Life In Japan - The Low Points

[Sudsy]

- Bureacracy. It's their religion. Just the fact that they take your photo and fingerprints when arriving is creepy enough.

i think you need to blame the U.S. for this one I believe they started it after 9/11 for all foreign nationals and them many countries followed suit.

You're correct that it's the Americans to blame, but it actually started as part of the Alien Registration system, recently converted to the Foreign Resident system. The Alien Registration card was an invention of the Americans occupying forces, originally to keep tabs on the Korean populace. From 1952 foreign residents were required to provide our prints when registering - this was briefly repealed in 1999, and then reinstated in 2007 as a border check. Still, only have to give them two prints now, instead of all ten.

 

[Solong]

Having bicycle riders coming from behind you and ringing their little bells at you. It's a bit unusual behavior, as Japanese society is known for it's politeness. Talked to my friends about it and they agreed. As the pedestrian, you can't see them coming from behind you, especially when they are coming at high speed. Instead of slowing down for pedestrians or being patient, they ring their bicycle bell like you should jump out of their way or don't have the right to walk on the (often narrow) side walk.

 

[Sudsy]

Having bicycle riders coming from behind you and ringing their little bells at you. It's a bit unusual behavior, as Japanese society is known for it's politeness. Talked to my friends about it and they agreed. As the pedestrian, you can't see them coming from behind you, especially when they are coming at high speed. Instead of slowing down for pedestrians or being patient, they ring their bicycle bell like you should jump out of their way or don't have the right to walk on the (often narrow) side walk.

This is actually taught in school as part of the same bicycle safety program that teaches that the proper hight for a bicycle seat is one that allows both feet to touch the ground, yet fails to mention that it's illegal and dangerous to ride while brandishing an umbrella... but the situation is getting better with more roads getting bicycle lanes and narrow sidewalks being closed off to bicycles all over the city.

 

[ThatsGnarly]

Hey! I'm glad I found this site
I'm new to Japan, been living here just 8 months. One of the cons I totally agree with is the clothing sizes. It's hard for a big fella like myself to get anything good.
Also, since I get paid hourly and not salary, I don't get paid on holidays. This is unheard of in America and it was a big surprise.

 

[psd]

As to Japan - Japan has shoehorned itself into GMT +9 when geographically we should be in GMT +10. The governor of Tokyo has been pushing for the central government to change the time zone to GMT+11 - which would be awesome in a lot of respects.

That would be great, sunrise at 4:30am (first light even earlier) during summer totally sucks.

 

[TAG Manager]

New item:

- Hard to get some American candy/snacks here. (thank god for eBay and people selling the most random shit that you'd not think someone would buy...)

That would be great, sunrise at 4:30am (first light even earlier) during summer totally sucks.

I've got my bedroom setup for almost a 100% blackout condition for this very reason. The sun burns through the front of my place from morning until late afternoon; great for heat and light during the winter days, but a complete bitch during the summer....

 

[Websexcite]

Japanese funerals. Instead of comforting each other people just hand over some money, do the incense and then bow to the relatives. While I'm not a believer in catholic or christian values in general, I think that a funeral has a much deeper meaning and provides at least some comfort.



Including a cute girl shaping a heart with her fingers and saying お米, illustrated by pink letters on the TV screen.

Japanese girls are wonderful. They have an innocent allure, making them very sexy. Perhaps they are very naughty in the bedroom. I can only imagine ...

 

[TheDutchElm]

Bad:

-No culture of rhetoric (ever tried having a political conversation with a Japanese person? Maddening)
-Rudeness (Japanese people are only polite when it might reflect badly on them or when they're in a deferring position. Otherwise, fuck everyone else. Especially in Tokyo)
-Lame or non-existent alternative culture
-Consensus decision making
-Seniority system
-Passive racism and ethnocentricity
-Inflexibility and general incompetence dealing with anything that doesn't follow the rules exactly (just take the fucking onions off my burger! You don't need to have a meeting about it!)
-Australian snow bogans

 

[TheDutchElm]

oh yeah, I almost forgot...BAD:

no goddamn central heat or wall insulation!

 

[Sudsy]

no goddamn central heat or wall insulation!

Every time I try bringing this one up with my Japanese friends, they always say that the excessive humidity in the summer would cause mildew in the insulated spaces, which is why it's not done here.

You'd think they'd never heard of fiberglass batting and mildew resistant coatings... someone in the construction industry did a great anti-sales pitch on that one. That and sprinkler systems!

 

[TheDutchElm]

I think it's mostly because houses in Japan are built like third rate trash and get knocked down all the time. But yea: by your friend's standard, houses couldn't exist in Houston, New Orleans, or pretty much all of Florida.

Which reminds me of another bad point about Japan: moronic excuse making based solely on word of mouth.

 

[Kitty Carr]

Where to begin?

