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My friend, when you download a clip and ask the Japanese, I hope you add a translation of Arabic and the rest of the languages, and not just English. There are people who follow you and do not know English.
I'm. Not sure of the country of origin visitors come from we have similar complaints about queuing in UK. If its not clearly written to wait until someone comes to you it is assumed you take a seat. Behaviours and attitudes have changed since the 50's so there's a a mish mash of standards everywhere nothing is the same!
I have really enjoyed learning about your culture by asking all these questions/thoughts/ideas that foreigners should know about Japan and its people. Really every Country should do this! Entertaining and Informative.
The last guy’s answer really resonated with me. Being considerate and trying to understand people around you, regardless or race or nationality, will always lead to better relationships, and less conflicts of interest.
Yea I likes that a lot too. Especially because Im an american who hates hugs and handshakes and hi fives. I always thought the people who gave out too many high fives to strangers were quite obnoxious. I guess introverts would fit in better in japan 😅.
Yeah Americans somehow have missed this bit of common sense. As an American who lives in America most of us are loud, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. It's part of our culture.
Timestamps are here for you! 0:51 don’t drink alcohol outside 1:14 if drinking alcohol outside, be respectful 1:25 do your best to speak Japanese, even if you don’t speak it well the effort is respected 1:56 please wear masks on the train 2:48 you should wait to be seated at a restaurant, don’t just walk in and sit down 3:18 make sure you wait in line and wait for your turn 4:00 Japanese people are shy and reserved, be calm and polite when approaching them 6:30 be quiet and respectful on trains and other transport 6:50 make sure you give people their personal space 7:33 keep to the left on escalators 7:48 make sure you shower/wash to clean yourself before you get into the sauna/onsen 8:05 consider each person individually. Just because one person likes/dislikes something, that doesn’t mean everyone will. To be honest, these things are very basic and I regard them as common courtesy, useful in every country when you travel. Treat people, their culture and their country as you would expect them to treat yours.
Exactly! With Japan, or any foreign country, when traveling I've always thought to show deference to the people and culture. It's just like taking your shoes off before you enter the home: it's their house so follow their rules.
Honestly :51 is more of don't be an asshole and do it obnoxiously, it's not uncommon for people to drink publicly here on trains, or during picnics, and so on. Just don't be unruly doing it.
@@phillipedwardness9591 really? odd. Walking through the street is a bit rarer since it's usually looked down upon to eat and drink while walking period but people do tend to drink on train rides often enough.
As an American that just visited Japan, I can’t emphasize enough that you should seriously pay attention to your surroundings and the people around you. I was on a train standing in one of the open areas for about half of my ride before I realized that I was standing in a handicap/stroller priority area and a young Japanese woman was standing in the corner with her stroller. I moved once I realized this and motioned for her to take the spot and she did. Looking back, it is something I should have absolutely noticed if I was being a little more attentive.
" ... something to which one should pay serious attention." "Attention", also has a sexual connotation. You weren't fantasizing about the young mother, were you?? Also, "I was standing on a train, ..." The train was not standing and locomoting at the same time. Further, " ... if I had been more alert (about safety)." Your English is impaired. Don't go to other countries. Your English is deficient. You're a bad example. I hope you weren't teaching.
@@dylanshadowstar9779 yeah true. But in a different country there might be completely different rules but you are so used to your routine that you think you follow everything automatically. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I'm tired, my English is rather poor right now haha
Interesting seeing you mentioning that. We travelled with a stroller to japan. While japanese people are usually very welcoming and considerate, we found travelling with a stroller more difficult than in europe. In europe its common that people make space in the designated areas, but less so in japan. The same goes for elevators which are more commonly used by people just for convenience. We ended up carrying our stroller a lot of times just to avoid the constant queuing in the stations.
@@timob6955 were you visiting a really dense area? i find that any urban densely populated area like tokyo will always be harder for strollers even if they have designated spots, theres so much chaos drawing people's attention thinner and thinner that they might not even have a moment to think about where they are standing? im not sure...
I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan and honestly relate to all the things these people say, not because Japanese culture has rubbed off on me or anything. I feel like everyone was polite in answering this question but I felt like the last guy, we all need to look at how we relate to others and be considerate. I’m an American in America and I hate when people ride by on their motorcycles blasting music, when people get in my personal space, when people cut in line, so these are all things people should consider not only in Japan but everywhere.
I can relate but this is in general on the bus, or when you walk. I don't want to hear the music or the girls/dudes sucky partner, and it can also be applied to work related stuff.
I’m impressed with how unfailingly polite the people interviewed in this video are. The interviewer asks “what should foreigners not do…?” Instead of something more confrontational like “what do you not like about foreigners?” And everyone who answered qualified their responses with some version of “maybe some people don’t know about this…” as if to give foreign visitors the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s lack of awareness rather than poor character that leads to any offensive behavior. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan and this makes me want to do so even more.
the problem is that most foreigners dont understand they just do what comes naturally in their society thinking that it OK or everyone does this...every society has their own rules they follow and a decent intelligent person will at least attempt to follow those rules..as they say when in rome...
@@tobordabot And you don't seem to understand that people that aren't native from a certain place, literally just tourists, that are kind and clearly try to be respectful in their own way (wich is the majority, not like you said), should be perfectly excused and rather seen in a positive light while nicely just telling them the right way of behaving for certain situations or places that they clearly aren't used to, and also not abusing this aspect, since not every place has strict rules related to one's behavior. Not everyone can or even needs to follow every single detail to the Z, in fact, you might be mistaken as disrespectful or simply ridiculous for trying to mimic the natives entirely, just be mindful of your surroundings while not disturbing the people from the place you're visiting.
The video editor just could have cut the part when the interviewee getting confrontational, after all Takashi is controlling the flow and sentiment of the interview
Not to mention "2" is being used for a quantity of people, perfectly appropriate to use a numeral for that! This isn't AP style or something where you have wait until 10 or higher to use digits, haha.
- don't eat where you are not supposed to (mostly just sit somewhere to eat) - don't be rude to older people - be considerate of the culture differences - on escalators stay left, so that people that are in a hurry can go through right - don't block an entire road with a group - don't litter - don't give tips - try to at least learn the basics in japanese it helps a lot and people there will be really thankful that's what i learned from 1 week in Tokyo (an looking into stuff beforehand)
To expand that- don't eat and walk around. don't be rude to anyone unless they're rude first- and don't stare at anyone, even if you see some dude in full latex dom gear with a pig mask walking around- Asian culture is built on the idea of 'if it ain't your business, don't get involved because you'll bring trouble upon yourself.' Regarding tips, NEVER rub wooden chopsticks together, it implies the restaurant owner is purchasing low quality chopsticks which is indirectly insulting them as not caring about their customers.
@@PalitoSelvatico Tips are insulting the business owner by suggesting he doesn't pay his employees enough that they need you to pay them also. It's shaming the employer publicly to give tips. Gossip and rumours can spread that he's such a bad employer his customers need to pay his staff instead of him. Hurts his reputation. Slander and libel are huge crimes in Japan fyi.
Hello there.. just a little tips on the escalator. in Kansai region (Osaka and such) stay on the right side. in Kanto region (Tokyo etc), stay on the left side.
American here, I love how polite everyone is in this video. Even when they are discussing something obnoxious being done. They give the people the benefit of the doubt "Perhaps they are not aware of this concept", versus just calling them savage, or some other insult.
That’s just basic diplomacy which is accessible to everyone. This may come off wrong, but I don’t see what is so impressive about it to highlight the point you made. If you are smart you would edit out any comment that seems too radical to air for a video with educational purposes like this one where a big spectrum of countries is bound to react to it, since that is its selling point. I am quite convinced that per video the guy has two or three interviewees he will always edit out, either because they don’t amount to much, are too rude or simply not material for this video. But I just doubt that these sort of reactions are all you will get under normal circumstances. Edit: forget the edit, I mixed something up there😂
@@Musikmaker658 if you think certain things are "basic diplomacy" then you must be quite lucky, in most places and contexts, people are not courteous by nature. I dont think its wrong to highlight and value it, considering its quite rare; maybe in certain more professional or privileged contexts it is, but in general it is not.
It's assumed that we are not aware of these concepts, they never considered what that other person is going through or any reasons behind that person's actions. It's all based on stereotypes
I don't know where y'all live but when Muslims invade ur country it basically becomes a free-for-all. Most of them don't give a fucc about any established etiquette. I swear, Japan wouldn't know what hit em when these people show up en masse, lemao.
@@Musikmaker658 You haven’t lived in the U.S. and interviewed people on the streets then. It’s the difference in cultures you don’t even know… It’s not part of Japanese cultures to blast strangers with your opinions in the manner Americans and other westerners may. Japan is more homogeneous society vs America as more individualism society. You also sound jealous like a typical westerner in Japan. You have to live in Japan for 50 years and you can maybe understand a fraction of what Japanese are like from a westerner perspective. Main comment is from a guy who has some experience and common sense. You on the other hand, lack experience and sound judgment probably. And definitely lack observation skills. Stay in denials you never know what you’re even missing out.
The first man’s comment about speaking Japanese even if it’s broken is spot on. When I traveled in the former Soviet Union before I spoke decent Russian, I was treated so well by people when I attempted to speak in Russian even though I sounded foolish. They opened their hearts to me and made my life easier. Especially in passport control!
I on the other hand completely disagreed. The example put is that they go to other countries and try to speak English but the thing is English is not the only language, other countries have very different languages as well. English has become a link language, used everywhere nowadays. I will try my best to use Japanese, but for that example the person made he ought to learn each language of each country to justify his complain, and it's just inconvenient to have to learn every language to travel abroad.
@@nothere3982 Well obviously you don't have to *learn* the language of every country you visit, but learning some basic words and phrases that will inevitably come up (greeting, thank you, goodbye, asking for directions, how much does it cost, etc.) is so little effort that it can and should be expected of everyone. If you go on a 1-2 week trip to the other half of the world, chances are you've been planning that for at least a few months before you depart, which is more than enough time to learn a few dozen phrases as well as look up some basic cultural customs. Also it's worth mentioning that the man didn't say foreigners should never use english, he just said that it's better to APPROACH people trying to use japanese. It's very likely they will offer to switch to English if they speak it adequately and see that you're struggling with japanese, but the very fact that you made an effort to speak to them in their native language will make them way more open and friendly because they appreciate that effort, in part because they know how fucking difficult their language is lol
I don't know which post USSR countries you traveled to and you certainly have no ill intentions, but I hope you didn't generalize them with Russian speaking. Each of them has their own language. And they had hard history with russification and colonization. Some countries might be ok with that but other feel very strongly about that today. In some countries people would feel upset and disappointed that you assume they understand or must know russian language especially among younger generations who is much more in touch with their culture. It will also be multiplied by political issues within the country and region. They would much better hear you speaking English. As for older generation they might feel joy of easiness by hearing russian as they could better understand it. (As before learning English was not common). But it's not a joy of feeling that foreigner respected or appreciated their culture. (This comment obviously does not apply to russia)
You feel Japanese treat you so well when you try to speak Japanese, but that might just be because you apparently look like a western foreigner and Japanese people almost have a natural admiration of people coming from west. If you look like someone from other eastern or southeastern asian countries, say China or Vietnam or Nepal, you get normal treatment or even cold faces when trying to speak Japanese. And most of the time you get better treatment if you just speak English with them. They might think that you actually have a western background and then they respect you more. 😅
I like the way Takashii and the interviewee responded so strongly to the notion of someone throwing their newspaper on the floor. This would "never happen" in Japan. It shows an inherent respect and care for their environment. I remember when I was in Switzerland and how the bus driver put on his gloves and dusted and swept out his little red bus so carefully for the next group. When people take pride in their immediate environment, they take pride in their country and keep the space nice for others to enjoy.
@@fffrtyrty123 🤣I hope you have better things to do than to police the pronouns and periods of others. BTW, the 2 space rule was out eons ago. Cheers :-)
@@fffrtyrty123 It depends on what you’re writing for, a casual remark doesn’t necessarily need to be properly written as long as the message is clear and understood by your intended audience. That’s not to say that practicing proper writing isn’t a good thing even in casual writing but it’s not something that needs to be enforced.
As someone who's learning Japanese and plans to move to Japan in a few years, the most intimidating aspect right now is the worry surrounding cultural differences; you don't want to end up offending the people you meet in a new place because you act out of line without realizing it. Videos like this are honestly great because they give me a chance to hear the opinions of folks that live there, it's very helpful.
I barely speak any Japanese but I always tried my best when I visited Tokyo out of respect. I felt like the locals really appreciated that I was trying at least. It was a culture shock for me how nice, respectful and friendly the people were, and I'm Canadian. We are know for being polite. I adore the Japanese culture and really look forward to my next visit.
I’m Canadian too and while Canada is generally considered to be very polite I experience culture shock coming back home from our trips to Japan (usually we go for three weeks). Last trip in Nov 2022 I found that it took me only a day to adjust to Japanese life whereas coming back to Canada it took me about a week.
I appreciated the kindness and wisdom of the last interviewee. He's absolutely right. Being aware and being self aware will take you a long way in life, wherever you find yourself.
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The last answer was amazing. That man is right. It's not about the nationality, it's about reading and understanding the situation and thinking about what is your relationship with your environment at that moment.
I feel like I should say that Americans who come to Japan and act like assholes are also considered assholes at home in America. The polite Americans just fit in and don't attract notice.
I'm so surprised at how beautifully empathetic they are. Every single one offered an explanation as to why they believe why foreigners do what they do, or offer an excuse with a nice suggestion. Super sweet, non judgemental people. Us americans could learn a lot from them. They seem so humble.
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Your comment is condescending and subtly racist…typical American blabbering about the zoo animals….
Nah, I lived in Japan for a while. They absolutely are judgmental people. You can live there your whole life, born there, speak fluent Japanese, and you will never ever be one of them. They will be nice to you, but idk how to explain it, they will make it clear that you are not one of them. Compare that to Americans, I saw a guy get his citizenship here after a year of living here and boom, he’s one of the Americans so quick. Even with an accent anericans accepted him. That shit never happens in Japan.
I’m from NYC and although it’s less common to leave newspapers on the train now that less people buy them, people here used to do that when they were done with them so the next person can read it on their commute! It was meant to be a courteous thing when the people here used to do it. I actually haven’t seen it happen much since I was a kid, so thank you for reminding me!
That's such a nice thing to do lol that guy only saw it as a bad thing. It makes me wonder if he saw that happen repeatedly and never wonder if it was intentional or cultural. He could've researched it on the internet too and maybe gotten the different point of view.
In my city we have several free newspapers available near the metro stations, so usually you leave it on the seat or wedged between the seat and the wall for the next person, not just dumped on the floor.
That's the 1st thing that came up to my mind when hearing the anecdote. But of course the guy never bothered digging deeper or even just asking why people were doing that despite the fact that in Japan they have/had the exact same habit of leaving books and weekly comic book magazines behind in the train so other people could read them. Let's not even get started on the Japanese leaving newspapers on the floor during flights. But I don't know why they do that.
I've been to Japan many times and I always loved how clean, quiet and polite everything is. When she said foreigners are loud on trains, she is so right and it's so obvious because everyone else is so very quiet and considerate.
Foreigners are loud on trains in Japan?! She should look at her own country folks talking and laughing so loud when they are “foreigners” outside of Japan! Let not the pot call the kettle black!
@@josephinetay9776 Idk. Whenever I get Japanese guests here in our zoo in the Netherlands, the immediate quiet atmosphere makes me want to shift my tone towards a more calmer one and I feel its appreciated.
@@josephinetay9776it’s common to be silent or talk quietly on a public train. People are there to mind their own business after a hard day of work and listen to the announcements of where the train is going. Ofc it would be quiet. And my people being very noisy in the US? What a broad generalization, being loud where? A restaurant, park, library? Be fr, ofc people talk when they’re supposed to. On a train in Japan either none or quietly that’s how it is. Americans jeez 😂
@@Kokusen17 Do you even understand English perfectly? Was there any mentioning about “your people being very noisy in the US” in my text? Well then, you’re acknowledging the behaviour of “your people”! 😂😂
They literary describe how to act normal and not like a moron. This makes me feel confident that I can go there without worrying. I’ll learn some Japanese and ask in Japanese if it’s okay to ask something in English. It’s all about respect there.
When I was much younger I lived in Osaka for 3 years - the first phrase I learned was "excuse me, I know very little japanese may I ask you a question in english?" over the time I was there I learned more japanese and it changed to "my japanese isnt very good". Finally I got to where I could communicate basicly. Most Japanese where very nice and would go out of the way, and later would say my japanese was pretty good, or help with words I didnt know. Most people are proud of there culture and will welcome the chance to share it - PS it was also a good ice breaker with the ladies.
Normal is the problem. If you think that's a solution then you are a moron. Suffice to say mass depression and suicide is common for a reason. Along with censership and cowardness and lying with intent (most people will on CVs when applying for jobs for example). There's your normal. Only the last guy in the vid gets it right. Context matters. People are different. Not the same.
I think in general, people in Japan mainly value their personal space and cleanliness along with noises, which is a good thing all things considered since I personally wouldn’t want someone invading my personal space or interrupt me while I’m busy and or trying to relax or sit down somewhere that hasn’t been cleaned. It’s really nice to see how friendly all these responses were.
The last person was absolutely correct. I am Portuguese and I don't talk loud, throw stuff in the ground or going around grabbing people... personal space and respect is also very important to me, I would have zero issues with anything said on this video.
i like the last guys philosophical view of the subject a lot. he is right on that. if we foster clichées they will not disappear. but of course we always have to "read the room" regardless of which country we are in. and a lot of boundaries can fall pretty quickly if you get into a deeper relationship with other people. always depends!
