“Basically all conbini has security video camera right?… in Japan, these camera is for making private company database of which food is picked by customer. … If gaijin is eating some foods, they will discontinue because it must be too unhealthy or making everyone fat.” Read the rest of this entry »
It seems that whenever I find something I really like at a convenience store, they stop selling it. Why do products come and go so fast in Japan?
March 8, 2008 at 6:12 am (Gaijin/ gaikokujin/ foreigners in Japan, Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japan links, Japanese shops)
Why are Japanese salarymen always puking on the sidewalks?
March 8, 2008 at 3:27 am (Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japan links, Japanese men, Japanese salarymen)
“Japanese vomit is kind of special express of satisfaction. We Japanese are making loud sounds when eat soba noodles or udon. This mean ‘Thank you wonderful soba chef! This is delicious!’ So when Japanese is vomit, we say ‘Oh! That was great nomikai! I having so much fun now!’”
Why are school teacher and bureaucrat traditionally such sought after jobs?
March 7, 2008 at 10:50 pm (Japanese bureaucrats, Japanese history, Japanese pensions, Japanese schools and school teachers)
Two generations ago, they were the only jobs with pensions
Why “Banana” Yoshimoto?
March 6, 2008 at 4:25 am (Banana Yoshimoto, Japanese literature, Japanese names, Japanese sexism, Japanese women, Kickboxing Geishas)
“Born Mahoko, she took the name ‘Banana’ while a university student so her readers wouldn’t know if she was a boy or a girl” Kickboxing Geishas pg 29
Why are most recent big airports in Japan in the sea?
March 4, 2008 at 10:05 pm (Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japan links, Japanese airports, Japanese left wing, Japanese protests and riots, Japanese town planning)
According to the Wikipedia Narita Airport entry (a whoooole load more interesting than that sounds), it was due to the riots that happened in the 60s and 70s when Narita Airport was built. “The conflict was a major factor in deciding to build the new Osaka and Nagoya airports (Kansai and Chūbu respectively) offshore on reclaimed land, instead of again trying to expropriate land in heavily populated areas.”
Why did the Japanese mobile handset manufacturers (Toshiba etc) not make it big worldwide?
March 4, 2008 at 1:43 pm (Japanese business and economics, Japanese mobile phones, Japanese technology, Shutting Out the Sun)
The Japanese market was so closed that they never needed to become competitive
(according to Shutting Out the Sun, quoting some American academic whose name I forgot to note down)
Why does making an X with your index finger mean you want the bill?
March 2, 2008 at 12:34 pm (Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japanese body language and gestures, Japanese food and drink, Japanese language, Japanese restaurants)
No idea!
Yes, I know the blog is called Japanexplained, but sometimes I just want someone to explain something to me instead…
Could it represent an illiterate person signing their name, I wonder??
Why do some people find Japan so annoying?
March 1, 2008 at 1:34 pm (Dogs and demons, Gaijin/ gaikokujin/ foreigners in Japan, Japan bashing, Japan FAQs and SAQs, Japan links, Shutting Out the Sun)
First, it must be said that I’ve met far fewer people who find living here annoying than I found in, for example, Spain. What I am wondering about instead how books that start off quite interesting and coherent but then just turn into an unconnected list of true and made up negatives about Japan like “Dogs and Demons” and “Shutting Out the Sun” get made: Read the rest of this entry »
