if one thing is dirty in my house, screw it.
Clean that one dirty thing???
Pshhhh nah, make the rest of the house dirty to match!
I wash my doorknobs, and I wash my floors. I wash my hands when they're dirty, and I wash my shoes when I've stepped in dirt.
"Japanese-only" restaurants exist all over Japan, and can be found in many places, notably, Kabukicho and Ikebukuro. When coronavirus is considered a "non-threat", I'd love to show you when I'm there again! I go frequently. It would still be fun to go places where I am accepted, haha.
It is so typical of humans to assume something does not exist because they, ( the party that would obviously not be exposed to this because they are not foreign and are a native Japanese citizen) have never encountered it themselves, or their friends. It happens, a lot. ignorance is bliss.
@@cyano741 I thought it was so weird of him to assume that it doesn't happen when he can't even experience it personally.
It's sad I knew what Ikebukruo is because of Ikubukuro West Park lol (great anime btw)
yeah, when i went to Japan in march and tried to go to an underground bar they didn´t let me in even though it was open
(Not Japanese) Me: 😔
George needs to do a “learn how to speak and read Japanese” series, I bet you’ll reach 500,000 subs in a month!!!
Honestly learning from a native speaker is a bad idea. I am a native speaker of russian, but I have no ida how to teach that or explain it. However I am fluent in chinese and other languages, and can teach them easily.
Hey George,
Love your videos!
Unfortunately the “Japanese Only” restaurants do exist, I’ve been stopped at the door before but fortunately my wife is Japanese and I can speak Japanese and after they realise this, they let me in. This has ONLY happened at smaller privately owned restaurants or Izakayas, with older staff in the countryside.
Once when it happened, the owner told me it’s because he doesn’t want to make a mistake with the order or provide bad service as he generally has conversation with many people!
had a moment where i visited a japanese restaurant with a pretty large group in my country, everyone decided to change places after ordering, waiter got confused he had apparently written down where everyone where sitting.
service was pretty nice at that place
In South Africa, it is considered acceptable to wear shoes in the house, but also it is considered acceptable to go out in public barefoot.
I remember all my primary school years i went barefoot.
Haha, you beat me to it. I would like to add that you might get something thrown at you if you put shoes on the furniture.
I suppose it's because we live in a dusty country, not a wet country
Hello there fellow south African👋
@@FluffyBlueCow Lol thats tru!
Basically the same here in New Zealand too. I was also barefoot for most of primary school.
@@secretlythreeducksinamansu3546 If you don't mind me asking, just out of curiosity...
What is the perception of South Africa in New Zealand?
Since we interact alot with things like Rugby, i was wondering if we are maybe seen differently than the normal stereotype of "No internet hunting Rhinos for food and living in huts".
Someone: *Has too much soy sauce on sushi but still likes it*
George Japan: That's fine. As long as everyone's happy.
Maybe that person just likes it extra salty why judge, people act offended at the most insignificant things.
I don’t get why people is so weirded out by not wearing shoes in the house like do u not take your shoes off????
@@johnlee6956 I do take my shoes off when I'm inside my house since I was most likely outside and don't want to dirty the house. But I would put them on while inside.
You just learned a valuable lesson from him. If people enjoy themselfs doing it the "wrong" way. Just Let them be happy
Nr. 7:
In Poland it's rude to not take off your shoes indoors, but at the same time it's even more rude to ask your gust to take off his/her shoes.
Facts
My mom (we're polish living in germany) always tells our guests to feel free to leave their shoes on and pretty much the most part of my family always does that too 🤔
Same in the Czech republic but we are close so it makes sence.
In Hungary too.
"I saw the customer's happy face, so I decided not to tell the truth." I actually love that, as long as people enjoy it, then that is what counts!
"But I saw the customer's happy face so I decided not to tell the truth" - how lovely.
Yeah but it was in Canada which they were canadian or maybe Americans which didn't know that was a Japanese etiquette for eating sushi but I'm Japanese- American & way eat it, I first removed fish off riceroll & then slide inside soy sauce & put back on roll that's my way eating sushi!!!!
@@kenomoto619 how to not make all the rice fall off? lol
in regards to #4, and the Japanese only restaurants, ya they do exist I've been to japan many times(i'm an American my step dad was sent there many times), and while they are certainly not common, there will be restaurants where they will come up and tell you to leave, HOWEVER, 9 times out of 10 it is because no one there can speak English and they don't want to offend with the English, or because there is a big wait time, if your fluent or conversational in Japanese more often then not just saying(in Japanese) "oh sorry, how long is the wait time?" and they'll be ok, however there ARE certain restaurants, more often than not in the country, that will not allow foreigners in there under ANY circumstances, HOWEVER those are super rare.
edit: wow, wasn't expecting this to be that popular, alright. Also i want to point out that what country DOESN'T have those xenophobic type? I mean the person hes reacting to, Chris Broad, is from the UK.
