I started watching the American TV show New Girl this week and while I really enjoy the characters, zany antics, and comical situations (you should probably check it out if you haven’t, it’s a good show) it also made me think about how co-ed roommates are viewed in today’s society. In the show New Girl, four people live together in one apartment. Three males, one female – and none of them are romantically involved with one another. This isn’t really a big deal in America and most Western countries, but how would such a scenario be viewed in Japan?

Platonic Male-Female Roomies

Around the time you get to college, it’s not that unusual for men and women to live together platonically under the same roof. I know a lot of people who’ve had an arrangement like this, and one of my friend’s sisters even lived with us at our house in college for one summer. While it’s definitely not the norm, most of the time nobody really thinks much of it unless there’s some funny business going on, they’re really old fashioned, or are a jealous boyfriend/girlfriend with trust issues.

And then there’s Japan. They don’t feel the same way about this as we Americans do. Aside from most Japanese apartments being relatively small (i.e. not much personal space) many Japanese parents are very protective of their children, especially the women, and would not be happy at all with their daughter living with a man before marriage, regardless if they were involved romantically.

“We’re just friends, I swear.”

Even if you are living with a purely platonic opposite sex roommate, good luck convincing everyone else that you aren’t actually involved somehow. Some Japanese people hard-set in their male-female relation views jump to conclusions way too fast and can’t believe that men and women can be just friends. While browsing some forums on this topic (link, link), I came across the following guy talking about his own experience in Japan.

I was showing my portfolio to a prospective client earlier today and I was commenting on a maintenance video that I made. There is a picture on the cover depicting me discussing the machine with a young woman, to which the client piped up, “Is that your wife?” I answered that it wasn’t, to which he responded, “Are you having an affair?!”

The guy claims it’s apparently much worse in the countryside, but this is just one person’s experience. Plus the post was from about 7 years ago. Regardless, this seems to be a very different view on things than it is in the West, but I’d imagine this view is mostly held by the older generation.

Living Together Before Marriage

And then on the other side of the spectrum, we have males and females living together non-platonically. Lovers, boy/girlfriends, or fiancés. In America at least, I feel like it’s becoming more of a “prerequisite” for couples to live together before they get married just to make sure they can stand being around one another all the time and would survive living together if and when they get married. Sometimes it’s even encouraged for couples to “test the waters” this way. In Japan, this is not the case.

Living together before you’re married in Japan seems to be pretty rare. Many people live with their parents, alone, or with same sex roommates. If Japanese couples are living together, it wouldn’t be too strange for them to keep it secret from their family and judgmental acquaintances. Many older Japanese people and those who are old fashioned would say that if you want to live together, you should just get married because it’s the right and proper thing to do. Living together before marriage can be viewed as indecent.

If you do live with your significant other, there’s a good chance you will incur at least one of the following: general scorn, an endless stream of “When’s the wedding?”, or other related wedding questions. Regardless if people view your living arrangement as improper, they’ll most likely assume it’s a stepping stone towards marriage and in their eyes and they’d prefer to see it happen sooner than later.

I asked some of my friends living in Japan what their personal experiences were with this and what they have noticed first hand. Here’s what they had to say.

I think there are so many young people in Japan who still live at home with their parents, and they only move out when they get married. None of my friends or Japanese people I know are living with someone of the opposite sex unless they’re married. I know one guy living with his girlfriend, but he’s American and she’s Japanese so I don’t know if that counts.

I have a Canadian friend whose Japanese girlfriend basically lives at his house but still retains her own residence.

Most of my Japanese friends said that it wasn’t strange for couples who are planning on getting married to live together, but some of the older generation may look down on it. They also said that it is still kinda strange for just friends of the opposite sex to live together, especially in the countryside. However, home shares are becoming more popular, and there is more attention being brought to opposite sex roommates through dramas and movies, etc. but it’s still pretty irregular and overall people think it’s strange.

But as they say, times are changing, and in cities at least, living together before marriage might be moving towards being not so strange as it once was especially with the younger generation being desensitized to it all through dramas and movies and such. It also really depends on the location, the families, and whether or not a foreigner is involved.

