Living In Japan As a Foreigner

[Gaijingai 1,597]

I put the whole article here instead of the link because the pictures are not, shall we say, family-friendly. 

Questions about Foreigners in Japan. What’s it like to live in Japan as a foreigner?

Although we view Japan through special lenses because of our love of anime other things Japanese, of course Japan is just a country like any other, with its own problems and challenges. That said, Japan is a pleasant place to live where you always feel safe. I feel the general hardworking nature of Japanese people influenced me early on and helped me become successful with J-List.

 

Assassination Classroom

Do foreigners have a bad reputation in Japan?

I would say definitely not, although there are some exceptions. First of all, the word 外国人 gaikoku-jin (“foreign-country-person”) is usually reserved for non-Asians who are clearly visually different from Japanese. Chinese, Koreans etc. would more likely be referred to with specific labels to their countries, e.g. chugoku-jin, kankoku-jin.

If you’re a visitor to Japan, you’re an okyaku-san or a guest, and every Japanese person is happy to have you take an interest in their country, and of course help out the local economy.

The only foreigners with bad reputations are specific groups that are not following society’s norms, such as when mainland Chinese would visit Japan in large numbers and do things like cut in line or climb sakura trees to cut off cherry blossoms to take home. And even then, most Japanese would generally gaman (stoically endure) these unpleasant situations, leaving less polite people like me to call out the offending foreigners as doing something that’s inappropriate.

(Another group with a deserved bad reputation were members of Iranian gangs making counterfeit telephone cards and selling them back in the 1990s.)

 

Kinmoza

Can a foreigner overcome his “gaijin” status if he lives long enough in Japan?

No, and why would you want to? Foreigners in Japan have the best of both worlds in Japan: you’re kakko-ii (cool) by default, can have interesting conversations with many people, and are not expected to follow every social rule that Japanese would be required to follow. In Tokyo I regularly drink with many foreigners, fun Italian magazine publishers and hardworking Russian programmers, and each of us has found a balance between being foreign but adapting Japanese language and social rules.

 

Bubblegum Crisis

Why is Japan so safe?

Japan is famous as being a country where if you drop your wallet, you’ll almost certainly get it returned to you, even if you lose it in the middle of Shibuya’s rowdy Halloween celebration. I had a friend lose his wallet three times in three different parts of Japan, and it was found and turned in to the police all three times, with all cash intact.

All humans live in societies that put pressure on us to behave in line with social norms. We sometimes think of this “peer pressure” as a bad thing, and yet it’s part of every human interaction. In Japan it’s atari-mae — taken for granted — that people should behave in an honest and upstanding manner, and this is a good thing for Japan.

I remember once, soon after getting here, I happened by a vending machine that had been left open by its elderly owner. Back in America, I might have been tempted to help myself to some free drinks, but after living in Japan, I couldn’t conceive of such a thing, and instead found the owner and told him his vending machine was open.

 

Kaguya-sama: Love is War

What is socially acceptable in Japan but would not be okay in the U.S.?

Lots of things. Slurping noodles while you eat, or picking up your ramen bowl to drink out of it. Casually commenting, “Haven’t you put on weight since the last time I saw you?” The Japanese also love to read over a person’s shoulder, especially at the funny American keeping a journal in Japanese, which would be considered terribly rude back where I come from.

 

Saint Young Men

Questions about Foreigners: What is an “only in Japan” moment you’ve experienced?

Japan is a country known for its yakuza gangsters, who operate various illegal enterprises but are generally polite guys. Soon after arriving in Japan I learned that there are places called “saunas” which are 24-hour public baths with saunas built into them, which you can sleep at, sleeping in reclining chairs provided for this purpose. An alternate to other cheap accommodations like capsule hotels, you can stay for $15-30 even in the heart of a city. I started traveling around Japan and staying in these establishments, saving money and having some interesting experiences along the way.

Then I decided to visit Kyoto and stay in one of these 24-hour saunas, where I learned that Kyoto is basically Yakuza Central. I spent an uneasy night surrounded by the scariest gangsters you can imagine…and yet they were all very polite.