Coming to second this.
Yep, definitely seen these, I think I was in Tokyo where I saw my first one, which had a sign out front saying no foreigners
Came here to say this. My little brother lives in Okinawa and there are certain bars and restaurants they will not allow him in.
@@Laisper thats cause the American soldiers ruin stuff for everyone else in countries they are stationed in lol.
@@jovegajo yeah, I'm aware, but it doesn't change the fact that there are Japanese only restaurants and bars. And my brother isn't a soldier.
I can never get enough of George's videos. Its addictive as hell. Ive always been fascinated with Japanese culture. Keep it up bro! Much love from the US
"but I see the customers happy faces and decide not to tell them the truth" lmao, bless you 😂😂😂
i’ve actually heard from a lot of people who took part of the JET program that there are many japanese only restaurants and maybe you haven’t experienced it because you aren’t a foreigner? i’ve even heard mixed japanese people saying they’ve been kicked out of restaurants even though they’re citizens
I have a friend who taught English in China and they have restaurants that don't allow Japanese people. There must be a lot of animosity between them still
@@chappy2121 Racism in East Asia is incredibly shocking. It was probably one of the most confronting things for me. Not many people behave that way, but when they do it's really intense and they don't hide it at all. A lot of the racist comments don't make any sense either. It's not at all different from racism in western nations.
@@sknkpop Well, I guess. You don't have lynch mobs or anything *actually* serious from the racism. Just some hurt feelings and maybe mild inconvenience. Most people there aren't racist, so I don't feel it is a big issue same as in the west. Almost all westerners aren't racist, in fact they are *anti-racist*, yet we make it such a big issue when it is a non-issue.
@@LilJbm1 I'm not sure why you're treating this as a race to the bottom. Given you only understand race relations in Asia as "hurt feelings" I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't know very much about the history in that region of the world. The United States is not the King of the castle. It's just louder than everywhere else right now.
@@sknkpop Well if we want to go back in time I guess we could look at mass raping etc. of other Asian groups, but I don't know if I'd even call that "racism". It was certainly awful, but was it done because they were a different race? I'd argue it was because they were of different nationality, which isn't the same thing, and those were war crimes. However, I was talking more about current events and not atrocities from the 1930s and 40s. I was also talking about Japan specifically, but of course China has done far worse and actually in modernity (those muslims being thrown into concentration camps). China is definitely *overtly* racist, especially against blacks, and more importantly their actions go past hurt feelings. They evict people from their homes, throw them in prison, concentration camps, blame them for pandemics and deport them.
Anyway, my goal with my comment wasn't to make it a race to the bottom. My point was things are really not that bad in Japan and you people should have some perspective about the world. Same with the United States etc. There's a lot of racism in the US right now (but it isn't directed at the races you might think it is) and that racism has had actionable consequences to the people, not comparable at all to present-day Japan and its apparent racism. I don't appreciate you assuming I don't know anything about the Asian-Pacific region though.
The japanese only restaurant thing is 100% true. Had some co-workers there, tried to eat at one of the restaurants and they were all asked to leave and was told they would not be served there. This only happened once however the entire month they were there.
Hey George! discovered you today and watching through videos and wanted to share something: in 2010 I did a trip with friends to japan, a dream for all of us. We experienced first hand the "guy running toward us moving his hands saying Japanese only" toward a normal restaurant. Now, I very firmly believe that it's not a "no foreigners" policy, but more like a "no GROUP of foreigners" because when we met with a japanese friend the next day, we never had any problem for the rest of the month. the first 3 days when we were traveling on our own (6 people) we got all kinda stares, as soon as our japanese friend was touring us around those stares disappeared immediately. I had the feeling that "foreigners don't know anything about our culture, they will break the rules, but if someone is guiding them everything is cool"!
Greetings from Switzerland
Don’t know if it means anything but your English is really good and I can understand everything!
Saraí Kashani how? He’s from Japan and learned English if he was American and someone said good Japanese would you still call it that?
Saraí Kashani you tripping lol
Saraí Kashani never met someone so calm and reasonable on the internet before, have a good day! Lol
He is a english teacher in japan
@@TheRichExplained. well i had a english teacher as a german guy and i was better then her
"no gaijin!"
As a worker waves me out of the doorway.
Something I have encountered when trying to enter a restaurant in Yokohama!
I wonder if there are anti-discrimination laws that would prevent this in Japan? For example in the UK, it is fully illegal to refuse entry to any business to anyone because of their race or disability and the company can be sued for doing it.
Yep.
