The biggest differences between cultures aren’t usually so tangible; the real distinguishing features are the ones you can’t quite put your finger on, the ones that exist in people’s minds.

In my eyes, the greatest difference between Japanese culture and most other cultures is communication. I don’t mean in terms of the spoken language, or kanji or any of the visible markers of communication; I’m talking about the style of communication, the undercurrents that flow beneath the spoken and written language.

For some people, communication in Japanese culture can seem like a labyrinth, with dead ends and puzzles at every turn. We’ve written before about the phrase 空気読めない, or “can’t read the air,” which refers to people unable to interpret a social situation. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to miscommunication in Japan.

The kinds of miscommunication that can happen between cultures makes misunderstood teenagers look like they have freakin’ PhDs in communication.

High and Low

Academics love to come up with models about how the world works; it helps to simplify complex situations, and makes things more understandable to your average person. One model in particular has helped me better understand more about communication in Japan. In the late 1970^s, anthropologist Edward Hall introduced the idea of “high context” and “low context” cultures.

The differences between high and low context cultures is all about communication. A low-context culture communicates in very explicit, plain terms; a high-context culture, like Japan, makes the assumption that people have a shared set of knowledge, so things don’t need to be outright explained.

Obviously, both of these styles of communication have their advantages and disadvantages. While everything is spelled out very clearly in low context cultures, allowing even outsiders to easily understand what’s going on, some of the communication can be painfully forthcoming and blunt. Subtlety is a rarity in low context cultures.

Communication in a high context culture like Japan is efficient in many ways, since there’s a lot that’s left unsaid; but unfortunately, that means that if you’re not in the “in group,” you won’t fully understand what’s going on, and coercing a full explanation out of somebody seems worse than pulling teeth.

Some of my favorite posts from the blog This Japanese Life are about the kinds of miscommunication that happens in a high context society. Stories like “On Awkward Acts of Generosity in Japan” or “On Japanese Probability” illustrate the kind of communication breakdown that can happen when people make really broad (or even not-so-broad) assumptions.

Many of the side-effects of living in a high context society aren’t as lighthearted. For expatriates living in Japan attempting to assimilate, or for even Japanese people who live inside the culture, these differences in communication can have far-reaching consequences.

Last year, we wrote about Japanese doctors who fudge the truth in big ways, like neglecting to tell patients that they have cancer. A doctor and patient may think that they have a mutual understanding when, in fact, their interests run at odds with each other.

When the people in a high context society mistakenly think that they share the same assumptions, the results can be catastrophic.

“What the Mind Thinks, the Heart Transmits”

The paradigm of high and low context cultures can seem like a simplistic view: anything that divvies up the world into two discrete units is a little suspect. There are reasons to have doubt about this model: it’s a general theory about cultures around the world with nothing specific to Japan that was developed decades ago, and it comes from an outsider who might not have a complete grasp on Japanese culture.

Fortunately there are, in my eyes, several things that back up the ideas presented by high and low context cultures. Edward Hall studied Japan specifically in some of his work (including the admittedly dated Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese), but the most convincing evidence for me is native theories that more or less confirm the same thing.

In Japanese, there’s a four kanji idiom that really confirms this theory for me: 以心伝心, or ishin denshin. One of the more accurate translations of ishin denshin is something like “what the mind thinks, the heart transmits,” but what does it actually mean?

Some people call ishin denshin a kind of telepathy which, while dramatic, is functionally similar. While the end result of telepathy and ishin denshin may seem similar, the process is obviously different.

Whereas telepathy uses some kind of unexplained (or poorly explained) supernatural power to probe another person’s mind, ishin denshin is fairly lazy; it works on the premise that everybody’s on the same page. You don’t need to read somebody’s mind because the two of you have a shared set of assumptions, as anybody in a high context culture would.

Ishin denshin isn’t the only concept like this in Japanese culture—another, similar similar concept, haragei (腹芸) covers many of the same principals, but has different applications. Different martial arts use this term to refer to anticipating your opponent’s next move.

(Haragei can also, as I learned while researching this post, refer to “stomach art,” i.e. painting faces on your gut. The more you know!)