While living together before marriage is not quite as rare as it used to be in Japan, it’s still much less common than it is in the West. It used to be uncommon in the West too, but since then, it’s become much more acceptable. Will the same happen for Japan? Only time will tell.

So what are your thoughts on males and females living together, platonic or otherwise? Do you think that Japan will eventually become more accepting of this practice like the West is? Have any firsthand experience with cohabitation in Japan? Let us know in the comments!

One of Japan’s biggest cultural exports is its martial arts: karate, judo, aikido, kendo. Back before anime got really big, Japanese martial arts was one of the big draws that got Westerners saying “I wanna move to Japan!”

Beyond the romantic notions of Japanese martial arts as some kind of path to enlightenment or self-realization, they still have lots of practical applications. Japanese cops are one group of people who still incorporate martial arts into their everyday work.

Japanese police work in a very different environment with a different set of tools and expectations than, say, American cops. While an American police officer using their gun is uncommon, it’s even more rare with Japanese police.

Using a gun in Japan, even if you’re a police officer, carries with it incredible consequences (the paperwork is the real killer), so it’s no surprise that the police have a wide arsenal of less lethal methods of subduing criminals.

In that arsenal is a martial art known as 逮捕術, or taiho-jutsu, which literally translates into “arrest technique.” It’s used by police, Imperial guard, the Japanese Self-Defense Force, Kamen Riders, Sailor Scouts, and pretty much every law enforcement and military agency in Japan.

May or may not use taiho jutsu

Japanese law enforcement has used martial arts for a long, long time, but the modern taiho jutsu didn’t start to take shape until after WWII, around 1947. Post-war Japan was more or less entirely ruled by the occupying United States forces, which placed some restrictions on the way that Japanese police operated, including limiting their use of physical force and traditional martial arts.

At first, this caused problems; the country was in ruins and unrest, and limiting police meant that they had a hard time keeping order.

Fortunately, Japanese police officers turned lemons into lemonade and took the opportunity to basically build a new martial art from scratch.

Fact: all criminals wear hockey masks

If you know about Krav Maga, the martial art developed by Israeli police and military, then you have a pretty good idea of what taiho jutsu is all about. Both were developed for military and law enforcement, and both are built out of other martial arts.

Taiho jutsu, unlike Krav Maga, had the benefit of being created in a place with a strong martial arts tradition. When the Tokyo police bureau was in the process of creating taiho jutsu, it gathered masters from lots of different martial arts including judo and kendo, along with experts in armed combat too.

The martial art that was created in the postwar era was existed ever since, with minor revisions along the way. It incorporates lots of ways of disarming people with hand-to-hand combat, in addition to using police batons and, heaven forbid, guns.

When Japanese police aren’t laying down the law against would-be criminals, they practice and show off their skills in exhibition matches between officers. Not only is it nice to work out aggression against co-workers in a sancation environment, but these exhibitions have the added bonus of providing officers with the incentive to train harder to beat their peers.

Of course, taiho jutsu looks a lot different on the street than it does in an exhibition where all participants are wearing protective gear and have the same training, but these sorts of exhibition matches are still impressive. You get to see it all in action without knocking over a Family Mart.

Not all police officers learn exactly the same thing; some parts of the country emphasize particular styles, whether it’s judo, kendo, or aikido. But one thing’s for sure: if you decide to break the law (like dancing past a certain time of night), you might learn pretty quickly what kind of martial arts your arresting officer knows.

Bonus Animated GIFs/Wallpapers

Here are some animated GIFs and desktop backgrounds for your enjoyment courtesy of our talented artist Aya.

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

Animated GIF (700×438)
Animated GIF (1280×800)

While many of you non-American countries will scoff at the idea of it being difficult to procure alcohol underage, Americans will know how difficult it is to get away with this sort of thing. Many American stores and restaurants have a “if they look under 35, card them” policy. Still others have a “always card, no matter how old they look” rule. Cigarettes are the same thing. Although I’d say it’s arguably easier to get them here in America even if you’re not 18, it’s still quite difficult in most of the country.

For both alcohol and cigarettes, Japan is quite the opposite. Let’s find out why this is and learn more about all the little kids running around drunk in the land of the rising sun.