That... That's not a phylosphical view though, that's just a sensible logical view, no? Right? Please tell me i'm right, people can't be so obtuse to not realize that something like that shouldn't be a thought that requires any more attention than say, knowing you shouldn't hurt others. (Not saying the guy is dumb, just that i expect, or at least wish more people thought about the good in the world in a way that they can come up with answers like thay without too much thought)
Every time I watch one of these videos and hear the "no hugging" line, I think about when I left Japan--my coworker and I hugged each other goodbye. Everybody needs a hug sometimes.
Its kind obiously that Takashii question was about a general perspective of the country, of course that everyone is a individual character with their own beliefs, so it felt kind lame for me
As an American, my biggest complaint is noise. Like talking on a phone in a confined public space or listening to music without headphones. It’s so baffling to me; I honestly have to wonder if people do it because they get a sadistic kick out of imposing themselves on others. Like it’s some extreme expression of freedom. I’ve actually had to move a few times to escape neighbors who would blast music at all hours because it was genuinely affecting my sleep and my mental health.
Sadly America is starting to water down to nothing but “Freedom of Ignorance & Ego”. Gotta love the war zones every-time fireworks go on sale….but Freedom?
it takes a special breed of asshole to do it for fun... i think the majority of people who don't care about being loud and offensive, and it is offensive (the only people who don't think so are the people who do it), are the people who were raised with the "you do you and i'll do me" mentality... as if nothing they do should/will affect the people around them, and if it does, then it is the other person who is at fault
@@sandwichlegend2348 I do, it's worse in my country. In public transit you can hear different phones blasting sounds at full volume at the same fucking time. I'm really envious of you for this to not bother you, but for me listening a TikTok video repeating for the nth time alongside a fucking Reggaeton and a Mexican novela at the same time breaks my fucking mind.
A couple years ago I went to Tokyo for about 10 days on business. I thought the Japanese would be shy and serious. I was so pleased to experience their sense of humor, friendliness and warm smiles.
I love the respect and decency that Japanese people show in everyday life. The attention to detail is seen in their relationship to food. There is very little sloppiness or half assed approach to anything they do. The things that they produce have lasting and enduring quality.
@@vova32123The purpose of wearing masks on trains is to prevent germs from spreading between passengers on the same train. I wouldn't mind living in Japan because I want to live in a country where most people are considerate of others.
I truly appreciate that you ask people of all ages on matters like these, it really shows how everyone has a different perspective and opinion on it, while to me, all of them were clear yet friendly about the things they mentioned. I will never understand how people casually do stuff that makes others uncomfortable without apologizing or asking how it is appropriate to act and generally to be more considerate, especially if people actually call them out and tell them why it’s not ok to do so. I think that is what everyone just wants to see, it‘s the effort to recognize the mistakes, own up to them and change or adjust a few things here and there.
Back in the 90’s in Japan, I used to wear a t shirt that said 私はバカなアメリカ人です (I’m a stupid American.)。Japanese people (mostly teenagers) would snicker and then I would say in Japanese,” hey, what are you laughing at?” Most would freak out, but there were some who were very curious and started asking me a lot questions like why I spoke Japanese. Made a few friends pulling that prank. 😂 Good times.
Haha, that is such a fun way to make friends! May I ask where did you got the shirt? I want one so badly now, lol. Do you think I could find one anywhere?
TAKASHii, althought I have never been to Japan and now that I'm 72 years old, I may never get the opportunity to visit, I really enjoy your videos. I have learned a lot about Japanese culture and customs. Thank you for your videos!
In all honesty, last guy gets it the best. I love it when people are considerate and don’t generalize. Neither their own people and neither foreigners can be made into unified molds. It’s great that there are people who give answers like that.
Don’t be upset, Asians are really good at statistics and that’s not a generalization. The stats are in and most of those people aren’t incorrect. One disgusting thing I see is foreigners wearing skimpy outfits when it’s against their culture and they don’t want children to see it. Most liberalesk people should avoid Asia and go to Europe. The more traditional people should go to Asia. Sadly it’s mostly the liberalesk type people who frequent Asia.
the majority of these complaints are said in such an understanding way like "maybe they don't have a wait culture there" or "maybe they're not used to that" it's so respectful 😭
The last guy spoke some truth there. I come from an island that attracts a lot of tourists in the summers and I get annoyed when people visits a country with the mindset of going on a fun holiday because many people tend to think this country or city as a holiday resort or a playground for them. They feel like they can do whatever they want that they would'nt do at home even because they have vacation, but it's actually a home to a lot of people. Show respect and try to read the room
Everything boils down to me as an American to “I wish the Americans would respect our country as much as they expect others to respect theirs” and it’s crazy how many countries outside of the US feel this sentiment. The last man’s answer was beautiful.
I just got back from japan and the number of Americans just being rude is off the charts bad. Even worse are the Chinese who are even more rude than Americans if that is possible.
@@davidvastaIt really is sad tbh. I’m a first gen American and I feel this sort of entitlement (for lack of better word) is because a lot of Americans don’t have an appreciation for other cultures like how foreigners do. They aren’t taught growing up to expand their horizons (travel wise and culture wise). And this is just my observation from a lot of people I’ve met. Of course you have many that aren’t like this. But there’s also too many that go to other countries and expect to act like they do in America.
@@HellsDarkSyndicate It's propaganda mostly imo. Note how Chinese people are also like that. Two countries where the medias and leaders always highlight how beautiful and perfect their country is, how it's the best in the world, how everybody envies it, etc., *very* patriotic countries. Money matters, but even for Americans that I know who have decent money, travelling abroad doesn't cross their mind most of the time. Why would they when they "have everything in the US" or "the US is the best country in the world" for them ? When they do, it feels like they almost consider it as going to the zoo and watching animals... That's the level of disrespect they show. Although tbf I've seen plenty of people act like that, it's just that for other places/countries you have both sides, while in the US and China I've sadly yet to meet someone respectful and caring about the culture they're going to.
My dad was army and we got moved to Germany for a few years so we did a lot if travels in Europe, and MAN, it really is Americans a lot of the time being overly loud, rude, inconsiderate, etc. The amount of times it’s nice and peaceful somewhere and people are having normal conversations, the all of sudden there’s Americans where you can hear them across the square lol. It’s quite sad to see how oblivious they are to things like that, also I’d see trash being left places way to often as well. IDK what makes other Americans want to be so loud and obnoxious, but I’d wish they could be more considerate. I’m American and it’s really not that hard to be respectful, you get better experiences just being respectful and nice
After coming to Japan and living in Tokyo for 3 months, I have to say that most of the people who I observed speaking very loudly on trains are actually Japanese people and usually young adults. Only occasionally I could see people with heavy American accents speaking loudly. But maybe it's more noticeable when someone speaks a foreign language so even if when someone speaks at a very low volume, it might appear to be noisy to some Japanese people.
I love what the last man said. I've been in Japan for almost two months now and (thankfully) I have abided by the things people here have expressed. I also made the effort to learn conversational Japanese before coming to Japan and it has given me the most wonderful experiences here. Japanese people are so friendly and kind and I truly will be sad to leave when the time comes. おもてなしを本当にありがとう
My father visited Japan many times in the 50s and 60s as an engineer. He became fluent conversationally In the language. he gained a deep love of the Japanese culture and traditions which he passed onto myself. I eventually visited Japan in 2019 a wonderful country and people - my Japanese was very poor but I tried it and it was very much appreciated. I will be visiting again!
He must not have told you about the downsides of Japanese culture that everyone overlooks. Namely their extremely flawed criminal justice system and how people are treated awaiting trial. They also rank among the lowest of first world countries in dated practices of gender roles and women have the lowest representation in government by comparison. They also don’t like non-Japanese people unless you’re a tourist who doesn’t plan to live there. I will say the work culture has improved.
@@ddespair If you're arrested in japan you're probably boned. Everyone knows thst What was it, a 99 or 97% conviction rate? I cannot shame japan for any of it, its their country and they may do as they please. I'm just a tourist and have absolutely no right to tell them theyre wrong in their practices or their culture
@@unebonnevie the USA has a bad system too. It also has a more complex population. The USA is far from perfect and I am in no way saying it is better. The difference is no one pretends that the USA is some kind of honorable wonder land where the people are so noble and behaved.
It really depends on the person. I'm a foreigner and have lived in Japan before and Japan is sort of like a double edge sword. It's good to care about those around you and to be considerate, but on the other hand, people care way too much about what everyone else is doing in society and are very judgemental about it so you end up having people all acting and doing similar things as each other like a robot. It's honestly one of the things that makes me sad about Japanese society is having great people being afraid to act as themselves because of the social pressure of "being the same". I can completely understand trying to respect others, but if you don't even respect yourself and are afraid of everyone's opinions then no one is happy.
Finally someone who understands. I work for Japanese . That’s the hardest part. Because I refuse to Blend in however that’s part of why I’m welcome to work. Because I’m like a ronin. Refuse to accept similitude.
Ah, but American individualism could be painted in a bad light as well. The only reason you are opposed to community and “sameness” is because you are not familiar nor have grown up in that culture. That doesn’t make it a negative.
The broken japanese thing from the first guy was reassuring. I'm too scared to use my Japanese with native speakers bc I'm scared it's too broken despite me passing N4 and studying for N3. So I'm glad that native speakers want us to speak it regardless.
I feel like it's a respect thing. Since as he said, everyone tries doing it when coming to America/other countries that's english majority. But it was something I'm nervous about doing as well.
@@gamersrise2490 There is a difference between Japanese and English though: English is basically the world language and a lot of people speak at least a little bit of English. But only very few people outside Japan talk Japanese though. I'm saying that as someone who's native language isn't English and who speaks Japanese reasonably well. That said, the Japanese really seem to appreciate if you try to talk to them in Japanese. I know they really mean it, but the permanent "nihongo jouzu desu ne" can feel insincere when you hear it several times a day even though you just said a few words... I had 2 occasions i really took as compliments to my Japanese. I was asked for how long i've been living in Japan (even though i was only ever there as a tourist)
It’s easier for Japanese to try speaking basic English overseas since it was taught to them in school as compared to a foreigner trying to speak Japanese, another way to think about it would be if should they be visiting some countries like eg Germany or Sweden then would they be able to even try and converse in their native language or would they end up defaulting to English as well :))
I'll be visiting Tokyo in March. Studying customs and courtesies. My goal is to have fun, and not be that loud foreigner. Thank you for this. This is a good start for my journey.
Best wishes. I went to Tokyo last spring to see cherry blossom and would love to go there again. People in Japan are awesome despite cultural differences
I’m an American and I visited Japan last year. I’m a pretty introverted person in the U.S., so a lot of these tips from the Japanese citizens you interviewed came easy to me. I only know a few basic phrases in Japanese, so I had to rely on my phone’s translator for more specific things, but the Japanese people I encountered were all very polite and accommodating.
I always wondered if like they would consider it rude if you use a phone to translate even though you not being rude. That's my number one worry about visiting there.
@@mentaltelepathy24 when I did it, I was very selective on who it was with: rail station employees, restaurant servers, certain businesses that I went to where I needed clarification on something (many of them also spoke English), but it was mostly an intuitive experience.
@@mentaltelepathy24I work with Japanese coworkers in the US (Alabama car manufacturing specifically), that essentially all of them use a translator for English. I'd say that if you use a translator, put some depth, openness, and honesty in your message that shows why you would need to use a translator (otherwise you'd say it to them). They'll appreciate it and will work in kindly back more than most in my experience. I received a small gift from a high level advisor from a high level Japanese-only department with this type of communication. I'm quite appreciative of it to me because I could build that relationship up (using a translator no less) and is a reminder of that experience to me. Just my extened opinion
Can you tell a Japanese person in the street in Japanese "Do you speak English?" or is it rude? Assuming you don't speak Japanese at all or only a few phrases.
@@mentaltelepathy24I had a full on Google translate conversation at softmap with the staff there. I was on my phone he was on his computer we talked back and forth like that. We both seemed to have fun talking in that way he was very polite aswell
Every time I hear people talking about “keeping your voice down on public transportations”, I die a little on the inside. I had a cringy foreigner moment when I was visiting family in Shanghai. I was talking with my sister on the train, but because we got caught in the moment, we didn’t realized everyone else around us was just silently staring at us. But luckily, when we got off the train afterwards, my mom (who was also with us) told me that people just thought we were actors by how fluently we spoke in English
Actually Chinese people are notorious for being extremly loud in public places. It's a common thing to stare at foreigners in China, I don't think your conversation has anything to do with it. Koreans and Japanese are usually much more discreet. At least while sober lol.
I am Australian and have just returned from Japan. I was so impressed by the country and I think that as many people should try and visit if they can. I am glad that I actually followed most of the things people mentioned in this video, even trying to speak broken Japanese to the local people out of respect. But all I can say is that everyone in Japan was genuinely helpful and friendly, and I can’t wait to return one day.
I married a Japanese woman in the 90s and a lot of what was said in this video are things she told me. She also told me that many Japanese can speak English and will gladly switch to English if you're at least trying to speak Japanese. She also added that for me it wasn't an issue except for the fact that no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't pick up Japanese. She said my general mannerisms and "verve" was Japanese which is what drew her to me. And no, at the time the only anime I had ever watched was Robotech back in 1985 so I knew jackall about the country. Mai was kind to me, so I was kind back. (Rip Mai 2/13/01)
@@jon4sh710 I wouldn't expect someone to speak my language, but I'd still make an effort to learn some words of a country I'm going to visit. It shows that you at least spent a little time and it's a sign of respect. Maybe I just feel this way because I've seen so many tourists from my country just shouting in English as if it's the natives' responsibility to learn our language. When I went to France with some friends they didn't even bother saying "bonjour" even though they knew it. I had learned a few phrases and words and got waaaaaay better treatment and more people willing to talk to me in English or give me gifts/samples. It's just quite rude not to learn some words, really. It's the same as someone coming up to you, speaking gibberish and then looking confused as to why you don't understand them as if it's your fault.
I made a Japanese friend on Instagram and he was incredibly friendly and open with me when we met in person which surprised another friend I had who used to live in Japan as he told me that was unusual, but even though I’m American I tend to be incredibly shy and quiet so the last answer really spoke to me. People are unique and the best we can do is respect each other so we can all be comfortable. That is the reason I love Japan so much is that they do follow that.
It’s also interesting because to people in European countries Americans are seen as not touchy at all and very shy with physical affection. So hearing that Americans were seen as the opposite is so funny to me. I also am shy with hugs and such unless it’s a family member or close friend so yeah what the last guy said was so true!
Thank you so much for this. I love. hearing directly from the people who live there! Very eye opening! I really loved the very last man's attitude. He sounds so wise.
As someone who has spent 2 years in Japan, a lot of foreigners (far from just Americans) cannot seem to control their voice no matter how many times it's brought up or even how familiar they are with the language and culture. I am so apprehensive about riding the trains or going in public with other foreign friends because they are so obliviously loud. It's annoying to tell a friend 50 times they are being loud but it's worse to inconvenience literally everyone else.
I'm a Canadian and my wife is American, it's very much dependent on where you grew up. Southern Americans tend to speak very loud and often times people tell me speak up when I am visiting down there. Often times on a discord call I can hear my American friends roommate's over the mic even though they're not even in the room.
@@sarougeau I'm from rural Georgia which fits very firmly into the loud southerners thing and I get that i can be loud. But when everyone is whispering or dead silent and one or two people are basically shouting even after repeatedly being made aware of the issue, then there is definitely still an issue.
I'm not loud and I enjoy when I loud person enters a train but I think people are responsible for their own discomfort. If someone is loud on a train, use it as an opportunity to be okay with it. Its not hurting you. Discomfort isn't an evil thing. Yes I'm not talking about harassment or these sorts of things, there's a line to be drawn. But people need to allow their safety bubbles to be popped lol its not healthy to live in a bubble of comfort and expect the world to work around it
@andrewmc147 A traveller should go with the norm of society. If I am supposed to be quiet in the train, I better be! This is about respecting your host's culture.
@@macaroon147 with this self-centric world view you've got it backwards. Society doesn't owe you the privilege of disrespecting everyone around you. Someone will always be louder and more arrogant and a competition to see who's the most obnoxious piece of trash is nothing short of narcissistic, and a way to make sure everyone loses.
I lived in Japan for 7 years (both Tokyo and in highly rural, isolated, villages). Wherever you are in Japan (and yet more so in the villages), politeness, decorum with conscientiousness and an eye to those around you are key. For instance, when we, foreigners, talk loudly or walk in confident ways, know that you can but you should consider how your voice level, words stated, actions or movements could affect those around you. It can get tiring but it becomes part of you in the long run and you come out a better person in some respects : More conscientious of your actions and others.
It's refreshing to see an informed opinion. Thanks for the information. I wouldn't have thought about walking confidently. There is a big difference between a very confident posture and a humble posture. Do you mean head lower, not bolt upright, etc.? I have an American friend who lived in Japan. He said Japan is better in some ways. Japanese don't litter nearly as much. There is far less theft and crime overall. They respect strangers, their neighbors, and their community much more.
Most of the time in England especially people think it is perfectly fine to talk, laugh even yell over others around them. To them it's just their personal conversation but for everyone else trying to talk in their group or focus on a task it is irritating and made impossible because of peoples ignorance towards others.
I was fortunate to study abroad in a country where English isn’t the primary language when I was younger. It’s really important to remember that you are a guest when traveling, especially to other countries. Respect the customs and culture of where you are at. Like that person said, even if you aren’t confident in speaking the language, I’ve found that people are just happy that you are trying. If it’s bad enough, they might reply in English, but the fact that you tried in my experience, does a long way. I’m sure I’m speaking to the choir.
I suposse it differs from country to country, but in the netherlands it genuinely wouldnt be an issue if you just went for english straight away. Majority will just go along with it no problem. Meanwhile if you do it in france theyll give you a foul look. Its odd isnt it?