What Can We Really Know?

I’ll be the first to admit that this sort of analysis of Japanese communication seems kind of dubious. Even if we feel better by rationalizing and classifying things that we can’t quite understand, these models will always contain generalizations and flaws.

Unfortunately, the social sciences aren’t able to precisely quantify things the same way other fields are able to. Sociologists, anthropologists, and linguists can measure certain, very specific factors of communication—things like word frequency, and lengths of sentences, —but other elements remain distant. How can you really quantify a concept ishin denshin? You can’t exactly dice it up and measure its atomic weight.

Not to mention that culture is a moving target. While all cultures have defining traits and unshakable historic roots, culture is always changing, shifting, regressing, and jumping forward.

There’s no denying that ishin denshin exists in Japan, nor can you completely dismiss Japan as a high context culture. But just as there are people in the West who practice ishin denshin by a different name, there are also Japanese people buck all the stereotypes and are blunt and straightforward.

It’s these variations that make studying Japanese culture interesting. Understanding these structures and systems is cool in itself, but finding the variations in the pattern, the outliers—it’s enough to keep you interested for years to come.

[hr]

Gifu man, 71, sues NHK for distress over its excess use of foreign words: As we’ve written about before, Japanese is full of loan words, even if they don’t always make sense. Given that, it’s a little confusing that a man in Japan is suing the NHK for causing him emotional distress by using too many foreign words. After looking at some of the awful names of NHK programs, like BSコンシェルジュ (“BS Concierge”), I can’t say I blame him. Can I get in on this lawsuit too?

[hr]

[threecol_two]

President of KFC Japan buys Colonel Sanders’ trademark white suit at auction for $21K

Over the years, KFC has become almost as Japanese as it is American. Between KFC’s presence throughout the country and the Curse of Colonel Sanders that plagued Osaka for decades, the F in KFC might as well stand for フライド. With that in mind, it seems fitting that the president of KFC Japan, Masao Watanabe, outbid all others to win the Colonel’s iconic white suit, complete with black bolo tie. Will Watanabe also inherit Sanders’ ability to curse Japanese baseball teams? Only time will tell. [via News On Japan]

[/threecol_two] [threecol_one_last]

Court Hears Arguments on Whaling by Japan: Despite being one of many countries that hunts and eats whale Japan has, in many ways, become the symbol of whaling in the world. Now, Japan and Australia are going toe-to-toe at the highest international court: the UN’s International Court of Justice at the Hague. What will be the outcome? It’s hard to say, but Japan probably shouldn’t bribe judges with delicious, delicious whale meat.

Cloned mice produced from drop of blood: Cloning has been one of those futuristic conepts like flying cars and humanoid robots that’s long existed in science fiction, but hasn’t ever become practical enough for everyday life. It looks like cloning has gotten closer to a practical application as scientists in Japan have clone normal, healthy mice from a single drop of blood. Finally, a way to produce more mice.

[/threecol_one_last]

[hr]

Sprint Shareholders Approve Sale to SoftBank: Japanese telecommunications giant made a huge move last year when it offered to buy American company sprint, but the deal has been tied up in various bureaucratic processes. The deal cleared another hurdle Tuesday when Sprint shareholder approved the deal, leaving the FCC to assess the transaction. Presumably, Sprint will provide SoftBank with uniquely American assets—like built-in NSA spying features!

[hr]

The show? 欽ちゃん＆香取慎吾の全日本仮装大賞, also known as Masquerade in English.

The show’s premise is familiar: teams of people compete to wow judges and audiences alike with their talent. What makes Masquerade different from America’s Got Talent (other than Nick Cannon and a Snapple™ sponsorship) is its focus on incredibly creative sketches full of clever visual tricks.

These sketches take place anywhere from under the sea to a skydiving plane flying high above the ground. Not to be clichéd, but the only limit to these sketches seems to be the contestants’ imagination.

Fortunately for those of us who can’t catch Masquerade on Japanese TV, the show has an official YouTube channel full of some of its coolest, most imaginative sketches. You might even recognize some of them!

Many of the sketches are done with stagehands that blend into the background, very much in the Japanese tradition of kuroko (黒子), the stagehands dressed in all-black in traditional Japanese theater.

