mannerisms: part 1

underline it, highlight it, circle it: if you ever decide to come to japan--to live or even just for vacation-- know at least the basics of japanese mannerisms. othewise, be ready for unpleasant surprises. japan is nothing like the states.


people:

strangers you meet eyes with on the street here in the states acknowledge your presence, and may even smile or greet you. how sweet, right? not in japan. we keep to ourselves a lot. if you smile at them, they will think you are weird. if you say hello, they will think you are insane. why? it's not that we japanese people aren't friendly. trust me, we are. we are once we get to know each other. and these meetings happen in some given setting. thus, some random and sporadic event such as a greeting on the street is considered rare, and most of us won't respond: we'd simply ignore you and go about our busy business. that's another thing you should know about us: we are busy people. it doesn't matter if we aren't really busy; all we really need to do is look busy. and this is another reason why casual greetings on the streets don't mix well with japanese culture. so seriously, just do yourselves a favor and avoid random "hello"s and "how do you do"s. ...unless you have a question (like asking for directions). we'd be more than willing to help you.


restaurants:

customers are god. that's just the motto of a japanese restaurant. no matter how shitty you treat the waiter(esse)s, they will continue being kind, professional, and apologetic. it doesn't matter if it was the customer's mistake; it's now the restaurant's mistake. and dependent on restaurants, the waiter(esse)s at some places bow each time you interject to take and order or pick up plates, other places verbally let you know they are coming. also, they don't come by to ask how the food is or the infamous, overused phrase, "how's everything going over here?". they feel as if they are interrupting the conversation that the guests are having. even when the guest is alone, the restaurant does not want to disturb the customer's solitude. and when you're done, you go to the register to pay your bill. the waiter(esse)s only come to drop off the bill, not to come pick it up.


another things about restaurants in japan: if you can't stand smoke from cigarettes and the like, good luck dining out at all. japan allows smoking indoors. a common scene you see in japan is both father and mother of two or three young kids smoking in a family restaurant. seems disgusting and unfathomable to those not used to indoor smoking, but this is common in japan. the restaurants come with a smoking and a non-smoking section, but it doesn't really matter, because the two areas are not really separated; it's just like this invisible line that the restaurant decided to draw. so the smoke still trickles into the non-smiking section. that's just how japanese restaurants work.




more mannerisms to come. and look out for a series of quirks in japanese culture as well. good day, fair people.