The elements of Japanese culture are now in our lives: many people watch Japanese anime and television series, eat wok and sushi, and listen to songs by Japanese singers.
And even an apparently common thing like karaoke actually originated in Japan. However, there are still some things that can only be seen in the Land of the Rising Sun.
We discovered that cultural things can’t be seen anywhere else except Japan.
Things You Can Only See in Japan
1.
“When you see a green man, start crossing the road,” we learned that when we were kids. But at some crosswalks in Japan, you don’t see a green man.
Instead, you’ll see the Miffy rabbit, a character created by Dick Bruna, author of Dutch children’s books.
But how did this character get into Japanese culture? The answer is simple: Miffy looks a lot like Hello Kitty, the “face” of the famous brand.
2.
We are used to sitting in chairs in local cafes and bars. But the Japanese are used to a high level of comfort wherever they are.
Therefore, the chairs in Japanese cafes are much more like the low armchairs in which you can lie down.
Europeans call this furniture Izakaya, just like the type of establishment where you can see these low chairs.
3.
To reduce stress and eliminate headaches, we usually use special massagers with a very simple design.
In Japan, there is a more creative and “lazy” variant: accessories that look like multi-colored octopuses.
4.
Pringles has been very popular in a large number of countries for many years. But in Japan, Pringles is a brand of noodles that people in this country eat very often.
5.
It seems completely normal to stop at the nearest coffee shop for a cup of coffee or just sit alone at the table during lunch.
But in Japanese cafes, visitors who are alone getting huge soft Moomins so they don’t feel sad.
6.
Most coffee vending machines worldwide are very similar – they all have multiple buttons to choose a drink and traditional paper cups.
In Japan, a service that allows you to order coffee in an app and pick it up at a store at any time is becoming increasingly popular.
Instead of paper or plastic cups, there are bottles with multi-colored labels that you can customize.
7.
Have you ever eaten animal-shaped cookies? It is always fun to put your hand in the bag and try to guess which “animal” you will choose: a crocodile or a turtle? Or maybe a lion? And in Japan, they have the same things, but with Pokémon.
8.
In the rest of the world, at New Years’ and Christmas, people cook lots of tasty foods and have a big party.
This is what separates a regular meal from a celebration. This is strange, but in Japan, people have a different attitude towards these things: on Christmas night, they love to eat KFC chicken, which replaces the traditional Christmas turkey.
9.
If you eat sushi often, you may have noticed that the rice often falls into pieces of fish after catching it with chopsticks.
However, there is no such problem in Japan because they have a special recipe: the rice is mixed with a sauce that contains sugar, salt, and rice vinegar.
And what other things in Japanese life can only be found today in Japan? Do you know any?