Being Of Legal Age

Now that we’re 20 we can drink and smoke, lol!

Ironically in 1900, Japan was the very first country to create a law that banned underage smoking. It’s kind of like those “ridiculous laws” articles that you see from time to time. For example, in Louisiana “Fake” wrestling matches are prohibited. Or, how in Washington the harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. The underage drinking and smoking laws in Japan are just like that. Laws that nobody upholds, and laws that nobody cares about.

But, let’s just pretend that people care for a moment. The minimum drinking and smoking age is 20 years old, the age when people are considered to be “adults” in Japan. There are laws against consuming, selling, or giving cigarettes or alcohol to minors, but nobody listens. In 1996, the average number of cases brought to prosecutors for underage smoking, for example, was five. Of course, none of the accused were punished in any way. Underage drinking just isn’t considered a big deal, though God forbid you give someone else a ride on your bicycle (that’s a 20,000 yen fine I’ve seen given to several unfortunate people).

Drinking Underage In Japan

The kind of thing I would have liked had I been drinking in high school

The Japanese underage drinking law came into affect in 1922. It has been ignored ever since. Most nations decreased their alcohol consumption since WWII. Japan has managed to increase it. Alcohol on a whole is pretty big in Japan. With children it’s increasing as well.

Here is a summary of results on a survey translated by the authors of “Young People’s Drinking Behavior in Japan” (see sources below).

1. Despite the law prohibiting underage drinking, around 50% of junior high school and 70% of senior high school students reported some experience with alcohol.
2. As in other countries, instances of alcohol consumption, regular drinking, and alcohol-related problems show a constant and dramatic increase with age.
3. Differences are not too wide for drinking patterns of boys and girls. However, boys still exhibit more drinking problems such as fighting, vomiting, hangover, and blackouts.
4. The major source of beverage alcohol for junior and senior high school students was their own homes, followed by convenience stores. Percentage of students obtaining alcohol from vending machines decreased in both junior and senior high school students, as fewer vending machines selling alcohol became available.
5. The choice of alcohol beverage appeared to be gender-linked. Male students preferred beer, while female respondents preferred sweet or fruit-flavored cocktails.
6. Drinking behavior did not change dramatically between 1996 and 2000. It was noted however, that, while overall alcohol consumption appeared to decrease, drinking problems in female students increased during this period.

This wasn’t just one year of surveys, though. They ran follow-ups over the course of five years. By the fifth year, 70% of students were still filling out the survey. Here’s the summaries they came up with regarding the five-year span.

1. Drinking behavior changes dramatically during junior and senior high school years.
2. Over the 5-year period, the percentage of young people consuming alcohol doubled. Drinking in the family tended to be replaced by drinking with friends.
3. The prevalence of alcohol-related problems increased sharply since students were first surveyed in 1997. For example, the percentage of problem drinkers, identified according to the Japanese version of the Quantity-Frequency Scale (Suzuki et al., 1994), increased more than 100 times over the 5-year period, as students progressed from junior to senior high school.
4. Risk factors found to be associated with drinking problems were: earlier age of the first drink, susceptibility to peer pressure, and lack of communication with parents.

There are a few big-picture points we can glean from this. First, there are junior high school students drinking, which boggles my mind. Second, a lot of girls are drinking. Third, a lot of high school students are drinking, which is less surprising, but there’s still quite a bit of this going on.

So Why Are The Kids Drinking?

So we have to ask ourselves, why are all these underage kids drinking? I think there are several reasons, though please note that a lot of this is just my opinion and experience talking.

1. People Will Sell You Alcohol: Shopkeepers will sell to underage kids most of the time. The closest thing to carding I’ve ever seen was a screen that shows up in convenience stores that asks “are you 20 or older?” then has a “yes” button but no “no” button.
2. Vending Machines Vend Alcohol: Although alcohol vending machines are decreasing in numbers, there are still quite a few out there. You can easily buy alcohol from vending machines, and of course they don’t card you. If getting alcohol is this easy, then why wouldn’t kids buy from them? As one great beer mogul once said, “if you build it, they will come.”
3. The Taste Of Japanese Alcohol: Japanese alcohol is easy to drink. Even for kids. There is chu-hai, which mostly tastes like carbonated lemon soda, and if I was a kid I would have loved it (it was developed to be more “womanly” after all). Then there’s the regular beer as well. Asahi Super Dry, Japan’s most popular beer, which is also a lot like drinking a lightly beer flavored soda. After that there’s sake, which unlike sake outside of Japan, actually tastes really good (and is super smooth). Pretty much every Japanese alcoholic beverage is really easy to drink, and this makes it easier for the kids too. I didn’t like the taste of alcohol until my early to mid twenties. If I had been given basically any Japanese alcohol, I may have had a different opinion on the matter.