Wow...that's so rude...I mean, he said gaijin, which assumes you know what it means, which makes you know Japanese, which means they just don't welcome foreigners. If that was true, its just so bad..
I'm Japanese-American but was bringing my white friend from the US to a 居酒屋 in 千葉県 and was turned away because him. I didn't know it was a thing until that happened.
That's really rare though. Plus I bet if your friend spoke Japanese in front of them, they probably wouldn't have turned you away.
@@natsume-hime2473 but it still happens and according to the comments section it’s not that rare
@@misseddy Hi, I just wanted to mention that you shouldn't really use this comment section to judge if it's rare or not. First, the people who are saying this happened to them are being represented unfairly, as people who did not encounter no foreigners aren't speaking about it, but of course the people who did, are speaking about it. I did not encounter any no foreigner stores or restaurants in Japan when I was there for 3 weeks, nor did my friend who spent about 6 months there or any one I know in real life who has spent time there.
But yes, it appears to be happening.
@@Varlshunger I understand that. But it is ignorant to ignore everyone else in the comment section who says otherwise. Japanese people don't tend to be racist and I have personally have never experienced it with Japanese people. But even my own Japanese born friends have told me their own personal stories of when they witnessed biased against westerners. Im glad you and you friend did not suffer discrimination. But as a very unique looking person myself with piercing, im bound to get funny and judgemental looks from Japanese too.
I wonder if the restaurants that turn away people are Yakuza restaurants. Just like how some Italian restaurants in the USA would close down for Mafia business back in the day.
"I saw the customer's happy face and decided not to tell the truth" Had me cracking up.
Lol I watched this exact part in the video at the same time i saw the comment
i mean its still about taste, what if you simply like more soysouce? why is it rude then
@@B.M666 I was thinking maybe it was more a hint on how to properly taste the sushi. But it could be that you'll be looked at as odd or unusual, and therefore a tip on how to blend in, or possibly that dunking it in condiments could be perceived as an insult, insinuating that the food is not delicious enough and the taste needs to be covered up with soy sauce. I don't see it that way, but perhaps they do.
@@B.M666 I imagine its the same as going to a high end steak place and then dousing it in A1
@@0metalic0 yea but I still Pay for the food I like, so I order it the way I like it no matter where I'm eating
I like this guy’s personality.
He seems like a really fun kind friend to have.
A lot of stores in the US don't accept cash right now. Only accepting cards.
I know I've gone to Micheal's and Walmart and I still pay in cash. I've also gone to smaller places and I still pay cash.
I went to Wal-Mart about a month ago to return a pair of pants and get a refund. I didn't get cash back like before they just refund the money back into your bank account.
Actually, it's not really that right now.
There's currently a shortage of coins in the US so many places aren't accepting cash because they can't give change (Although I think the coin shortages has since been solved)
all stores have to accept legal tender
Wtf why is that even legal?
When i was stationed in Kanagawa, there was a "Japanese Only" restaurant outside the base with a big sign stating that. I even went to take a peek inside and the waitress ran like her life depended on it to the front where i was looking in and hand signaled me not to come in. Didn't take any offense to it but i had always wondered what that was about. I also remembered a table with a group of older men, all in suits looking at me. Not going to assume it was a Yakuza meeting or owned restaurant but i had always wondered what all that was about. This was all during my time 2001-2005.
Enjoying the vids, keep it up.
Thank you so much for these videos! I would like to travel to Japan soon after things have calmed down and these videos have been very helpful, especially from the perspective of someone that has lived there!
In mexico we wear shoes in other peoples house, when its in our own we can use but since its more comfortable to not use we just go about on socks or slippers
Here in England we are trying to be card only when paying for goods due to Covid and just using contactless payment.
Some households here allow shoes in the house. Some let shoes while you're downstairs but take them off for upstairs, it depends on the individual household.
The restaurants not allowing foreigners is definitley a thing, personaly i've only seen it in tourist areas. What i was told was that either the restaurant just wants to serve the locals, not tourists so they have a place to eat peacefully, or that because the staff cannot speak english or other languages they don't want to risk giving poor service as the service culture in japan is pretty adamant about pleasing the customers.
Though I've also heard that some bars and clubs will refuse access to people of darker skin tones (usually black men/women) which seems to be more racially motivated
why spread propaganda that makes negative implications about a place when you're going off hearsay?
that's exactly what's wrong with the world right now
@@tictacterminator the restaurant bit is actually first hand experience.
as for the other, i've heard it from multiple sources, japanese only bars exist, and pretending racism doesn't exist in japan doesn't do anyone favours. Every country deals with racism.
@@silverliening6511 homogeneous societies are inherently racist to a certain extent. They might not all think they are the superior race, but they can certainly be xenophobic.
