Things I Love About Japan

So for the last 2 years or so I’ve been learning Japanese and also visited Japan. Let me describe some of the things I love about Japan.

1.)    Cherry Blossom (桜) – I just love this Kanji symbol, mostly because I don’t get to use it much in Mandarin Chinese, and it’s a perfect mix of tree, woman, and beauty. Would love to go to Japan during the Cherry Blossom Festival in the spring.

2.)    High-tech toilets – I didn’t actually see many of these when I went to Japan, but from the way they’re described toilets are very comfortable with lots of functions. There is something called a 音姫, Otohime, which makes a water sound to cover up sounds in the restroom. I think this is a great idea, especially in my workplace where there are at least 50 people of the same gender using the same restroom, it’s nice to have when you’re sharing the facilities with someone.

3.)    The fact that in the summer, Japanese people tell each other scary stories to cool each other down (you get scared frozen and get chills, I guess). Great idea especially if there’s no air conditioning. There’s even a myth of a 百物語怪談会, Hyakumono Gatari, or one Hundred scary Stories, where if you tell 100 scary stories in one night and shut off all the lights, a real monster arrives.

4.)    千羽鶴 = 1000 cranes, the myth that if you fold 1000 origami cranes, it will help someone who is sick, or eternal good luck, or whatever. Never tried it, but sounds pretty cool and is just one of those that shows Japanese dedication to tasks.

5.)    Certain greetings Japanese have are very interesting, like when one leaves for the day, they say, “I am off!” and the person they’re saying to says “happy voyages!” or something to that effect. It’s a good way to start the tone of a relationship. It’s also pretty cool they say “Itadakimasu!” right before eating to acknowledge receiving the food, similar to a quick prayer for some religious folks in America. Don’t just wolf down your food, appreciate what you have.

6.)    It’s a highly baseball culture, and there are some very talented Japanese players that come from Japan. Baseball is probably the number 1 sport in Japan, next to sumo and soccer. They have something called a “Roosevelt game” that ends 8-7 in walkoff fashion. I would say that would be a very exciting game, and I don’t know if that’s even happened in the big leagues yet.

7.)    On the trains, they tell you before you get off whether there’s rain and not to forget your umbrella before leaving. I ALWAYS forget stuff when I leave somewhere, and in fact when I visited Japan I forgot my umbrella somewhere. If only I understood Japanese back then!

8.)    I don’t like, but I’ve noticed that a lot of Japanese commit suicide, an almost dizzying proportion. I read an article recently about the top 10 historical novelists, and half of them committed suicide! It’s also often depicted in movies and such that I’ve seen, a lot of suicide by strangulation. I think it’s the honor that Japanese have, but I do appreciate that Japanese shows have strong “don’t commit suicide” messages in their programming now. I couldn’t even imagine ending my own life and I hope others can work through whatever problems they’re going through.

9.)    Pachinko- what is that? And why do so many Japanese people play it? It seems like a weird slots gambling game……why so popular?

10.) Japanese hairstyles- kind of a trendsetter in the long hair department for men, a lot of men have courageously long hairstyles that work for them. I have been inspired to adopt some sort of hairstyle like that while I still have hair.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan