Even After X amount of years in Japan I'll never get used to____

[MikeH]

That often sent them into a state of vertigo.

That is the only sentence I actually prefer to say in English: "Ladies first". That seems somehow also easier for the ladies to comprehend and they usually relax after hearing it. Contrary to the normal where any English sentence would make them freeze.

 

[Lukes]

No clothes dryers

 

[impish]

2 other things (at least):
- the stupid amount of plastic they use for wrapping things
- the relative lack of trash bins in public spaces

The trash bin part has a lot in part to do with the crow infestation of the late 90s. When I came here in 1999 crows were EVERYWHERE in Tokyo, and public trash bins were also more readily available. Well they took away the trash bins and now there are fewer crows

 

[ichigopantsu]

The trash bin part has a lot in part to do with the crow infestation of the late 90s. When I came here in 1999 crows were EVERYWHERE in Tokyo, and public trash bins were also more readily available. Well they took away the trash bins and now there are fewer crows

The story I hear all the time is that it was tied to the Aum Shinkyo sarin gas attacks, and public trash bins basically disappeared realllly quickly after that incident.

Once you realize that every convenience store has a trash bin, it's not thaaaat bad any more since conbinis are everywhere especially in urban areas...

 

[impish]

The story I hear all the time is that it was tied to the Aum Shinkyo sarin gas attacks, and public trash bins basically disappeared realllly quickly after that incident.

Once you realize that every convenience store has a trash bin, it's not thaaaat bad any more since conbinis are everywhere especially in urban areas...

That may also be part of the reason. There were definitely more public trash bins when I was here in 1999, but they may have gotten rid of some/most after the Aum Shinkyo attacks as well. The number of crows then compared to now is noticeable. Like 20 to 1 noticeable.

 

[impish]

My biggest complaint is individualized packaging of things that don't need it. Box of cookies, inside box are 12 packs of 2 cookies. Why?

 

[Mitaka]

- the unbearable “kawaiiiii” every time a Japanese girl sees a dog, a Sakura, a baby, etc... just like if they never saw it before, or like it is the most unbelievable thing they have ever seen in their life. In general I hate their tendency to overact and react.
- they are so slow when they walk, i will never get used to it. I am a very fast walker, it is a nightmare to do a slalom every day to avoid them. Not to mention guys watching videos, playing video games while walking. It’s not only in japan but they’re probably among the worst for that.

 

[oLUXo]

The nightmare of supermarkets. If you need something at the supermarket, especially on the weekend, it's so congested and people try running over you with their shopping carts. Worse than the traffic in Japan. COSTCO is one of the worst, especially for parking. It's like a race to get the spot to park.

Speaking of traffic..No left on red in Japan! Is it so hard to adopt?!?! It could reduce some of the congestion by allowing left turns on red. Also, the traffic lights every 100 meters that make you stop at each light for every small road or pedestrian crossways.

Modifying your order at the restaurant. Doing so will cause chaos in the kitchen and your food will either come out wrong or they didn't modify it because they are stuck into doing everything the way they were taught.

When they ask if you smoking or no smoking and you say no smoking, but they sit you right next to the table near the smoking section or you get seated next to a guy that starts smoking.

Why Japanese love lines? Literally, everywhere has a line. It's like, there is a person standing here, let's make a line and just wait for hours. Even for the registration for Olympic tickets, there was an online queue for hours to access the site and people waited. If I see a long line, I just go somewhere else. New restaurants are the worst for this.

I'm sure I can think of more, but I think I expressed enough for now.

 

[warubuta]

The thing that irks the Buta the most about Japan is that even after having lived here for more than half of my life and almost all of my adult life, I can still find myself in either social or business situations where I don’t understand 100percent of what is going on around me. It’s a combination of the language and the way that Japanese people think and see the world. I will never fully understand these people. On the other hand, as long as I am getting lots of pussy and making lots of money, I guess it really shouldn’t matter, should it?

 

[Rusty Trombone]

priest

Brilliant! You sick pirate!

Being treated like an exotic animal for my looks. Being asked if I am a model.

Sounds brutal!
But it is not just you beautiful people. Us ugly, fat dudes get comments on weight just the same.

no more Nigerian tout
- more trash bins in the streets and stations
- more trains on the Toei lines (always packed, especially the Mita line)
- less crows (hate those fuckers)

I agree with less trash bins! Makes you more aware of trash, and take more responsibility for it. Don't buy that this shit that has lots of trash (closet greenie)
I personally feel for the conbini where people go and dump their trash.

I can still find myself in either social or business situations where I don’t understand 100percent

I often prefer it that way. Means you can tune out a relive your youth, just need the odd nod here and there, and you still in the picture.

Lotta people talking about shit that irks them. But there is tonnes of good stuff there too.

