10 Pet Peeves About Living in Japan 

Woah woah woah. They have sweet potato trucks? I'm sold.

I just have to say this... your son really looks like you.

The squatting toilets are common in most Asian countries. I mean it's the most natural way to use the bathroom. I can understand that the western toilet seems to be more comfortable but at least your bottom won't have to touch the seat if it's dirty or something.

my pet peeve is the addressing system. for a nation who has a very well know reputation of being orderly, it was very hard to find street addresses. Normally locals describe a location based on its door appearance and which stop from a metro stop it is located at.

"Not that KKK" Made me giggle.

And smoking in restaurants and hotels doesn't bother you? That would have been #1 for me!

In australia generally only rich people use dryers, most people hang up their washing. Same with using the aircon and heater, only rich people leave them on all the time.

pet peeve: walking into a convenience store looking to grab some plain drinking water...but all they got is like flavored water -______-

I've always hand washed my dishes (I live in American) and actually used the dish washer for a place for the dishes to dry haha!

My pet peeve: it's very hard to find public trash cans and recycling bins!! Oh, and when I traveled last summer restaurants only provided small glasses of water. I was SO thirsty (the HEAT) I had to keep ordering more. In Canada we just get large glasses.

Funny thing is - the registered hanko is actually safer than using your signature as the differences are easier to prove (by computer/software - whereas the signature is rarely checked as you'd need a scientist which is far too expansive (google bank-check signature fraud detection to see where I'm getting from - it's insanely expensive to verify!)). But a hanko can, once scanned, simply be compared by computer as it never changes. Human handwriting however changes in cycles over the years and even worse - they are still different depending on the paper, underlay, pen, position, mood, situation and so on).

For some of the things you mentioned, I think it's a difference between western and eastern lifestyle. I'm a first gen Chinese kid who grew up in the U.S. in a Chinese household focused on an eastern lifestyle. There were many cases when what was normal in my household was not the same for my friends: like the way I brush my teeth, not having a dryer and hanging my clothes to dry, keeping the air at 78 degrees and using the fans all over the house, that sort of thing. It is really weird when you live in another place which deviates from your norm, but you just have to change your outlook and realize that their way is what's normal, and that normalcy is based on the person or place. Additionally, I think seals are still being used merely because there's tradition and history behind it. It's something Eastern Asian countries still holds onto, I think. (I found that Taiwan has these requirements too when I visited) And my parents always told me that we never had dryers and dishwashers because they thought it was a waste of electricity and water. Lol And I've found that many older generation Asians felt the same way. Sorry for the long post!

I snort-laughed when you got in a jab at Fahrenheit- the age old debate here in North America! :D I work in a science lab so we are definitely always rehashing that one. Fantastic work Greg, been a fan since LWIF had less than 100 subs- so excited to see you guys on the rise!

I think vending machines are predominantly cash-only in most countries?

Hi Greg! I found your pet peeves a little funny because some of those situations I am very used to here in Mexico. For example, Whenever you go to a gas station bathroom, there usually isn't any hand soap nor paper towels, we are definitely not used to dishwashers and some people do not even have washing machines or dryers, let alone heating and AC. I'm referring mostly to lower class families (which there's a lot). Now, we do have stop signs, but you need to be very careful because usually there's a driver who will not stop, hehe. There's also always some kind of truck or just people selling things passing in front the houses and shouting what they're selling. Anyway, don't think I'm trying to say that your pet peeves are not valid, just that I find them funny because of my personal lifestyle :P I Always enjoy watching your videos on both channels! Come and pay a visit to Mexico sometime in the future!

this was great! lighthearted but honest. i would love to see more people do a detail video like this about their country

Loud speaker vehicles? Well, we have a lot here in Indonesia

Lol! So funny. I always wonder why Japan televisions have those reaction box too

I just spent almost 2 weeks in Japan. I stayed in 4 Airbnb apartments in Osaka and Tokyo. Now this may have been just those apartments but I noticed that the water temperatures fluctuated a lot. Whether it was taking a shower or just washing my hands at the sink. I think it might be related to the in-line water heating that many places in Japan use, as opposed to the water heater tanks we have in America. In America even small apartments will have a water heater with a tank, so the water is always heated to the same temperature.

8:45 It's "Yield" or "Give way" sign. It means you must you give way to other cars on the intersection, but complete stop is not required. It's probably the most common sign in Europe. Stop signs are only in places where you actually must stop completely, but they are very very rare.

About heating and cooling: My wife, son, and I lived in an old apartment made in the 1970's for 3 years, it had horrible insulation and two aircon units. After a while of turning it off and on whenever we leave the apartment, our electricity bill was insane. Like 50,000 yen ish. We decided that instead of turning off and on, we'd leave it at a reasonable temperature (like 26 in the summer and 20 in the winter) and let the "auto" setting run 24/7. Our electricity bill fell down to 28,000 yen almost immediately without changing anything else major. Now we live in a custom made house with 30 cm of insulation around the whole house and a total aggregate 隙間 size of 0.07cm (meaning if you measure all the cracks that leak air out to the outside and stacked them together. national average for newly built houses is around 0.2 - 0.5 cm. AND we installed central air with two controllers on 2F and 1F, and ducts in all rooms. Running it at 25 C 24/7 on auto mode for about 3 months now... and our bill is about 30,000 per month, BUT we increased floorspace by 3 fold, switched our oven to IH electric (オール電化), hot water heater is also electric, and we added a new dishwasher which we didn't have in the old apartment. So it's hard to tell exactly how much kWh is from the central air, but long story short it was worth it. They were giving us an alternative which was 5 aircon units in 5 rooms, and the halls and bathrooms would (of course) be non-air-controlled. The inital cost was about the same as 5 aircons, and maintenance is harder (because we have to call a specialized person to go into our attic if it breaks) but overall, I am happy with it and would never go back. The only downside is that my son will grow up being used to this... rough awakening one day... lol Also, Hitachi has a really nice washer-dryer unit which dries clothes real fast, and it's only slightly bigger than the run of the mill top loading washer machine. You should think about getting one. (Here's the newer model) Search for "ヒートリサイクル 風アイロン ビッグドラム BD-V9800L" on kakaku (dot) com and it's going for around 120,000-130,000 yen. Very worth it. Clothes feel less starchy than when you hang them up to dry (maybe we just don't know how to hang clothes right)

You ain't lying about the lines. In the USA a food store says "more than 3 in line, we will open a new register" in Japan, put a zero behind that 3...

This is a very informative video! It's good to see the pros and cons of Japan so that I can get an objective view of it before I eventually visit. Keep up the great vids!

Yes, I feel like washing my hands with no soap is kinda useless.

WHY IS THE SHOWER SEPARATED FROM THE TOILET? sometimes i need to make a quick jump from one place to aother especially if I'm on my period.

The hanko i like - i find it very useful and quick...thankfully being foreign, if i do forget my hanko they often let me sign (it depends on how important the thing is) The cash thing i'm pretty mixed about it... i find that it is a better way to manage money - i will withdraw X amount for the week etc... rather than keep using my card and hope for the best...plus, when i lived in the UK certain places wouldnt accept card if it was under a certain amount, some places would charge, sometimes a certain card wouldnt be accepted -- it was a lot of hassle... However, for big purchases i prefer using my credit card because this adds security and acts as proof of purchase if i lose the receipt...still japan has a lot more cash machines, so you can quickly run next door to get more cash if needed. Soap -- i think most countries i've been too they don't tend to have soap either - or they are always out, or someone has squirted it everywhere... but i have found a lot of places in japan DO have soap - especially malls and convenient stores... even hand dryers are often found in regularly maintain restrooms (like at malls etc) - it's the smaller, or older places that don't -- plus japan is a culture that often carry hand towels - personally the lack of hand dryers doesnt bother me...saves electricity. -- and if youre at a restaurant they often have a place to wash your hands before your eat. As for paper towels -- i think they should be banned... they create so much waste...so bad for the environment and really not needed. line ups and clouds??? i assume you mean crowds??? But whats the problem -- you dont have to join the line... if i do have to join one i have my phone with me so i can be entertained -- people who dont like waiting are just very impatient :-( OK - now youre talking - loud speaker vehicles are annoying...and those who stand on the corner of a cross road with a loud speaker -- it's so loud and disruptive -- i honestly think they should be banned. Parks -- this depends on where you live and what the community around there agrees upon -- so each park is different...i live right next to a park and every weekend they have dodgeball practice for the kids -- ive seen kids kick a ball around, and ive seen kids playing catch... but because often they only have a mini hedge going around it, theres nothing to stop balls going onto the road or even hitting nearby houses - so some of the stuff is legit and is rightfully banned... Even back in the UK they often ban ball games at parks - instead we have playing fields with areas for sports. For most part though i see these parks for parents to take their small kids, but also it's a community space -- again, the park near me uses it for mini events and even mini fireworks etc. Haha -- oh dear... having a dishwasher would be very nice - that is something i miss... but a cloth dryer -- the fact that japan has good drying weather for most of the year, but also have cool tech like a heater for the bathroom that turns it into a drying room, or they have sunrooms that heat up and are used for drying - i think their way is very Eco... What i hate are the washing machines - they are very outdated and i find they are not as good as the front loading ones --- these are much cheaper back home, but so expensive here. (by the way - you can get conbi washer/dryer...which i have... as for dishwashers, they have surface top ones instead) when i came to japan 7 years ago it used to be around 25/26 that they would turn it on... but after the great east japan earthquake and tsunami everyone was asked to do their bit to reduce the use of electricity -- so many places restricted use and wouldnt turn it on until it got hotter and they would have it set to 28... many still follow this. Where i would we have it on 27 and i can work comfortably... At home im currently just using drying mode -- this time of year it is the humidity that makes it feel hot...but reducing the water in the air it feels cooler - its also more Eco, but not all units have them. I'm from the UK... we have central heating, which is a god send in the winter and i wish japan had it... but we dont have aircon etc in the UK (well...some may, but it's rare) - so for me aircon is a luxury :-) Do you drive in japan??? The roads are clearly marked by the lines -- the thick white line on the road at the junction is a stop line...ones without means you have right of way -- stop signs are not always needed!!! On major roads and junctions they have them... and on minor roads, where they can, they will have them...ive even seen them up in the mountains :-P Regardless - most japanese people dont even pay attention -- i was on a cycle lane that was built because too many pedestrians were getting hit... there are signs everywhere - on posts and the floor, and arrows... we even have a raised area with planted trees to keep the sidewalk and cycle path separate -- BUT you still find people (mostly old people) deciding to walk on the cycle path. :-( TV in japan sucks... they try to add a comical twist on everything, even certain documentary shows - the variety shows are pointless and mostly all the same... and if you want to watch a movie, expect many many many adverts... my pet peeve is actually foreigners in japan - mostly those who complain too much and expect japan to change for them and kinda take the attitude that japan is wrong or stupid for not doing things their way :-( a lot of my pet peeves ive learnt to accept or just become accustomed to... I do hate people on bikes in japan, and the fact that people never look where they are going, the fact that no one seems to look before crossing a road, or that even your japanese friends still wont give you their honest opinion etc..

Hi Greg! My name is Teresa, from Madrid, Spain. First, I love your channel! Past year we discovered you and your daughter during the preps of our wedding and honey moon to Japan, and you helped us so much to understand that society! In line with your video, something that amazed us is how clean all the cities (including Tokio) are, with no trash cans almost. Also, smoking is prohibited at the street! 😱 Thanks for your videos, I love to watch you comparing american/canadian way of life with japanese. Congrats!

You are right - that IS the real way to do the temperature! Greetings from Croatia! I love your videos!

Doing laundry and having to hang it all to dry, sounds like a real problem if you have a whole familie's laundry to do. Especially since houses/apartments are so small. Where do you hang all those wet clothes to dry where they won't ruin floors etc.? Thanks for the video. I found it very interesting.

I don't know if I could live without using a/c. Mine is on almost year round, I live in Florida. It's hot!

i like the way you send messages across - simple, easy to understand, clear and non-offensive (meaning with consideration of viewers' feelings). ur very professional and I quite enjoy watching :) thank u.

Thank you for sharing your pet peeves with us. It's good to know not only the good sides but also the small(and big) 'annoying' things in order to make a good decision. It's interesting to me to hear about the differences between Japan and my country, like the lack of a dishwasher or dryer, and according to the comment section ovens. I don't think it would be too annoying or a deal breaker for me, but very good to be aware of it. So thank you very much!

Oh I love these pet peeves Greg, I think I'm moving to Japan sooner or later.

My pet peeves are the bathrooms and clothing sizes! The bathrooms and clothes are too small for me ahaha 😂

Our oldest was almost 4 when we first moved to Okinawa and was quite upset when she learned that the truck playing music outside was collecting garbage rather than distributing ice cream! Awesome parks and playgrounds are one of the things we miss the most about Okinawa....we've found very few in Yamaguchi Prefecture to compare. :(

Thanks for taking the time to show us Tokyo I hope one day go and visit Japan,

When I visited Japan I was wondering the same thing about the hand soap in bathroom!!!

yay celcius!!!!! ps. sassy hahha

Lol this guy is just sooo Canadian, I can't stop smiling. Channel intrigued me, subscribed!

never seen this channel besides the main channel. Glad I saw this and subbed.

Your Japan sounds a lot like my Mexico, except we don't have AC, period (and or parks)

You can use your registered hanko for day to day business as well. I also wouldn't say that central air is common in Hokkaido, to the point where I was told that it doesn't get hot enough in Hokkaido for many homes to have AC in the first place. Yeah... Soap. I asked a parent and student group about hand washing after using the bathroom, and they all thought it was the strangest thing. Meanwhile, I was gagging that people in a developed country were culturally opposed to cleaning themselves, especially when Japanese culture itself is religiously concerned with the dirtiness of many bodily functions. Good video.

You're such a kind person. Thank you for the information, my husband will be retiring soon, not sure where to move,but I will definitely bring up Tokyo.

P.S, I love your LWIF and LWIFX video's! I always look forward to seeing new ones!

they don't have 2 in 1 washing machines there? like a washing machine that also has a dryer built in

The hand soap thing is so real!! I found myself so put off by that while visiting especially because I'm already very paranoid about having clean hands. I was constantly worried about going to the bathroom because I didn't want to be forced to walk with dirty hands till I could find soap again.

Ty for this video because it made me appreciate where iam from a bit more. still japan has amazing things I would love to see for myself

I just wanted to say that I always enjoy your family's videos. I think that all of your videos are really interesting, funny and informative , but I enjoyed this one even more than usual. I will probably never visit Japan but I like learning about the culture. BTW I am from Illinois about 6o miles SW of Chicago in the USA.

The official Hanko is pretty unique. Think about it - your signature can look pretty different over the years or at odd times and it can also be forged because it's not always the same. A stamp that stays always the same is pretty unique and can't be forged that easily if you compare it under the microscope. I think a unique stamp per person is a good idea, but that's just my 2 cents. ;)

The lack of rubbish bins on the streets and how overly packaged everything is (it's so much waste :/ )

I love your videos! Thank you!

Y'know what's weird? I found you by signing _out_ of RU-vid. Personally, I'd love living in Japan. The no clothes dryer thing? I totally dig it, and also the washing of dishes by hand, which I also do. In the 5 years of owning our new home, I may have used the dishwasher 6 or 7 times. Saw the tour of your new house, too. Gotta say, you have a great house, dude. And the separation of the bathroom fixtures? Genius! Love the Japanese breakfast video, as well. I learned to make eggs like your wife does from it. Thank you!

Living in Japan for almost three years now, too, I really did appreciate this video. It's more or less what I have experienced. While you mentioned stop signs, I am as much annoyed by traffic in general. And that includes everything from the pedestrian to busses or lorries. One of the major annoyances are people riding bikes while simultaneously using their phones. I wouldn't know how to do that, but they do exist and they can be a health hazard. The other things, well I guess you simply get used to it... eventually.

Missed an opportunity to put Aiko in the corner reacting to you...

I enjoy your videos...you seem like a really cool guy, good sense of humor.

Wow, man. I appreciate the way you speak and how you convey it physically. I think it comes across extremely well to others--at least I hope so. *Swooping in to add that the asymmetrical shirt is what got me interested in the first place.