I can also confirm a lot of the summaries put forth above as well. Despite going to one of the best high schools in the Nagoya area, at least one third of my friends would drink on a somewhat regular basis. I didn’t see it much (unless we were at karaoke), but they were open about their habits. I had one friend who would have a beer every night “to help him to fall asleep.” I suspect he was just getting ready for salaryman life.

Smoking Underage In Japan

Unlike alcohol, I’ve seen firsthand the decrease in consumption across the board. Smoking in Japan is becoming slightly more taboo every year that goes by, and now they’re being corralled into smoking pens. Restaurants even have non-smoking sections or no-smoking rules, which feels unheard of considering how things were ten years ago.

Still, underage smoking is still prevalent, as Japan still is a very smoking culture. In 1999, 19% of 15-20 year old men and 4.3% of 15-20 year old women identified themselves as smokers. 42% of male smokers and 35% of female smokers reported going habitual before 20, the legal age limit. While a lot of time has passed between then and now, I imagine the numbers are fairly similar but slightly better (just guessing based on my own experience).

To back up these numbers, I have a similar experience (though a very small data-set) from high school times in Japan. Amongst my core group of six friends at the time, two of them smoked, though never at school. It wouldn’t be a lot (maybe one or two packs a week), but definitely enough to call them smokers. Of course, both of them are heavy smokers today, well into their twenties.

Just like alcohol, smoking is really easy in Japan. Tobacco Vending machines are much more prevalent compared to alcohol vending machines. If you don’t have a convenient vending machine, shopkeepers and convenience stores will sell pretty much anyone cigarettes. If you want them you can have them, and with the number of people who smoke still, there just isn’t that pressure not to smoke, so kids get started early.

But Is It Right?

That, I’m not so sure about. It’s easy to do in Japan, but I can’t really say what’s right or wrong (that’s up to you in the comments). Kids aren’t driving anywhere, because while it’s easy to get a beer when you’re 15 it’s impossible to get a driver’s license. So, nobody’s going to hurt anyone that way. Also, Japan is a lot safer than most places too. You can get drunk and fall asleep in front of a train station like this guy, and you don’t have to worry about your bag getting stolen.

Then, there is the whole “getting prepared for business life thing.” While I feel like it’s a dumb excuse (those salarymen drink way too much), there is some truth in this statement. Friends would tell me this in regards to their drinking, because if you’re not prepared both mentally and physically for the brutal nomikais that await you, you’re going to have a hard time.

But drinking can also help people to relax. With the intensity that is the Japanese school system, it’s (almost) hard to blame anyone who wants a way to calm down and relax for once. Alcohol is a way that people do that, and while it’s a bad excuse, I almost want to compare teenage drinking in Japan to teenage (pot) smoking in America. Marijuana in Japan is very hard to get (and the punishment is steep). Both aren’t right, technically, though many would argue otherwise, I think. Alcohol, compared to marijuana, is very easy to get, and there’s no punishment for breaking the alcohol law, just like marijuana and kids in America. When a kids wants to let go and escape testing hell for a few hours, this is how they’re going to do it (this and karaoke).

I’m not going to come out and say what’s right and wrong, because I really don’t know, but these are my observations. While I never partook in these activities myself in Japanese high school, I had plenty of opportunities. I guess my upbringing in America taught me that drugs are bad and I should always refuse, or something like that. If I was given a 5yen coin for the number of times I was offered alcohol at home / a matsuri / a restaurant… well, I could buy a lot of beer, though not as much as I would have got if I had accepted every alcohol-related offer. It’s easy to get alcohol and cigarettes in Japan and sometimes hareder to say no. Japan is a very group oriented culture, and alcohol (more than cigarettes) is one way to become closer with said groups. Alcohol opens you up and allows you to express your feelings, something that doesn’t come up very often in Japanese society (at least when alcohol isn’t involved). With the ease of getting alcohol and tobacco in Japan, as well as the lack of harder drugs, it’s no wonder there are so many cases of underage drinking and smoking.

Now it’s your turn. Is this right? Is it wrong? Let me know what you think.

Download a desktop-sized version of the header image!

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Update: Turns out, a lot of tobacco machines require an ID to show you’re of age. Times are-a-changing it seems. That being said, buying cigarettes from a person and not a vending machine seems quite easy, much like alcohol. So, while it’s more difficult than I thought to get cigarettes when you’re below 20 years old, it’s still fairly easy to get cigarettes. Apologies for the incorrect information, though the message is still pretty much the same, I think. Also, thank you for those of you who let me know in the comments, I need to get into smoking so I know these things!

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Sources

Japan: Streets Unsafe as Machines Prey on Children, by Mark A. Levin
Tobacco Control , Vol. 9, No. 2 (Jun., 2000), pp. 132-133

Young People’s Drinking Behavior in Japan, by Susumu Higuchi, Kenji Suzuki, Sachio Matsushita, and Yoneatsu Osaki.

When the Tofugu team was in Japan earlier this year, Japan’s safety measures (or lack thereof) astounded me. In the US, everything has to have a label and a warning, otherwise people will get hurt and sue the hell out of each other.

But that’s not the case in Japan. For whatever reason, Japanese culture isn’t as litigious as US culture. It means that Japanese people can get away with things that would be seen as grounds for a lawsuit in the US. Spigots with boiling hot water in kaitenzushi restaurants, sometimes-dangerous walkways, and—what struck me the most—train stations.

Many train platforms in Japan are open-air, meaning that trains whizz by, sometimes at high speeds, without any real barrier between people waiting on the platform and certain danger. I damn near jumped outta my skin the first time I heard a bullet train speed through a station.

Make no mistake, Japanese trains are remarkably safe. Considering how many people in Japan commute and travel by train every single day, the number of injuries and fatalities is extremely low. And the technology to keep people safe and comfortable in trains is evolving every year.

However, there are still problems. While we were in Japan we never saw anybody get hit by a train or fall onto the tracks or anything like that, but people in Japan are still killed and injured by trains all the time.

Safety Measures

Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and one way people end their lives is death by train. It happens all the time around the entire country. We even indirectly dealt with the issue while we were there: one of our trains in Tokyo was delayed by a suicide.

There are some mechanisms in place to deal with this at train stations: some have buttons you can press if somebody falls onto the tracks to alert the trains to stop, but most stations leave you pretty helpless.

Fortunately, the Japanese are working on keeping people safe on train tracks. Some cities have begun to add doors to train stops that open once the train arrives, and researchers are even working on station barriers that adjust to different train models.

Fixing the Root Cause

Of course, there are plenty of efforts to tackle the suicide problem to make sure that these barriers aren’t even needed in the first place.

Because Japan’s suicide rate has been extremely high for some 20+ years, people in the government and all over the country have taken efforts to solve this complex problem.

Of course, there’s no one solution to suicide just as there’s no one cause; the Japanese have funneled money into numerous programs including suicide hotlines, counseling, treatment, and public awareness campaigns to change cultural attitudes towards suicide.

Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to go before Japan’s suicide problem is anywhere close to fixed. But until this epidemic is stymied, a train remains a dangerous thing.

Bonus: Our illustrator extraordinaire Aya put together an animated gif of the illustration from today’s header, enjoy!

Summer is fast approaching! Warm weather, cool drinks, and what else? Shorts? No! Well, at least not if you’re a sophisticated and respectable fellow out and about in Japan. Shorts over there just aren’t viewed the same way they are here in America. If you live in Europe or some other fashionable place, the rules might be different, but for an American visiting Japan, the view on shorts can seem a bit strange.