While many of the sketches are incredibly impressive, some of them can just be plain bizarre:

From the imaginative sketches to towering meter that fills up after every performance, Masquerade has a plethora of endearing qualities that make it clear why the show has spent decades on the air.

For more, check out Masquerade’s official YouTube channel!

Wallpapers

Want the excitement of Masquerade as your desktop background? Our incredible illustrator Aya has you covered!

Wallpaper (1280×800)
Wallpaper (2560×1440)

Then there are more offbeat, strange museums. In Japan there are, of course, many large, prestigious museums; but it also, for whatever reason, seems to have a ton of really unusual, weird museums. Some of these are major institutions, but many are run out of peoples’ houses, labors of love to their strange, but fascinating interests.

Here are some of the stranger museums you can visit in Japan:

Sex Robot Museum

During Koichi’s first season of TofuguTV, he visited a sex robot museum (鬼怒川秘宝殿) in the town of Nikko. Not a museum about sex, not a museum about robots, but a museum featuring both.

The footage remains in the TofuguTV archives, as it’s a little inappropriate for TofuguTV for hopefully obvious reasons, and presents many challenging editing problems.

Wow mister tengu, your nose sure is long!

Even if the footage never sees the light of YouTube, here’s Koichi’s impression on the museum:

Technically an animatronic sex museum and not a robot one (robot sounds cooler, though), this gem of a place is located in Nikko, which is mostly known for its hot springs, not “hot springs,” if you catch my drift. When I went we were greeted by a friendly older (and presumably extremely perverted) older gentleman who asked us to take as many pictures and video as possible, something I’m not usually used to. It makes me wonder if he knew this place was on its last legs, so he wanted as much of it preserved on people’s cameras as possible. I could be wrong, but I doubt that it’s still around (and if it is, it probably doesn’t have long to go). It will probably make for a stellar haikyo someday, though.

The museum itself had several “exhibits,” most of them including animatronic naked dudes and ladies doing unspeakable things while the full volumed sound system made sounds like “ohhh Ohhhh OHHHHH” – *machines whirring* – “IYAHHHHH.” They would awkwardly slide/move around in their predetermined paths doing their predetermined things, and each exhibit was surprisingly different . . . yet not so different. Upon exiting the museum part, there’s a gift shop full of *ahem* “interesting” things, a theater for watching, uh, you know, and a half-naked statue of Marlyn Monroe. I think this was their most prized possession as it seemed to be the best taken care of (though unfortunately it didn’t move).

All in all, the hot springs probably would have been a better choice to visit, but I can safely say that this definitely is the weirdest museum I’ve ever been to, so at least I can take away that much from the whole experience.

Trick Art Museums

Whether it’s trying to decipher an M. C. Escher illustration, or getting lost in Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s mind-bending creations, optical illusions are incredibly fascinating puzzles that almost everybody seems to enjoy.

Fortunately, there are not one, not two, but at least three museums in Japan that specialize in optical illusions or, as they call them, “trick art.” Each has its own different theme: the trick art museum in Tokyo seems to favor an Edo-era style of Japanese supernaturalism, while the Takao museum focuses more on Egyptian and Western-style art.

You’re not a real sushi chef!

Many of the exhibits at both museums are interactive, or at least present some kind of photo opportunity for visitors. Even though these museums don’t teach visitors about fine art, natural history, or any of the normal subjects covered by museums, any one of these trick art museums sounds like a lot of fun to visit.

Takao Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.jp/

Tokyo Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.info/

Nasu Trick Art Museum – http://www.trick-art.jp/index.html

Meguro Parasite Museum

Located in Tokyo’s Meguro district, the Meguro Parasite Museum claims to be the world’s only parasite museum: a claim that surprised me, but haven’t been able to refute.

The Tofugu team got the chance to visit the Meguro Parasite Museum earlier this year, and were blown away by this unique collection.

Despite its small size, The Meguro Parasite Museum boasts an impressive collection of preserved parasites of all shapes and sizes. Among its specimens are frighteningly long tape worms to organisms that had been infested by parasites—I remember seeing a sea turtle’s decapitated head floating in a jar of what I assume is formaldehyde. The museum also features interactive learning exhibits, and a very cool parasite codex (see header image).