 

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

What are some bad things about Japan?

Lots of things. Bad work/life balance for most people. Extremely muggy summers. Over-urbanization. Earthquakes. Silly right-wingers driving around in their speaker trucks, which everyone just ignores.

The Japanese have some weird hang-ups they need to get over, too, like their mistrust of people with tattoos. This culturally stems from the yakuza, above, but has become positively bizarre. If you’ve got tattoos, you might not be able to visit a gym or public bath (though there are a lot of baths that have no problem with them — here’s a list), or you might be asked to cover your tats up. Back when the Olympics were a thing, Japan debated making a temporary law allowing tattoos everywhere, because of all the tattooed foreign athletes who would be visiting the country and who clearly are not yakuza gangsters society needed protection from.

 

What culture shock have you experienced in Japan?

I’ve lived in Japan so long, I only get culture shock when going back to the U.S. to be honest. Like ordering a drink at McDonald’s and getting a significantly larger cup than I expect.

 

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

Questions about Foreigners: What should not be done in Japan?

If you’re planning a visit to Japan as a tourist, the good news is that there are very few things you can do to cause offense, and you can relax and enjoy yourself while you’re here. For residents like me, the list of social rules I’m expected to pay attention to is longer.

Here’s a list of six things you should not do in Japan.

 

Grave Of The Fireflies

How did Japan manage to forge such close relations with the U.S. after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

This is one of the great questions when it comes to Japan. We dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese, yet they’re the most pro-American countries in the world. I believe this is precisely because the Allied victory over Japan was so decisive. That, and the infectious positive attitude Americans had during the Occupation, that Japan could rebuild and become a peaceful country that was a benefit to the world.

As an American living in Japan, I’ve had a few discussions about the war with Japanese people, usually hearing things like “losing the war was the best thing that could have happened to Japan,” and women of my mother-in-law’s generation are extremely thankful to Douglas MacArthur for “saving Japan from itself.” Only once did I get any shade, when a drunk farmer in Toyama Prefecture asked me, “Why did big American beat up on tiny Japan?” His family immediately interjected, telling him to shut up because Japan was at fault for the war.

 

Clannad After Story

How will Japan manage its declining population problem?

In my long post about understanding Japan’s birth rate challenges through anime memes, I discuss how all developed countries have falling birthrates, and how Japan’s real challenge is how to manage its society and allow in more foreign workers in a way that’s successful for all parties. There’s really nothing that can be done about Japan’s population, which peaked in 2008 at 128 million and is now falling, as deaths outstrip births.

 

Lucky Star

Thanks for reading this post with questions about foreigners and Japan from Quora! Got any other Japan questions you’d like us to write about? Ask us below, or on Twitter!

 

[Gospodin 219]

Dear #Gaijingai, I have got a question here, regarding foreigners and, well, mishaps. About ten years ago, I worked for one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world. That company had a partnership with a large Japanese company that supplies active ingredients to my former company. My colleague and me were sent to Tokyo, tasked to audit one of their production facilities, as required by law. The social program they undertook with us was completely different from what I have ever have experienced before or after, ever. We were treated like royals.

However, on the first evening they took us out to one of the best restaurants in Tokyo, which had the best, and most original Japanese kitchen, as we were told. In short, to us, being from Austria, it tasted terrible to the extreme, but I managed to get through every course we were served. My colleague did not. She spilled back some into her bowl and apologized, and said she is just unfamiliar with that kind of food. Our hosts and the staff did not even blink. The rest of our stay, the professional part as well as the social, went very smooth. But to this day, I am asking myself what our hosts really thought about us after that incidident. I´d really appreciate your opinion about that.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Gospodin
spelling, clarification

[Asojima 2,874]

1 hour ago, Gospodin said:

But to this day, I am asking myself what our hosts really thought about us after that incidident. I´d really appreciate your opinion about that.

