Actually, the minor error provided an opportunity for some of your viewers to ignore the possibility of being offensive in pointing it out. My bet is that not one Japanese viewer would have mentioned it.
I left my wallet on a counter by accident when asking for directions at a train station as I was in a rush to get to a regional train. I was making my way to my train platform and was stuck at where you have to scan your tickets. Next thing I know it the lad I spoken to had ran across the station and handed me my wallet. I was blown away by the gesture and amazed he’d had found me so quickly, but guess he knew where I was going and I stood out regardless to others around me. Still it was one of many positive interactions I had in Japan.
One of my friends accidentally left a small bag at the 'Bullet train' station when we were traveling through Japan. He had $1,200 in cash and VERY expensive camera. Someone took the effort to find him, via our hotel, which was hundreds of miles away, and mail the bag to him. I don't think that would of happened in any other country.
@@jayklink851 ...I don't know, the only time I lost my wallet, it was on the highway. Miles from where I lived and a homeless guy found where I lived and returned it, in the U.S. bought him a meal. A lot of kind people in the world.
This should be the norm...and I'm certain y'all wouldn't make the effort to hand out the lost property even to the next counter or clerk. Otherwise you wouldn't be so surprised about Japanese culture and demeanor
Thank you so much for watching! Next month, I’m gonna upload new videos twice a week! And feel free to correct my English anytime so I can speak a little bit better!
As for improving English I recommend reading books in English! It gives proper grammar and teaches a lot of descriptive words which can make it easier to express yourself when you want to describe something. I personally love your accent but as a fellow English learner I relate to wanting to improve pronunciation so if that is on your wish list as well then what helped me the most was singing a lot because while you sing along to the song you get an instant feedback on how you sound a little differently from the singer and your mouth muscles get to practice the agility in making the sounds in sequence. For listening to more intermediate to advanced vocabulary as spoken you can watch documentaries in subjects that interest you, like history or Ancient Egypt or nature or maybe even documentaries about Japan. The narrator is always very clear spoken using good grammar and good vocabulary so it can be good in improving English too. Audiobooks is another option, and of course speaking to natives but like you mention they don't correct anything so it's easiest to find ways to check yourself like with singing or speaking along with audio.
The only correction in this video is just the subtitles for the last woman with red hair when she said she was from “Russia” the subtitles said “France”
At the end of the video you said how you wanted to go to other countries and talk to Japanese people living abroad. If you ever come to the UK I would highly recommend where I live which is Bangor in Gwynedd, Wales (make sure it's Bangor in Wales not in Ireland) as the uni brings a lot of Eastern students here including Japanese. Plus Bangor has a lot of train connections too other parts of the UK including direct trains to Chester and London in England making transport pretty easy. Just a little heads up if you come here Wales is its own country with its own language and especially in the North most can and do speak Welsh, as well as English. The people here are on the whole very friendly especially in Bangor where there's quite a lot of cultures that mix and live here despite it being a very small place, all my foreign friends like it here/like the people. But keep in mind they are very proud of their history/culture and for many being Welsh is very important. So don't joke about them being English this will be very offensive, the English heavily oppressed the Welsh for a long time, tried to destroy they're culture and almost destroyed their language. But that's really the only significant cultural rule you'll need to follow/only thing that could accidentally cause offence. If you did come here and want someone to show you around I'd be happy to help or if you did a video asking non Japanese people on what they think of Japan then I'd be happy to help you meet people, because of where I work most of the locals know me and I know which inderviduals might look rough but are actually good people/would be happy to talk to you for a video but also which inderviduals it would be best to avoid, luckily not a lot 😂
My husband and I really enjoyed watching these videos. One recommendation is at the end of your videos, you always say “How was it? That was interesting.” First, you say the two sentences very fast, so place a pause between the two sentences. Secondly, I would change it to be, “So what did you think?” Then give your opinion on it. Overall, we have learned a lot and look forward to visiting Japan.