The gift shop is great too! After trying to decide between a phone strap and some stickers, I ended up buying an official Meguro Parasite Museum tote bag as a gift. If you know somebody who loves parasites, I can’t recommend a better gift.

Meguro Parasite Museum – http://www.kiseichu.org/Pages/default.aspx

Suwa Lucandiae Museum

Beetles are, for whatever reason, are a prevalent theme in Japanese culture. Kids catch beetles to have them wrestle, sumo-style, in tiny rings; there are countless Japanese games about capturing and fighting with bugs; and there are several beetle characters in Japanese pop culture (RAAAWWRRRR MEGALON).

Try not to think about all of the beetles coming alive at once.

Given that, it should come as no surprise that there’s a beetle museum in Tokyo. The Suwa Lucandiae Museum (“lucandiae” is the scientific name for stag beetles) is the ultimate labor of love. The owner, the “Suwa” in “Suwa Lucandiae Museum,” runs the museum out of the ground floor of his house, using his personal collection of beetles to stock the exhibits.

It’s a modest affair, but if you’re not charmed by Suwa’s efforts, then maybe the impressive collection of invertebrates will win over your heart.

You can read more about the Suwa Lucandiae Museum on PingMag.

Hara Model Railway Museum

Model trains are one of those hobbies that seem to lend themselves to obsessive devotees. You might have an uncle who locks himself in his basement to carefully paint his miniature figures and set up replica towns for his model trains to pass through.

One man turned his obsession into a museum. Nobutaro Hara, model train afficianado, decided to take his impressive model train collection, built over his lifetime, and build the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama.

Even if you have no particular interest in model trains, the Hara Model Railway Museum is impressive on its own merits. The care and attention to detail given to the miniaturized trains and landscapes are incredible, especially when you consider that it’s all largely the work of one man.

Read our earlier post for more details about the musuem.

Hara Model Railway Museum – http://www.hara-mrm.com/index.html

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

Unlike most of the museums on this list, the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is a fairly well-known large museum created by a major corporation, Nissin Foods.

Delicious, custom-made Tofugu ramen.

Outside of Japan, the Instant Ramen Museum seems like kind of a novelty, and is unlike any museum you’ve been to. You’re greeted at the entrance by a life-sized statue of the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando standing atop a giant container of Cup Noodle ramen.

It only gets better from there. From a hall of ramen where you can see virtually every single type of instant ramen Nissin’s ever made, to a make-your-own Cup Noodle factor, the Instant Ramen Museum is unique, and much more fun than a museum dedicated to flash-fried, pre-packed foods has any right to be.

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum – http://www.instantramen-museum.jp/

There are, of course, many more interesting and strange museums all across Japan; but these are the ones that really caught my attention. Am I missing your favorite museum on this list? Let me know in the comments!

[hr]

[threecol_two]

Japanese Company Applies for Establishment of Top Level .Moe Domain

It used to be there were only a handful of top-level domains: .com, .org, .net, .edu, and so on. Now, there’s a TLD for virtually every use, including .xxx, .me, and now, potentially .moe. Japanese company Interlink is lobbying for a new .moe TLD for the otaku crowd, possibly opening the door for a plethora of new otaku URLs. My only hope is that there’s an international governing body that decides whether or not a website is truly “moe.”

[/threecol_two] [threecol_one_last]

Japan Is About to Become the Largest Music Market In the World…: While people have been predicting the death of the music industry for decades, it looks like Japan’s music market is still going strong. Not only is it bouncing back from its 2011 low, but a surprising amount of that growth is thanks to physical music sales—you know, CDs. Gotta get to those handshake events somehow! [via News On Japan]

Wagyu Beef Scandal Leads to Arrests: The beef industry in Japan can be a very high-stakes game. Kobe or wagyu beef has a worldwide reputation for high quality, leading to legends about the care and attention take to raising the cows. Now, some big names in the industry have been arrested on “suspicion of misleading consumers.” It’s unclear how the cows will be affected in all of this.