I was there in April this year (2016) and I actually really LOVED THE fact that there were no paper towels in the bathrooms. Much less waste! What most people do there instead is carry along a little hand towel (washcloth size) and they will dry their hands with that. It's much better for the environment :) speaking of lines, when I was there we saw a looooong line of people outside of a Carl's Jr. The line was about a 1.5 hour wait we heard, which we thought was ridiculous buy people seemed really proud to be in line for so long.

Nearly everything you mentioned, are things that make Japan more appealing. XD I hate having to sing my name, so I'm excited to get my hanko! I personally always prefer carrying cash, because it gives me a physical representation of how much money I have. I did that when I was younger, to make sure I always knew how much I had, and therefore I was able to limit myself. Prevents me from rising to temptations, and making sure I don't ever overspend. So, that habit stuck, and I've been thankful for it. Most of this, just seems like things that I'll adjust to fairly easily. I have a pet peeve list that would stretch from here to Pluto, on living in the US. XD

We have that ‘no ball games’ in the Uk as well, usually on greens surrounded by houses not in city parks, unless it’s a royal park in which case they bloody love their regulations

Very informative. In a nice way. Thanks.

the commentators on tv is the weirdest thing for me. wtf japan

Lack of trash cans. Enough said

A few of mine from my stay here: 1. So many smokers, everywhere 2. Shortage of recycle bins (aside from pet bottles) 3. No public sitting areas (outside of parks)

The only thing I was inconvenienced by when I visited for a week was you mainly get your change back in coins. I had trouble in the beginning knowing which coins to use and I didn't want to inconvenience people behind me. I ended up having the tiny pocket purse full of coins. I ended up using them and knowing which ones to use by the end of the week but it was a bit annoying.

As an American, I've enjoyed these videos. My impression is that everything is teeny weeny. Little kitchens, little bathrooms, little bedrooms, little toys, little food, tiny cars. A bit too claustrophobic for me. lol

the lack of trashcans is a biggggggggggg one of mine. especially when you are going out as a family and taking care of your kids! having to hold on to trash all the way home is a pain!

In Canada, a lot of bathrooms in public malls give you options in using paper towels or air drying machine to dry hands, soap dispenser and hand sanitizer can be found in most public space.

Thank you for making this video! :)

I wouldn't mind not having a dishwasher. Dryer however is something that would take some getting used too.

The stop signs in Canada are called Octagonal. The people commenting on topics they know nothing about are called politicians.

I'm also Canadian and the thing that bothered me is the lack of snow removal. My experience is limited to Tokyo so I'm sure more northerly areas with higher levels of snowfall have a proper system set in place. I should also note that I don't live in Japan, yet merely go to visit family. Also lack of central air is a bummer.

loved this video!!

Sweet potato truck?! *gets excited *

My biggest pet peeve in Japan is that you can't talk and drink and eat on the public transportation! In the u.s no one gives a fuck if u drink/ talk/ eat on the bus or subway.

Thank you for sharing!

Just got back to California after a week in Osaka. One of the confounding things to me is the abundance of packaging, wrappers, bags and other containers, coupled with the distinct lack of trashcans.

The dryer part is probably the biggest pet peeve (to me at least). It takes forever for clothes to dry just by hanging them lol

I visited Japan for 12 days and my biggest pet peeve is everyone's lack of self awareness. they were so engrossed in their phones that they would constantly bump into you or stop in the middle of heavy foot traffic for the bullet train or subway. I ran full body into so many people and they would be so mad and yell at me and I'd say sorry in Japanese. it wouldn't be my fault either cause we are all moving as one and then BAM they stop and smack into them

Thanks for a realistic view of life in Japan. It seems like a nice country, and the fact that the pet peeves aren't that bad makes me want to move there more next year.