@@thesaviorofsouls5210 Agreed. I've had people come up to me trying to speak Dutch and butchering it so much I couldn't understand it. At the same time, I have also heard many people here say they can't speak English. (Or my dad, who thinks he can speak it, but is ehh bad might be an understatement-)
If only… You can see how this thinking doesn't work even at the highest political level pretty much real time. Like other countries, we have lots of Ukrainian migrants. What did our government do? They started sucking up to Ukrainians, giving them money, free transportation, free accommodation, no questions asked. There are way, way too many cases of Ukrainians coming over in their 2 year old, or even brand new models of BMWs, Teslas, Mercedeses using up our resources. It's easy to come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Ukrainians aren't refugees of the war, they're plain economic migrants, and very arrogant at that. We, the indigenous people, are prompted to learn Ukrainian to communicate with them, provide them with any assistance, we have no room in our kindergartens for our own kids, but it's not a problem to find room for Ukrainians. Obviously, they're taking advantage aplenty. I wouldn't even start on their behavior here. Like you said - I wish people who are in a foreign country for whatever reason realized it's not their right to be there and be suffered by locals, it's a privilege.
So true!! I think because the west is so “free” they don’t really care about rules necessarily or it isn’t as important it can be a good and bad thing for ex people act so crazy , safety comes in question and sm more
American here. Just got back from my first ever trip to Japan and I just wanted to thank you for this video. It really helped me to know expectations and to feel confident I was doing the proper things. The waiting to be seated part was very helpful because while I did learn some spoken Japanese, I don’t know how to read it yet, so even when a restaurant had a sign at the front, I didn’t even have to get out my translate app, I knew I was expected to wait to be seated! I kind of wish all restaurants in the US were like this. It’s so much easier! Thank you for your videos!!
In the United States, waiting to be seated in a restaurant is definitely a thing we practice here. Only in bars, clubs, and fast food establishments are self seating or if the establishment explicitly tells you you can seat yourself. Otherwise, for the most part, we wait to be seen.
Yes that made me laugh because I've worked in restaurants where we have signs asking people to waited to be seated and they'll still sit wherever they want. I understand her frustration and we do have a waiting culture here, American customers are just used to always being correct no matter what they do.
@@mightymeatymech It's usually the older generations. They don't want to wait 30 seconds for someone to come to the front so they just seat themselves. Later, they're confused when they haven't been served yet: It's cause we seat by a system and we didn't know you were there.
My family and I recently went to Japan back in October. And living in both Mexico and America I gotta say we loved it. The people the environment, the overall quite and general respect for one another was amazing. It took us several years to save up for the trip but I’m glad we picked Japan. We went on several train and even though it was crazy full you could hear a pin drop in there. It really made me change my perspective on a lot of things. Like I’m sure there were people who were having bad days morning heading to a crappy job but that wasn’t being plastered on the walls with bad attitude and rudeness. Plan to go back. Great place and great people
The first guy's answer resonates with me! I remember that one time I went to a restaurant on my own in Japan, and with my broken Japanese and Google translate, I ordered the item I want on the menu. Unexpectedly, maybe I sounded too collected, the waiter started to talk to me in Japanese. I was extremely startled and didn't know what to say, but then he was a smart guy and quickly picked up the fact that I cannot speak Japanese and switched to English. Japanese people are so nice!!
@@21Kikoshi Tbh I heard from a number of foreigners and US travellers that American people were really nice, polite and helpful towards them. I've never been to the US so I can't speak from experience, but I'm a foreigner living in the UK in a small town and I've only had a very few bad instances with people who didn't like the fact that I'm a foreigner. The education system, students and teachers here treated me better than my own native people at my old school 😭😭
@@pannajohns5255 truth is most people in most countries are respectful & helpful to foreigners. You get an opportunity to learn something completely new & maybe teach people some norms about your country. On top of that, usually when people are interacting with foreigners they feel like a representative of their country & want to put the best foot forward. This is pretty common in every country around the globe. Far more common than not.
@@bbbbbbb51 Very true, especially when I talk to people at the shop, restaurant, pub etc. they notice my slight accent and ask where I’m from, and they always seem delighted to hear where I’m from, they also often talk about their own travels abroad and what a nice experience they had. However, in the UK, I feel like foreigners who are also POC may experiences more resistance. At least from what I seen, POC who were born in the UK already receive discriminatory labels (especially in white rich neighbourhoods, Southern parts of the UK). This is just my own personal and environmental observation btw, it may be different from others, but there’s a slight consensus in my previous statement.
@@pannajohns5255 I have been to the UK to Visit my cousins in Winchester. They always asked if i was an American but the second i mention that i am Canadian there tone changed completely. I guess the Brits are not a big fan of Americans.
I used to work at an airport here in northern Sweden. My job was mainly checking peoples boarding passes and helping confused people find their way around the airport. Whenever I mer japanese travellers I used to give them an "Arigato" and a slight head nod when handing back their papers. About 50% of them just automatically responded with the same phrase and went on with their business. The other 50% took notice that I spoke Japanese with them and were happily surprised. I loved putting a smile on their faces as they were leaving Sweden :) (I studied some Japanese back in high school so I had a pretty good accent in that "Arigato").
Now here's the real question: did they themselves bother to do their homework and use 'tack' or 'hej' while visiting, or does it only go one-way.. I have a feeling it's the latter.
I live and work in Germany in retail. Once there was a couple, German and Japanese (in their 20s). She most likely wasnt in Germany for long and to "practice" she was supposed top pay. In only realized she was Japanese when she counted like a Japanese cashier (you recognise it instantly) and obviously in Japanese. I told her her change in Japanese and thanked her in Japanese. The look on her face was just funny. Just absolut bewildered that someone can speak Japanese in this relativly small German town where no tourists go :D
@@MajinBuusni my experience was that older adults from Japan are NOT very tolerant of you trying to say a few words in their language, unlike students and very young people travelling and enjoying their freedom. My wife went to Toyko Institute, got her Masters, and speaks FLUENT and well educated Japanese. When her fathers' friends from Japan visited, they'd go out and I'd get to stay home and play with the kid!!!!
When I was in Japan I was just a teenager, but on school trip to Osaka, I went into the bath. I had no idea what to do so I just got into the large bath with soap. Fortunately a Japanese man came in and shook his head at me and motioned me out of the bath and showed me a bucket of hot water and demonstrated washing off with soap and then rinsing off before getting into the hot bath. I remember being ashamed that I did not know the proper way to bathe in Japan but always grateful to being shown. The comment about "personal space" being very important is extremely important in Japan, where there are so many people, privacy is highly valued.
I really liked this video! When I first visited Japan as a Japanese language student, I studied the laws, etiquette, and culture so I didn't make anyone uncomfortable. Whilst enjoying the Onsen at my hotel, a group of foreigners came into the onsen without washing themselves and started splashing and jumping in. At breakfast they were being very noisy and cutting in the breakfast line. The Japanese are quiet, but also very friendly and eager to help if you show some respect. It only takes a little education on the culture and etiquette, plus some consideration and respect for the people around you and you'll find your time there even better.
We read up and prepared ourselves before our trip to Japan in March. So somehow we understood what was expected of us as visitors in terms of culture and customs. We tried our best to start a conversation in Japanese when we needed help and I’d say we were treated warmly by the locals for which we were very grateful. We also tried to blend in instead of sticking out as tourists. Overall it’s one of the best vacation experiences. Japan 🇯🇵 is my new favourite destination. I’m looking forward to going back soon.
Visiting Japan gave me such lovely things that I felt were missing in my own country and culture. I always get anxious in crowds but didn’t in Japan because the respect for other peoples personal space and knowing how you impact others is so important.
@@GopNet not really 😂. The institutionalized racism, medical malpractice and authoritarianism are pretty blatant 😂. But that’s something you only pick up on after a month or so of living there.
I like the last guy for sure. As a quiet black person who lived in the Japanese countryside, I was shocked by some Japanese people walking up to me and sometimes attempting to touch my hair or greeting me loudly who I didn’t know and shake my hand. My personal space is pretty big too, foreigner is a broad term with broad expectations. We can all just be mindful 😊.
It's a weird contradiction that Japanese people don't like physical contact, then suddenly they will comment on your body or try and touch you or your kids because you're a foreigner.
@captainsuckbutt3917 Yeah, they don't have the same shyness towards you because they see you similarly to something more exotic or petting zoo adjacent. It's demeaning.
yeah … a weird video of do’s and dont’s (with capitalized NEVER), but they themselves break many codes. what abt the WW2 atrocities¿ many are still traumatized to this day
I think it's so interesting that the culture of Japanese people is overall just much more understanding, like every criticism they had they were equally curious as to why, "maybe they're not used to that" or "their culture isn't the same" so I think it's so interesting how they understand and respect the cultural differences between themselves and foreigners and its super enlightening and respectful and I think that's just so cool
I recently moved to the US from southeast Asia, and I just think that many Americans are quite rude, especially ones who work to serve customers. I am not sure if it's a culture thing, but it probably is.
@nikoleven7491 depends on the places, shitty companies who don't take care of their employees won't give a shit about being nice, but there are a a lot of places that do care and will put in the effort. It's not a culture thing a lot of people just aren't paid enough to care.
As a Brit, the lining up and queuing is something I appreciate. It is something we are generally known for. When people don’t respect queues it does particularly bug me.
As an American who respects queues, im convinced this is why those heathens dumped your tea. I shouldn't be here lmao. On top of that though, most of our gas [petrol] stations don't have clearly marked queues, so we're constantly bumping into each other because everyone is just queueing in different aisles. Its hard to explain and just as annoying as it sounds lmao
First of all, I loved the answer of that last guy who was interviewed. (He wouldn’t ‘take the bait’. 😆) But as far as things that my Japanese friends often complain about regarding foreign visitors here, I’d say the volume level of conversations in public ranks first. Especially on the train (as was mentioned by one of interviewees). Also, I wanted to mention… although consumption of alcohol in public places is acceptable in Japan, public drunken behavior is not. Of course, Japanese locals are guilty of this on occasion as well, but we foreigners stand out more. Just something to keep in mind. 🍻
Its actually pretty fun since its illegal in most places of europe to drink outside. In Sweden were im from youre not allowed to drink anything over 2.8% outside at all.
@@aronrodriguez1341 That's great! I wish Brazil copied that Swedish cultural practice. Unfortunately, if some law forbade consumption of alcohol on the streets in Brazil, a major riot would happen and the president would be forced to resign by the masses of protesters.
@@aronrodriguez1341 Same with the US plus no beer vending machines so much for the land of the free. As far as being loud goes in the US being a loud mouth often get you ahead in life so in many cases it encouraged to raise your voice since the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
It's not just "on occasion" when you see it every weekend with crazy drunks and loud yelling. Even saw someone doing a burnout on their motorcycle just for tiktok
@@southcoastinventors6583 I had a very noisy coworker. Always complaining about stuff. She most definitely was not well-received by others and eventually was fired (for reasons I don’t know). It’s totally untrue that being loud and boisterous means you’ll get ahead in life in America. What gets you ahead in life is how much people like and/or respect you regardless whether you’re loud or you’re quiet
As a Mexican, I would find it odd for someone to not be so warm and friendly outright. It’s curious to hear one of the woman say that behaving like so would spark a different kind of reaction for some (don’t want to generalize) Japanese people. Always great to learn people’s social etiquettes 😌
I'm Mexican and German and raised by my Mexican family. It's a very touchy/huggy family and be friendly to everyone you pass and say thank you and excuse me to anyone you may cross. Then I went to visit my family in Germany. Complete opposite. I was saying thank you far too often as thank you was implied and everyone minds their own business, no need for pleasantries, just get to it. I honestly love both for different reasons, but, yes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
True it can be hard to connect with close friends even after building a bond and not hugging etc !! I also think eye contact is so important!! However it’s more common to look at a persons neck area when talking to them no matter the age 😅 but it’s still beautiful to respect people’s person space esp if you’re living in their country 🤍🇯🇵
For me the most beautiful thing about Japanese people when i watch these video is, that even if they dont like something about anything, they are still really polite and tend to say only things that answer the question which is asked.
It's worth noting how often Japanese people give foreigners the benefit of the doubt. If I ever get the opportunity to visit, I'll be very appreciative of their patience :)
'Foreigners don't wait in line. They might not be aware of that concept.' The fact he'd give benefit of a doubt in such a situation shows how polite Japanese are. If we see foreigners not understanding social rules where I'm from we often react a lot more aggressive than that.
@@atomicNoodle yeah japanese people are polite because they live in a very dystopian world, their society is completely based on order and control and japan has one of the highest suicide rates, they are polite because that's all they are taught, they are often shunned for the slightest mistakes which may SEEM good, but its terrible. my time living in japan was the worst few years of my life just due to the pure antisocialness they experience there
I am in Japan right now for my 8th time and even though I am not fluent in Japanese I feel that when I try to interact with Native Japanese they are very patient with me and appreciate very much speaking to them in Japanese. Even if I have to use Google translate. I love it here and I have great respect for your culture. 😊
Whenever I am over there, i try to use my limited Japanese language skills as much as possible, because you can see THEIR faces light up as soon as they know you are trying to be considerate.
Thanks for shedding some light on this! Whenever I travel, one of the first things I look for is the “unwritten rules”. I think it’s so important to respect other peoples cultures especially when traveling to them.
I agree, the thing about waiting to be seated at restaurants was a great example of this, because it really is just different everywhere. Even in America, some will have you wait, some will have you seat yourself, and I HATE that moment of uncertainly waffling by the door while I try to figure out what kind of establishment I'm in.
In the U.S. in extrememly busy sit down restaurants I have paused to asked the servers/manager if I can just take a seat and others behind me have walked right past and laughed like I'm stupid.@@solitarelee6200
@@solitarelee6200 As someone from the Balkans I have never had to wait in a restaurant. That doesnt exist where Im from. If the table is empty and not reserved you just sit there.
@@Qlicky But in other places that is considered very rude. Anyways, its usually a sign ,just inside the door, to eait for a waiter. If it is,you wait. I alwaus check thurely, before walking inside,and i dont just grab a table because its free. I have to be sure it is ment to be "sit yourself down". For me,this is a normal behaviour. The same thing is with any home or place at all. I dont just go sit down,of course ! I recon you dont either? Go in to another persons home ,and just sit? I think that this is a universal sign og of being rude, tbh...
@@TG-hp8og What other places? There is NO such thing as 'Wait to be seated' where Im from and that includes 5-6 neighboring countries. It IS the normal behaviour around here. As I said, you're expected to sit down if the table is empty. The signs 'reserved' at restaurants exist for a reason you know. if it's reserved you obviously don't sit there and wait to be seated. Are you seriously comparing entering someone's home to entering a business place where you're actually paying for the privilege?
This may be a weird comment, but I want to thank Takashii for the code for the treat boxes. My son’s birthday is coming up and I always struggle with what to get him so close after Christmas. But not this year. I ordered both Sakuraco and TokyoTreat treat boxes. My son is really into anime and Japanese culture, so this gift is simply PERFECT for him. Thanks again for the perfect idea!
This video was incredibly helpful! Thank you! One thing that stuck out was at least trying to learn some if the language. My parents went to Japan on their honeymoon (when they could afford it 20 years after marriage) and my father studied with flash cards, tapes and books (back in the 80's before computers). Not only did it make him feel more comfortable, it helped a great deal when he needed to ask questions. This is something I definitely will do before my trip to Japan. Thank you again for your very helpful and informative videos!!
My wife and I are just back from Japan. What a wonderful experience and great culture! We've tried to learn few words in Japanese (but this might also be a trap because of the many différences meanings and ways to say something so sometimes, i preferred to use English rather than mistaking or miss pronouncing a panneresse words in a way that could be offending). We've made all possible efforts to learn and respect the usage, and that kind of video is REALLY usefully to know what to do/not to do in order to be respect as much as possible these wonderful peoples. I a sure I wasn't perfect, but I hope that we pleased the Japan people we've met as it was really important for us not to let them a bad feeling and make them confortable with us since they are kindly welcoming us in their county. フランスからの愛を込めて（私たちはあなたから学ぶべきことがたくさんあります)
I'm Finnish. I've been dreaming about visiting Japan for a while now. A lot of what they say I already agree with, but there were also many points that weren't so obvious to me and turned out to be valuable advice. Thank you for the video, and thank you to all the folks answering your questions!
I'm trying to think of some of the major "pet peeves" or "social mistakes" in Japan (What's the French term, I can't think?) "faux pas"???? I think that's it. Ummmm ..... I believe that they do not shake hands (neither do I). Also, It may still be, that if you, as a man (gentleman) are courteous and permit a Japanese woman to go first, that that is not acceptable. In Japan, the women stay behind the men, the men go first. I think that sneezing, loudly, in public is looked down upon. I'd be in big trouble. I don't think that they like loud, boisterous, demonstrative people. So Texans would have trouble. One time when I was in London, I was talking to locals at hotel, and they said that they had problems with Texans. Don't talk about WWII. You have to remember, it is a very homogenous society, everybody doing the same thing, for many centuries. It was only "opened" around 1850 ("Gunboat Diplomacy").
@@Goooodbye I think tourists should still know that most Japanese don't like foreigners nomatter how good they behave. I was shocked of the condescending gazes wandering through the streets. Some however you could feel the respect for travelling so far to get to know their culture. But generally don't mix up their friendliness with being welcome.
@@Isaki138 Depend the place you are, i agree with you, i just don't care about theses people. But usually, if you are going in a bar the night, in a popular place, you will find a lot of people who want to make friend with you. During the day, it is something else of course. It also depend when you are from, i know they dont like to much american cause of the ww2 (specialy the old peoples), but when i said i come from Switzerland, everything back to normal :p
Japan is a mono culture. The rest of the world can't follow suit because everyone is trying to do their own things instead of what's good for the country. This will never happen again and soon Japan will change with increased immigration
Most have a friendly demeanour, they mind their own business, they are socially/publicly respectable, it seems like they don’t make petty judgements on things that don’t effect their lives or in other words self respecting… they really aren’t about harbouring hate, and more about common courtesy. They’re not fighting against eachother? Work culture doesn’t always get a good rep in Japan, but they’re hard working ? They’re also extremely expressive and they’re not afraid of it - I can’t begin to list how many hobbies exist, and done 100x better in Japan. Not saying everything in Japan is perfect, but their positives outweigh their negatives and I feel like I listed the bare minimum. Feels like the rest of us are living in boxes and competing against eachother in our self destructing countries lol.