[/threecol_one_last]

[hr]

[threecol_one]

Green Tea Wars Heat Up: Bottled beverages are no joke in Japan, as they represent a lucrative, widespread market that you can see in vending machines on practically every street corner. Now, it looks like the green tea segment of that market is poised for growth as big players like Ito En, Suntory, and even Coca-Cola are fiercely competing for market share. As one company representative said, “The third ‘Green Tea War’ is already starting.”

Artificial anti-tsunami hill completed in Miyagi [Prefecture]: Since the disasterous earthquake and tsunami on 3/11, Japan has done what it can to prepare for future catastrophes. One just completed project is an artificial hill in the city of Iwanuma. The 8-meter hill is covered with over 30,000 seedlings, and will act as memorial site, training center, and just a barrier for future tsunami. [via Twitter]

[/threecol_one] [threecol_two_last]

Deadly octopus prompt warnings in Kanto region

I have a deep-seated distrust of the ocean—virtually every terrifying creature on earth lurks somewhere in the sea. Case in point, this cute little octopus recently spotted in the Kanto region. While it may look adorable, this little cephalopod is extremely venomous; a single bite from one of these octopi can kill a person in 90 minutes. Have fun at the beach, I’ll be busy hiding under my bed. [via Reddit]

[/threecol_two_last]

[hr]

Wallpapers!

In case you need to remind yourself of the constant octopus threat, we have some desktop background sized versions of the header image, courtesy of our amazing artist Aya. Enjoy!

Wallpaper (1280×800)
Wallpaper (2560×1440)

I got a bunch of great entries, but had to sadly whittle it down to ten. Here are the winners:

I didn’t have a clear definition of “ugly” in mind when I started this, but this drawing gave it to me in spades. No other submission was as hard to look at as this crazy-eyed, snot-nosed fugu on a bright red background.

Not only was the fugu itself really ugly, but this person went above and beyond the call of duty to explain their artistry. Very dark and post-modern.

The illustrator of this fine fugu said that they took inspiration from the ugly, all-too-real closeups in the 90^s cartoon Ren and Stimpy. The inspiration is clear, and ugly enough to earn this person a free copy of Japanese.

This fugu isn’t just ugly, it peers into your very soul when it looks at you with that piercing, disturbing glare. Little does it know that I sold out my soul long ago. Joke’s on you!

This ugly, ugly collection of fugu with passionate pleas written all around it (“u ken lern japenese furm me dun eet mee”) was not only hideous, but heartwarming as well.

This dark, brick-like fugu seems like something you’d see popping out of the wall in a horror movie or while playing Amnesia. Look at those mouth, those eyes—not something I’d like to run into.

Vomiting fugu. Enough said.

I didn’t even think that this fine piece of artwork was particularly ugly, but I was too by our lil Tofugu fugu in red high heels not to pick it.

While I suspect that this was all done digitally, this submission has a lot of real-life textures (like brush strokes and glitter) that made the ugliness of the “Toefugu” really stand out.

Honorable Mentions

There were a few submissions that either weren’t eligible to win or didn’t want to win, but I liked nonetheless and wanted to include here.

Our own John submitted his this repulsive piece of art, complete with ugly brick texture and saved in the wonderful BMP format. Most of you sent your pieces in a lossless form, which almost defeats the purpose. Haven’t you people heard of compression artifacts?!

Sadly for John, he couldn’t win since he, y’know, works here. Sorry bud!

This person actually said in their email that they couldn’t use the prize even if they won it, and just wanted to enter for fun. I respect that, and thus they earn a spot on our honorable mentions.

I love this upset fugu, but it’s not ugly, just sad. What’s the matter, little guy? Found out that you’re doomed to be sashimi?

I received this submission with the message “My most sexual greetings from Israel.” I’m not sure what that means, or what it has to do with the drawing itself, but this ugly minimalist masterpiece found a place in my heart.

This person actually turned down the prize, apparently just wanting to submit their creation for the love of art. That’s a-okay with me.

Thanks so much to everybody who participated! This was a lot of fun and I loved checking my inbox every day and seeing your hideous creations.