Being Brazilian, the biggest culture shock I had when I lived in Japan was probably how safe it is. I could see little children walking together (to or from school, I assume), or women walking alone at night. Something that in Brazil would be a very stupid thing to do, especially in big cities, since crime here is very common. A culture shock that I guess is kinda negative is how hard it was to make friends with Japanese people as a foreigner. Sure, I could have some interesting conversations with them, but it was very hard to actually become intimate friends with any of them. This is a common experience for many foreigners, from what I have seen. As a bonus, a culture shock that I didn't personally experience, but heard about happening, was that in Brazil it's common for people to kiss and make out with no attachments. We call it "ficar", which means "to stay", which isn't officially dating. So a Brazilian guy that studied at the University in which I was also studying made out with a Japanese girl once, and after that he was somewhere else, a party I guess, and made out with another girl. The first girl got really mad saying that he was cheating on her, and he was like "Wtf? We're not dating, we just made out". That was a culture shock for the Japanese girl, I'm sure, lol. Thanks for the video!
Tenta promover seu país, meu caro. Ficar espalhando a ideia de que o Brasil é perigoso é péssimo para nossa imagem no exterior. Realmente, não é super confortável andar em alguns lugares à noite; mas tenta ser mais responsável quando for comparar, para não desmotivar o turismo.
@@marcosvalente1328 Respectfully, this is a dumb response. He’s just being honest and telling it like it is. If you don’t want the reality to come to light then do something about the problem. There’s always downsides to every country and my country certainly has a lot to work on as well. If tou want more money, do something about the crime rates and safety. That’ll bring in more tourism than anything else.
This is why learning about a country's culture will help you a lot when you intend to travel or live there. Especially when it's Japan. Some cultures or habits might be very unexpected so best come prepared.
Agreed, I also think everybody should learn at least basic words just so they can have easier time communicating if ppl in that country don't speak English, I went to Hungary for 9 months but was already a2 lvl of Hungarian, it was so much easier for me to get around compared to my ppl who were there with me but didn't speak a word, even ppl look at you differently and respect you much more for trying to speak their language.
Interesting video. It helped me remember the kind of things that used to give me culture shock so many years ago when I first came here. The last woman who you interviewed mentioned about alcohol…and I remembered how shocked I was to see how my (usually quite serious) co-workers acted when they got drunk at work parties. I was pretty shocked the first time one of my (male) co-workers took his clothes off and danced around the ‘izakaya’ in front of everyone. And THEN almost equally shocked when everyone acted like nothing unusual has happened the next day at work! 😂 (And it wasn’t the only time…)
Visiting Japan for the first time in 2002, I was shocked by men's fashion in Japan. Coming from Los Angeles, where T-shirts and shorts are the norm, I was blown away by Japanese fashion for men. The same with the hairstyle. At the time, everyone in the US had simple, short hair, and in Korea, it was all bowl cuts. Japanese men had long hair, short hair, colored hair, permed hair, etc. - a shocking variety of hairstyles. There were also millions of different hair products for men at the stores; whereas, at the time in the US and Korea, men's choice of hair products was limited. A lot changed in twenty years for Korea and the US, but I still think Japan leads in men's fashion and hair in terms of diversity.
I visit Tokyo back in 2018 and the biggest shock for me was how people drive. Everyone stop at the stop sign, drive within speed limit, stop at crossing and probably obey every single traffic rules which is completely different to Thailand. In Thailand and especially in Bangkok, people driving is like they have two fight or competition everyday, in the morning on our way to work and in the afternoon fighting our way back home. No body stop at the crossing, yellow light means speed more or stuck with red light, if you turn on the turn signal then the car in the next lane will immediately hit gas to block you from changing lane. Crazy.
lmao, it‘s like that in switzerland too. Everyone drives very correctly and follows the rules. (we also have notoriously many speed limit boxes(idk the correct name, the ones that snap a pictures if you are driving over the speed limit) so that also makes people drive more catious, because you pay looooots of money for the tickets and they can even take away your drivers licence if it‘s way over top of the limit or even jail) But I traveled a lot, and seen a lot of countries. My father always rented a car, but india was the only place he said he does not want to drive haha. I assume it‘s similar to thailand. Also in Nepal the traffic was just freaking crazy, it seems like you just have to pray every single time to make it alive😂
In the 2 years I lived in Tokyo (Kamemeguro ku) the thing that gave the most culture shock was showing affection in public. My GF at the time was very loving but would turn cold as ice when we were in public. Tbh it was a negative impact on our relationship that ended before I left sadly.