- Being talked to like I'm an idiot when my Japanese is fluent
- Being ignored when an Asian person (of any nationality) happens to be with me, despite the fact that I'm the one talking (bonus if I'm talking and the Japanese person keeps replying to my non-Japanese-speaking Asian friend)
- Having Japanese guys come up to me in clubs, whack me on the arm and yell 'WHERE FROM?' as an attempted chat-up line
- The persistent belief that white rice is good for you and fat makes you fat
- Fruit and vegetables being so expensive (I don't need my broccoli to be gallery-worthy, I need it to be less than 300 yen for one head)
- The almost total ignorance regarding how to work out safely/properly/effectively at the gym
- The fact that people (especially women) generally don't work out. If they do they're jogging at 4kph in a heavy tracksuit to 'sweat out the calories'
- The insane sexism
- The utter inanity of Japanese TV
- The lack of critical thought in most people my age
- Lack of awareness about international events
- Political apathy
- English teachers who have been here six months and think they know it all already (usually to be found holding court at your local Hub)
- Robotic service
- Unquestioning acceptance of the status quo
- Inflexibility ('Can I have that salad without the bacon?' 'Hmm, that'll be difficult.')
- Certain Japanese girl voices (「えー？まじー？すごーい」)
- Japanese girls who can't walk in heels

I could go on, but I believe in the power of positive thinking... also, the wagyuu steak I had last night almost made up for pretty much everything on this list, it was so damn good.

 

[Kitty Carr]

Having bicycle riders coming from behind you and ringing their little bells at you. It's a bit unusual behavior, as Japanese society is known for it's politeness. Talked to my friends about it and they agreed. As the pedestrian, you can't see them coming from behind you, especially when they are coming at high speed. Instead of slowing down for pedestrians or being patient, they ring their bicycle bell like you should jump out of their way or don't have the right to walk on the (often narrow) side walk.

I remember seeing on TV once that this is actually illegal in Japan. So the next time some asshole does it to you, just yell 「チャリンチャリンじゃねーよ、違法行為だよ違法行為！」 or something along those lines...

 

[psd]

When I ring my bicycle bell it means, you fuckers that are walking 4 across need to walk on the left side, and don't wander all over the place.

 

[Vulkan]

Salarymen sniffing in the train, at work, everywhere...

 

[TheDutchElm]

Bicycle riders are supposed to be in the street. So while cycling on the sidewalk is generally tolerated, you are not entitled to a clear sidewalk for your bike.

 

[TheDutchElm]

This thread could be never ending. As soon as I wrote my "highs of Japan" I thought of another "low":

Cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke on my everything. Two tables away does not constitute a "no smoking section", Japan. Any time you go out to drink or club you'll be doing extra laundry. The one that drives me up the wall the most is people smoking in restaurants. Especially delicate cuisine like sushi. How do you taste your food??

 

[TheDutchElm]

I'm on a roll today:

Taxi drivers that are too senile or too stupid to use their GPS to find my destination by address and keep asking me to confirm how to get there or what route to take. I once had a guy pull over and whip out a tattered paper map of Tokyo. I opened the door and got out. Ain't nobody got time for that shit.

Also taxi drivers that argue about accepting credit cards even though their cab says カードOK, again probably because they are too stupid to use the card reader.

 

[psd]

Bicycle riders are supposed to be in the street. So while cycling on the sidewalk is generally tolerated, you are not entitled to a clear sidewalk for your bike.

In Japan people are more concerned about being considerate than "entitlements".

 

[TheDutchElm]

In Japan people are more concerned about being considerate than "entitlements".

Highly debatable. I've seen the worst kind of public assholery when there's no chance of consequences. Half the people on the street here wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.

Nevertheless, the sidewalk is for pedestrians, not bikes. You're riding there because nobody can be bothered to tell you not to.

 

[psd]

You're riding there because nobody can be bothered to tell you not to.

That's not even close to reality.

 

[Kitty Carr]

@TheDutchElm, you sound like you need a hug. Or a blowjob. Both?

 

[Tokyo1]

Salarymen sniffing in the train, at work, everywhere...

This used to drive me crazy but since i started suffering from kafun i am more understanding on this.

 

[Sudsy]

Taxi drivers that are too senile or too stupid to use their GPS to find my destination by address and keep asking me to confirm how to get there or what route to take.

Not as senile as you might think - that's the most common way taxi drivers run up fares here, trusting that their fares won't know the more efficient routes.

Nevertheless, the sidewalk is for pedestrians, not bikes. You're riding there because nobody can be bothered to tell you not to.

Personally, I love the ones are riding on the roadway but haven't gotten the memo that bicycles are required to ride on the left... and expect ME to dart out into traffic to let them hug the curb when they're on the wrong side of the road.

 

[Kitty Carr]

Personally, I love the ones are riding on the roadway but haven't gotten the memo that bicycles are required to ride on the left... and expect ME to dart out into traffic to let them hug the curb when they're on the wrong side of the road.

AHHH! THIS! I cycle most places, and this drives me absolutely INSANE. Sometimes I'll be going along at a pretty fast pace and have another cyclist turn out of a side street and come towards me on the wrong side of the road, with no room for us to pass each other with the cars in the road. It's so, so dangerous. Amsterdam was an absolute paradise for cycling, with the specific lanes and traffic lights and everything...