8 Unique Aspects of Japan You Likely Didn’t Know About
/Being different results in being mocked or insulted. What people fail to realize is being different is just another way of saying you’re unique. Coming up are eight things the Japanese culture has done for several years, and most people would raise a few questions, myself included.
Man Praying in front of a shrine
To start off, praying at shrines for the different religions all around Japan is fairly common knowledge, and if you didn’t know that, now you do. What you likely don’t know is that clapping is a part of praying at shrines.
When someone approaches a shrine, they follow a set order of actions before they begin to even pray. First, you bow, offer some small change, bow again twice this time, ring the bell to announce your presence to the gods, then clap twice all before praying. It’s such a roundabout way to pray, but it definitely has reasons for why this would all happen.
Uwabaki Slippers
I would say to take off your shoes as you enjoy the rest of this blog, but if this is being read by someone of Japanese background, I apologize. In Japanese culture, it is impolite to walk inside a house with shoes on. Rather, they have specially designed slippers called Uwabaki for people at the entrance of buildings.
I Hope you don’t mind being with others in baths when you go to the public bathhouses in Japan. It is not unusual for multiple people to be in the same bath. Of course, men and women are separated, but it still results in you and strangers or maybe even your neighbour bathing with you in one of these bathhouses. Some of these baths are natural hot springs, resulting in therapeutic qualities known as Onsen baths.
Arcade machines from Japan
Do you enjoy manga, a type of comic, and video games? If you visit Japan, you’ll feel right at home. Many Japanese people are very attached to manga and video games to the point you can’t avoid seeing them anywhere. Many manga stores exist, and you will likely find around ten people just flipping through the stories there. Nintendo and Sega being in Japan, it’s no wonder why many people are video game fanboys either.
Here's to hoping you don’t leave anything up to chance, otherwise you might have been arrested in Japan. Gambling is illegal in Japan and has actually resulted in a few lawsuits on companies from other parts of the world that allow the game to be played in Japan. This has caused companies to completely rework systems to disable gambling mechanics. But like anything illegal, people will still try to do it as abandoned shrines become game houses for betting on horse racing.
Whenever you go to eat at a Japanese restaurant, you might want to know this part. You’ll want to leave your chopsticks on the side. When people leave offerings for their deceased, it is natural that they leave a food bowl with chopsticks on top pointing out. Doing this in a restaurant may seem a little weird and some might find it offensive if you do it multiple times.
If you hate working, don’t plan to stay in Japan for long. It’s very normal for people to work 60-hour weeks. They would pack early in the morning to catch trains and would not return home until 10 pm. It becomes slightly worse when people are lead to karōshi – death by overworking.
Here’s hoping that you’ve learnt something about Japanese culture and if you plan to visit Japan now, I hope you’ll remember some of these things I have taught you.
Graham Curry - is a writer who’s aspiring to becoming a graphic novelist. Graham will prioritize writing about Japanese topics on the blog as he has plenty of knowledge of Japanese media and culture. In his spare time, Graham plays video games as a way to inspire his stories that he writes. These are not fan-fictions but completely different stories aimed in a similar universe.