Greetings from Chicago, Illinois -- I worked for 2 global pharmaceutical companies which ARE both headquartered in Japan. I did a lot of international travel during my time with these 2 companies. I spent several weeks (sometimes months) in different countries around the globe. The companies provided us with information on the customs/culture of every specific country I went to for business. For example, how to dress, language, when to bow, shake hands, don't shake hands, food, culture, etc. We were educated on the PROPER WAY to behave, how to communicate (there are many different forms of communication in various countries I visited). Your video demonstrates to ALL foreigners that there ARE specific rules, laws, boundaries, forms of communication we ALL should respect. We (foreigners) must be mindful of the customs, rules, laws, mannerisms when we visit another country. Being polite, respectful, courteous are important.
Wow. Its about respecting one another and your environment, paying attention to your surroundings, seeking not to offend, as in keeping your voice down so as not to disturb those around you and so much more...So much of this resonates with how my mother raised me, its mind blowing! We were so different from our peers growing up that I thought something must be wrong with us. But it makes me humbled to know our foundation was set this way. We are Jamaican living in the U.S. ❤
As a Finnish person I can relate to Japanese people a lot, because our cultures have many similar traits. For example, we also appreciate personal space, cleanliness, being humble, being respectful and considerate towards other people (tho we are no way near as respectful as the Japanese imo) and not being loud at public places. We can also be a bit shy and reserved at first, but that depends a lot on the person. Although I think we're a bit more relaxed/not nearly as formal about things as the japanese 😅
As a Finn I relate with much of what these Japanese people said. Being considerate and respectful, cleanliness, waiting for your turn (fairness), moving considerately (not blocking paths, staying on the correct side so others can move if they're in a hurry etc.). And I agree that Finns are a bit more loose when it comes to these things (people cut in line and block paths in Finland, for example), but they are valued in the Finnish culture regardless. A Japanese person will feel somewhat familiar in the Finnish culture, and vice versa.
Americans: loud often disobey and self-absorbed and very rude , but easy to fool because he doesn't get our politeness😅😑 Germans , swiss and Austrians : same as Americans , but are very humble serious orderly and calm despite not able to read us 😅🥲 Latins, Muslims , Indians and Africans : they seem better than Americans in social manners , except screws actual rules and causes chaos , they also are very agressive if they hate someone and are too emotional Latins are the most rude , Arabs and indians are the most chaotic Africans are in between 😥😥😵💫 French and Slavs: Between the latins and Americans I say. 😅😵💫 South Asians: Extremer than Latins but they get us more what we mean than actual latins 😵💫😰😮💨 Chinese and Koreans : same as the south Asians they get us, even better and orderly like latins , but still some hate personally us for what ancestors were ??? it's so hostile and pointless to talk to them no matter what i say it's like we are targeted by the actual Arabs or latins hate deep down 😐😰😰😵💫😑💢 Brits: Brits ? Same as Americans , but actually gets deeper into our polite barrier and mind to trigger us 🤨💢💢 Swedes and Norwegians : Kinder Brits, they seem critical but they respect us, also very orderly and calm like Germans 🤔🙂 Dutch and Danes: Seem American to me but they are smart 🤔 Canadians: Americans who try being like Finns 😅😊 Finns: They get us and respect us the most. They barely complain they follow. Maybe a bit naive but that's why we adore them ☺️🥺
Indeed all these rules make me think of Northen Europe, very similar - I'm from Italy, south part of Italy and we can say is another planet : on the bus is so loud as a concert - there is no line, is caos - people go out from bus and at the same time people go on , always like that😂 to be loud here is almost a rule - also to hug , to embrace. to shake hands , - also here people always want to buy you something, like a coffe or a drink, always, they insist -wich is kind - but i can see foreigners don't like that - i can make 100 more examples - could be fun for you to see cause again, is another galaxy - but to live here maybe for you would be hell
Note on "Leaving Newspaper on the Subway in New York City" It is not to "dispose" of it, but to leave the newspaper on your seat for another rider to read. This was the original cause of leaving the newspaper behind, since not everyone had the means/finances/time/opportunity to purchase one, but might want to read about the news in the morning. A lot of times you would see a person get ready to exit and fold their newspaper and be asked "If they are done" with the newspaper, so it would be passed to another rider before it is left on the seat. Nowadays, with sardine-can-crammed subway cars, I am not sure this courtesy is the same as it used to be.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not from NYC, but the thought of touching someone’s gross subway newspaper is extremely unappealing to me! I think I would think very differently about it if I couldn’t afford a newspaper though. But I fully understand what you mean and that is actually kind of crazy that the practice evolved from a desire to share but is now seen as basically littering. I wonder if modern New Yorkers see it as a courtesy to others or just thinking of it as a way to dispose of something they don’t want anymore.
@@nh7568No , people will not take new paper from the floor, If you finish reading new paper, you put on the side of you self or on the sit that you left. The reason that the new paper end up on the floor was some passenger like to set on that sit where the new paper was, and if other sits close by taken, they just put that new paper under the sit on the floor, as the subway car might be crowded, so it will not be in the way. On the last station the cleaning cru will take out.
The man who speaks around the 8 minute mark knows what's up. He has some incredible insight and seemed to be very knowledgeable. I wonder if he'd be willing to be my Japanese linguistics sensei... 🤔 I respect the Japanese culture and the way they convey respect towards one another.
I've been to Japan 4 times, I absolutely love it there! The people are so kind, and so thoughtful. People do the right thing, and everyone respects each other. Everywhere is clean, every vehicle looks well maintained inside and out. The trains are like clockwork. It's an amazing place.
I'm currently here for the first time I try to be as polite as possible, take as little space as possible and stay out of the way for people My japanese unforuanately is so shit its barely on the cringy "i watched anime" level. Also fuck me im scared of the more adult entertainment districts. Got approached like 7 times in kabukicho, didnt knoe if i was gonna get scammed or worse cause an incident by not knowing enough japanese. I mean id like to try Degenerate yes, scared. Absolutely
Planning a trip to Japan in 2 years. Been learning the language for 4 years now, but always love to know more so I can be as polite as possible! Thanks for the video!
One of the best things about going to Tokyo was, even though I was in a busy city with lots of people, I felt very safe and not stressed at all, because of the respectfulness of it’s citizens.
Im an American, when I was in Japan earlier this year I was on the subway in Tokyo & noticed an older women & her husband enter but all the seats were taken. I decided to get out of my seat and give it to her. She bowed very low, gave me a big smile & and showed so much gratitude. It made me feel incredibly happy and accepted. Respecting the culture was one of the most rewarding things about the trip as it means a lot to the people of Japan and therefore means a lot to me!
@@Melanated4ever who says i dont? my point from this comment was to highlight the gratitude shown from Japanese people who are shown respect from foreigners in relation to this video and its contents. Not sure where this notion came from of not respecting elders in other countries..?
I love that they acknowledge that some cultures might be different in aspects like waiting in line or waiting to be seated at a restaurant but ask for others to respect THEIR culture while a guest in their country. They all seemed to want to educate foreigners rather then scold them for improper behavior.
@bubbledoubletrouble True, but in general, Westerners don't have the culture of waiting in line for get on the train. It's more often than not, "first come (to the door), first serve"
@@RottenPieceof At some restaurants, at least in the United States, it's expected for you to just find an empty table upon entering the restaurant, so the first time you interact with any worker is when they approach your table.
I think the most important thing when visiting any place that you're not familiar with, is to be mindful and respectful of the people there. Even when visiting other places within your own country, they can have very different customs and traditions from place to place. It's best to set a good example for future tourists to always be respectful. Arigato, Takashii-san.
Just be a human - Use the eyes and ears and observe your surroundings. Doing something weird and getting weird looks? Stop doing the thing. Are you walking around with people unbothered and not looking or caring about you? Probably doing just fine. If all else fails, find help trying to understand what you don't understand. Embrace different cultural norms if you wish to travel. Part of travel means leaving the comfort zone. Do not act so entitled that you make everyone else that is calibrated to those norms suffer.
Setting an example? Gtfo it’s not possible to please everyone let alone an entire nation. People’s pet peeves vary widely in once own country. Tourist aren’t a homogeneous mass. If an obnoxious American goes to Japan doesn’t mean all Americans are obnoxious, it just means that American is obnoxious. Believing that somehow your shared nationality with an obnoxious tourist makes you look bad, it’s in your individual mind not a shared belief for your nationality either.
@@ronswanson1410 The problem is, the vast majority of people don't even come to the conclusion that they're doing something wrong or weird. They are, after all, just being themselves and everyone should tolerate it…
I’m in Japan now and I absolutely love how calm, quiet and respectful this culture is. It is a joy to ride the trains and not have some asshole next to you using FaceTime on speaker phone. Why can’t the rest of the world be this considerate? Why is it so acceptable now to force your shitty phone conversations on everyone around you?
Personally, while commuting, I like the atmosphere to be calm, but this is my opinion. I can't force others to be like me. Some people enjoy the sound of noise, I like it to be noisy in a coffee shop, for example. So I guess it's a preference thing, and everyone should look for the environment that suits them, and respect the norm within different cultures and follow it. In Japan everyone is calm so be calm, don't judge them boring because you like noise. In Italy people are chatty and very vibrant, respect that if you go there, don't call them annoying, it's their culture. In Japan people worship personal space you should give them that when visiting them, in India people stand one hugging the other and they are fine, show them respect as well.
My family and I just returned from a 2 week vacation to Japan, and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. In addition to my son having a strong interest in Japanese culture he has studied the language for the last 2 years in preparation for the trip and we had watched several very insightful videos such as this one and they were all a huge help. It was just amazing to see how everyone just opened up when he would speak to them in Japanese. We found Japan to be extremely beautiful, and it's people to be patient, tolerate, friendly, polite, and very mindful of others...qualities that we should all strive to have.
My ex husband and I had gone to Japan for two weeks for our honeymoon, it was amazinggg, and the Japanese people are the most hard working kindest folk I’ve ever met. It was just so peaceful and beautiful to witness.
So basically… Be respectful and don’t expect the locals to adjust to you when you should be adjusting to them and their culture. Not very difficult. It’s crazy how foreigners can’t do something so basic and simple. Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
I really like how the last person explain it! You have to be considerate and respect one another to build a good relationship. And also adopt the culture of the country you are in to
That last guy reminds me of myself when I was an American foreign exchange student in Tokyo 50 years ago. I was very conscious that people should NOT expect me to be like whatever they thought a typical American was. 50 years later, I realize I didn't apply that so much to Japanese people, who are, and were, very much individuals too!
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The U.S. tv series The Amazing Race has been on for 34 Seasons & they have traveled to Japan for 8 of them; 9, 12, 15, 18, 20, 23, 26, & 31.
My friend, when you download a clip and ask the Japanese, I hope you add a translation of Arabic and the rest of the languages, and not just English. There are people who follow you and do not know English.
I'm. Not sure of the country of origin visitors come from we have similar complaints about queuing in UK. If its not clearly written to wait until someone comes to you it is assumed you take a seat. Behaviours and attitudes have changed since the 50's so there's a a mish mash of standards everywhere nothing is the same!
たけしおかし。。。ウマイ！
I have really enjoyed learning about your culture by asking all these questions/thoughts/ideas that foreigners should know about Japan and its people. Really every Country should do this! Entertaining and Informative.
The last guy’s answer really resonated with me. Being considerate and trying to understand people around you, regardless or race or nationality, will always lead to better relationships, and less conflicts of interest.
Funny as most Japanese don't even do that
@@Blue_Nova707 He was referring To foreigners being considerate in Japan, not Japanese being considerate to gaijin
Yea I likes that a lot too. Especially because Im an american who hates hugs and handshakes and hi fives. I always thought the people who gave out too many high fives to strangers were quite obnoxious.
I guess introverts would fit in better in japan 😅.
@@TomSestilio Japanese are barely nice to Japanese.
Yeah Americans somehow have missed this bit of common sense. As an American who lives in America most of us are loud, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. It's part of our culture.
Timestamps are here for you!
0:51 don’t drink alcohol outside
1:14 if drinking alcohol outside, be respectful
1:25 do your best to speak Japanese, even if you don’t speak it well the effort is respected
1:56 please wear masks on the train
2:48 you should wait to be seated at a restaurant, don’t just walk in and sit down
3:18 make sure you wait in line and wait for your turn
4:00 Japanese people are shy and reserved, be calm and polite when approaching them
6:30 be quiet and respectful on trains and other transport
6:50 make sure you give people their personal space
7:33 keep to the left on escalators
7:48 make sure you shower/wash to clean yourself before you get into the sauna/onsen
8:05 consider each person individually. Just because one person likes/dislikes something, that doesn’t mean everyone will.
To be honest, these things are very basic and I regard them as common courtesy, useful in every country when you travel. Treat people, their culture and their country as you would expect them to treat yours.
Exactly! With Japan, or any foreign country, when traveling I've always thought to show deference to the people and culture. It's just like taking your shoes off before you enter the home: it's their house so follow their rules.
Honestly :51 is more of don't be an asshole and do it obnoxiously, it's not uncommon for people to drink publicly here on trains, or during picnics, and so on. Just don't be unruly doing it.
@@Umezete I have never seen someone drinking alcohol on the train, wow! Even drinking walking through the street seems rare to me.
@@phillipedwardness9591 really? odd. Walking through the street is a bit rarer since it's usually looked down upon to eat and drink while walking period but people do tend to drink on train rides often enough.
@@Umezete do you mean on the bullet train or just regular train?
Last guy was spitting straight facts from the heart
For real.
130 IQ perspective
He is awesome
I agree, one could not say it better than he did ,for the question
Last guy blew everyone else out of the water. What is a country? What is culture? What is a human?
Everything is one.
As an American that just visited Japan, I can’t emphasize enough that you should seriously pay attention to your surroundings and the people around you. I was on a train standing in one of the open areas for about half of my ride before I realized that I was standing in a handicap/stroller priority area and a young Japanese woman was standing in the corner with her stroller. I moved once I realized this and motioned for her to take the spot and she did. Looking back, it is something I should have absolutely noticed if I was being a little more attentive.
" ... something to which one should pay serious attention." "Attention", also has a sexual connotation. You weren't fantasizing about the young mother, were you??
Also, "I was standing on a train, ..." The train was not standing and locomoting at the same time.
Further, " ... if I had been more alert (about safety)."
Your English is impaired. Don't go to other countries. Your English is deficient. You're a bad example. I hope you weren't teaching.
I mean, even in your home country people should pay attention
@@dylanshadowstar9779 yeah true. But in a different country there might be completely different rules but you are so used to your routine that you think you follow everything automatically. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I'm tired, my English is rather poor right now haha
Interesting seeing you mentioning that. We travelled with a stroller to japan. While japanese people are usually very welcoming and considerate, we found travelling with a stroller more difficult than in europe.
In europe its common that people make space in the designated areas, but less so in japan. The same goes for elevators which are more commonly used by people just for convenience. We ended up carrying our stroller a lot of times just to avoid the constant queuing in the stations.
@@timob6955 were you visiting a really dense area? i find that any urban densely populated area like tokyo will always be harder for strollers even if they have designated spots, theres so much chaos drawing people's attention thinner and thinner that they might not even have a moment to think about where they are standing? im not sure...
The last guy really hit me. His advice applies to everyone and everywhere in world. He told us key to human relationship. Thank u
The last one, at least seemed to me, saw the whole picture here
Yes, I'm sure the advice that says you can't generalize aplies to evryone, everywhere.
"the key to human relationships. Thank you." Are you a short message guy?
I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan and honestly relate to all the things these people say, not because Japanese culture has rubbed off on me or anything. I feel like everyone was polite in answering this question but I felt like the last guy, we all need to look at how we relate to others and be considerate. I’m an American in America and I hate when people ride by on their motorcycles blasting music, when people get in my personal space, when people cut in line, so these are all things people should consider not only in Japan but everywhere.
I agree with you that’s not just rules or anything it’s just simple manners
Here here!
Well said
You’ll get over it bubba
I can relate but this is in general on the bus, or when you walk. I don't want to hear the music or the girls/dudes sucky partner, and it can also be applied to work related stuff.
I’m impressed with how unfailingly polite the people interviewed in this video are. The interviewer asks “what should foreigners not do…?” Instead of something more confrontational like “what do you not like about foreigners?” And everyone who answered qualified their responses with some version of “maybe some people don’t know about this…” as if to give foreign visitors the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s lack of awareness rather than poor character that leads to any offensive behavior. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan and this makes me want to do so even more.
Finally someone that's gets it. It takes a wise person to understand that 👍
Nicely put!
the problem is that most foreigners dont understand they just do what comes naturally in their society thinking that it OK or everyone does this...every society has their own rules they follow and a decent intelligent person will at least attempt to follow those rules..as they say when in rome...
@@tobordabot And you don't seem to understand that people that aren't native from a certain place, literally just tourists, that are kind and clearly try to be respectful in their own way (wich is the majority, not like you said), should be perfectly excused and rather seen in a positive light while nicely just telling them the right way of behaving for certain situations or places that they clearly aren't used to, and also not abusing this aspect, since not every place has strict rules related to one's behavior. Not everyone can or even needs to follow every single detail to the Z, in fact, you might be mistaken as disrespectful or simply ridiculous for trying to mimic the natives entirely, just be mindful of your surroundings while not disturbing the people from the place you're visiting.
The video editor just could have cut the part when the interviewee getting confrontational, after all Takashi is controlling the flow and sentiment of the interview
The 2 older guys gave their answers with a sense of wisdom and maturity.
"Two", not, "2". Go back to short messaging, Easy Hands".