Why Men Can’t Wear Shorts in Japan

In Japan, shorts are not really viewed as cultured or sophisticated wear for adult males. Unless you’re at the beach or lounging around the house or pool, people might be a bit surprised to see you sporting an excessive amount of calf.

On the whole, Japan is viewed as a pretty fashionable place, especially the high brow city areas and shopping districts. You might be able to get away with wearing shorts out in the country, but around the cities and classy areas, pretty much every respectable dude is going to be wearing pants. If you wear shorts in these areas, you might get noticed for it.

It’s not like anyone is going to call you out on it though. But if you want to “blend in” and not draw any more attention to yourself than you normally would for being a foreigner (if you are one) then wearing pants would be the way to go.

When it’s Okay to Wear Shorts

However, if you’re a woman, very young, or very old, then the no-shorts “rule” doesn’t really apply to you. Kids and old people can basically get away with anything, but that’s a pretty universal rule I feel. Women can wear shorts whenever they like, but it is a bit unusual for girls to show too much skin. That’s not to say their shorts aren’t short, they just tend to wear tights underneath them. Whenever I saw a girl with a whole lot of bare leg showing, it was definitely out of the ordinary.

I think this might be changing though. As I’m not over there currently, it’s a bit hard for me to tell, but I feel like fashion is moving towards bare leg showing being more of an okay thing for girls. Maybe someone living over there currently can help me out with this in the comments. It might also depend on the area of Japan as well.

And the shorts that young men do wear tend to be of the longer variety. It’s also not unusual for men to cuff their pants up into manpris, but this seems to be more acceptable than traditional shorts. Japanese fashion is always changing, so some of this can be a bit hard to keep up with.

Also, it’s okay for adult males to wear shorts around the house, at leisure time, or at the pool or beach. That makes sense. And like I said before, it’s not like anyone outside your friends and family is going to bug you about wearing shorts out and about in the world, but they’ll definitely notice. Unless you’re going to a place with a dress code, the most you’ll get is a confused look. And then they’ll notice you’re a foreigner and go, “Ohhh, I see.”

It’s Okay, You’re a Foreigner

From my personal experience, nobody really expects much from you when you’re a foreigner in Japan, especially if you’re a tourist. They’re always really surprised when you know how to speak Japanese, sit in seiza, use chopsticks, and all those other things that don’t really seem like a big deal to us students of Japan. Therefore, if you’re a foreigner in Japan wearing shorts everywhere you go, the Japanese will just brush it off because you’re a gaijin and you don’t know any better.

Now I’m not trying to say that you need to conform to every Japanese societal custom and everything when you’re over there, I’m just trying to inform you on what sort of fashion differences you might encounter. If you want to wear shorts over there, go right ahead! But if someone acts funny around you when you wear shorts out to Ginza for shopping or you get an odd look from a granny on the train home or something, now you’ll know why.

And all this is just my personal experience and observations. When I went over there in the spring, it got pretty warm, especially when we were all walking around so much. I wore pants every day, and a lot of my male American friends wore shorts. Nobody gave them any crap for it, but I did get told a lot that I was “very Japanese” with how I dressed.

That being said, I’m interested in what you guys have to say. Do you have any experience with the shorts/no-shorts issue in Japan? Did your experiences differ from my own? Share your stories down in the comments!

At one point in our recent trip collecting film for TofuguTV, we went up to Yoichi, Hokkaido to visit the Nikka Whiskey Brewery. In our naivety, we bought whiskey thinking we could send it back. We quickly found out that this would be very hard. Various shipping companies as well as the first post office we went to said we couldn’t ship it. I say first post office because we decided to try again at another post office. The first one seemed to have some things that said you could send it and some things that said you couldn’t (they ultimately decided that you couldn’t send it, though).

The guy standing in the window assured me that we could send the whiskey in the post

We didn’t want to lug these heavy bottles of liquid around and nor did we want to drink them all. This was some pretty expensive stuff, after all! Going to a second post office in the Kansai area (we figured they’d be the most likely to bend the wishy washy rules) we finally found success. Someone can ship our whiskey to the US! Or… so we thought.