I suspect that your hosts had tried western style food at some time and found it almost as unappetizing as you found the Japanese food.  They probably felt a sense of embarrassment that they had not provided food to your liking.  For you, that was probably a positive thing.  They had fallen short in their effort to please their guest.  They would have to try harder in other things.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Asojima

[Gospodin 219]

I figured that was their immediate thought that they did fail, in some aspect. However, and that´s what I  don´t get out of my head, since to me such a situation was the ultimate embarassment to honor their efforts: did our fine hosts ultimately consider us "Barbarians", not able to grasp what`s really good food is about, and to deal appropiately with an awkward situation ?  Or is that just gai-jin fears ?

I can tell you, if the same would have happened in an upper class Viennese restaurant, at least the staff would be (clandestinely) laughing their ass off those stupid foreigners, unable to contain themselves, and not knowing anything about good food (btw I hate that hubris of my renowned, but ultimately-not-so-tourist-friendly-as it-seems home town).

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Gospodin
clarification

[Kaninoyama 1,818]

On 10/04/2021 at 04:30, Gospodin said:

Dear #Gaijingai, I have got a question here, regarding foreigners and, well, mishaps. About ten years ago, I worked for one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world. That company had a partnership with a large Japanese company that supplies active ingredients to my former company. My colleague and me were sent to Tokyo, tasked to audit one of their production facilities, as required by law. The social program they undertook with us was completely different from what I have ever have experienced before or after, ever. We were treated like royals.

However, on the first evening they took us out to one of the best restaurants in Tokyo, which had the best, and most original Japanese kitchen, as we were told. In short, to us, being from Austria, it tasted terrible to the extreme, but I managed to get through every course we were served. My colleague did not. She spilled back some into her bowl and apologized, and said she is just unfamiliar with that kind of food. Our hosts and the staff did not even blink. The rest of our stay, the professional part as well as the social, went very smooth. But to this day, I am asking myself what our hosts really thought about us after that incidident. I´d really appreciate your opinion about that.

The quality of food (all food, not just Japanese) in Tokyo and throughout Japan for that matter is so high that it's very difficult to imagine that food served at a restaurant regarded as one of the best in Tokyo could be anything approaching terrible. May I ask what restaurant this was? 

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,276]

2 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

The quality of food (all food, not just Japanese) in Tokyo and throughout Japan for that matter is so high that it's very difficult to imagine that food served at a restaurant regarded as one of the best in Tokyo could be anything approaching terrible. May I ask what restaurant this was? 

Not to team up, but I have to agree completely with Kaninoyama here. I try to structure my business trips in Japan so I can eat two dinners.

[Jakusotsu 6,049]

Even the finest food may cause nausea. Take uni or natto for example.

[Gospodin 219]

4 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

The quality of food (all food, not just Japanese) in Tokyo and throughout Japan for that matter is so high that it's very difficult to imagine that food served at a restaurant regarded as one of the best in Tokyo could be anything approaching terrible. May I ask what restaurant this was? 

2 hours ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

Not to team up, but I have to agree completely with Kaninoyama here. I try to structure my business trips in Japan so I can eat two dinners.

By no means do I question the quality. It was us being completely unfamiliar with traditional Japanese kitchen (washoku ?). 

A reverse example would be being treated to sour tripe or beef brain omelette. To locals both are rare, delicious specialities, but most foreigners have a hard time when they try it for the first time.

As for the restaurant, my apologies - I don´t speak Japanese and with our hosts literally managing everything for us, I have no idea about the name or location.

 

[Yamanashi 3,904]

This is not peculiar to Japanese foodways.  People who haven't been acclimated to different foods/flavors by the time they are adults often cannot enjoy them.  Perhaps that's why fast food and chain restaurants have to design "local versions" of their signature dishes when they open in a new country.

Personally, I enjoy lots of Japanese cuisine, and have even managed to politely cope with the Japanese enthusiasm for bitter herbs and vegetables.  However, while I can handle stocks based on miso or soy sauce, the classic dashi broth is a no-go for my digestion.  I don't think even a four-star restaurant would convince my system otherwise.

My wife has that genetic marker that makes cabbage taste like bitter poison.  I doubt that even the best chef could get her to enjoy classic German cabbage dishes (but I love them!)