@@fffrtyrty123 wats wrong with u mr. grammar police, stop doing that
Not to mention "2" is being used for a quantity of people, perfectly appropriate to use a numeral for that! This isn't AP style or something where you have wait until 10 or higher to use digits, haha.
@羅允駿 respect if it's 2 than it's 2,
- don't eat where you are not supposed to (mostly just sit somewhere to eat)
- don't be rude to older people
- be considerate of the culture differences
- on escalators stay left, so that people that are in a hurry can go through right
- don't block an entire road with a group
- don't litter
- don't give tips
- try to at least learn the basics in japanese it helps a lot and people there will be really thankful
that's what i learned from 1 week in Tokyo (an looking into stuff beforehand)
To expand that- don't eat and walk around.
don't be rude to anyone unless they're rude first- and don't stare at anyone, even if you see some dude in full latex dom gear with a pig mask walking around- Asian culture is built on the idea of 'if it ain't your business, don't get involved because you'll bring trouble upon yourself.'
Regarding tips, NEVER rub wooden chopsticks together, it implies the restaurant owner is purchasing low quality chopsticks which is indirectly insulting them as not caring about their customers.
Don't give tips???????
@@PalitoSelvatico Tips are insulting the business owner by suggesting he doesn't pay his employees enough that they need you to pay them also.
It's shaming the employer publicly to give tips. Gossip and rumours can spread that he's such a bad employer his customers need to pay his staff instead of him. Hurts his reputation.
Slander and libel are huge crimes in Japan fyi.
In Vienna STAY right on the escalators and people that are in a hurry can go trought on the left side 😅
Hello there.. just a little tips on the escalator. in Kansai region (Osaka and such) stay on the right side. in Kanto region (Tokyo etc), stay on the left side.
American here, I love how polite everyone is in this video. Even when they are discussing something obnoxious being done. They give the people the benefit of the doubt "Perhaps they are not aware of this concept", versus just calling them savage, or some other insult.
That’s just basic diplomacy which is accessible to everyone. This may come off wrong, but I don’t see what is so impressive about it to highlight the point you made.
If you are smart you would edit out any comment that seems too radical to air for a video with educational purposes like this one where a big spectrum of countries is bound to react to it, since that is its selling point.
I am quite convinced that per video the guy has two or three interviewees he will always edit out, either because they don’t amount to much, are too rude or simply not material for this video. But I just doubt that these sort of reactions are all you will get under normal circumstances.
Edit: forget the edit, I mixed something up there😂
@@Musikmaker658 if you think certain things are "basic diplomacy" then you must be quite lucky, in most places and contexts, people are not courteous by nature. I dont think its wrong to highlight and value it, considering its quite rare; maybe in certain more professional or privileged contexts it is, but in general it is not.
It's assumed that we are not aware of these concepts, they never considered what that other person is going through or any reasons behind that person's actions. It's all based on stereotypes
I don't know where y'all live but when Muslims invade ur country it basically becomes a free-for-all. Most of them don't give a fucc about any established etiquette. I swear, Japan wouldn't know what hit em when these people show up en masse, lemao.
@@Musikmaker658 You haven’t lived in the U.S. and interviewed people on the streets then. It’s the difference in cultures you don’t even know… It’s not part of Japanese cultures to blast strangers with your opinions in the manner Americans and other westerners may. Japan is more homogeneous society vs America as more individualism society. You also sound jealous like a typical westerner in Japan. You have to live in Japan for 50 years and you can maybe understand a fraction of what Japanese are like from a westerner perspective. Main comment is from a guy who has some experience and common sense. You on the other hand, lack experience and sound judgment probably. And definitely lack observation skills. Stay in denials you never know what you’re even missing out.
The first man’s comment about speaking Japanese even if it’s broken is spot on. When I traveled in the former Soviet Union before I spoke decent Russian, I was treated so well by people when I attempted to speak in Russian even though I sounded foolish. They opened their hearts to me and made my life easier. Especially in passport control!
I on the other hand completely disagreed. The example put is that they go to other countries and try to speak English but the thing is English is not the only language, other countries have very different languages as well.
English has become a link language, used everywhere nowadays. I will try my best to use Japanese, but for that example the person made he ought to learn each language of each country to justify his complain, and it's just inconvenient to have to learn every language to travel abroad.
@@nothere3982 Well obviously you don't have to *learn* the language of every country you visit, but learning some basic words and phrases that will inevitably come up (greeting, thank you, goodbye, asking for directions, how much does it cost, etc.) is so little effort that it can and should be expected of everyone. If you go on a 1-2 week trip to the other half of the world, chances are you've been planning that for at least a few months before you depart, which is more than enough time to learn a few dozen phrases as well as look up some basic cultural customs.
Also it's worth mentioning that the man didn't say foreigners should never use english, he just said that it's better to APPROACH people trying to use japanese. It's very likely they will offer to switch to English if they speak it adequately and see that you're struggling with japanese, but the very fact that you made an effort to speak to them in their native language will make them way more open and friendly because they appreciate that effort, in part because they know how fucking difficult their language is lol
I don't know which post USSR countries you traveled to and you certainly have no ill intentions, but I hope you didn't generalize them with Russian speaking. Each of them has their own language. And they had hard history with russification and colonization. Some countries might be ok with that but other feel very strongly about that today. In some countries people would feel upset and disappointed that you assume they understand or must know russian language especially among younger generations who is much more in touch with their culture. It will also be multiplied by political issues within the country and region. They would much better hear you speaking English. As for older generation they might feel joy of easiness by hearing russian as they could better understand it. (As before learning English was not common). But it's not a joy of feeling that foreigner respected or appreciated their culture. (This comment obviously does not apply to russia)
@@trianls7629 I’m old and this was a loooong time ago lol!
You feel Japanese treat you so well when you try to speak Japanese, but that might just be because you apparently look like a western foreigner and Japanese people almost have a natural admiration of people coming from west. If you look like someone from other eastern or southeastern asian countries, say China or Vietnam or Nepal, you get normal treatment or even cold faces when trying to speak Japanese. And most of the time you get better treatment if you just speak English with them. They might think that you actually have a western background and then they respect you more. 😅
I like the way Takashii and the interviewee responded so strongly to the notion of someone throwing their newspaper on the floor. This would "never happen" in Japan. It shows an inherent respect and care for their environment. I remember when I was in Switzerland and how the bus driver put on his gloves and dusted and swept out his little red bus so carefully for the next group. When people take pride in their immediate environment, they take pride in their country and keep the space nice for others to enjoy.
Your writing is full of Indefinite Pronoun Reference. You also have a, "run on" sentence.
Please observe two spaces after a period.
@@fffrtyrty123 🤣I hope you have better things to do than to police the pronouns and periods of others. BTW, the 2 space rule was out eons ago. Cheers :-)
@@fffrtyrty123 It depends on what you’re writing for, a casual remark doesn’t necessarily need to be properly written as long as the message is clear and understood by your intended audience. That’s not to say that practicing proper writing isn’t a good thing even in casual writing but it’s not something that needs to be enforced.
As a US citizen who commuted to work for thirty years into a major city, I rarely saw anyone throw a newspaper on the floor of the train.
@@annabodot962 that's fortunate. I live in Los Angeles where people throw trash in the streets, on the highway and elsewhere.
As someone who's learning Japanese and plans to move to Japan in a few years, the most intimidating aspect right now is the worry surrounding cultural differences; you don't want to end up offending the people you meet in a new place because you act out of line without realizing it. Videos like this are honestly great because they give me a chance to hear the opinions of folks that live there, it's very helpful.
日本人は文化を学ぼうとしてくれている外国人に酷い態度を取る人はほとんどいません。日本には本当に細かいマナーが沢山あります。けれどそれは長い年月をかけてこどもの頃から教わるものなので、外国人の人が日本の細かいマナーを分からなくても仕方の無い事だと分かっています。
けれどそれを少しでも学ぼうとしてくれるなら皆親切に教えてくれると思います。
怖がらずに頑張って！絶対大丈夫！
@@立花マロ どうもありがとうございます、とても励みになります。私は今、ごくわずかな日本語しか知らないので、これを翻訳する必要がありました。ぎこちなく聞こえたらごめんなさい。
新しい文化を尊重し、自分が貢献できることを学ぶためにベストを尽くせば、大丈夫なようです。あなたのように連絡をくれた人は皆、とても親切で励ましてくれたので、私はとても楽観的です。また、学べば学ぶほど面白くなりそうで、とてもわくわくしています。
励ましのお言葉、ありがとうございます。どうぞ、今日も一日楽しんでください。😊✨
sounds like from your attitude you'll do just fine 😉🥂
(that you care enough to find out ❤👌🏽)
just high five everyone. you'll be fine
I barely speak any Japanese but I always tried my best when I visited Tokyo out of respect. I felt like the locals really appreciated that I was trying at least. It was a culture shock for me how nice, respectful and friendly the people were, and I'm Canadian. We are know for being polite. I adore the Japanese culture and really look forward to my next visit.
I’m Canadian too and while Canada is generally considered to be very polite I experience culture shock coming back home from our trips to Japan (usually we go for three weeks). Last trip in Nov 2022 I found that it took me only a day to adjust to Japanese life whereas coming back to Canada it took me about a week.
@@marcethoma Canadian here as well. It's quite a shock to return home after spending time in Japan. We are nowhere near as nice!
Totally having reverse culture shock right now. Just came back to Vancouver from a three week trip, already wish I was back there!
Am Japanese if you like anime we do too so feel free to talk about it 😊
I visited Montreal and got discriminated for not know French so I don't know where all this niceness is coming from.
I appreciated the kindness and wisdom of the last interviewee. He's absolutely right. Being aware and being self aware will take you a long way in life, wherever you find yourself.
Turkey got hit by devastating earthquakes. There are still families stuck under the rubble, and you can help them. Please consider supporting us. I have compiled sources in my channel.
" ... will take one a long way in life, wherever one goes."
the last gentleman has a very good understanding of Japanese cultural beliefs and their thought processes.
The last answer was amazing. That man is right. It's not about the nationality, it's about reading and understanding the situation and thinking about what is your relationship with your environment at that moment.
From what I gathered, the major rules of Japan are these:
1. Be considerate.
2. Be patient.
3. Be respectful.
I feel like I should say that Americans who come to Japan and act like assholes are also considered assholes at home in America. The polite Americans just fit in and don't attract notice.
major rules of life
From a gaijin who has lived here more than 20 years, pretty much.
I'm so surprised at how beautifully empathetic they are. Every single one offered an explanation as to why they believe why foreigners do what they do, or offer an excuse with a nice suggestion. Super sweet, non judgemental people. Us americans could learn a lot from them. They seem so humble.
Your comment is condescending and subtly racist…typical American blabbering about the zoo animals….
Ye being Gaijin is amazing! I love landlords discriminating on race, so friendly
I love Japanese people. They are so respectful, kind and polite. I also love the way they talk. So calming. Their food is delicious as well. ❤️
Nah, I lived in Japan for a while. They absolutely are judgmental people. You can live there your whole life, born there, speak fluent Japanese, and you will never ever be one of them. They will be nice to you, but idk how to explain it, they will make it clear that you are not one of them.
Compare that to Americans, I saw a guy get his citizenship here after a year of living here and boom, he’s one of the Americans so quick. Even with an accent anericans accepted him. That shit never happens in Japan.
@@DusktilDawn-xq8rl two faced
I’m from NYC and although it’s less common to leave newspapers on the train now that less people buy them, people here used to do that when they were done with them so the next person can read it on their commute! It was meant to be a courteous thing when the people here used to do it. I actually haven’t seen it happen much since I was a kid, so thank you for reminding me!
That's such a nice thing to do lol that guy only saw it as a bad thing. It makes me wonder if he saw that happen repeatedly and never wonder if it was intentional or cultural. He could've researched it on the internet too and maybe gotten the different point of view.
living in ny now, I can tell you that now I don't see news paper on the train, but definitely see worse trash like food or drinks or weed/cig butts
@@nothnx3210 I mean if they were throwing them on the floor that doesn't sound nice but I guess that's just how it appeared to him!
In my city we have several free newspapers available near the metro stations, so usually you leave it on the seat or wedged between the seat and the wall for the next person, not just dumped on the floor.
That's the 1st thing that came up to my mind when hearing the anecdote. But of course the guy never bothered digging deeper or even just asking why people were doing that despite the fact that in Japan they have/had the exact same habit of leaving books and weekly comic book magazines behind in the train so other people could read them. Let's not even get started on the Japanese leaving newspapers on the floor during flights. But I don't know why they do that.
I just wish that more people lived with such forms of respect and courtesy.
I've been to Japan many times and I always loved how clean, quiet and polite everything is. When she said foreigners are loud on trains, she is so right and it's so obvious because everyone else is so very quiet and considerate.
it really is lol -people are very nosiey on the train lol
Foreigners are loud on trains in Japan?! She should look at her own country folks talking and laughing so loud when they are “foreigners” outside of Japan! Let not the pot call the kettle black!
@@josephinetay9776 Idk. Whenever I get Japanese guests here in our zoo in the Netherlands, the immediate quiet atmosphere makes me want to shift my tone towards a more calmer one and I feel its appreciated.
@@josephinetay9776it’s common to be silent or talk quietly on a public train. People are there to mind their own business after a hard day of work and listen to the announcements of where the train is going. Ofc it would be quiet. And my people being very noisy in the US? What a broad generalization, being loud where? A restaurant, park, library? Be fr, ofc people talk when they’re supposed to. On a train in Japan either none or quietly that’s how it is. Americans jeez 😂
@@Kokusen17 Do you even understand English perfectly? Was there any mentioning about “your people being very noisy in the US” in my text? Well then, you’re acknowledging the behaviour of “your people”! 😂😂
They literary describe how to act normal and not like a moron. This makes me feel confident that I can go there without worrying. I’ll learn some Japanese and ask in Japanese if it’s okay to ask something in English. It’s all about respect there.
I wish we had that here in the U.S. there are small communities where people respect each other but it's not like a national mutual understanding.
Lol, just learn japanese and talk in japanese man
When I was much younger I lived in Osaka for 3 years - the first phrase I learned was "excuse me, I know very little japanese may I ask you a question in english?" over the time I was there I learned more japanese and it changed to "my japanese isnt very good". Finally I got to where I could communicate basicly. Most Japanese where very nice and would go out of the way, and later would say my japanese was pretty good, or help with words I didnt know. Most people are proud of there culture and will welcome the chance to share it - PS it was also a good ice breaker with the ladies.
Take a karate class to fit in
Normal is the problem. If you think that's a solution then you are a moron. Suffice to say mass depression and suicide is common for a reason. Along with censership and cowardness and lying with intent (most people will on CVs when applying for jobs for example). There's your normal.
Only the last guy in the vid gets it right. Context matters. People are different. Not the same.
I think in general, people in Japan mainly value their personal space and cleanliness along with noises, which is a good thing all things considered since I personally wouldn’t want someone invading my personal space or interrupt me while I’m busy and or trying to relax or sit down somewhere that hasn’t been cleaned. It’s really nice to see how friendly all these responses were.
They are too picky for petty stuff. I just cancelled my trip for Nov.
@@tannerpaisley-ve6dq your loss
@@tannerpaisley-ve6dqthat's good they are too silent and boring person's
@@tannerpaisley-ve6dqprobably better for japan that you dont visit anyway
@@c4tmoto They'd most likely give me a disease lol
The last person was absolutely correct. I am Portuguese and I don't talk loud, throw stuff in the ground or going around grabbing people... personal space and respect is also very important to me, I would have zero issues with anything said on this video.
Don't Be loud, respect personal space and be mindful about others. As a Finn that sounds lovely. Also waiting in line is like national sport for us.
That also resonates with me coming from Poland. Common sense really.
@@PaweKabanski i ToOk tHe wOoooOOooK tO poLaNd
How do you even form lines with just that many people?
Japanese must really hate them "ninjas" hahaha
What? Mindful of others? Do you see how closely people stand next to each other in Japan? You're liable to get run over.
i like the last guys philosophical view of the subject a lot. he is right on that. if we foster clichées they will not disappear. but of course we always have to "read the room" regardless of which country we are in. and a lot of boundaries can fall pretty quickly if you get into a deeper relationship with other people. always depends!
That... That's not a phylosphical view though, that's just a sensible logical view, no? Right? Please tell me i'm right, people can't be so obtuse to not realize that something like that shouldn't be a thought that requires any more attention than say, knowing you shouldn't hurt others.
(Not saying the guy is dumb, just that i expect, or at least wish more people thought about the good in the world in a way that they can come up with answers like thay without too much thought)
Every time I watch one of these videos and hear the "no hugging" line, I think about when I left Japan--my coworker and I hugged each other goodbye. Everybody needs a hug sometimes.
Its kind obiously that Takashii question was about a general perspective of the country, of course that everyone is a individual character with their own beliefs, so it felt kind lame for me
As an American, my biggest complaint is noise. Like talking on a phone in a confined public space or listening to music without headphones. It’s so baffling to me; I honestly have to wonder if people do it because they get a sadistic kick out of imposing themselves on others. Like it’s some extreme expression of freedom. I’ve actually had to move a few times to escape neighbors who would blast music at all hours because it was genuinely affecting my sleep and my mental health.
Sadly America is starting to water down to nothing but “Freedom of Ignorance & Ego”. Gotta love the war zones every-time fireworks go on sale….but Freedom?
it takes a special breed of asshole to do it for fun... i think the majority of people who don't care about being loud and offensive, and it is offensive (the only people who don't think so are the people who do it), are the people who were raised with the "you do you and i'll do me" mentality... as if nothing they do should/will affect the people around them, and if it does, then it is the other person who is at fault
SLAYERrrrrrr 🤘
Personally I don't really see the big problem with any of these
@@sandwichlegend2348 I do, it's worse in my country. In public transit you can hear different phones blasting sounds at full volume at the same fucking time. I'm really envious of you for this to not bother you, but for me listening a TikTok video repeating for the nth time alongside a fucking Reggaeton and a Mexican novela at the same time breaks my fucking mind.