I think you can guess what happens here. It didn’t ship. A couple days later I got a phone call from the post office. It was the same lady who helped us ship things. After apologizing profusely, she said they couldn’t ship it and they were so sorry for the mistake. She then said she’d try to look into other shipping methods for us to see if she could find an alternative and then offered to ship if it she found one, using a rival shipping service (to the Japanese post office). I agreed, of course, and she said she’d call the next day at 9am.

Lo and behold, right at 9am I get a call from the same lady again. She apologizes a lot more and then says she isn’t able to ship it. I suggest she send it to my hotel, though perhaps it would be good to wait until I’m in Tokyo so that way I can just check it in easily onto the plane. I had to figure out where said hotel will be first, though. “Okay! I’ll call back tomorrow at 9am,” she says. “Also, I’m so sorry for all the trouble” ← this times 30.

Next day, I get a call at 9am. This time I have the hotel address and name. I tell it to her, and she asks how I want my refund. Now, color me pink, but I didn’t really expect a refund for some reason. I guess I also didn’t expect to ever hear back from anyone at all if it couldn’t ship. It’s an international telephone number for them, after all. She did have to take out 800 yen (around $8) for shipping it to Tokyo, but that was nothing compared to the $100 or so we paid to get it to America.

So awesome, we get a refund too. Also, she’s still super apologetic.

Then, on the day I arrive to my hotel, she calls again, just to get the room number just in case. Wouldn’t want there to be another problem, right? I let her know my room number and she sends it out in overnight mail. I don’t think we got charged for overnight mail, nor did we need it get it overnight, but it was nice. Maybe that’s where Zappos got the idea from.

But, it doesn’t end there. Inside our box is a handwritten note, once again expressing how sorry she was. On top of that is a tenugui (how did she know that I lovvve tenugui?) as well as some udon and a Kumamon sticker.

Did I mention that I love tenugui more than just about anything? I was pretty blown away with this. Sure, in my opinion doing all this and coordinating with me on the phone was already above the call of duty. But, a handwritten apology note, plus presents (probably came from her own home and moneys), plus a Kumamon sticker… that’s customer service at its finest.

Japanese Customer Service

In general, I do think Japanese customer service is pretty incredible, though. Going beyond the call of duty is something that seems to happen quite often. There have been multiple occasions where a server from a restaurant will chase me down even when I’m a block or two away to give me something I’ve forgotten. Or, if I ask someone at an information booth / shop for directions, I’ll often get walked there. I remember one time when someone probably walked me a good 5-7 minutes, which seems to be overdoing it a bit. There have been so many other similar instances like this as well. The level of customer service in Japan is very high quite consistently.

Then you compare it to America. While there’s great customer service here, it’s hardly standard. In a very similar comparison, I ordered some beer from Rogue Brewery to get it shipped to Japan as a present for someone. The beer never arrives. Then, around a month after I ordered it, I get an email saying that “they can’t send it because the characters for the address are in Japanese.” First of all, I don’t know why I didn’t get this email a couple days after I made my (very expensive) order. Second, I haven’t heard back after responding saying I don’t need it shipped anymore but would like it to be refunded. The difference is night and day.

Also, coming back (literally just an hour ago, we’re sitting in LAX waiting for our connecting flight now), the first thing we noticed was how grumpy all the workers were. This is probably just because we’ve been in Japan for over a month, so the difference feels a bit shocking.

But, I wanted to thank the Japanese post. You guys are awesome. Even though they made a mistake they made it more than right, and I wish more people were like them.

While I definitely miss plenty of weird things about Japan, there are things I do not miss as well. While everyone has differing tastes, these are the things that I personally don’t really miss (and wish I could have while in Japan). America, you got these things right. Japan, you should takes some notes.

1. The “Bacon”

Bacon in Japan (and a lot of the world) is completely wrong. Bacon should be the most amazing thing you’ve ever eaten, and in Japan it is just another meat. It shouldn’t be slimy, floppy, or tasteless. It should feel like you will get a heart attack if you eat too much and should be everyone’s favorite food. If someone opened a (real) bacon restaurant or food stand, I think it would do pretty well. I can’t wait to get back to the land of bacon and have myself some of that magic food that keeps me from being a vegetarian.