I bring up these examples to suggest that maybe @Gospodin was describing this sort of reaction, and not besmirching the staff of this restaurant.

[Kaninoyama 1,818]

3 hours ago, Gospodin said:

By no means do I question the quality. It was us being completely unfamiliar with traditional Japanese kitchen (washoku ?). 

A reverse example would be being treated to sour tripe or beef brain omelette. To locals both are rare, delicious specialities, but most foreigners have a hard time when they try it for the first time.

As for the restaurant, my apologies - I don´t speak Japanese and with our hosts literally managing everything for us, I have no idea about the name or location.

 

Understood. And you are correct. There is nothing even the world's greatest chef could do to make sour tripe or beef brain omelets palatable to me. I guess I had snobbishly (as a foreigner in Japan well-accustomed to Japanese cuisine) assumed that everyone in the world appreciated Japanese food. Obviously that is not the case. 

Edited April 11, 2021 by Kaninoyama

[Highway 46]

On 22/07/2020 at 15:59, Gaijingai said:

 

What is socially acceptable in Japan but would not be okay in the U.S.?

Lots of things. Slurping noodles while you eat, or picking up your ramen bowl to drink out of it.

 

Lol, is that very true? Having lived most my life in western countries, I haven't encountered strict noodle eating etiquettes...unless you are doing something extremely over the top, no one is gonna notice or care how you eat your bowl of ramen. 

[Yamanashi 3,904]

2 hours ago, Highway said:

Lol, is that very true? Having lived most my life in western countries, I haven't encountered strict noodle eating etiquettes...unless you are doing something extremely over the top, no one is gonna notice or care how you eat your bowl of ramen. 

That's a touchy one, because many westerners are hip to ramen etiquette.  However, translate that to "slurping your spaghetti" or "picking up your onion soup bowl to drink out of it" and you have a faux pas.   (Many Americans drink tomato soup from a mug, dammit!)

[Asojima 2,874]

1 hour ago, Yamanashi said:

That's a touchy one, because many westerners are hip to ramen etiquette.  However, translate that to "slurping your spaghetti" or "picking up your onion soup bowl to drink out of it" and you have a faux pas.   (Many Americans drink tomato soup from a mug, dammit!)

My mother lived in Japan with us for a while. When going out to eat, she always carried a fork in her purse.   Before one meal, my kids picked her purse.  Panic time!!

Edited April 11, 2021 by Asojima

[Gaijingai 1,597]

On 11/04/2021 at 04:39, Kaninoyama said:

Understood. And you are correct. There is nothing even the world's greatest chef could do to make sour tripe or beef brain omelets palatable to me. I guess I had snobbishly (as a foreigner in Japan well-accustomed to Japanese cuisine) assumed that everyone in the world appreciated Japanese food. Obviously that is not the case. 

Well, as someone who has eaten duck brains, picks knuckles, and sea cucumber in China, pigs heart, pigs intestines, and roasted bumblebees in Taiwan, live black ants in Cambodia (I did turn down the dead red ones, though) wild locusts with honey, both from Israel, Horse steak in Mongolia (tough to chew), and reams of other foods I won't list here, I will say that I truly enjoy natto with breakfast when I am in Japan.

As for what would I say about the Austrian lady spitting (puking?) her food back into the bowl, it couldn't have been worse that President George H.W. Bush throwing up his sushi meal onto the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister in front of the world's press.

[Jakusotsu 6,049]

4 hours ago, Gaijingai said:

picks knuckles

picktures, please!

[Kintamayama 45,530]

5 hours ago, Gaijingai said:

wild locusts with honey, both from Israel,

Never heard of that, and I have some friends there..

[Yamanashi 3,904]

24 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

Never heard of that, and I have some friends there..

Look on the Chinese menu under "Baptist's Delight"

[Gaijingai 1,597]

On 13/04/2021 at 01:22, Jakusotsu said:

picktures, please!

I meant pig’s knuckles. Better? 

[Jakusotsu 6,049]

As long as it's not brass knuckles...