Takashii you should come to Sweden or Finland! I think we are quite similar to Japan in many ways in the Nordic countries, like the Japanese concept of "Wa" and Swedish "Jantelagen", or the fashion (H&M vs UNIQLO), minimalist architecture, politeness and social order, heavy drinking lol, and other things.
Hey Takashi, I really appreciate your content :) Nice to hear that you want to explore the japanese perspective in other countries and document it. If you ever feel about visiting Germany/Berlin let me know and I‘ll be happy to show you around ✌️I will go to Japan for about a year or so in the beginning of 2023 when borders are hopefully opened again. Really looking forward to explore Japan and it’s beautiful culture 🙌
Thank you for making these videos. I find the topic interesting. In my opinion, many Americans do not know much about Japanese culture and Japanese perspective. It makes me want to visit Japan to learn more. Thanks.
As a Japanese it is really fascinating to see the culture gap in each countries as you interviewing with strangers, it satisfies a lot. Keep on working Takahashi-san! これからも応援してます!
Love your videos. It is my dream to come to Japan one day. My father worked for a Japanese company for many years and introduced his family to Japanese food and we love it and make it all the time. Greetings from Croatia 👋
I have been to Japan multiple times pre-pandemic and I have just signed to a Japanese Company and expected to fly there by August of this year, this time I living with the people as a working class compared to before, a tourist. Your videos are helping me get a better understanding! Keep it up and thank you. ありがとうございます!
I love Japan and it’s people! I think they are very honest hardworking people and they demonstrated that with respect and hardwork anything is possible. Japan is loved by Iranians, there are some similarities between the two cultures and some differences. As an Iranian American I have had great friends who are Japanese.
I'd say if anything dont be afraid to talk a little longer to some of these people, the Russian woman seemed so interesting! Would have liked to hear more of her story.
This is such a smart way to practice your English. You're doing a great job growing this channel Takashi - nice work! I think RU-vid has recently pushed your channel more, too, so that's awesome
Nice video as usual 🙂 I suggest you one topic for next videos. It may be interesting to ask japanese people how they feel when they have to speak with a foreigner in English or any other language.
Very interesting your interviews man! Thank you very much! I love Japaneese culture, the positive ways surpasses the negative by a lot, I am sure,but find learning Japaneese tough.
At 7:21 you wrote " France " on the subtitles but it is Russia! Little mistake there, but anyway the video is great and this subject is my favorite subject for now!
I've been to Japan a few times and the feeling of safety is by far the most positive shock. I felt safer in downtown Tokyo at night than I do in some areas of my hometown during the day. The only negative I experienced was having to use the public squat toilets when no other option was available.
Come to Poland, if you’re looking for cultural shock. Trains are late up to 2h and are usually never on time 😂😭😂 (due to bad management in PKP and nepotism)
as an australian x japanese, my biggest culture shock when i was living in japan was how the community was so safe, and that i didnt see that many homeless people! it was really interesting to walk to and from school with my japanese friends, because in australia, my parents used to drive me to and from school.
What part of Australia are you from? I’m from New Zealand and I was under the impression that Australia was almost as safe as New Zealand. And New Zealand is just as safe as Japan.
@@rachelcookie321 wester australia (perth). I think the problems that my parents had with letting me go to school by myself was that there was a main road and although it shoudlve been safe as there was a zebra crossing, not many people actually stop there and therefore makes it unsafe. Also, on public buses or just walking around, there are people swearing, shouting, even some fighting. Honestly its not as bad as some countries, but ofc it could be better.