2. Elevators aka “Murdervators”

Elevators in America are docile. You hit the close button and they don’t close. You wait and they don’t close. Then, they close very timidly. If the slightest breeze goes by, they open back up again for fear that someone will sue them and their masters. Although there are more laid back elevators in Japan, many of them are ruthless killers. The close door button works even when you’re not hitting it. I can’t even count the amount of times I felt my life was in danger from an elevator. They close fast and hard. So, don’t try to run into an elevator that’s closing if you’re not sure you’ll make it. It could grab you and drag you up into the ceiling cutting your leg off… and that’s only if it’s feeling nice that day.

3. Tiny Cups Of Water

Since beer equals water in Japan (both in taste and how much it’s consumed), water gets the boot. Water almost always comes in these tiny nearly shot-glass sized glasses, meaning that if you’re someone who likes to drink their water, you’re going to have a hard time. If you’re lucky, there’s a self serve water option. If you’re unlucky you’ll just be stuck with a lot less water than you’d normally want (or you have to keep asking).

4. The Last Train

For a country with cities as big and bustling as Tokyo, you’d think the trains would run later. For the most part, the last train is around midnight. Miss that train and you’ll have to walk, take a cab home, or stay in a capsule hotel / manga café. I guess it’s a good way to make sure people get home early. Or, perhaps it’s just not sustainable to run trains at night. Whatever the reason, it’s still pretty early if you ask me. Couldn’t the last train just be an hour or two later, please?

5. Cigarette Smoke

While smoking has taken a big curb in Japan the last couple years, there’s still a lot of indoor, poorly ventilated areas where people smoke. While I also feel sorry for smokers who have to go inside smoking boxes to smoke (that can’t be very good for anyone, right?), it would be nice to not have to deal with it in many restaurants and izakaya. That being said, the thing that really bothers me is the smell of my clothes afterwards, so I guess I can deal for the most part when I have access to a washing machine.

6. Heaters Being Too Hot

Rooms are too hot in Japan. It’s either sweltering or it’s freezing. No in-between. While you get used to it after a while, it can still be obnoxious. People up north in Japan wear too little clothes. People in the south where it’s warmer wear way too much. I’m just used to middle-of-the-road Pacific Northwest weather, so I suppose it’s really my fault, but it’s my list so I can complain about whatever I want :p

7. Lack Of Free Wifi

I’ve talked about this before. Free wifi is hard to come by in Japan. When you’re used to free wifi at just about every place you go in America, it can be painful to go to a place where free wifi is about as common as the dodo bird. I guess while places in America encourage you to stick around with free wifi if Japanese places did it they may have the opposite problem. People would stay forever and live in your coffee shop. This is why manga internet cafés exist.

8. Squat Toilets

I used to like them. They’re healthier for you, after all, right? Anyways, as I’ve gotten older and weaker, I’ve gravitated towards Japanese sit-down toilets from the year 2055. Why squat when you can have a warmed seat, water to clean your butt, and a bunch of buttons? So, when I run into a place that only has squat toilets (they’re usually dark, smelly, and freezing cold, too… coincidence?) I’m disappointed. It’s not that I can’t use them, that’s not my complaint. It’s just that they aren’t the luxury my butt deserves.

9. The Lack Of Spicy

Spicy things are too sweet. Sweet things are not sweet enough (actually, they’re just right). As a kid this was great, but as an adult who has his tastebuds burned away by time and actually spicy things, the lack of spicy stuff (in general) makes “spicy” things disappointing. It’s not that I don’t like things that aren’t spicy, it’s that when I order something that says it’s “spicy” it should be spicy, you know? Japan loves its “sweetish” umami taste.

Bonus: AKB48

As Tofugu’s greatest enemy and rival, AKB48 is obviously something we do not miss. One day, we will strike down AKB48 with our Fugu fist. Until that day, we will not miss them. You guys comment about them too much in our comments threads for us to miss them, anyways.

What Do You Not Miss About Japan?

Anything you don’t miss about Japan? Something you wish you had / didn’t have while you’re in Japan? Obviously all of you will say bacon whether you’re vegetarian or not, so something besides that, please. Share them in the comments! I’m curious about different countries from America as well. Like, if you’re from New Zealand do you miss the Topp Twins and Lord of The Rings?