Things that I still find unusual:
- Lots of 20 something year olds like to have a father figure in their life. Love it. My SB are in their 30s, but my girlfriends are in their 20s. And I've hit a half century.
- A 中ジョッキ is still under 500yen most places you go.
- The sheer volume of beautiful woman. Misogynous I know, but walking down the street playing "do her vs no way" still has about 80% thumbs up.
- Old dudes who sleep in important meetings.
- French dudes tell women they are priests, and they still let them play with their children

 

[Durg50]

, I can still find myself in either social or business situations where I don’t understand 100percent of what is going on around me. It’s a combination of the language and the way that Japanese people think and see the world. I will never fully understand these people.

I actually really like that element of living here.

 

[namae]

What are some things about Japan that despite living here for many years, still irk/baffle you?

For me, it's the way cashiers hand back change. Placing the bill on my palm, then receipt then waterfalling the change onto the paper drives me insane. It becomes a wild race of how quickly I can pour the coins into the change pouch of my wallet, stuff the bills into the other section and do whatever I feel like doing with the receipt.

If I'm holding shopping bags I normally just end up scattering 100 yen coins and my dignity everywhere.

It's a really minor thing but I know I'll never be able to accept a fist of coins and receipt without feeling agitated.

I'm particularly interested to hear non-american perspectives on this

I find the change thing annoying too! But it is part of the wider issue of what really constitutes good service. The service "rituals" are drilled into the counter staff and they execute them like robots, or like people that believe in the rituals, or like people who don't see any benefit in questioning the rituals.

Scenes from a bakery:

A family of 4 decked out in All Blacks jerseys, caps, backpacks, cameras etc etc, picking up some breakfast or brunch for the Shinkansen ride. Dad, who studied Japanese in Grade 8, takes the lead for the Kiwi team. The lovely Japanese counter women commences the ritual in Japanese.

1. Do you have a Tokyu card?
2. Would you like a paper bag or a plastic bag?
3. Can I put these two buns in the same bag?
4. This bread is still warm, so I am leaving the plastic bag open a tiny bit.
5. How many wet tissues would you like?
5. Do you have a point card? Would you like a point card?

Everything is packed in a slow precise methodical way...presumably to demonstrate to the customer that great care has been taken to protect his muffins because they respect and value him as a customer.

Meanwhile the bakery queue is now 15 people long, the family are stressed about missing the shinkansen, the oji-san in position 6 is starting to run through his full repertoire of angry non-verbal communication directed at "foolish" gaijins, and the kiwis and the environment have accumulated an unnecessary amount of garbage.

Of course, this service is far superior to what many of us experience in our home countries ...... but it could be improved, or at least tailored to suit situation at hand.

 

[just4fun]

No one "really" understanding English in any format.........

 

[Ken1988]

Those people who slurp pasta at Italian restaurants.

 

[namae]

My last grumble, my #1 grumble ... I really love the country and people, but...

"Spatial awareness"...... the lack thereof.

There must be studies on this......but it seems to me Japanese walk down the street or ride their bikes blissfully unaware that they are sharing space with others.....or under the mistaken belief that the bubble they're in, is in fact a force field.

 

[Desktop]

How normal it is for the obachan to literally clean the urinal next to me in bathrooms while I’m relieving myself without a care in the world.

 

[TAG Manager]

Well, I guess after reading all of these replies... I've just become adapted and come to expect certain things just as other Japanese people do. (Good or bad? I don't know...)

If I had to pick a few things that I never really accept:
- Wait for the next train. You don't have to cram into an overcrowded train just to save some extra time. (Leave earlier then)
- Procedure/Rule Based: A lot of this is good and is place to protect the company and consumers, in the right circumstance. The rest is just a bit over-engineered and doesn't allow for flexibility.
- Trash Bins - Annoying that there are not more of them, but I've learned where they are and plan accordingly based on what I'm doing.
- Inline with the procedure comment: It's sometimes difficult to get places to adjust how they prepare a dish, they just say 'we cannot do that'.

One of the more annoying cases, recently:
Wanted to buy some big items before the tax change and one item may need to be ordered and I asked the shop staff if I ordered the item, could I pay today under the current tax rate? or, would I have to pay later, after the item comes and it falls under the new tax rate? The whole question is simply: Can I pay now or do I pay when it comes? (obviously in reflection of the tax changes) -- They simply said that they cannot answer that question, no matter which way I asked. They lost a sale because they weren't willing to find the right answer.

