Photo: shiokaze_k

The smoking volcano Sakurajima is the first thing I see each morning, assuming the summer winds decide to offer a break from its showers of ash. I awake on the molded brown futon in my apartment in the heart of Yoshino, just north of Kagoshima city.

This has the fortune of allowing me easy access to my shigoto (company) on foot, by bike, or via the private bus, but makes it a little difficult to stay downtown after 10 PM, when the buses decide to take a break and let the taxi drivers make a living.

Running to the lookout point of Terayama Park every day almost guarantees me a great view of the sunrise over Kinko Bay. Nearly every local Japanese knows “that crazy foreigner who jogs uphill”… not quite half marathon distance, and I don’t even get to come home to a banana pancake breakfast, but fresh mutsu apples and insanely thick toast usually suffice.

Photo: laverrue

Unlike many foreigners in Japan, I do not teach English as a second language with the JET Program or with private companies like AEON, GEOS, and ECC. I was lucky to get assigned to Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories as a technical editor and international liaison, as my Japanese skills are sub-par and I was sneezing throughout the interview.

Life in a real Japanese corporation (but far from Tokyo) drew me to this position in Kagoshima, especially after teaching English my first year of residency.

My first order of business for the day of this prestigious assignment? Sneak up to the deserted 7th floor for a nap before the official start of work; I am such a lazy foreigner.

The daily grind. My job keeps me staring at a computer screen 90% of the time, checking over translated pharmaceutical reports and consulting with study directors over the best use of their English… fun fun.

Photo: author

I always make time to play catchup with my Matador articles and plan vacations to southern islands in Kagoshima prefecture like Ioujima, and Tanegashima.

The familiar song being broadcast over the intercom has the same effect as a man ringing a bell to call his dog: all employees drop their paperwork and scramble for the nearest food source. Hiruyasumi desu or, in layman’s terms, lunch.

Our office has a great cafeteria offering Japanese dishes, but on occasion, I brown bag it western-style from 2-3 import stores around the city; just try to find a turkey sandwich and a soft chocolate chip cookie outside of Tokyo, I challenge you!
If time remains and my head isn’t spinning from all that rice, I’ll head to the company hot springs (onsen), to soak my feet and avoid giant spiders that enjoy crawling around the bath.

Photo: kevin (iapetus)

In the winter months, it’s dark by the time the bus returns to take us home; I try to stare out the window at the green landscape surrounding the office and thank god I don’t work in the gray world of Tokyo. En route to town, I think of new exciting blog entries and more weekend plans… maybe catch up on my language studies with flash cards and read about current issues regarding racial discrimination in Japan.

The bus stops just north of the main shopping district, Tenmonkan (”heavenly building”). After a ritual 15-20 minute walk to Kagoshima Chuo Station, home of the shinkansen train line, the only movie theater in town, and the best gym in the prefecture, Seika, the sights are so commonplace I almost forget how amazing this country is: 100 yen stores, 8-year-old boys catching the bus home by themselves, no non-Japanese in sight (unless I catch my reflection), the essence of ramen spilling out behind curtained doors, the Buddhist monk extending his alms bowl…

Photo: David McKelvey

All that sitting at a desk and pent-up aggression is hammered out with an hour or two at the bench press. Maybe working out will increase my chances of meeting some nice Japanese lady folk… or maybe my foreignness is already enough for them. I’m certainly already well known around city of 700,000, as I can’t go a day in the gym without someone walking up to me and mentioning he or she saw me running/at the store/at the festival/on the bus. Strangely enough, encounters with with other expats are few and far between.

My stomach has been patient after a full day and extended workout, I always reward it western style at an adjacent restaurant, Pirouette. 1500 yen dinner set for soup, salad, meat, pasta, dessert, and a drink. Oishiyo! The waitstaff know me so well at this point they gave me a free round when my parents visited Japan, and if I sense that one particularly friendly waitress is in a good mood, I use the opportunity to practice a few Japanese phrases I had been reviewing on the bus and welcome her corrections in pronunciation.

The bus back to Yoshino is one of the oldest in service, with faded red interior and no digital signs. If I hadn’t gone to get buff, I’d probably just be toweling off after a long relaxing soak in Yoshino Onsen, a hot springs only five minutes’ walk from my apartment; this was especially welcome therapy after I broke my wrist. Maybe follow it up with some sushi from the rotating restaurant en route.

Photo: Nemo’s great uncle

My nights vary, but I’m usually back in my tiny apartment chilling the latest Daily Show and Colbert Report via high-speed internet by 10, blogging my latest thoughts, pitching new articles to Matador, and finalizing any weekend plans. I dream of all-you-can-drink specials and Shidax karaoke in Fukuoka, and plans to visit Amami Oshima during Golden Week holiday. I’m in Japan, the land of comfort and convenience.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maynard/123711875/

Feature photos by kalandrakas

Learning such expressions is key not only to picking up the local language, but also to grasping different belief systems and ways of seeing the world.