I found this very interesting. And I don't think I could get used to watching that on tv. Lol love your videos

I can't really recall the last time I actually needed cash 😂 even most vending machines take cards now. I'm always so thrown off when I need cash for something

I wash dishes by hand than using the dishwashers too. I didn't even know we had a dishwasher i. The first place, i thought that dishwashers were storage XD

I totally get the hand soap thing...we were in Kyoto in late winter vising multiple shrines and the public toilets there and a lot of tourist spots had no hand dryer or paper towels that you can use to dry your hands!!! not ideal on cold day. The other thing if you are not familiar with Japan...how difficult it is to find an international ATM especially in smaller towns...good thing that Japan is quite safe

Nice video, Greg! Yeah Celsius is the real way to do temperature! :))

THOSE EFFING ANNOUNCER VANS I HATE THEM SO MUCH

Ha! I had to laugh at the queues peeve. I'm English, it's like a national past time!

I love this video! There is not one of those 10 things that I can't relate to!!! You do get used to some of it, but you still wonder if it can't be remedied.

Just got back from japan and I swear the soap bit really drove me nuts and same without the dryers or napkins. I found myself constantly confused on what to do.

When I was living in Japan, one of my pet peeves was Japanese kids (and adults) pointing and shouting "Gaijinda!" or "Amerikajinda!" at every foreigner they saw. not all foreigners are from America, and not all foreigners are actually foreign... some grew up in Japan and identify as Japanese inspite of their foreign appearance. Parents don't teach their children any different either. Another thing that annoyed me was no paper in the public bathrooms... yes I get the vast number of foot traffic through a public bathroom on any given day, but seriously other countries provide toilet paper and Japan processes and exports a huge amount of bathroom paper... why not provide it. Oh, on the topic of bathrooms... the treatment of the western bathroom stalls... the number of times I would enter a western stall and see poop all over the seat, the outside of the bowl or the toilet stopped up with brown water... GROSS! Squatters are the toilet stall of preference in Japan for me these days... much cleaner and more hygenic. The general lack of disrespect for foreigners in most facilities (14 years ago now) and putting Japanese people in front of you in line because the clerk was afraid to speak in English and never checked to see if you spoke Japanese first... and then talked about you and spoke to co-workers with disdain of having to serve you until you began speaking in Japanese in front of them and further embarrassing the clerk for having understood what they were saying and receiving no apology for their behavior... just a few of my personal pet peeves of Japan... although I love the country and culture so much.

It's more of a language quirk, but often when I'm talking with my Japanese coworkers they'll often tell me "Yes" or some equivalent affirmative after I've asked them a question. But, what they mean is "Yes I've heard your question". Even though I am aware of the nuance, I still find myself assuming they answered my question when they haven't yet. Or like I'll ask them for a solution to a problem or their opinion on something, and all they'll say is "Sou da ne."

I really like your videos and your family, keep it up! Grtz from Belgium :-)

I watched a documentary on JHK tv that stated that 90 percent percent of Japanese prefer to drop their laundry off at a laundromat and have someone at the shop wash and dry their clothes. You don't need to have a washer or dryer in your residence if you always have a laundry service do the job.

"Not that KKK" ahhahah

You put the aircon on when it gets to 27 degrees? Jesus, we wait until at least 30+ in Sydney. If we turned it on that early I think our power grid would collapse.

I think the only two things that really bothered me when I visited (back in 2011) were smoking in restaurants, and the trains/subways closing at midnight. That second one felt particularly surprising since they don't seem to mind doing the roadworks at night to avoid affecting traffic too much.

Overly complex train stations are definitely a pet peeve... Especially Shinjuku stn. Also as a ticket user, IC only gates at stations can be frustrating at times

My biggest pet peeve: all the porn!!!! like even in a 711!! I couldn't believe it lol And I guess a funny pet peeve is the drunk culture. like seeing businessmen in Armani suits passed out on the sidewalk is so funny lol

80 degrees! I would melt, do your neighbor's report you if you use your heating/cooling unit when you're not "supposed" to?

Thanks for making these vids :) Don't think I have ever used a dishwasher or a dryer, and the heating/cooling thing also sounds pretty normal to me (I have lived in Greece and the Netherlands).

I totally agree with the lack of stop signs!! It's annoying when you're walking, riding your bicycle, and especially when you are driving. Nobody knows when to stop or when to go and it always ends up in confusion and frustration. Ahhhh!!!!! 😤😤😫😫