A couple years ago I went to Tokyo for about 10 days on business. I thought the Japanese would be shy and serious. I was so pleased to experience their sense of humor, friendliness and warm smiles.
I love the respect and decency that Japanese people show in everyday life. The attention to detail is seen in their relationship to food. There is very little sloppiness or half assed approach to anything they do. The things that they produce have lasting and enduring quality.
Their mindset and actions are despicable - I have no inclination to follow their anti-common sense logic (masks on trains? 😂)
@@vova32123The purpose of wearing masks on trains is to prevent germs from spreading between passengers on the same train. I wouldn't mind living in Japan because I want to live in a country where most people are considerate of others.
How educated you must be 😂@@vova32123
@@vova32123u like that New York subway air huh
@@vova32123 you're average westerner that can't understand norms in different countries.. embarrasing
I truly appreciate that you ask people of all ages on matters like these, it really shows how everyone has a different perspective and opinion on it, while to me, all of them were clear yet friendly about the things they mentioned.
I will never understand how people casually do stuff that makes others uncomfortable without apologizing or asking how it is appropriate to act and generally to be more considerate, especially if people actually call them out and tell them why it’s not ok to do so.
I think that is what everyone just wants to see, it‘s the effort to recognize the mistakes, own up to them and change or adjust a few things here and there.
Back in the 90’s in Japan, I used to wear a t shirt that said 私はバカなアメリカ人です (I’m a stupid American.)。Japanese people (mostly teenagers) would snicker and then I would say in Japanese,” hey, what are you laughing at?” Most would freak out, but there were some who were very curious and started asking me a lot questions like why I spoke Japanese. Made a few friends pulling that prank. 😂 Good times.
OK, that's very funny.
Hahahahaha.. Good one!
Haha, that is such a fun way to make friends! May I ask where did you got the shirt? I want one so badly now, lol. Do you think I could find one anywhere?
What did your shirt say?
@@idrawattention900bruh really?? Did you not read the parentheses
TAKASHii, althought I have never been to Japan and now that I'm 72 years old, I may never get the opportunity to visit, I really enjoy your videos. I have learned a lot about Japanese culture and customs. Thank you for your videos!
In all honesty, last guy gets it the best. I love it when people are considerate and don’t generalize. Neither their own people and neither foreigners can be made into unified molds. It’s great that there are people who give answers like that.
The interviewer knew it too, he was like "THAT WAS QUITE THE ANSWER!"
He's definitely rare. With the most common sense
Don’t be upset, Asians are really good at statistics and that’s not a generalization. The stats are in and most of those people aren’t incorrect. One disgusting thing I see is foreigners wearing skimpy outfits when it’s against their culture and they don’t want children to see it. Most liberalesk people should avoid Asia and go to Europe. The more traditional people should go to Asia. Sadly it’s mostly the liberalesk type people who frequent Asia.
@@michaelw234 Asians are good at statistics....*claps* you've just lost your entire point in the first line of your comment
@@michaelw234 oh I see now. You're just racist. Cool cool no point in engaging with ignorance
the majority of these complaints are said in such an understanding way like "maybe they don't have a wait culture there" or "maybe they're not used to that" it's so respectful 😭
When a southerner says “Bless his soul,” it’s not a compliment.
@@paulfimbres9443 but it is a respectful way to go about the point
They should maybe say it more out loud. I dont think "unrespectful" people should be "respected" this way, you see?
@@richardgg2889that's not how Japanese culture works
Yeah idk how to tell them that they are just rude rule-breakers XD it's an entitlement thing not a foreigner thing
The last guy spoke some truth there. I come from an island that attracts a lot of tourists in the summers and I get annoyed when people visits a country with the mindset of going on a fun holiday because many people tend to think this country or city as a holiday resort or a playground for them. They feel like they can do whatever they want that they would'nt do at home even because they have vacation, but it's actually a home to a lot of people. Show respect and try to read the room
This was so informative! Thank you! It’s great to know these things before travelling to that country
Everything boils down to me as an American to “I wish the Americans would respect our country as much as they expect others to respect theirs” and it’s crazy how many countries outside of the US feel this sentiment. The last man’s answer was beautiful.
I just got back from japan and the number of Americans just being rude is off the charts bad. Even worse are the Chinese who are even more rude than Americans if that is possible.
@@davidvastaIt really is sad tbh. I’m a first gen American and I feel this sort of entitlement (for lack of better word) is because a lot of Americans don’t have an appreciation for other cultures like how foreigners do. They aren’t taught growing up to expand their horizons (travel wise and culture wise). And this is just my observation from a lot of people I’ve met.
Of course you have many that aren’t like this. But there’s also too many that go to other countries and expect to act like they do in America.
@@HellsDarkSyndicate
It's propaganda mostly imo. Note how Chinese people are also like that.
Two countries where the medias and leaders always highlight how beautiful and perfect their country is, how it's the best in the world, how everybody envies it, etc., *very* patriotic countries.
Money matters, but even for Americans that I know who have decent money, travelling abroad doesn't cross their mind most of the time. Why would they when they "have everything in the US" or "the US is the best country in the world" for them ?
When they do, it feels like they almost consider it as going to the zoo and watching animals... That's the level of disrespect they show.
Although tbf I've seen plenty of people act like that, it's just that for other places/countries you have both sides, while in the US and China I've sadly yet to meet someone respectful and caring about the culture they're going to.
Why do you think they're talking exclusively about Americans?
My dad was army and we got moved to Germany for a few years so we did a lot if travels in Europe, and MAN, it really is Americans a lot of the time being overly loud, rude, inconsiderate, etc. The amount of times it’s nice and peaceful somewhere and people are having normal conversations, the all of sudden there’s Americans where you can hear them across the square lol. It’s quite sad to see how oblivious they are to things like that, also I’d see trash being left places way to often as well. IDK what makes other Americans want to be so loud and obnoxious, but I’d wish they could be more considerate. I’m American and it’s really not that hard to be respectful, you get better experiences just being respectful and nice
After coming to Japan and living in Tokyo for 3 months, I have to say that most of the people who I observed speaking very loudly on trains are actually Japanese people and usually young adults. Only occasionally I could see people with heavy American accents speaking loudly. But maybe it's more noticeable when someone speaks a foreign language so even if when someone speaks at a very low volume, it might appear to be noisy to some Japanese people.
You're right. But usually, in the mornings, it's quiet on the trains because everyone feels like shit probably
I think it's definitely more noticeable if someone speaks your own language.
You are correct. In Korea and Japan, normally elderly people have a ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to being loud on the public transport.
@@holliswilliams8426 I disagree. Most of the time when someone speaks another language it piques your interest/attention
facts!
I love what the last man said. I've been in Japan for almost two months now and (thankfully) I have abided by the things people here have expressed. I also made the effort to learn conversational Japanese before coming to Japan and it has given me the most wonderful experiences here. Japanese people are so friendly and kind and I truly will be sad to leave when the time comes. おもてなしを本当にありがとう
Great to hear. Comments like these keep me and maybe even others motivated to continue learning Japanese.
@@beyondobscure Same, i'm learning Japanese too, but I find it really hard to remember Hiragana lol
@@tharulgaming8228 Repetition to firm up those neural pathways. And don't forget, if you aren't using it you're losing it.
My dream is to visit Japan one day ever since I was a kid. ❤
Where/what did you use to learn Japanese? I've been trying to find the best way to learn it myself before I visit
Last guy was is an urban philosopher! Anyway, Japan seems like a paradise for introverts! ❤ *Rushes to buy tickets*
My father visited Japan many times in the 50s and 60s as an engineer. He became fluent conversationally In the language. he gained a deep love of the Japanese culture and traditions which he passed onto myself.
I eventually visited Japan in 2019 a wonderful country and people - my Japanese was very poor but I tried it and it was very much appreciated. I will be visiting again!
Wow what a story :D
He must not have told you about the downsides of Japanese culture that everyone overlooks. Namely their extremely flawed criminal justice system and how people are treated awaiting trial. They also rank among the lowest of first world countries in dated practices of gender roles and women have the lowest representation in government by comparison. They also don’t like non-Japanese people unless you’re a tourist who doesn’t plan to live there. I will say the work culture has improved.
@@ddespair
If you're arrested in japan you're probably boned. Everyone knows thst
What was it, a 99 or 97% conviction rate?
I cannot shame japan for any of it, its their country and they may do as they please. I'm just a tourist and have absolutely no right to tell them theyre wrong in their practices or their culture
@@ddespair And the USA's criminal justice system is not flawed? The good news is that Japan's crime rate is not like the USA's.
@@unebonnevie the USA has a bad system too. It also has a more complex population. The USA is far from perfect and I am in no way saying it is better. The difference is no one pretends that the USA is some kind of honorable wonder land where the people are so noble and behaved.
It really depends on the person. I'm a foreigner and have lived in Japan before and Japan is sort of like a double edge sword. It's good to care about those around you and to be considerate, but on the other hand, people care way too much about what everyone else is doing in society and are very judgemental about it so you end up having people all acting and doing similar things as each other like a robot. It's honestly one of the things that makes me sad about Japanese society is having great people being afraid to act as themselves because of the social pressure of "being the same". I can completely understand trying to respect others, but if you don't even respect yourself and are afraid of everyone's opinions then no one is happy.
I want every Japanese to read your comment.
exactly, like that girl who uses the japanese government as a reference on what is good and wrong
Finally someone who understands. I work for Japanese . That’s the hardest part. Because I refuse to Blend in however that’s part of why I’m welcome to work. Because I’m like a ronin. Refuse to accept similitude.
Ah, but American individualism could be painted in a bad light as well. The only reason you are opposed to community and “sameness” is because you are not familiar nor have grown up in that culture. That doesn’t make it a negative.
@@虚パンクvoidpunk great point!
The broken japanese thing from the first guy was reassuring. I'm too scared to use my Japanese with native speakers bc I'm scared it's too broken despite me passing N4 and studying for N3. So I'm glad that native speakers want us to speak it regardless.
I feel like it's a respect thing. Since as he said, everyone tries doing it when coming to America/other countries that's english majority. But it was something I'm nervous about doing as well.
@@gamersrise2490 There is a difference between Japanese and English though: English is basically the world language and a lot of people speak at least a little bit of English. But only very few people outside Japan talk Japanese though. I'm saying that as someone who's native language isn't English and who speaks Japanese reasonably well.
That said, the Japanese really seem to appreciate if you try to talk to them in Japanese. I know they really mean it, but the permanent "nihongo jouzu desu ne" can feel insincere when you hear it several times a day even though you just said a few words... I had 2 occasions i really took as compliments to my Japanese. I was asked for how long i've been living in Japan (even though i was only ever there as a tourist)
i've found many japanese will attempt to speak in broken english as they find its a good opportunity to practise their english on foreigners
It’s easier for Japanese to try speaking basic English overseas since it was taught to them in school as compared to a foreigner trying to speak Japanese, another way to think about it would be if should they be visiting some countries like eg Germany or Sweden then would they be able to even try and converse in their native language or would they end up defaulting to English as well :))
When I was in Japan I knew like two things. How to say thank you and sorry. Even these things made people smile. :)
I'll be visiting Tokyo in March. Studying customs and courtesies. My goal is to have fun, and not be that loud foreigner. Thank you for this. This is a good start for my journey.
Best wishes. I went to Tokyo last spring to see cherry blossom and would love to go there again. People in Japan are awesome despite cultural differences
I’m an American and I visited Japan last year. I’m a pretty introverted person in the U.S., so a lot of these tips from the Japanese citizens you interviewed came easy to me. I only know a few basic phrases in Japanese, so I had to rely on my phone’s translator for more specific things, but the Japanese people I encountered were all very polite and accommodating.
I always wondered if like they would consider it rude if you use a phone to translate even though you not being rude. That's my number one worry about visiting there.
@@mentaltelepathy24 when I did it, I was very selective on who it was with: rail station employees, restaurant servers, certain businesses that I went to where I needed clarification on something (many of them also spoke English), but it was mostly an intuitive experience.
@@mentaltelepathy24I work with Japanese coworkers in the US (Alabama car manufacturing specifically), that essentially all of them use a translator for English. I'd say that if you use a translator, put some depth, openness, and honesty in your message that shows why you would need to use a translator (otherwise you'd say it to them). They'll appreciate it and will work in kindly back more than most in my experience. I received a small gift from a high level advisor from a high level Japanese-only department with this type of communication. I'm quite appreciative of it to me because I could build that relationship up (using a translator no less) and is a reminder of that experience to me. Just my extened opinion
Can you tell a Japanese person in the street in Japanese "Do you speak English?" or is it rude? Assuming you don't speak Japanese at all or only a few phrases.
@@mentaltelepathy24I had a full on Google translate conversation at softmap with the staff there. I was on my phone he was on his computer we talked back and forth like that. We both seemed to have fun talking in that way he was very polite aswell
Every time I hear people talking about “keeping your voice down on public transportations”, I die a little on the inside. I had a cringy foreigner moment when I was visiting family in Shanghai. I was talking with my sister on the train, but because we got caught in the moment, we didn’t realized everyone else around us was just silently staring at us. But luckily, when we got off the train afterwards, my mom (who was also with us) told me that people just thought we were actors by how fluently we spoke in English
nobody cares about their gay little rules bro
@RottenPieceof It's cool that they thought you were actors.👍
Actually Chinese people are notorious for being extremly loud in public places. It's a common thing to stare at foreigners in China, I don't think your conversation has anything to do with it. Koreans and Japanese are usually much more discreet. At least while sober lol.
It’s just talking on a train, if they starin that’s their problem, it ain’t that deep lol
@@jasonjerusalem I'm actually Asian (Chinese, but I look more Korean and Japanese), so I don't think it was a "you look like a foreigner" situation
I am Australian and have just returned from Japan. I was so impressed by the country and I think that as many people should try and visit if they can. I am glad that I actually followed most of the things people mentioned in this video, even trying to speak broken Japanese to the local people out of respect. But all I can say is that everyone in Japan was genuinely helpful and friendly, and I can’t wait to return one day.
The last guy kept it metaphorically simple by saying " Being yourself is your basic human rights". Bravo!
I married a Japanese woman in the 90s and a lot of what was said in this video are things she told me. She also told me that many Japanese can speak English and will gladly switch to English if you're at least trying to speak Japanese.
She also added that for me it wasn't an issue except for the fact that no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't pick up Japanese. She said my general mannerisms and "verve" was Japanese which is what drew her to me. And no, at the time the only anime I had ever watched was Robotech back in 1985 so I knew jackall about the country. Mai was kind to me, so I was kind back. (Rip Mai 2/13/01)
Honestly, sounds very wholesome lol
Also sorry for your loss-
Thats so dense honestly. I dont expect someone to even speak a word of my language when they come to my country.
@@jon4sh710 I wouldn't expect someone to speak my language, but I'd still make an effort to learn some words of a country I'm going to visit. It shows that you at least spent a little time and it's a sign of respect. Maybe I just feel this way because I've seen so many tourists from my country just shouting in English as if it's the natives' responsibility to learn our language.
When I went to France with some friends they didn't even bother saying "bonjour" even though they knew it. I had learned a few phrases and words and got waaaaaay better treatment and more people willing to talk to me in English or give me gifts/samples. It's just quite rude not to learn some words, really. It's the same as someone coming up to you, speaking gibberish and then looking confused as to why you don't understand them as if it's your fault.
@@jon4sh710 How hard is it to learn a simple "hello" and "thank you" in any language? Your mentality is dense
@@UdumbaraMusic I'm an American, when I go to England, I try to speak English.
I made a Japanese friend on Instagram and he was incredibly friendly and open with me when we met in person which surprised another friend I had who used to live in Japan as he told me that was unusual, but even though I’m American I tend to be incredibly shy and quiet so the last answer really spoke to me. People are unique and the best we can do is respect each other so we can all be comfortable. That is the reason I love Japan so much is that they do follow that.
You seem like quite the otaku if I do say so myself
@@Monkforilla bruh you are jumping to conclusions pretty hard
@@evmarekaj his username is literally otaku, you were saying?
It’s also interesting because to people in European countries Americans are seen as not touchy at all and very shy with physical affection. So hearing that Americans were seen as the opposite is so funny to me.
I also am shy with hugs and such unless it’s a family member or close friend so yeah what the last guy said was so true!
@@Monkforilla too true!
that last guy was gold. his speech really de-descriminates foreigners living in japan (and not only visiting)
Thank you so much for this. I love. hearing directly from the people who live there! Very eye opening! I really loved the very last man's attitude. He sounds so wise.
As someone who has spent 2 years in Japan, a lot of foreigners (far from just Americans) cannot seem to control their voice no matter how many times it's brought up or even how familiar they are with the language and culture. I am so apprehensive about riding the trains or going in public with other foreign friends because they are so obliviously loud. It's annoying to tell a friend 50 times they are being loud but it's worse to inconvenience literally everyone else.
I'm a Canadian and my wife is American, it's very much dependent on where you grew up. Southern Americans tend to speak very loud and often times people tell me speak up when I am visiting down there. Often times on a discord call I can hear my American friends roommate's over the mic even though they're not even in the room.
@@sarougeau I'm from rural Georgia which fits very firmly into the loud southerners thing and I get that i can be loud. But when everyone is whispering or dead silent and one or two people are basically shouting even after repeatedly being made aware of the issue, then there is definitely still an issue.
I'm not loud and I enjoy when I loud person enters a train but I think people are responsible for their own discomfort. If someone is loud on a train, use it as an opportunity to be okay with it. Its not hurting you. Discomfort isn't an evil thing. Yes I'm not talking about harassment or these sorts of things, there's a line to be drawn. But people need to allow their safety bubbles to be popped lol its not healthy to live in a bubble of comfort and expect the world to work around it
@andrewmc147 A traveller should go with the norm of society. If I am supposed to be quiet in the train, I better be! This is about respecting your host's culture.