@@bowmanc.7439 exactly, from everything ive seen in japan it's not the same aggressive physical, confrontational type of situation you see in other countries. Its more like you can't live here, eat here, or work here. Does that mean that japan as a whole is racist? no, but there are racist actions in effect. It also doesn't mean that you can't live in japan as someone who is not japanese and never encounter that kind of stuff.
argue in the comments for no reason
United States. Most people wear shoes in their home especially if it’s a close friends, a cheap apartment, or if the home owner doesn’t care.
Yeah pretty much. It's not a big deal you can usually tell if the owners shoes are by the door neatly. Plus vacuums exist so it's no biggie and if your not staying long it'd be weird if you took them off. Unless your muddy but you'd take them off anyway for that reason soooo.
For sure Americans almost ALL dont worry about shoes in the house. As someone else said, its very easy to see if a certain residence does NOT allow it because you will see all the shoes inside the door when you walk in. I dont know if we (americans) do this for any specific reason, but when i went to London, England and to Wales they also did NOT remove shoes in almost all of the houses i was in. America's culture comes directly from England so maybe this is just a part of the culture that has survived the trip across the Atlantic Ocean...?
For close friends i really dont want to make their living space dirty. >.>
@@JabuticaJenkins its a mix. It was done in europe commonly before the modern era, so it would have come from all over europe (majority of population in our formative years as a country)
Same in England. Pretty much keep shoes on all the time during the day for convenience if you need to go outside.
I will never forget the time when we visited Japan with my friends. We were so conscious about following the “no talking in the train” rule that we weren’t able to communicate properly which station to get off . We ended up being separated because got off in different stations...Hahaha😂
In Germany there’s rarely a place were you need to take your shoes off and even if you visit friends/other ppl it’s normal to ask if you should take your shoes off or not, some ppl will even tell you to just leave them on right away, so yeah pretty common to step into ppl’s houses with your shoes on!
How do you keep your home clean? If you or your guest don't take off shoes at home, then you are bringing in all the dirt and germs from the ground outside. That means you will have to vaccuum and mop afterward every time friends come over. It is tiring no?
I'm german. In my family and friend circle you take your shoes off or else you are rude!
@@ladolcevita2326 Most people in cities tend not to trudge through the mud on a daily basis. If you do, and the shoes are incredibly dirty, they are of course still taken off. Also - regarding the germs, they will get inside anyway and already are.
Yeah but in Germany you always have to ask first. In the US people almost never take their shoes off. If you ask someone to take their shoes off in the US, you are seen as a germophobe or uptight.
I'm from Germany, too, and I can tell that this is not true for all the houses I have been to. Yes sometimes they tell you, you can leave on your shoes but I consider it very rude when someone does not take theirs off in my home. So better ask.
Ironic the tattoo thing as SO MANY tats are Japanese art inspired
it really is
What do you mean?
@@SpikeTheWolf Japanese art style is a huge inspiration that it's an entire genre of tattooing.
@@SpikeTheWolf OP was saying its ironic that Japan holds such a negative stigma for tattoos when theres a whole category of tattooing based on japanese art and culture.
It was done in Japan for centuries I believe, quite a modern phenomenon to dislike them.
Haha, I'm half Norwegian/Filipino so I was happy to hear you'd like to visit both of my countries! Born and raised in Norway, so I could be your guide if you come here haha.
And I'm kinda nervous about my next visit to Japan since I have way more tattoos now than the first time. I can still cover them up with regular clothes, but I want to go to a proper onsen. And the last time I was there I was turned away from an amusement park because of my tattoos :c I'm a girl, and I'm 1.63, so I'm not really that scary haha.
Great video!
I am trying to learn Japanese and come to Japan with my friend because both of us enjoy hearing about Japan and their culture .😍I really like your English because it so good and fluent . You did a great job and studied it because many people find it hard to learn.
I went into a “Japanese Only” Resturaunt in Machida once. My girlfriend was Chinese and they didn’t know she was a foreigner, too. As soon as we walked in they started telling her to take me out of there. When she spoke, they figured out that she wasn’t Japanese and told her to leave, as well. I’ve found several Izakaya that were also Japanese only, but I think that’s because they cater more toward Japanese businessmen who are relaxing after work than because they didn’t want me there.
I was pretty upset at first, but knowing how people in the US sometimes treat foreigners, I got over it pretty fast. It is what it is, and there are plenty of places that welcomed me and I’d rather do business where I’m wanted.
I believe they don't want to serve foreigners because they don't have English menu and no staff can speak English. It is quite common in Japan when you are not in Tokyo and Okinawa. Luckily I learned Japanese so I can enjoy the meal in this kind of restaurant.