Think of these expressions as ways to get inside of a particular worldview, and to show the locals that you’ve got an awareness of their cultural values.

Japan photo by tiseb

1. Shoganai (しょうがない), Japan

“It can’t be helped.” Japan is for the most part a very non-confrontational culture. Shoganai epitomizes this tendency because by encouraging people not to complain or try to “fight the power”.

Circumstances can’t be changed, so why get angry or try to avoid the unavoidable?

It’s too hot and you have walk 10 km to the nearest train station? Your boss asks you to work an extra four hours that evening?

Just accept it and move on: shoganai.

2. Mai pen rai (ไม่เป็นไร), Thailand

Thailand photo by mckaysavage

“Thailand is where no matter what happens, you say ‘mai pen rai.’ Never mind. Que sera, sera. Water off my back. And get on with your life.”

- Jerry Hopkins, Thailand Confidential

Whereas in Japan this “never mind” idea encourages one to endure hardships, in Thailand, it implies that life should be lived at a relaxed pace.

This could not be more evident in the idea of “Thai time”: several days late for a gathering of friends? Mai pen rai; it’s no big deal, we can always put things off for another day, a week, a month.

3. Sempre tem jeito, Brazil

“…there’s always a way. Don’t drive yourself crazy over stuff now, there’s always a way to work it out in the end.”

- Thomas Kohstamm, Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?

4. Pura vida, Costa Rica

Costa Rica photo by lulumon athletica

If you’ve been reading up on the exploits of one frozen banana stand owner, you should understand the idea of enjoying life in leisurely manner in Costa Rica, pura vida!

Literally meaning “pure life”, the saying is often used as a handy catch phrase and a way of offering greetings and farewells.

5. C’est la vie, France

Apparently the French and Japanese think very much alike in this respect. C’est la vie is often used to describe situations beyond someone’s control in a way of saying “that’s life” or “what can you do?”

6. Insha’allah, Arab nations

“In Egypt, it is an expression that is relied on so utterly, repeated so continually and universally – invoked on the quiet, dusty paths of rural villages and on the crowded streets of Cairo alike – that it is a part of our national character.

For Egyptian Muslims (and many Christians, too), insha’allah is the constant reminder that human beings are not in control. It is funny, but also somewhat telling, that most foreigners and visitors to Egypt believe it means ‘never.’”

- Jehan Sadat, My Hope for Peace

7. No worries, Australia and New Zealand

Although the phrase “sweet as” might be just as strong a contender in Kiwi territory, no worries is probably the most culturally relevant phrase in Australia and New Zealand.

The saying expresses a laid-back approach to life. No worries, mate.

8. Huevos, Mexico

Our own Sarah Menkedick offers her experience in Mexico with the variations on huevos (eggs):

“Que hueva.”

Imagine you are Jorge, it is Sunday morning, and you are snug in bed with the sun pouring down on you. Then your peppy girlfriend and her German Shepherd come racing into the room, jump on the bed, and shout/bark “Come running with me!!”

Your response would be: “Que hueva.”

Huevo photo by bpheonix

In case the context didn’t help, “hueva” here means something like boring/tedious/dull/dreadful. You could also translate it more or less directly as “how laziness-inducing.”

“Que huevon/huevona.” This is that guy with his arm elbow-deep in the Ruffles and his gut pouring over the edge of his jeans who shouts “yeah, I’ll get around to it later honey, I’m watching the Simpsons!” The Lazy Egg.

Huevona is the feminine form.

This is what you try to pull on your friends when they refuse to walk the dog with you or trek it across town to catch a bus to see a movie.

“Que huevon!” you say with mock indignation. It rarely works, but it’s fun to call someone a lazy egg anyway.

- Huevos a la Mexicana

9. Maningue Nice, Mozambique

Mozambique photo by JenvanW

A cross between a purely national term and a flair of English, maningue nice means “very nice” and is the closest thing to a slogan in Mozambique. Scream it from the tallest buildings whenever fortune favors you.

10. Bahala Na, Philippines

Come What May.

“This is the term that is very often used when all else fails, when you have done all you could, it doesn’t matter
because fate will take over. Sort of a comfort in a sense, that wills the Filipino, that gives them a sort of perseverance.”

Source: tingog.com

A Cross Cultural Theme

When I started researching these expressions, I was expecting to find similarities based on geography: patterns in Asia, South America, Western Europe, etc.

I was surprised, however, to find a cross-cultural theme; many of these phrases are used in response to circumstances beyond people’s control.

How each culture is epitomized in these terms is indicative of how they react to unfortunate or unavoidable events.

The Japanese and French suck it up; the Thais, Kiwis, Aussies, and others shrug it off; Arabs put the responsibility to a higher power.