@@macaroon147 with this self-centric world view you've got it backwards. Society doesn't owe you the privilege of disrespecting everyone around you. Someone will always be louder and more arrogant and a competition to see who's the most obnoxious piece of trash is nothing short of narcissistic, and a way to make sure everyone loses.
I lived in Japan for 7 years (both Tokyo and in highly rural, isolated, villages). Wherever you are in Japan (and yet more so in the villages), politeness, decorum with conscientiousness and an eye to those around you are key. For instance, when we, foreigners, talk loudly or walk in confident ways, know that you can but you should consider how your voice level, words stated, actions or movements could affect those around you. It can get tiring but it becomes part of you in the long run and you come out a better person in some respects : More conscientious of your actions and others.
Can you please explain specifically what is meant by "walk confidently"?
nerd alert!
It's refreshing to see an informed opinion. Thanks for the information. I wouldn't have thought about walking confidently. There is a big difference between a very confident posture and a humble posture. Do you mean head lower, not bolt upright, etc.?
I have an American friend who lived in Japan. He said Japan is better in some ways. Japanese don't litter nearly as much. There is far less theft and crime overall. They respect strangers, their neighbors, and their community much more.
@@yohan_3t730 I'm going to assume that they really meant obnoxious (or even arrogant), instead of confident
Most of the time in England especially people think it is perfectly fine to talk, laugh even yell over others around them. To them it's just their personal conversation but for everyone else trying to talk in their group or focus on a task it is irritating and made impossible because of peoples ignorance towards others.
I was fortunate to study abroad in a country where English isn’t the primary language when I was younger. It’s really important to remember that you are a guest when traveling, especially to other countries. Respect the customs and culture of where you are at. Like that person said, even if you aren’t confident in speaking the language, I’ve found that people are just happy that you are trying. If it’s bad enough, they might reply in English, but the fact that you tried in my experience, does a long way. I’m sure I’m speaking to the choir.
I suposse it differs from country to country, but in the netherlands it genuinely wouldnt be an issue if you just went for english straight away.
Majority will just go along with it no problem.
Meanwhile if you do it in france theyll give you a foul look. Its odd isnt it?
@@thesaviorofsouls5210 Agreed. I've had people come up to me trying to speak Dutch and butchering it so much I couldn't understand it. At the same time, I have also heard many people here say they can't speak English. (Or my dad, who thinks he can speak it, but is ehh bad might be an understatement-)
Disregard this while in America, because everybody else does...
If only… You can see how this thinking doesn't work even at the highest political level pretty much real time. Like other countries, we have lots of Ukrainian migrants. What did our government do? They started sucking up to Ukrainians, giving them money, free transportation, free accommodation, no questions asked. There are way, way too many cases of Ukrainians coming over in their 2 year old, or even brand new models of BMWs, Teslas, Mercedeses using up our resources. It's easy to come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Ukrainians aren't refugees of the war, they're plain economic migrants, and very arrogant at that.
We, the indigenous people, are prompted to learn Ukrainian to communicate with them, provide them with any assistance, we have no room in our kindergartens for our own kids, but it's not a problem to find room for Ukrainians. Obviously, they're taking advantage aplenty. I wouldn't even start on their behavior here.
Like you said - I wish people who are in a foreign country for whatever reason realized it's not their right to be there and be suffered by locals, it's a privilege.
So true!! I think because the west is so “free” they don’t really care about rules necessarily or it isn’t as important it can be a good and bad thing for ex people act so crazy , safety comes in question and sm more
American here. Just got back from my first ever trip to Japan and I just wanted to thank you for this video. It really helped me to know expectations and to feel confident I was doing the proper things. The waiting to be seated part was very helpful because while I did learn some spoken Japanese, I don’t know how to read it yet, so even when a restaurant had a sign at the front, I didn’t even have to get out my translate app, I knew I was expected to wait to be seated! I kind of wish all restaurants in the US were like this. It’s so much easier! Thank you for your videos!!
Have you read the signs that say, "Stay out, foreign dogs."
Also, "the proper thing".
In the United States, waiting to be seated in a restaurant is definitely a thing we practice here. Only in bars, clubs, and fast food establishments are self seating or if the establishment explicitly tells you you can seat yourself. Otherwise, for the most part, we wait to be seen.
Yes that made me laugh because I've worked in restaurants where we have signs asking people to waited to be seated and they'll still sit wherever they want. I understand her frustration and we do have a waiting culture here, American customers are just used to always being correct no matter what they do.
@@mightymeatymech It's usually the older generations. They don't want to wait 30 seconds for someone to come to the front so they just seat themselves. Later, they're confused when they haven't been served yet: It's cause we seat by a system and we didn't know you were there.
And I have never seen that or even expected... there is open seat so you take it... and wait sitting on it - thats the waiting culture /lol
Don't forget that Americans aren't the only tourists--maybe we're actually not the guilty ones, lol! Not naming names though....
Same in Australia although I don't think I've been in a proper bar before only pubs but we tend to wait to be seated in pubs.
My family and I recently went to Japan back in October. And living in both Mexico and America I gotta say we loved it. The people the environment, the overall quite and general respect for one another was amazing. It took us several years to save up for the trip but I’m glad we picked Japan. We went on several train and even though it was crazy full you could hear a pin drop in there. It really made me change my perspective on a lot of things. Like I’m sure there were people who were having bad days morning heading to a crappy job but that wasn’t being plastered on the walls with bad attitude and rudeness. Plan to go back. Great place and great people
I didn’t go to Japan with you! Why did you even bring me up?
The first guy's answer resonates with me! I remember that one time I went to a restaurant on my own in Japan, and with my broken Japanese and Google translate, I ordered the item I want on the menu. Unexpectedly, maybe I sounded too collected, the waiter started to talk to me in Japanese. I was extremely startled and didn't know what to say, but then he was a smart guy and quickly picked up the fact that I cannot speak Japanese and switched to English. Japanese people are so nice!!
True! I wish Americans behaved in a way... Where people would say... "Americans are so nice!"
@@21Kikoshi Tbh I heard from a number of foreigners and US travellers that American people were really nice, polite and helpful towards them. I've never been to the US so I can't speak from experience, but I'm a foreigner living in the UK in a small town and I've only had a very few bad instances with people who didn't like the fact that I'm a foreigner. The education system, students and teachers here treated me better than my own native people at my old school 😭😭
@@pannajohns5255 truth is most people in most countries are respectful & helpful to foreigners. You get an opportunity to learn something completely new & maybe teach people some norms about your country. On top of that, usually when people are interacting with foreigners they feel like a representative of their country & want to put the best foot forward. This is pretty common in every country around the globe. Far more common than not.
@@bbbbbbb51 Very true, especially when I talk to people at the shop, restaurant, pub etc. they notice my slight accent and ask where I’m from, and they always seem delighted to hear where I’m from, they also often talk about their own travels abroad and what a nice experience they had. However, in the UK, I feel like foreigners who are also POC may experiences more resistance. At least from what I seen, POC who were born in the UK already receive discriminatory labels (especially in white rich neighbourhoods, Southern parts of the UK). This is just my own personal and environmental observation btw, it may be different from others, but there’s a slight consensus in my previous statement.
@@pannajohns5255 I have been to the UK to Visit my cousins in Winchester. They always asked if i was an American but the second i mention that i am Canadian there tone changed completely. I guess the Brits are not a big fan of Americans.
Americans can learn a lot from Japanese culture. I really admire their pride for cleanliness and general regard and respect for one another.
I used to work at an airport here in northern Sweden. My job was mainly checking peoples boarding passes and helping confused people find their way around the airport. Whenever I mer japanese travellers I used to give them an "Arigato" and a slight head nod when handing back their papers. About 50% of them just automatically responded with the same phrase and went on with their business. The other 50% took notice that I spoke Japanese with them and were happily surprised. I loved putting a smile on their faces as they were leaving Sweden :)
(I studied some Japanese back in high school so I had a pretty good accent in that "Arigato").
Now here's the real question: did they themselves bother to do their homework and use 'tack' or 'hej' while visiting, or does it only go one-way.. I have a feeling it's the latter.
do itahsimas te!
I live and work in Germany in retail.
Once there was a couple, German and Japanese (in their 20s). She most likely wasnt in Germany for long and to "practice" she was supposed top pay.
In only realized she was Japanese when she counted like a Japanese cashier (you recognise it instantly) and obviously in Japanese. I told her her change in Japanese and thanked her in Japanese. The look on her face was just funny. Just absolut bewildered that someone can speak Japanese in this relativly small German town where no tourists go :D
@@MajinBuusni my experience was that older adults from Japan are NOT very tolerant of you trying to say a few words in their language, unlike students and very young people travelling and enjoying their freedom. My wife went to Toyko Institute, got her Masters, and speaks FLUENT and well educated Japanese. When her fathers' friends from Japan visited, they'd go out and I'd get to stay home and play with the kid!!!!
this is so sweet omg 🥲🧡
When I was in Japan I was just a teenager, but on school trip to Osaka, I went into the bath. I had no idea what to do so I just got into the large bath with soap. Fortunately a Japanese man came in and shook his head at me and motioned me out of the bath and showed me a bucket of hot water and demonstrated washing off with soap and then rinsing off before getting into the hot bath. I remember being ashamed that I did not know the proper way to bathe in Japan but always grateful to being shown. The comment about "personal space" being very important is extremely important in Japan, where there are so many people, privacy is highly valued.
I really liked this video! When I first visited Japan as a Japanese language student, I studied the laws, etiquette, and culture so I didn't make anyone uncomfortable. Whilst enjoying the Onsen at my hotel, a group of foreigners came into the onsen without washing themselves and started splashing and jumping in. At breakfast they were being very noisy and cutting in the breakfast line. The Japanese are quiet, but also very friendly and eager to help if you show some respect. It only takes a little education on the culture and etiquette, plus some consideration and respect for the people around you and you'll find your time there even better.
We read up and prepared ourselves before our trip to Japan in March. So somehow we understood what was expected of us as visitors in terms of culture and customs. We tried our best to start a conversation in Japanese when we needed help and I’d say we were treated warmly by the locals for which we were very grateful. We also tried to blend in instead of sticking out as tourists. Overall it’s one of the best vacation experiences. Japan 🇯🇵 is my new favourite destination. I’m looking forward to going back soon.
Visiting Japan gave me such lovely things that I felt were missing in my own country and culture. I always get anxious in crowds but didn’t in Japan because the respect for other peoples personal space and knowing how you impact others is so important.
same! I hate crowds, but Japanese people really seem to be distant in a respectful kind of way.
sounds like a perfect country for me to live in then 🙏
@@GopNet not really 😂. The institutionalized racism, medical malpractice and authoritarianism are pretty blatant 😂. But that’s something you only pick up on after a month or so of living there.
Lol ok
I like the last guy for sure. As a quiet black person who lived in the Japanese countryside, I was shocked by some Japanese people walking up to me and sometimes attempting to touch my hair or greeting me loudly who I didn’t know and shake my hand. My personal space is pretty big too, foreigner is a broad term with broad expectations. We can all just be mindful 😊.
It's a weird contradiction that Japanese people don't like physical contact, then suddenly they will comment on your body or try and touch you or your kids because you're a foreigner.
@captainsuckbutt3917 Yeah, they don't have the same shyness towards you because they see you similarly to something more exotic or petting zoo adjacent. It's demeaning.
@Captain SuckButtsgtop turning everything into racism...
I briefly dated a Japanese girl in college. She would often touch me inappropriately, but I was ok with it.
yeah … a weird video of do’s and dont’s (with capitalized NEVER), but they themselves break many codes.
what abt the WW2 atrocities¿ many are still traumatized to this day
I think it's so interesting that the culture of Japanese people is overall just much more understanding, like every criticism they had they were equally curious as to why, "maybe they're not used to that" or "their culture isn't the same" so I think it's so interesting how they understand and respect the cultural differences between themselves and foreigners and its super enlightening and respectful and I think that's just so cool
that's just the japanese way of saying something without saying something... it's not really that polite.
@@CiaGuy nonetheless, it's still cool to me at least to see the culture and how different people view different things
I recently moved to the US from southeast Asia, and I just think that many Americans are quite rude, especially ones who work to serve customers. I am not sure if it's a culture thing, but it probably is.
@nikoleven7491 depends on the places, shitty companies who don't take care of their employees won't give a shit about being nice, but there are a a lot of places that do care and will put in the effort. It's not a culture thing a lot of people just aren't paid enough to care.
Just remember : they think the exact same thing as anybody else, they're just not allowed to say it out loud.
As a Brit, the lining up and queuing is something I appreciate. It is something we are generally known for. When people don’t respect queues it does particularly bug me.
As an American who respects queues, im convinced this is why those heathens dumped your tea. I shouldn't be here lmao.
On top of that though, most of our gas [petrol] stations don't have clearly marked queues, so we're constantly bumping into each other because everyone is just queueing in different aisles. Its hard to explain and just as annoying as it sounds lmao
@Mariska B. funny thing is that most Dutch people hate the absence of proper queues, but a lot of them also refuse to form one...
@Quill as a Dutch guy myself i think too that getting in queues is normal....
Tea and queues, the most sacred of British traditions.
@Mariska B. I queue. And I often let others go first. Mainly elderly. Always giving elderly the right of way =)
First of all, I loved the answer of that last guy who was interviewed. (He wouldn’t ‘take the bait’. 😆) But as far as things that my Japanese friends often complain about regarding foreign visitors here, I’d say the volume level of conversations in public ranks first. Especially on the train (as was mentioned by one of interviewees). Also, I wanted to mention… although consumption of alcohol in public places is acceptable in Japan, public drunken behavior is not. Of course, Japanese locals are guilty of this on occasion as well, but we foreigners stand out more. Just something to keep in mind. 🍻
Its actually pretty fun since its illegal in most places of europe to drink outside. In Sweden were im from youre not allowed to drink anything over 2.8% outside at all.
@@aronrodriguez1341 That's great! I wish Brazil copied that Swedish cultural practice.
Unfortunately, if some law forbade consumption of alcohol on the streets in Brazil, a major riot would happen and the president would be forced to resign by the masses of protesters.
@@aronrodriguez1341 Same with the US plus no beer vending machines so much for the land of the free. As far as being loud goes in the US being a loud mouth often get you ahead in life so in many cases it encouraged to raise your voice since the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
It's not just "on occasion" when you see it every weekend with crazy drunks and loud yelling. Even saw someone doing a burnout on their motorcycle just for tiktok
@@southcoastinventors6583 I had a very noisy coworker. Always complaining about stuff. She most definitely was not well-received by others and eventually was fired (for reasons I don’t know). It’s totally untrue that being loud and boisterous means you’ll get ahead in life in America. What gets you ahead in life is how much people like and/or respect you regardless whether you’re loud or you’re quiet
As a Mexican, I would find it odd for someone to not be so warm and friendly outright. It’s curious to hear one of the woman say that behaving like so would spark a different kind of reaction for some (don’t want to generalize) Japanese people. Always great to learn people’s social etiquettes 😌
I enjoyed Mexico much more than Japan.
I'm Mexican and German and raised by my Mexican family. It's a very touchy/huggy family and be friendly to everyone you pass and say thank you and excuse me to anyone you may cross. Then I went to visit my family in Germany. Complete opposite. I was saying thank you far too often as thank you was implied and everyone minds their own business, no need for pleasantries, just get to it. I honestly love both for different reasons, but, yes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
True it can be hard to connect with close friends even after building a bond and not hugging etc !! I also think eye contact is so important!! However it’s more common to look at a persons neck area when talking to them no matter the age 😅 but it’s still beautiful to respect people’s person space esp if you’re living in their country 🤍🇯🇵
Get out of your bubble and experience other cultures.
@@Mannyr-bu7qv Japanese people can seem like non player characters often. Their culture isn't very warm.
For me the most beautiful thing about Japanese people when i watch these video is, that even if they dont like something about anything, they are still really polite and tend to say only things that answer the question which is asked.
Disciplined people.
It's worth noting how often Japanese people give foreigners the benefit of the doubt. If I ever get the opportunity to visit, I'll be very appreciative of their patience :)
'Foreigners don't wait in line. They might not be aware of that concept.'
The fact he'd give benefit of a doubt in such a situation shows how polite Japanese are. If we see foreigners not understanding social rules where I'm from we often react a lot more aggressive than that.
@@atomicNoodle yeah japanese people are polite because they live in a very dystopian world, their society is completely based on order and control and japan has one of the highest suicide rates, they are polite because that's all they are taught, they are often shunned for the slightest mistakes which may SEEM good, but its terrible. my time living in japan was the worst few years of my life just due to the pure antisocialness they experience there
Depends on where you’re at. I lived in Japan for over a year and I’ve been turned away from several establishments for my race.
@@201hastings Woah, really? Shame. What race are you, if you don’t mind me asking?
@@201hastings race or poor language? I know there's racism in renting and the work culture there; but are you sure it wasn't a language barrier?
I am in Japan right now for my 8th time and even though I am not fluent in Japanese I feel that when I try to interact with Native Japanese they are very patient with me and appreciate very much speaking to them in Japanese. Even if I have to use Google translate. I love it here and I have great respect for your culture. 😊
Whenever I am over there, i try to use my limited Japanese language skills as much as possible,
because you can see THEIR faces light up as soon as they know you are trying to be considerate.
@@KichigaiUsagi Absolutely they appreciate the effort.
@Rick R. low iq wins
As a very shy, polite, quieter and patient person I learned that I might really enjoy and feel at ease if I travel to Japan
I lived there for a few months and I believe you are right. I hope you get to visit there soon!
The last guy rocked the system. An intelligent and well thought individual.
Thanks for shedding some light on this! Whenever I travel, one of the first things I look for is the “unwritten rules”. I think it’s so important to respect other peoples cultures especially when traveling to them.
I agree, the thing about waiting to be seated at restaurants was a great example of this, because it really is just different everywhere. Even in America, some will have you wait, some will have you seat yourself, and I HATE that moment of uncertainly waffling by the door while I try to figure out what kind of establishment I'm in.