@@bcjai I would believe that about the Izakaya. In the restaurant I was with my girlfriend. She could speak, read, and write Japanese reasonably well. There was no language barrier there.
@@PrinceAlberts Oh.....I have never walk in to this kind of izakaya. Maybe I only went to Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Ishigaki island, Fukuoka. These cities have so many foreign tourists. They cannot compete if they only serve the local. Or maybe I didn't go to any high-class Izakaya? 😂 Anyway, I really want to know the truth.
@@bcjai I believe it was Gustave Flaubert who said “There is no truth. There is only perception.”
My truth is that I don’t know why we were asked to leave. I lived near Tokyo, but the Resturaunt was in Machida, a smaller town outside the city. That was about 15 years ago, so it may have changed but now, anyway.
@@bcjai _> "I believe they don't want to serve foreigners because they didn't have English menu and no staff can speak English."_
That doesn't explain why they wanted only the foreigners in a mixed group to leave, since the non-foreigners would work as interpreters. (Although in this case they thought the Chinese person was a non-foreigner, but the point still stands)
In my experience, shoes are not worn in houses when someone expects to stay inside for more than about 10 minutes. But if someone is just stopping over real quick, or just running inside to grab something, shoes may stay on.
An exception to that is typically when someone is hosting a medium/large gathering of people. If there are more than about 15 people, shoes will often stay on. But it also depends on how dirty someone’s shoes are. They (usually) wouldn’t be so rude to track mud and snow through someone’s living room.
My house growing up has always been a pretty strict no-shoe zone, apart from some exceptions mentioned above.
Oh also, if I were to wear shoes inside, I would absolutely avoid walking on carpeted floors. Wood and tile only.
Thank you. At 71 years of age you both educate and amuse me. That's a difficult trick. I really enjoy these videos.
I’ve eaten with chopsticks since I was a little kid when ever my family would go get sushi( I’m Italian and German and my grandparents were born in the US). I’ve never seen anyone here in the US rub chopsticks together so I don’t know where that came from. I’ve also never seen anyone stick their chopsticks in rice like that
Me either I'm from America and I never seen that happen. I grew up watching anime too so idk who started that rumor but that is no unnatural. If I see the wood breaking off on a chopstick I just throw them out and get another set. I do see people stick their chopsticks in their food like that because it holds the chopsticks place so they won't loose them or drop them on the floor.
I’m from the UK and I see people rub their chopsticks all the time, if they’re the wooden ones you pull apart, if they use them at all 🙄 it drives me mad!
I think it’s to not get any splinters. Well that is at least what my dad told me but I never rub them. (Sorry for my terrible English )
@@chleb101 yes, that makes sense. Your English is great 👍!
@@jessdarneswrites thank you ☺️
George: **apologises for being unable to respond to every comment**
American Narrator: _"This is because in Japan it is considered rude not to reply to somebody as it is a great dishonor to their ancestors who spent many centuries creating language."_ 🤔
Haha I feel like the more I watch these the more I understand American tourists.
Lmao i love ur comment
4:45 SORRY GEORGE, but this happened to me in Osaka. I walked into a restaurant and waited to be seated but the employees ignored me. Then, I noticed a yellow sign on the door that wrote "JAPANESE ONLY. NO FOREIGNERS." I was surprised, but it's not my country and not my rules. I'm just a visitor lol.
I hope he sees these comments. As a Japanese person he might not know because he never encountered that!
Yea a few restaurants will jut post on the door a big sign no foreigners
Two things from the perspective of someone living in the Netherlands
-It's not actually uncommon for visitors to wear shoes in the house (at least in my area) This kind of depends on how close you are with the person you're visiting or who's visiting you, and how long they're going to be there. But I'd say most of the time, especially for visits that don't last the whole day people will wear their shoes inside. (Of course you can ask them to take them off)
-If you do come to the Netherlands and you need somebody to help navigate and who speaks both Dutch and English (And little tiny bits of Japanese) I'm right in Amsterdam!
In america (the usa) it's not unheard of for people to wear shoes in their house. Though in my home growing up it wouldn't be surprising hearing my moms "dragon voice" from the other room say "SHOES" if she can hear you still are wearing your shoes inside. She is the same about hats.
In our house, it's an unwritten rule to leave your shoes at the door. We don't make visitors do it, but if a visitor does take off their shoes we see it as a sign of them being comfortable with us.
"they trying to start a fire or something" omg that part crack me up so bad lol
Yes it is very common not wearing shoes in houses in India also this is practiced ❤️
Yes, and sometimes in home, you get the flying chappal....
Yaa😂 but now parents are educated and they know different ways to help... Let's help them😂😂
I've only seen this practice in places of worship like a mandir or church. Haven't seen this in daily households.