@@monika-127 yea, letting a kid cross a main road by themselves probably isn’t a great idea. I think it can depend on what are if the city you live in because I know there are some parts of my city were people swear a lot and even fight but you don’t really see that in the area I live. I loved to New Zealand when I was 7 and I started walking to school without adults when I was like 8. I’m originally from the UK so my parents weren’t to living somewhere so safe and were apprehensive about letting me go by myself but lots of young kids walk without parents here.
@@rachelcookie321 yeah. my mum who's japanese told me to walk to school, but my dad immediately told her its too unsafe at a young age. I only started catching the bus (which was one that only kids from my school could catch) when i was around 12 or 13 i think. but yea, totally agree w/ u
@@monika-127 I'm from Perth too and it sound like your from armadale or something. It is pretty safe here only reason I was dropped of cos it'd be to far to walk to school
Some of the culture shocks for me when I lived in Japan were: The Japanese convenience stores make the best sandwiches…that’s all. Everything else was fantastic and no surprise at all.
@@missplainjane3905 Japan is a highly developed country, it’s clean, very low crime (I never saw any except in areas where the Yakuza were), I’d honestly rate Japan as an 8-10 for almost everything. Japanese people are quite shy, but once you are friends with them they will do absolutely everything they can for you, especially when you live there.
@@missplainjane3905 I was fluent in Japanese but you don’t need to be to travel. Although I would recommend learning some stock phrases to endear you to Japanese people. Japan is a great place, Tokyo has some amazing sights, but I’d only spend up to a week there as there are other areas worth visiting. The food is the best I’ve ever had, restaurants normally specialise so you get great quality. The weather is extremely humid and hot in summer, the Japanese like people to obey the rules so no eating in the street or smoking while you walk. Other great places to visit are Kamakura, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and Okinawa to name a few. There used to be a lot of racism towards foreigners when I lived there but I think that is a lot less now, although I’m sure you still get some people that are rude. Overall, Japanese people are incredibly kind, helpful and decent people.
@@missplainjane3905 Not really, just remember older Japanese might not help because they don’t speak English so get embarrassed quickly. It’s not rudeness it’s just shyness. Use the trains, you don’t need taxis. Eat as much of the food as you can and enjoy
I expected it to be like an alien planet so when it was, I didn’t really have culture shock. BUT I had MASSIVE culture shock when I came back to America three years later. It was information overload understanding every word, every person was saying and being able to understand every single thing I read. It took a bit to remember how to pay with American cash. I kept thinking a quarter was a dollar. I craved Japanese food and it took a while for my stomach to adjust. I missed my friends A LOT. The air hit me right out of the airport so clean and fresh. So many American flags everywhere but I rarely saw Japanese flags. And, everything was so much easier in America. Having a car, grocery shopping every few weeks not every day, space, yards, hugs, talking with strangers, etc. Maybe my shock in Japan was how dang hard everything is. Just to to work everyday was like taking a trip. Walk, bus, walk, train, walk, subway. Constantly watching for subway perverts. They talk about being safe but I had more sexual harassment in Japan than in America. Crime rate is zero when you don’t report or record it.
Sexual harassment is a huge problem in Japan, it is probably higher than other first world countries but other crimes in Japan are much rarer so it is still generally a very safe country.
I agree so much! I visited Japan twice pre 2000’s. I LOVED it there. I was self taught, pre internet (internet was out but didn’t have resources like now)- I only had one bad experience...Otherwise I was well respected. I do know my experience was better because I took time to learn the language and culture.
I strongly agree that some Japanese people are hiding their true emotions and they do not say what they think. I teach English to Japanese students in the Philippines and I notice that some Japanese people are hiding their true feelings compared to ours. Anyway, nice video Takashi. Greetings from the Philippines.
