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Getting Around

Beware the paper-eating deer

Filip Svitek

08 Apr 2009

Japan

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For travelers heading to Miyajima, Japan: beware! On this normally peaceful island there are hundreds of seemingly friendly deer that are actually bloodthirsty (or paper-thirsty) beasts! Hold onto your maps--once they get a bite they will never let go!

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Festivals & Events

Sapporo Snow Festival

Erin Kessler

18 May 2009

Japan

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Before coming to Japan, one of the things I had on my "must do" list was the Sapporo Snow Festival (Yuki Matsuri), held every year in February. I'm from upstate New York, so I'm used to long, cold, arduous winters and piles and piles of snow, but I had never seen snow turned into art. It all sounded so magical to me. So, I saved my money that first year in Japan and went to the festival. If you like snow and skiing or snowboarding, this is the place to go. You can combine a few days seeing the ice and snow sculptures with a winter sport. Visit the Hokkaido tourist information center at Sapporo station for deals on ski/snowboarding packages. And, this goes without saying, book your transportation and accommodations well in advance.

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Culture Shock

Which way to face on a "squatter" toilet

Michael Lynch

27 May 2009

Japan

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Many places in Japan still have the old-style toilets commonly called "squatters" in English. It can be confusing trying to remember which way to face when you use one. The easy way to remember is this: you don't want to fall, so face the elevated end...you'll have something to grab hold of!

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Must Do

World's largest tug o' war

Michael Lynch

29 May 2009

Japan

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Every October, as far back as I can remember, Naha Okinawa, Japan has held a Tug o' War and won the Guinness World Record for the largest rope used in such an event. Last year over 250,000 people were there to join in on the tug (foreigners are welcome). The rope, braided with straw from the rice harvest, weighed over 40 tons. Festival-goers scramble for strands of the rope to take home for good luck at the conclusion of the event. It's a good idea to take a bus or other public transportation; I parked my car at the airport and walked 3 miles to attend!

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Etiquette

Keep an eye on your feet

Saleem Reshamwala

17 Sep 2009

Japan

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Bathroom slippers, bedroom slippers, hotel slippers, house slippers... Most people know that you take off your shoes when you walk into a Japanese home. But this rule also extends to hotel rooms and many nice restaurants. And often you'll change into plastic slippers when you enter the bathroom. If you walk back into a party and everyone is staring at your feet, chances are you're still wearing your shiny red bathroom sandals. Happens to everyone at least once. To prevent this, do your best to glance at your feet every time you walk in or out of a bathroom.

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Food

To save cash, embrace noodles

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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Japanese food has a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Any major street will have a noodle shop of some kind, and a bowl of udon can fill your belly for as little as a few U.S. dollars. And if hot soup sounds like a winter food to you, worry not, for in most udon shops you can order your noodles cold in summer. And if you go out late in the evening, listen for the sound of warbly music from passing ramen trucks. They're the Japanese equivalent of a 3 a.m. post-bar fast food run.

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Packing

Leave the Sudafed at home

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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On entering Japan, there's a chance you'll get picked up for a customs search. These can range from a quick question or two to being placed in a white room and questioned by three white-gloved men for the better part of an hour (which might happen to say, oh, I dunno, a Glimpse contributor who had a Muslim name, Saudian Arabian stamps on his passport, and a three-week vacation from shaving, but that's for another post... ). Most of the questions are a touch comical for the average American -- you'll get asked straight up, "Do you have cocaine? Heroin?" -- but the one that sometimes catches people is the restriction on Sudafed. It's illegal here (since it can be broken down to make other drugs), so choose pseudoephedrine-free cold medicine.

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Music

Learn a bit of enka to impress (and amuse) your friends

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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Karaoke is a regular part of Japanese nightlife, so you might as well use it as a chance to work on your Japanese. Enka is a kind of Japanese music that was popular for years in Japan, but hasn't yet been embraced by the younger generation. Older Japanese men will sing mainly enka on a karaoke night, and Japanese people of all ages will be amused/impressed if you take the time to learn some. Check out American-born enka star Jero (Japan's first Black enka singer), or just search out some enka on YouTube. Plenty of songs there, and some fantastic vintage outfits as well.

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Sports

Get a pair of gym shoes and keep them shiny white

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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In most gyms where I grew up (the United States), members can just walk in in their casual sneakers, pick up a basketball and start playing. In Japan, the gym is considered an "inside" space, so you can't just bring in dirt off the streets. Even for a meeting in a school gym, people will either switch to indoor shoes or, in a pinch, pad around in socks. So, get a pair of sneakers just for indoor use. I forgot mine once and played a pickup game barefoot. Fun at the time, but painful the next day.

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TV

Can't understand the comedians? That's Kansai-ben.

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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A disproportionate number of Japanese comedians come from Osaka, or at least pretend to. The city has a reputation as the funniest, most lively area of Japan, and the local dialect, "Kansai-ben," is often used by comedians, regardless of their actual place of origin. So, learn just a bit and Japanese evening television will start making a lot more sense. The "Kansai dialect" wikipedia page is a bit dry, but has a good vocabulary list to get you started.

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Dating

Ladies, don't expect any chocolate come Valentine's Day

Saleem Reshamwala

15 Dec 2009

Japan

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On Valentine's Day in Japan, girls buy boys chocolate. Boys buy girls ... nothing. Sorry, that's just the way it is. BUT, fellas, don't think the Japanese chocolate industry is going to let you off that easy. Exactly one month later (March 14th) is White Day, when boys buy girls white chocolate. I once heard that the rule of thumb is that men should spend twice as much on White Day as the women spend on Valentine's Day. If you're budget's tight, it might be a good time to plead cultural ignorance. Though the barrage of White Day advertisements might make that a bit hard to believe...

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Slang

"He's so K.Y.!"

Dalena Frost

18 Mar 2009

Japan

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In Tokyo I was surprised to discover my Japanese friends using an English-letter acronym, "K.Y.," to describe certain people -- a term that always brought a laugh. What could it possibly mean? Though at first I was thinking of jelly, my friends told me it actually stood for "Kuukie yomanai." "Yomanai" means "unable to read." Though "kuukie" sounds like a cookie-monster pronunciation of "cookie," it actually refers to atmosphere. The term taken as a whole, "unable to read the atmosphere," refers to a socially ignorant person, i.e. the one in the group who adamantly thinks you should go left when everyone else wants to go right. Social conflict is highly stigmatized in Japan, so don't be so "K.Y."!

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