Maybe but in my house we don't weare shoes in houses most probably still we would like to follow this culture 👍
The money tray is a thing in Northern Italy as well, not all stores etc do it but a decent 80% do, I have also seen this in Romania, I've been to Berlin, Reykjavik, NYC, Amsterdam and Cracow also and I don't recall the money tray being used there.
"Don't talk in trains in Japan"
Japan in animes:"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
Japan is not an anime. I lived in Japan and it's not even like a anime. This is why you are smart
@@ritsukukukuikuiristu7472 Agree, I was in Japan and they don't even look anime or have subtitles when speaking.
(4:40) I haven't been to Japan myself, but I've heard that in some regions, they aren't too welcome to foreigners/tourists. But for what I've understood, this isn't a widespread thing, so this isn't exactly a Japan thing but more a specific-location thing. - It is likely that a Japanese person wouldn't experience this in Japan, and miss it happening to actual foreigners. Just like me, as a Swede, I don't know how foreigners are in general treated in Sweden, since I'm not treated as a foreigner. But as said, it isn't a common thing anyway.
Hahah my friend is on Master's in Sweden and she mentioned she feels a bit alienated because not too many Swedes want (even if they know them) to speak any other language than Swedish, even with foreigners present. Funnily enough, she's half-Mexican/Canadian and I'm Serbian so we use English to teach each other our languages 😅
This guy is so wholesome even when faced with people doing things wrong, keep rocking!
You are just a super wholesome, respect-worthy dude. I enjoy learning about culture and you're doing a great job of teaching it!
It’s crazy how his channel went from getting a couple hundred views straight to 2.5 mil and average thousands after that.
“I don’t know any country that wears their shoes in the house.”
*sweats in american*
lmfao exactly. we are trash
Same
i'm american and i have never seen somebody who wears shoes in their house. it's just common sense, isn't it?
the best for your skin would be to even stop wearing socks, so skin can breathe and feet relax
at least we should take shoes off when ever we can, wearing shoes in the house is just insane
@@MakamaFEET Just watching tv serie and movies i have seen only americans wearing shoes in the house. It's always "funny" seing them, being surprised, that it's not the same in other countries.
The part about Restaurants NOT LETTING IN FOREIGNERS. Its Not actually about the fact that you are a foreigner ,this is referred to foreigners who are especially black ,white , south asian , hispanic and also to west asian + north african ,which the last 2 (west asia + north africa) im referring to the middle-east (since middle-eastern is referred to any volks in west asia and parts of north africa) so anyhow.
If you notice ,that the people who work at this restaurant , dont want to let you in ezc, this is mainly NOT because you are foreign, its because a lot of the workers at the restaurants think that you probably can not speak japanese and it IS a hassle for some japanese people to deal with you when both cant understand eachother (mainly this also especially happens if the restaurant has a LOT of customers at the moment ,which is already stressful or CAN be very stressful , a foreigner who cant speak japanese will be a + to theyr stress level that theyr already in.
I have white friends who experienced this before, they did not want to let them in (they were 4 people) , but unlike a lot of other foreign people ,they can speak enough japanese , they answered the man who didnt want to let them in , in japanese, and told him that they are good enough to communicate in theyr language. Thats when he said ''OH OK'' and finally let them in... he probably realised that it wont be hassle with them (the restaurant as far as they told me was also pretty much full).
As for southeast and east asians (yes i do include southeast asian, since there ar in fact enough of them who look very east asian) , sometimes they would not even notice that youre foreign (only by appeareance) ,so if you are or look east asian they just let you in... (if they heard you speak a different asian language or dont look similar to japanese than it might a diff thing) ,so in that case it depends.... my younger 20 year old niece is Thai but has VERY light skin since she was born and her facial features are somehow very much like japanese women look like, she was always mistaken as japanese in japan countless of times too(none of my relatives has japanese roots though ,theres no evidence in dna tests at least, she still just looks like this, her sister on the other hand looks the opposite) ..she does not speak japanese though except for a few words, which is how she never experienced this...
while one of my chinese relatives who is actually very brown (south chinese people are for a good part brown, some even very brown and can also look more southeast asian but still be 100% chinese, just a quick info here on this) and definitely doesnt look japanese at all experienced rejections at restaurants in japan before. (my fam. is mainly south chinese + thai mixed with very few who have theyr roots in north china and north thailand who lives all over thailand. So i have several SEA fam members who look more east asian and some chinese who look more SEA, it can go both ways ,so.... this is why i said its different with asians in japan depending on how you look ).
I just love the amount of respect there is in Japan❤
I don't know how Japan became so kind, clean, and respectful but we need A LOT more of that in the USA.
collectivist culture with a strong emphasis on social hierarchy and conflict aversion. There are pros and cons to both cultures.