When my parents went to Japan, they were very surprised about the flow of traffic in Tokyo. Like it's a very, very light traffic, and the driver kept on apologizing and saying, "Sorry about the traffic." They just simply said, "Please don't, really. This is nothing compared to the traffic in Manila, so we're very used to it." 😂 Anyways, this is a very terrific video. 素晴らしい!✌️
Probably the most shocking was the general cleanliness and safety of the place and how orderly the Japanese were in public........also Alcohol in vending machines 🍺🍶 It still baffles me though when people are shocked at not being able to easily make Japanese friends when they can't even speak to them in Japanese. That one's a no brainer🙃
I am from England, I do very much appreciate the Japanese culture. It seems very ridged with very to little class system in place. Compare that to my country the UK. We still have a class system in place and such we have so many differnt cultures. I would love to see over here, ill invite you into my house of course.
Japan definitely has different classes. This all gets very complicated but it's there and that's part of the reason why things are so rigid like you said.
Takashi-san, thank you for your videos. There's nothing I dislike about you making them. But there are some topics like this one that can have more episodes, because for example in this video you have inteviewed only a couple of people on the issue but I think I could listen to some more opinions, from more people.
That would be great TAKASHI, you should record everything when u be traveling, telling us your perspective, etc. It's content tho, you gotta seize the opportunity.
Awesome interview again! Good to hear that you're planning to visit other countries outside Japan. You can come to the Philippines. It would definitely be a great experience 😊. Also, you can interview my Japanese friends who've been living in the Philippines for quite a while now. Stay safe and enjoy your life there in Japan.
japanese are one of the healthiest people but when i came 4years ago, i found out that most of japanese drink a lot of alcohol, coffee and energy drink. Smoke like there is no tomorrow. And ramen is so oily that i got fat for a short time.
Thank you for the video as someone who is looking at coming to japan to visit in the near future this was very insightful will check out your othet videos 🙏🏻
It still wouldn't have made sense. She said she was from Russia. Russia was still Russia even if some people spoke French. Anyway, French was the language of diplomacy in all of Europe, not just Russia, from the 17th to 20th centuries.
I'm appreciated that you shown on telop under screen. I followed and concentrated this telop more than between both of your speakers. Hopefully, you reach more than your subscribers in your channel. And never ceases this project. イッぺー、二ヘーデービル(大変、有り難うございます。)
I'm also from Ukraine and if I ever come to Japan I could tell some things in which Ukraine is very similar to Japan from what I see from your videos. It's true that it is very different but we have many things in common culturally which the guy on the video did not tell about :)
@@tokyodude2715 Yes, for example there are very little homeless people in Ukraine, compared to US, UK and so on. People (especially elders) value tradition, and what do other people think. Not as open-minded as in UK, Europe, US. The guy on the video says that in Ukraine everyone is so friendly and easy to get on with, but I think he is referring to his circle and age, not everyone in general. Ukrainians can hide their emotions at first, but if you meet a person for the second time you can literally ask them things like what is your salary etc.
As an American the Russian person speaking about drinking was funny because the popular stigma of Russians is that they drink heavily. Obviously we don't think EVERYONE does but the first thing we might think is many people driving tons of vodka. I'll bet most Americans drink way more though, even vodka. Certainly common to drink a little every day, and very common in cities to see people drunk on the streets going from bars and stuff whereas in rural areas people drink at home or parks or random fields so it may not be as much in your face but it's well known.
One thing I do wonder about, do 100% Japanese people like the honne vs tatemae culture? You mentioned Japanese people who speak English, generally are more open and that's true, i've met such people. But then the Japanese people who only speak Japanese and never travelled, I do wonder, are they happy with that aspect of their culture? Along the same lines, would be good to see, if people are even happy with their own culture, but again, the one aspect that bothers me the most about Japanese Culture is the tatemae, it just bothers me when people are "fake". In Europe, you act fake, that's a giant red flag, if one of my friends does that, I might actually break off the friendship if he keeps doing that.