Money Handling:
I actually appreciate their way of doing it because I've found that the new workers (Chinese and other origins) in various shops sometimes just toss the money on the counter and don't actually hand it to me in the way I'm accustomed to. The new workers showing up also cannot communicate properly in Japanese or English, so I have to revert to exaggerated hand signals. (While watching other Japanese customers get frustrated at the language incompetency)

Office manners and those unwritten rules:
It took me a good 2 years to master these mysterious 'order of things' rules when it came to meetings, emails, elevators and how to address people above and below me.
Now, being further up the chain, it's nice to have the respect, even if they don't really mean it... haha. There's obvious resentment from older staff that I've been promoted over, who indirectly show their feelings. (I could care less)

After all these years, I know how things work and I have no resistance get things done when I need them done.

Not sure what else besides berating the NHK guy (who hasn't been back to my place in nearly 2 years). Oh and the community ladies don't stop by any more, haha.
Now, if I could just scare off the religious nuts, we'd be golden.

 

[Rusty Trombone]

How about the cleaning ladies in public toilets, cleaning the urinal next to you when you pee.

 

[TAG Manager]

How normal it is for the obachan to literally clean the urinal next to me in bathrooms while I’m relieving myself without a care in the world.

How about the cleaning ladies in public toilets, cleaning the urinal next to you when you pee.

Desktop beat you to it.

We have executive floor bathroom staff that are in there nearly all the time, it's a bit much... but the restroom is immaculate all the time. lol

 

[oLUXo]

People with baby strollers have no consideration of others. They will throw the baby stroller in a busy intersection expecting you to stop whether driving or walking. Also the people with kids in the car jumping all over the place and when they force their kids to wear bicycle helmets, but they don't.

 

[MikeH]

People with baby strollers have no consideration of others. They will throw the baby stroller in a busy intersection expecting you to stop whether driving or walking. Also the people with kids in the car jumping all over the place and when they force their kids to wear bicycle helmets, but they don't.

Not a Japan thing. Like at all. Unfortunately.

We need to do a positive list too. Like not allowed to vote thus I don't need to follow politics. That is priceless.

 

[Durg50]

We need to do a positive list too.

The question in the title is fairly open, we could all have written things that pleasantly surprise us.

 

[Frenchy]

The question in the title is fairly open, we could all have written things that pleasantly surprise us.

The title maybe but the OP’s first post is clear that its about the negatives only... maybe someone should start a « after so many years in Japan what do you still like in this country? » thread. Onsens, safety, politeness, service, Hello Kitty, fuzoku etc

 

[warubuta]

I find the change thing annoying too! But it is part of the wider issue of what really constitutes good service. The service "rituals" are drilled into the counter staff and they execute them like robots, or like people that believe in the rituals, or like people who don't see any benefit in questioning the rituals.

Scenes from a bakery:

A family of 4 decked out in All Blacks jerseys, caps, backpacks, cameras etc etc, picking up some breakfast or brunch for the Shinkansen ride. Dad, who studied Japanese in Grade 8, takes the lead for the Kiwi team. The lovely Japanese counter women commences the ritual in Japanese.

1. Do you have a Tokyu card?
2. Would you like a paper bag or a plastic bag?
3. Can I put these two buns in the same bag?
4. This bread is still warm, so I am leaving the plastic bag open a tiny bit.
5. How many wet tissues would you like?
5. Do you have a point card? Would you like a point card?

Everything is packed in a slow precise methodical way...presumably to demonstrate to the customer that great care has been taken to protect his muffins because they respect and value him as a customer.

Meanwhile the bakery queue is now 15 people long, the family are stressed about missing the shinkansen, the oji-san in position 6 is starting to run through his full repertoire of angry non-verbal communication directed at "foolish" gaijins, and the kiwis and the environment have accumulated an unnecessary amount of garbage.

Of course, this service is far superior to what many of us experience in our home countries ...... but it could be improved, or at least tailored to suit situation at hand.

Customer service in Japan has become all about not giving a small number of hyper sensitive psychopathic monster customers anything to complain about. Of course they complain anyway, but if everything is done by the established procedure, then the complaint can be rebuffed by the supervisor or manager or whoever is next up on the chain of command.

 

[BB0523]

My pet peeve are lady's on bicycles riding on sidewalks .... Never use a bell sideswipe ur arms and keep moving like a bat out of hell .... Would love to carry a metal baton to shove in the spokes ..
And they never use the bell provided on the bike. .. .

Another peeve. .. Having a bill that has my Romanji name but not one word of english ...Shows how antiquated the systems are

Things I like. ... The order and structure of how things move (except bikes on sidewalk )... General cleanliness of Places. .
Being able to play the Gaijin card ...When it's to my advantage .. .
I also love saying wakari nai ....Eigo De honishei o kuda sai . .And they continue speaking in nihongo

And last but not least .. ....TAG AND FELLOW TAGSTERS. ... .
amazing community of people and never boring .. Regardless of topic being discussed