Japan got there own problems though
@Shiki * you can sell anything with women to men, when that stops being true we'll be 1 generation from disappearance as a race. :)
It really stems from their intense collectivism and conformity. Even if you are right to complain about something, it makes you stand out. It doesn't mean everyone is kind. They may be cursing you out in their head while smiling at you. I've had Japanese friends in university who said they felt so much more at ease in the U.S. They didn't feel the extreme social pressure of always being nice as to not stand out, especially when they actually disliked someone.
@@saratrejo6658 Never thought of that, what an interesting perspective.
Regarding the cash tray segment, here in Australia this year, pretty much every store has banned the use of physical money, except for self-serve/robotic checkouts
that's in like Malborne and places like that, where I live a most places still accept cash but just prefer card and some places don't care.
In Southern Europe, like Spain or Greece for example its also common to wear your shoes in house.. Ofc it depends on the region and the individuals.. But I think it is because it's almost never rainy and most of the dirt in houses is sand which can be cleaned quite easily.. At least this is my experience, also with the family of my girlfriend which is Spanish
If you ever come to the UK, once the Covid pandemic has eased, you've got a family of fans here who'd be more than happy to put you up and give you tours!
4:15 basically, in Italy people still mostly hand cash directly to cashiers, sometimes people pull down the mask to “have a better communication” and just “bypass” the plexiglass barriers lol
"I haven't been in a country were they use shoes inside the hose"
All of latino america: 👁👄👁
Yeah... latina here and I've never seen someone take their shoes off unless they're wet or muddy. You can walk barefoot, with socks, slippers, regular shoes, whatever... it isn't a thing
Yeah. Peru here. We sometimes wear slippers but we wear shoes everywhere.
Spain here and it's the same, we don't take the shoes off anywhere (except for sleeping of course), I know of people at their houses that take the shoes off but it isn't very common so I think that is more related to some cultural stuff and apparently latinos don't take shoes off, in some european countries they do but I think that it might be cos the weather in those countries it isn't good and you could carry mud in your shoes and it's a measure to keep the house clean but in countries where the weather is relatively good and not influenced by culture (like the english one) where the weather was bad, you don't take your shoes off.
Ohh lol, that makes sense. I'm Filipino and Salvadorian and at home, we grew up taking our shoes off, but any time I visited my family on the Salvadorian side, they always wore their shoes inside and would tell me I didn't have to take mine off (which confused me as a child haha).
Some of them find the concept of taking off your shoes so weird at first but after thinking about it, it makes so much sense to them xD
I’ve experienced #4. I feel a little sad when it happens, but I try not to take it personally. I’ve also had people move their seat on the subway when I sit near by. Subtle micro aggressions here and there, but it happens rarely. I’m a black female, but I’ve seen it happen to white males too. Probably less likely to happen in major cities. I fell in love with Japan in college and visit almost yearly since 2005. It’s the first place I’ll go once this pandemic is over. Can’t wait!
I very much enjoy your commentary. Thank you
4:42 this has actually happened to me in Kyoto. I think it has more to do with restaurants where the staff only know Japanese and the menus do not have pictures, so if you are a foreigner they would just no let you in as they would just assume you do not know Japanese(which to be fair would be most of the times when it comes to tourists). I would still take this with a big grain of salt as it all the visits I've had to Japan, 5 in total over a period of 6 year with extended stays(around a month each) this has only ever happened to me in Gion where we were told in 3 or 4 separate establishments "no English" and were not allowed to enter. We still managed to find a place to sit down but it took over an hour so it was not fun.
I have spent about a year in total in Japan, this "Japanese only" thing only happen to me once for a bar, but never ever for a restaurant. But I do speak a little Japanese though.
It's so common for Americans to wear their shoes all over the house, as long as there isn't mud or something like that on the shoes.
I even keep all of my shoes in my bedroom instead of in common areas.
Yeah agreed. A lot of "Americans" claiming "most" households don't keep their shoes on, but pretty much *every* household I've been to in America, my own included, doesn't care one way or another about shoes. I recently adopted a no-shoe policy for my bedroom, but that is 100% because of Japanese influence.
I think a lot asian countries also dont allowed shoes inside their house or room, because its unhygienic. Here in Indonesia we don't use shoes inside our house :)
@@lucydrill7125 wearing shoes in the house isn't the cleanest, goodness knows what you've been stepping in
But it's just most Americans either don't think about it or don't care 😅
I only keep my shoes in my room because there isn't anywhere else to keep all of my many many shows 😂
In my country it's considered bad manners and even when entering someone else's house you're supposed to leave your shoes out
luckily it isn't like that in Canada or else my house would look like a slum lmao
I’m American and we always where shoes in the house unless we are staying for a long time. For example for the rest of the day we kick our shoes off. But if I’m just over for dinner we all where shoes including the home owners.