Obviously, some Japanese people are happy with the honne vs tatemae culture, but the others are not. It's completely the same way in Europe. I don't think all the people are 100% happy about the culture in Europe. I like the Japanese culture overall but don't like some aspects of it (honne vs tatemae is one of those for me). Each person has a different level of tatemae vs honne personality. You can choose people who you want to interact with more especially when you're living in city area. But if you're a Japanese living in rural area, there are fewer choices of people. If you don't like the culture and people there, just go to Tokyo, Osaka or other big cities. More importantly, the culture is different because how the society is built is different. The culture which even you don't like is supposed to have some positive aspects for the society (again, this also has negative ones).
@@yujitoyokawa8672 very fair point, thanks for answering. Now do note, Europe, from the foreign perspective does seem to have a different culture, but each country has a culture of it's own. I'm in Belgium, it's not he same culture in France, Netherlands or Spain. I speak fluently Spanish, French, Dutch, English and I've gone to those countries countless times. Even now, cultural differences are still noticable, to the point where I would not like live anywhere else, because I much prefer Belgian culture. Some aspects of culture are the same, some overlap at times, but some cultures in Europe are polar opposites in therms of values. Where I live, there's a local culture, but I also get exposed to a lot of foreign cultures due to all the foreigners living here. If you don't mind me commenting on Japanese society, from the outside perspective, it does seem problematic. The rates of suicides and depression, the loneliness. You have people with few to no friends, you have 30+ year old virgins (BTW this last one is also a problem in the West, for different reasons). I do think Japan overall needs to open up a bit more and in part it may be to blame on the tatemae culture. At the end of the day, the truth always come out, it's pointless to pretend otherwise. That's why I prefer more honest people.
I honestly don’t understand how western and Japanese people can be opposed to each other in terms of showing or hiding their emotions and saying/not saying what they think. Only if western people act more emotional doesn’t mean the emotions they are showing are true. On the contrary, we have become so hypocritical and even with friends we don’t always show what we really feel. And as for saying what we really think… come on, who does that?! There are a lot of unspoken rules what you are allowed and not allowed to say to certain people. With this regard Japanese and Europeans are not that far from each other. I respect the modesty and reserved character of Japanese. As long as they can be more frank with friends and family they shouldn’t think it is not good that they are so reserved. In my humble opinion it is more respectful and noble in most of situations.
Westerners, especially Americans, also hide their emotions. To say that Americans are honest and say what they think is a complete lie. Political matters are so sensitive in the U.S. today that you can be labeled a racist just for asserting your own ideologies. So everyone is living their lives hiding their true natures. I've lived in both Japan and the U.S., and I was much more stressed out and tired of living in the U.S. When I was in an uni in the US, I was treated like a racist by the Americans around me and failed a class just because I opposed the immigration policy. Since then I was living in the US pretending to be an "idealistic liberal model". Even during the presidential election, when very few supported Trump in public, Trump actually won the election. this is a good example. I'm sick of the hypocrisy of westerners like we're honest.
Hello Takahashi-San, I think at 7:19 there is some mis-interpretation of subtitles ( I am from Russia -> * I am from France ) . Please cut the payment of whoever’s has done this 😁
Takashii, the microphone you use is so interesting looking. I often find myself involuntarily shifting my gaze slowly towards that little cute piece of metal with a fluffy bunny tail. It's so cute. I'm sorry.😅
Haha, that's a new one. "Russians drink a lot of alcohol, but not compared to Japanese". And we usually say here that "We drink a lot of alchol but not compared to fins or russians".
You know you might have a problem when a *Russian* implies that you drink more than they do. 😵😵😲 The heavy reliance on cash and the fact that it's not a guarantee that you can use card in all shops was a huge culture shock for me when I was in Japan for holiday. It was so jarring to go from basically having no physical cash in my wallet to having to lug around fistfuls of coins and banknotes. Did not enjoy that.
Not gonna lie I watched the video bc I saw the Ukrainian guy in the thumbnail and I was like Oh he looks like my type lol 😆. But I really enjoyed the whole video! It's always interesting to hear the different points of culture ^^