The country of 
Japan
All Insider Tips
Japan
Okinawan or Japanese?
"Technically Japanese, ethnically Okinawan." Try not to call Okinawans Japanese. Although the territory today belongs to Japan, the Okinawans were once an independent country, the Ryukyu Kingdom. Then they were ... read more
02 Dec 2009
by Teodora Vegh
02 Dec 2009
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Japan
You got a license for that scooter? No? Get one.
If you're in Japan for less than a year, you can use an international driver's license to drive a car. BUT you might not be able to use ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Sick? Strap on a mask.
In Japan, if you're sick-but-not-too-sick, you'll be expected to go to work. But it would be rude of you to cough all over everyone and make them ill ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Ladies, don't expect any chocolate come Valentine's Day
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Leave the Sudafed at home
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Cycle rIght up on that sidewalk
At the Board of Education where I worked in Kumamoto, we'd sometimes get calls from schools in the countryside who were concerned that their foreign language teachers were riding ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Christmas is for lovers
Christmas in Japan is viewed as a romantic holiday, and in a near-perfect flip of Western tradition, Japanese people often spend Christmas with a significant other and reserve New Years ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Get a pair of gym shoes and keep them shiny white
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Learn a bit of enka to impress (and amuse) your friends
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
To save cash, embrace noodles
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Don't be home for Christmas
During my few months in Japan, I made tons of non-Japanese friends, but had trouble befriending locals. I found it really easy to make acquaintances, but local people often seemed ... read more
15 Feb 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Feb 2009
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Japan
Can't understand the comedians? That's Kansai-ben.
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 ... read more
15 Dec 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
15 Dec 2009
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Japan
Can't read? Use your Nintendo.
Over 2,000 different written characters in daily use makes just looking up an unknown word a pain. How can you look it up if you don't know how ... read more
17 Sep 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
17 Sep 2009
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Japan
Keep an eye on your feet
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 ... read more
17 Sep 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
17 Sep 2009
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Japan
When in doubt, talk about the weather
Back home, talking about the weather might be seen as the lamest of all possible conversational gambits. But in Japan, it's often used as a way of greeting. Especially ... read more
17 Sep 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
17 Sep 2009
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Japan
"Fight!" does NOT mean "engage in a physical altercation!"
One of my jobs at the school where I worked in southern Japan was writing letters to students each week. I had up to 80 student journals to read and ... read more
17 Sep 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
17 Sep 2009
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Japan
Way more than your average magazine and tobacco stand
At a Japanese convenience store (always known by the shortened "Conbini"), you can pay your bills, send faxes, buy concert tickets, purchase movies, and, best of all, buy reasonably fresh ... read more
17 Sep 2009
by Saleem Reshamwala
17 Sep 2009
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Japan
Get walking
When I went to Japan, I hoofed it all over town during my free time to soak in as much as I could. Even if you feel completely overwhelmed, walking ... read more
27 Aug 2009
by Lynn Robertson
27 Aug 2009
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Japan
Don't eat or drink while walking
In Japan, people do not eat or drink while walking. If anything, you stop at the side -- making sure you don't block other people's path -- and eat or ... read more
09 Jul 2009
by Nhu Phan
09 Jul 2009
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Japan
Counting (by twos)
Japanese has over 100 different counter terms: “go ko” is five small, round objects while “go hon” is five broad, flat objects; “go mei” is five people, but so is ... read more
08 Jul 2009
by Heather Heinz
08 Jul 2009
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