|
In less than three months, I'm going home.
I bought a big box from the post office today to pack up the last of my
belongings to be sent home (they'll take two months to get there by
surface mail). It's really all happening now. I'm getting ready to go
home.
Weird.
We're all starting to get quite reflective on our time here, talking about
times of old, and how strange it'll be to go back. I do miss England and I
look forward to going back there, but I know I'll miss Japan like hell.
So, I thought that I'd start writing about more of my reflections of
Japan, starting with addressing all the common conceptions we foreigners
hold.
1. "Japanese people are all short."
Status: True. Although they're getting taller now with each generation,
Japanese people are still on the small side. I'm only just 5ft 2, which is
about average height for a Japanese girl, I'd say.
2. "Japanese people are all polite."
Status: True. They are incredibly polite and accommodating towards each
other. If you go into any shop, you can expect to be treated with
top-notch service. However, the Japanese public aren't always so polite to
foreigners; they'll do a lot of things that we don't consider polite (like
staring at us/coming up and harassing us for a free English lessons etc.)
3. "Japanese people like bowing."
Status: True. Japanese people of all ages bow. And they bow a lot, for
greeting, saying goodbye, thanking, apologising, etc. etc.
4. "Japanese people often wear kimono."
Status: True. I was actually quite surprised at how widespread kimono and
other Japanese garments still are, even in modern Japan. Young Japanese
wear kimono with about the same frequency that Western men wear dinner
jackets, while older Japanese women might wear simple kimono on a daily
basis.
5. "Japanese people are workaholics."
Status: True. They work like hell. Really, Japanese sleeping patterns are
probably the most irregular in the world; like certain small mammals, they
take "power naps" and often seem to go without a proper sleep for days.
However, they do get quite a few national holidays (perhaps about two or
three a month).
6. "Japanese people like to eat very weird things."
Status: True. Live octopus anyone? No? How about raw cod sperm? If that's
too exotic, why not have normal stuff like fermented soy beans, pickled
plums, banana-flavoured pretzels or squid pizza? Having said that, most
Japanese food is pretty yummy.
7. "Japanese people like their food raw."
Status: True. While they do of course cook it too, raw fish, seafood,
horse and beef are all delicacies. And they're all delicious.
8. "Japanese people are martial arts experts."
Status: False. Unless you're talking about fighting arcade games. In which
case, true. Japanese are very good at computer games.
9. "Japan's technology is really advanced."
Status: True. I'd say, quite honestly and without exaggerating, it's about
3 years (or more) advanced than in Britain. Use a Japanese toilet or
mobile phone and you'll see what I mean.
10. "Japanese like things small and efficient."
Status: Mostly true. Japanese public transport and services in general are
extremely efficient. However, Japanese bureaucracy is anything but
efficient, and many Japanese cars are anything but small (really, there
are some monsters on the road).
11. "Japanese are obsessed with cute things."
Status: Oh god, how true is this?? Cute cartoon characters are absolutely
everywhere (especially Hello Kitty). All Japanese girls love cute things
and have at least five cute key rings/phone charms on them at one time.
Walk into a girls' clothes/accessories shop and you'll here the word "kawaaiiiii"
(cute!) all the time.
12. "Japanese schoolgirls wear sailor suits."
Status: These days, not so true. The sailor suit is a little out of
fashion; blazers are in right now. The sailor suit will no doubt come back
though, possibly as soon as this summer.
13. "Japanese schoolgirls wear "loose socks" that need to be held up
with "socks glue."
Status: True. It appears to be a re-occurring fashion; it's come back in
again this Spring. I don't know why; it doesn't look cute or anything.
14. "Japanese men are obsessed with school girls."
Status: Judging by the manga and kinky schoolgirl outfits you can buy,
true.
15. "Japan is full of bizarre vending machines."
Status: True. They're friggin' everywhere.
16. "Japanese TV is bizarre."
Status: True. Even if you understand the language, you may well not
understand the shows. They are just surreal.
17. "Japanese girls are very fit."
Status: True. Japanese people in general are slim, attractive, and
well-groomed.
18. "Japanese are obsessed with Sumo."
Status: True. When Japanese TV isn't showing bizarre game shows/Korean
drama, it's showing Sumo.
19. "Japanese are all obsessed with golf."
Status: False. At least, they aren't in Kumamoto. They possibly are
elsewhere.
20. "Japanese are all obsessed with taking photos."
Status: True. Every occasion that is a slight deviation from the norm is
worthy of a photo or two. Or three. Or twenty.
21. "Japanese like conformity and regularity."
Status: True. They may dress to be rebellious, but it's for show only.
Your status in Japanese society is directly proportional to how well you
conform with everyone else (and in particular, how well you conform with
your superiors. To the extent that if your superior orders a drink, you
should order exactly the same).
22. "Japanese people dye their hair weird and wonderful colours."
Status: False. They do in Harajuku, but elsewhere everyone else dyes their
hair an identical shade of brown.
23. "Japanese fashion is very cool."
Status: True. It's absolutely awesome, for the most part. And, like their
technology, it's about 3 years ahead of Britain.
24. "Japanese are obsessed with suicide."
Status: True. We learnt the word "jisatsu" (suicide) after two weeks of
being here. It seems pretty normal for Japanese artists/musicians/poets to
die through suicide.
25. "Japanese adults read manga."
Status: True. They don't normally have the time, but when they're sitting
on trains they may well be reading manga.
26. "Japanese people refer to each other by name plus "-san/-chan/-kun."
Status: True. While there are exceptions, that's the norm. Make sure that
when in Japan, you put a "san" on the end of their name when addressing
them. But don't put it on your own name, that's really rude.
27. "Japanese people bow putting their hands together, as if in
prayer."
Status: False. They only usually do this when apologising, not at any
other time, and then only rarely.
28. "Japanese have robots everywhere that do the work for them."
Status: False. I haven't seen a single robot in Japan.
29. "Japanese people take their shoes off when entering houses."
Status: True. This is also true of many restaurants, historical sites,
temples and the entrance to public baths.
30. "Japanese people get "l" and "r" mixed up all the time.
Status: True. It's pretty funny, but even the most competent Japanese
English speaker will do it from time to time. And you can see it in
Engrish all the time.
|