In the U.S. in extrememly busy sit down restaurants I have paused to asked the servers/manager if I can just take a seat and others behind me have walked right past and laughed like I'm stupid.@@solitarelee6200
@@solitarelee6200 As someone from the Balkans I have never had to wait in a restaurant. That doesnt exist where Im from.
If the table is empty and not reserved you just sit there.
@@Qlicky
But in other places that is considered very rude.
Anyways, its usually a sign ,just inside the door, to eait for a waiter. If it is,you wait.
I alwaus check thurely, before walking inside,and i dont just grab a table because its free. I have to be sure it is ment to be "sit yourself down".
For me,this is a normal behaviour. The same thing is with any home or place at all.
I dont just go sit down,of course !
I recon you dont either? Go in to another persons home ,and just sit?
I think that this is a universal sign og of being rude, tbh...
@@TG-hp8og What other places?
There is NO such thing as 'Wait to be seated' where Im from and that includes 5-6 neighboring countries. It IS the normal behaviour around here.
As I said, you're expected to sit down if the table is empty. The signs 'reserved' at restaurants exist for a reason you know. if it's reserved you obviously don't sit there and wait to be seated.
Are you seriously comparing entering someone's home to entering a business place where you're actually paying for the privilege?
Love how many of them say “Maybe they just don’t know.” So humble lol
Polite way to say that maybe foreigners are too stupid to understand. They are that elitist hiding under their shyness.
This may be a weird comment, but I want to thank Takashii for the code for the treat boxes. My son’s birthday is coming up and I always struggle with what to get him so close after Christmas. But not this year. I ordered both Sakuraco and TokyoTreat treat boxes. My son is really into anime and Japanese culture, so this gift is simply PERFECT for him. Thanks again for the perfect idea!
That's soo cool, I'm sure he'll like it :D
Hope he enjoyed it!!!!!!🎉
Your son is gonna end up being one of these foreigners when he grows up lol , does he watch hentai ? 🤣☠️ Japanese culture is very nice 🍑
No one paid me to say this. My son got his first TokyoTreat box today. He LOVED it! Still waiting on the Sakuraco Box now.
This video was incredibly helpful! Thank you! One thing that stuck out was at least trying to learn some if the language. My parents went to Japan on their honeymoon (when they could afford it 20 years after marriage) and my father studied with flash cards, tapes and books (back in the 80's before computers). Not only did it make him feel more comfortable, it helped a great deal when he needed to ask questions. This is something I definitely will do before my trip to Japan. Thank you again for your very helpful and informative videos!!
My wife and I are just back from Japan. What a wonderful experience and great culture! We've tried to learn few words in Japanese (but this might also be a trap because of the many différences meanings and ways to say something so sometimes, i preferred to use English rather than mistaking or miss pronouncing a panneresse words in a way that could be offending).
We've made all possible efforts to learn and respect the usage, and that kind of video is REALLY usefully to know what to do/not to do in order to be respect as much as possible these wonderful peoples.
I a sure I wasn't perfect, but I hope that we pleased the Japan people we've met as it was really important for us not to let them a bad feeling and make them confortable with us since they are kindly welcoming us in their county.
フランスからの愛を込めて（私たちはあなたから学ぶべきことがたくさんあります)
I'm Finnish. I've been dreaming about visiting Japan for a while now. A lot of what they say I already agree with, but there were also many points that weren't so obvious to me and turned out to be valuable advice. Thank you for the video, and thank you to all the folks answering your questions!
If you have respect and good education, everything will be fine in japan, no need to watch video, just be respectful and everything will be okay :)
I'm trying to think of some of the major "pet peeves" or "social mistakes" in Japan (What's the French term, I can't think?) "faux pas"???? I think that's it. Ummmm ..... I believe that they do not shake hands (neither do I). Also, It may still be, that if you, as a man (gentleman) are courteous and permit a Japanese woman to go first, that that is not acceptable. In Japan, the women stay behind the men, the men go first. I think that sneezing, loudly, in public is looked down upon. I'd be in big trouble. I don't think that they like loud, boisterous, demonstrative people. So Texans would have trouble. One time when I was in London, I was talking to locals at hotel, and they said that they had problems with Texans. Don't talk about WWII. You have to remember, it is a very homogenous society, everybody doing the same thing, for many centuries. It was only "opened" around 1850 ("Gunboat Diplomacy").
@@Goooodbye I think tourists should still know that most Japanese don't like foreigners nomatter how good they behave. I was shocked of the condescending gazes wandering through the streets. Some however you could feel the respect for travelling so far to get to know their culture. But generally don't mix up their friendliness with being welcome.
@@Isaki138 Depend the place you are, i agree with you, i just don't care about theses people.
But usually, if you are going in a bar the night, in a popular place, you will find a lot of people who want to make friend with you.
During the day, it is something else of course.
It also depend when you are from, i know they dont like to much american cause of the ww2 (specialy the old peoples), but when i said i come from Switzerland, everything back to normal :p
I love how considerate and thoughtful the culture is. I really wish the rest of the world could follow suit.
Hahaha, that's a good one
We all saw how America was divided on wearing a paper mask during a global pandemic. So embarrassing and childish…
Dude the society in Japan is just broken, is easy to say that when all the people in the country are just bots
i dont know what you saying lol
Japan is a mono culture. The rest of the world can't follow suit because everyone is trying to do their own things instead of what's good for the country. This will never happen again and soon Japan will change with increased immigration
Most have a friendly demeanour, they mind their own business, they are socially/publicly respectable, it seems like they don’t make petty judgements on things that don’t effect their lives or in other words self respecting… they really aren’t about harbouring hate, and more about common courtesy. They’re not fighting against eachother? Work culture doesn’t always get a good rep in Japan, but they’re hard working ? They’re also extremely expressive and they’re not afraid of it - I can’t begin to list how many hobbies exist, and done 100x better in Japan. Not saying everything in Japan is perfect, but their positives outweigh their negatives and I feel like I listed the bare minimum. Feels like the rest of us are living in boxes and competing against eachother in our self destructing countries lol.
Greetings from Chicago, Illinois -- I worked for 2 global pharmaceutical companies which ARE both headquartered in Japan. I did a lot of international travel during my time with these 2 companies. I spent several weeks (sometimes months) in different countries around the globe. The companies provided us with information on the customs/culture of every specific country I went to for business. For example, how to dress, language, when to bow, shake hands, don't shake hands, food, culture, etc. We were educated on the PROPER WAY to behave, how to communicate (there are many different forms of communication in various countries I visited). Your video demonstrates to ALL foreigners that there ARE specific rules, laws, boundaries, forms of communication we ALL should respect. We (foreigners) must be mindful of the customs, rules, laws, mannerisms when we visit another country. Being polite, respectful, courteous are important.
Wow. Its about respecting one another and your environment, paying attention to your surroundings, seeking not to offend, as in keeping your voice down so as not to disturb those around you and so much more...So much of this resonates with how my mother raised me, its mind blowing! We were so different from our peers growing up that I thought something must be wrong with us. But it makes me humbled to know our foundation was set this way. We are Jamaican living in the U.S. ❤
As a Finnish person I can relate to Japanese people a lot, because our cultures have many similar traits. For example, we also appreciate personal space, cleanliness, being humble, being respectful and considerate towards other people (tho we are no way near as respectful as the Japanese imo) and not being loud at public places. We can also be a bit shy and reserved at first, but that depends a lot on the person. Although I think we're a bit more relaxed/not nearly as formal about things as the japanese 😅
As a Finn I relate with much of what these Japanese people said. Being considerate and respectful, cleanliness, waiting for your turn (fairness), moving considerately (not blocking paths, staying on the correct side so others can move if they're in a hurry etc.). And I agree that Finns are a bit more loose when it comes to these things (people cut in line and block paths in Finland, for example), but they are valued in the Finnish culture regardless. A Japanese person will feel somewhat familiar in the Finnish culture, and vice versa.
So different from Latin countries
Americans: loud often disobey and self-absorbed and very rude , but easy to fool because he doesn't get our politeness😅😑
Germans , swiss and Austrians : same as Americans , but are very humble serious orderly and calm despite not able to read us
😅🥲
Latins, Muslims , Indians and Africans : they seem better than Americans in social manners , except screws actual rules and causes chaos , they also are very agressive if they hate someone and are too emotional
Latins are the most rude , Arabs and indians are the most chaotic
Africans are in between
😥😥😵💫
French and Slavs:
Between the latins and Americans I say.
😅😵💫
South Asians: Extremer than Latins but they get us more what we mean than actual latins 😵💫😰😮💨
Chinese and Koreans : same as the south Asians they get us, even better and orderly like latins , but still some hate personally us for what ancestors were ???
it's so hostile and pointless to talk to them no matter what i say it's like we are targeted by the actual Arabs or latins hate deep down 😐😰😰😵💫😑💢
Brits: Brits ? Same as Americans , but actually gets deeper into our polite barrier and mind to trigger us 🤨💢💢
Swedes and Norwegians : Kinder Brits, they seem critical but they respect us, also very orderly and calm like Germans 🤔🙂
Dutch and Danes:
Seem American to me but they are smart 🤔
Canadians: Americans who try being like Finns 😅😊
Finns: They get us and respect us the most. They barely complain they follow. Maybe a bit naive but that's why we adore them ☺️🥺
Indeed all these rules make me think of Northen Europe, very similar -
I'm from Italy, south part of Italy and we can say is another planet : on the bus is so loud as a concert - there is no line, is caos - people go out from bus and at the same time people go on , always like that😂
to be loud here is almost a rule - also to hug , to embrace. to shake hands , - also here people always want to buy you something, like a coffe or a drink, always, they insist -wich is kind - but i can see foreigners don't like that -
i can make 100 more examples -
could be fun for you to see cause again, is another galaxy - but to live here maybe for you would be hell
Coming from an Estonian the drinking culture is quite similar too haha
Note on "Leaving Newspaper on the Subway in New York City"
It is not to "dispose" of it, but to leave the newspaper on your seat for another rider to read. This was the original cause of leaving the newspaper behind, since not everyone had the means/finances/time/opportunity to purchase one, but might want to read about the news in the morning.
A lot of times you would see a person get ready to exit and fold their newspaper and be asked "If they are done" with the newspaper, so it would be passed to another rider before it is left on the seat.
Nowadays, with sardine-can-crammed subway cars, I am not sure this courtesy is the same as it used to be.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not from NYC, but the thought of touching someone’s gross subway newspaper is extremely unappealing to me! I think I would think very differently about it if I couldn’t afford a newspaper though.
But I fully understand what you mean and that is actually kind of crazy that the practice evolved from a desire to share but is now seen as basically littering. I wonder if modern New Yorkers see it as a courtesy to others or just thinking of it as a way to dispose of something they don’t want anymore.
He said Americans throw newspapers on the floor in the subway, so people expected to pick them up from the floor to read?
Didn't know that, that's cool
@@nh7568No , people will not take new paper from the floor, If you finish reading new paper, you put on the side of you self or on the sit that you left. The reason that the new paper end up on the floor was some passenger like to set on that sit where the new paper was, and if other sits close by taken, they just put that new paper under the sit on the floor, as the subway car might be crowded, so it will not be in the way. On the last station the cleaning cru will take out.
The man who speaks around the 8 minute mark knows what's up. He has some incredible insight and seemed to be very knowledgeable. I wonder if he'd be willing to be my Japanese linguistics sensei... 🤔 I respect the Japanese culture and the way they convey respect towards one another.
I've been to Japan 4 times, I absolutely love it there! The people are so kind, and so thoughtful. People do the right thing, and everyone respects each other. Everywhere is clean, every vehicle looks well maintained inside and out. The trains are like clockwork. It's an amazing place.
I'm currently here for the first time
I try to be as polite as possible, take as little space as possible and stay out of the way for people
My japanese unforuanately is so shit its barely on the cringy "i watched anime" level.
Also fuck me im scared of the more adult entertainment districts. Got approached like 7 times in kabukicho, didnt knoe if i was gonna get scammed or worse cause an incident by not knowing enough japanese. I mean id like to try
Degenerate yes, scared. Absolutely
Planning a trip to Japan in 2 years. Been learning the language for 4 years now, but always love to know more so I can be as polite as possible! Thanks for the video!
Would you say you've achieved some basic fluency?
One of the best things about going to Tokyo was, even though I was in a busy city with lots of people, I felt very safe and not stressed at all, because of the respectfulness of it’s citizens.
Wow, this is comforting to read. Thank you for leaving this comment!
Im an American, when I was in Japan earlier this year I was on the subway in Tokyo & noticed an older women & her husband enter but all the seats were taken. I decided to get out of my seat and give it to her. She bowed very low, gave me a big smile & and showed so much gratitude. It made me feel incredibly happy and accepted. Respecting the culture was one of the most rewarding things about the trip as it means a lot to the people of Japan and therefore means a lot to me!
Good you felt like that! But You need to do this everywhere in the world, respect the elders or disability people (also in your own country ).
@@Melanated4ever who says i dont? my point from this comment was to highlight the gratitude shown from Japanese people who are shown respect from foreigners in relation to this video and its contents. Not sure where this notion came from of not respecting elders in other countries..?
I love that they acknowledge that some cultures might be different in aspects like waiting in line or waiting to be seated at a restaurant but ask for others to respect THEIR culture while a guest in their country. They all seemed to want to educate foreigners rather then scold them for improper behavior.
Waiting in line for a train is definitely something that doesn’t exist for Westerners, but at a restaurant, I thought that’s just common etiquette.
@@RottenPieceof Waiting in line for the train is most certainly a thing for Westeners in some areas, e.g., San Francsico’s BART.
@bubbledoubletrouble True, but in general, Westerners don't have the culture of waiting in line for get on the train. It's more often than not, "first come (to the door), first serve"
@@RottenPieceofwaiting in line for a train is perfectly normal in Uk, you do not push infront of people
@@RottenPieceof At some restaurants, at least in the United States, it's expected for you to just find an empty table upon entering the restaurant, so the first time you interact with any worker is when they approach your table.
I think the most important thing when visiting any place that you're not familiar with, is to be mindful and respectful of the people there. Even when visiting other places within your own country, they can have very different customs and traditions from place to place. It's best to set a good example for future tourists to always be respectful. Arigato, Takashii-san.
Just be a human - Use the eyes and ears and observe your surroundings. Doing something weird and getting weird looks? Stop doing the thing. Are you walking around with people unbothered and not looking or caring about you? Probably doing just fine. If all else fails, find help trying to understand what you don't understand. Embrace different cultural norms if you wish to travel. Part of travel means leaving the comfort zone. Do not act so entitled that you make everyone else that is calibrated to those norms suffer.
Yes tats right respect the ppl when u visit their country...dun bring your own rules there. Tku
being mindful and respectful to people starts at home though. If we don't do it in our own country we surely don't do it in another country.
Setting an example? Gtfo it’s not possible to please everyone let alone an entire nation. People’s pet peeves vary widely in once own country. Tourist aren’t a homogeneous mass. If an obnoxious American goes to Japan doesn’t mean all Americans are obnoxious, it just means that American is obnoxious. Believing that somehow your shared nationality with an obnoxious tourist makes you look bad, it’s in your individual mind not a shared belief for your nationality either.
@@ronswanson1410 The problem is, the vast majority of people don't even come to the conclusion that they're doing something wrong or weird. They are, after all, just being themselves and everyone should tolerate it…
I’m in Japan now and I absolutely love how calm, quiet and respectful this culture is. It is a joy to ride the trains and not have some asshole next to you using FaceTime on speaker phone. Why can’t the rest of the world be this considerate? Why is it so acceptable now to force your shitty phone conversations on everyone around you?
Don’t worry it will get worse but then good
@@savee100x4 I hope you are right
Personally, while commuting, I like the atmosphere to be calm, but this is my opinion. I can't force others to be like me. Some people enjoy the sound of noise, I like it to be noisy in a coffee shop, for example.
So I guess it's a preference thing, and everyone should look for the environment that suits them, and respect the norm within different cultures and follow it.
In Japan everyone is calm so be calm, don't judge them boring because you like noise. In Italy people are chatty and very vibrant, respect that if you go there, don't call them annoying, it's their culture. In Japan people worship personal space you should give them that when visiting them, in India people stand one hugging the other and they are fine, show them respect as well.
@@HDChannel Agreed
@@jacquesdemolay4516lol someone always blaming black folk and never taking responsibility for their own race
My family and I just returned from a 2 week vacation to Japan, and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. In addition to my son having a strong interest in Japanese culture he has studied the language for the last 2 years in preparation for the trip and we had watched several very insightful videos such as this one and they were all a huge help. It was just amazing to see how everyone just opened up when he would speak to them in Japanese. We found Japan to be extremely beautiful, and it's people to be patient, tolerate, friendly, polite, and very mindful of others...qualities that we should all strive to have.
I like how Japan has a real sense of personal responsibility behind their values, so many people are so disrespectful to public spaces
My ex husband and I had gone to Japan for two weeks for our honeymoon, it was amazinggg, and the Japanese people are the most hard working kindest folk I’ve ever met. It was just so peaceful and beautiful to witness.
Best culture on Earth
@@chaikneesirus5551
It's the only culture on earth. All the others are being watered down or thrown in the bin
@@chaikneesirus5551 Maybe in the last 80 years.
@@chaikneesirus5551
Have you been working in Japan?
Really ??? What about brainwashed ?
So basically… Be respectful and don’t expect the locals to adjust to you when you should be adjusting to them and their culture. Not very difficult. It’s crazy how foreigners can’t do something so basic and simple. Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
I really like how the last person explain it! You have to be considerate and respect one another to build a good relationship. And also adopt the culture of the country you are in to
That last guy reminds me of myself when I was an American foreign exchange student in Tokyo 50 years ago. I was very conscious that people should NOT expect me to be like whatever they thought a typical American was. 50 years later, I realize I didn't apply that so much to Japanese people, who are, and were, very much individuals too!