It's always been a dream of mine to visit Japan one day.
I was refused entry to a bar in Ginza, they told me they did not serve foreigners, so it does happen. However, I lived in Japan 2 years and this only happened once, so it is very uncommon.
Here in the UK, it’s basically up to the home-owner as to whether you wear shoes in the house. I grew up with multiple dogs with long black hair, so wearing shoes was never an issue as we had to tidy the house every day anyway. But most of my friends (especially the wealthier ones) had a strict ‘no shoes in the house’ policy. I’ve been living alone for 7 or so years now, and in my various accommodations I’ve been pretty lax on it. Most people I have over take their shoes off and leave them by the door out of politeness, but I’d never demand it from anyone.
Thanks for these videos by the way, they’re super informative and interesting! I hope to apply for the JET Programme in October, so have been trying to learn as much as possible. Keep it up, man! ✌🏻
that respectful bow before you started video
that was heartwarming
As for the "non-foreigner-friendly restaurants", I never had the experience myself, but I heard about very unwelcoming bars to foreigners at Golden Gai (Shinjuku). I don't know if it's the truth, maybe it's truer if you don't speak Japanese, but I'd like to know if someone ever encountered this kind of problem.
As for the shoes in the house, in France it really depends on people : as far as I'm concerned, I ask people to take off their shoes at my place, but when they don't stay for long or if it bothers them, I don't insist.
I live in America, in a mostly Cuban community. Here, the residents of the house typically wear flip flops or bare feet around the home, but as a guest it would actually be considered a bit rude to take off your shoes. Whenever I stay over at a Korean or Japanese friend’s house I always forget to take off my shoes immediately!
When i was over in Japan , i wanted to celebrate my birthday with two people that i met over there. We were in Himeji and decided to go out to some bars. We were rejected to enter at about 3 - 4 different places without really been given a reason. At some point i asked a group of locals (gladly they spoke english) and they told us that we were in an area where only locals were going out. Apparently the area where this was happening was quite small, but we were still a bit shocked first. (only untill we found out why we were actually rejected)
so why were you actually rejected?
@@janshegers7667 Some bars over there don't want foreigner in there. Not because they don't like them , but they wanna have a few spots where japanese folks can drink without the gaijins going crazy.
I love your videos - thank you for taking the time and doing these.
In the US, or at least Texas, we wear shoes inside sometimes. Not everyone, but most my family does. I go barefoot anytime I'm able to though lol
I'm from Switzerland and sometimes when we have guests who just want to bring or take something we tell them to just leave their shoes on so they don't have to take them off and on right away. Often when our grandma comes over we tell her to let her shoes on so she doesn't have to bend over. But we usually take our shoes off in the house, in my family we are just not that strict with it.
I’m Australian, and in our country wearing shoes inside isn’t really a big thing. It definitely depends on the house, a lot of people will ask you to take your shoes off before coming in, but a lot of people don’t care about it either, and will tell you not to worry about taking them off.
Same in France. We take off our shoes when we know we won't go out anymore of the day.
To be fair, in Australia most houses have either tiled floors or linoleum floor coverings, so getting the floor dirty and cleaning it isn't so much of an issue. iirc the reason it's the norm to take your shoes off before going inside in Japan goes back to the days when most houses had Tatami mats, which are much easier to get dirty or damaged & much harder to clean/expensive to replace. Also, at least where I live in Australia it's pretty common for people to just not wear shoes most of the time to begin with, people here only really wear shoes if they're going out somewhere.
#4 Japanese only; Several years back when I was stationed on Okinawa that happened a lot to us. We quickly learned the further in town we went the less welcoming we were unless we had someone who spoke or was Japanese with us. Mostly we just stayed near the military bases.
there are actually many Japanese-only restaurants (and clubs). Some even have signs on the door that says"no foreigners allowed" lmao that's so messed up. Also there are some in South Korea as well.
It's not like they want to be "Japanese only" but I walked in sometimes and would have been turned away if I wouldn't have made it clear that I can at least tell them my food preference. So mostly they just don't want to disappoint you. On the rare occasion that it is "Japanese only" its because they just don't want random tourists in their unofficial local meeting point for the neighbourhood ^^
Here in Austria, it's recommended to pay with credit or bank card due to the "current situation"
Same in the UK. A lot of places are card only and preferably contactless payment .
@@lisarequena7378 same here in the states
@@Umesport0409 no lmao, everyone i know uses cash😬
I like the reactions here! It's fun to see you realize little details that you take for granted, that are new and interesting to me. Like, "What, no? Oh, huh...yeah, yeah."