Join the Conversation!

Do you know a phrase that seems to epitomize a culture? Please share it by leaving a comment below!

Photo by Tallkev______Feature pic. by Mhogan35

Keep your sushi simple. Avoid rolls with mayonnaise or anything deep-fried.

If the highlight of your meal is a spicy tuna roll, you’re in trouble.

Pink Sherbert Photography

1. Pick Your Master Chef

Make no mistake: although sushi is often the main attraction in upscale Japanese restaurants, there is lots of lousy sushi out there. Let’s start from the bottom of the barrel.

Pre-packaged

I don’t care if it was made at Whole Foods with all-natural ingredients; the freshness and quality of fish in most prepackaged sushi samplers is laughable.

Why spent a minimum of $8 on a cheap sushi lunch when you can duck into an atmospheric restaurant and get ten times the quality for only twice the price?

On The Cheap Side

Fast food Japanese places restrict themselves to maki rolls when it comes to sushi.

The reason? The “rollers” don’t have to be trained as full-blown sushi chefs, and the fish doesn’t have to be properly cut with an amazingly sharp knife.

What You Want

Irrashai-mase! Tiarescott

Look for a slightly nicer Japanese restaurant featuring a sushi chef who:

Keeps a clean cutting board.

The cleaner and neater the work station, the better the chef.

Has charisma in his presentation.

You want to be able to talk to your sushi chef, joke around with him, ask him for recommendations.

Knows his rice.

Chefs in Japan typically spend two years’ training on rice alone, as it is the essence of sushi. Unlike sweet rice served at meals, sushi rice is repeatedly rinsed to clean up the grains and seasoned with vinegar and the chef’s own secret ingredients.

Fortunate enough to have a woman as your sushi chef?

That’s a rarity. For better or worse, sushi is a man’s world. If you’re living near Los Angeles, be sure to check out Sushi Go 55, run by the country’s first female sushi chef, Tomoko Morishita.

2. Ordering: The Three O’s

Trevor Corson offers the following guidance in his fascinating book The Story of Sushi:

“The order in which the customer requests different types of fish is not crucial, but most sushi connoisseurs begin with leaner, lighter-tasting dish and progress toward fish with strong flavors and higher fat content.”

Here are three Japanese phrases that refer to different ways to order sushi.

Okimari: “It has been decided.”

This refers to set meals and sushi samplers, menu items that have a fixed price and require very little thought. Still, there is usually a good variety of fish to be had.

Okonomi: “As I like it.”

If you’ve been around the block with sushi restaurants and know what suits your palette, go ahead and order fish-by-fish. Most venues will present only two pieces of sushi for each order – the idea is to appreciate the variety.

Omakase: “Please decide for me.”

Saying “omakase” while sitting down at the sushi bar is probably the smartest decision you can make.

Plastic sushi Matsuyuki

Sushi chefs know which fish are the tastiest to have arrived that day, and omakase gives them an opportunity to show-off their skills and experiment with presentation.

The only downside of omakase is the expense: if you ask the chef to choose what’s best, he will most likely assume you aren’t concerned with the price.

Many chefs will use less rice for an omakase order, so you may eat more fish without filling up so quickly.

3. NO chopsticks, NO wasabi, NO soy sauce

The most ignorant thing you can do in a sushi restaurant is to pick up a perfectly formed nigiri topped off with the freshest bluefin tuna the Tsukiji Market has to offer, and proceed to dunk the entire slab of fish into a dish of wasabi and soy sauce.

In old Tokyo, sushi was a finger food sold on the street. Many westerners traveling to Asia assume everyone uses chopsticks for all varieties of food – this is simply not true.

Sushi is meant to be eaten with your hands.

Toro (tuna) Adactio

Give respect to the taste of the fish itself. Every morning good sushi chefs are scouring fish markets to choose only the best catch for their restaurants.

A lot of thought goes into the weight, color, texture, and age of the fish… which is one reason many Japanese chefs are puzzled when their American patrons ruin the taste by overpowering it with salty soy sauce and strong wasabi.

Did you know that the vast majority of Japanese restaurants in the States serve fake wasabi, an inferior horseradish product?

4. Let’s Enjoy Eating Sushi!

Ok, by now you’ve got the basic protocol down. Let’s try some sushi.

Destinations

Community Connection to Japan

Step 1:

Make sure your hands are clean by wiping them down with the damp cloth provided.

Step 2:

Pick up whichever fish suits your fancy.

Step 3:

Insert into the mouth upside down so that the “fishy side” touches the tongue first. Get it all in one bite, and mindfully chew, enjoying the tasty sensations.

Step 4:

If you’re moving on to a different type of fish, be sure to eat some ginger to cleanse the palate and wipe your hands again to eliminate traces of the other fish.

Step 5:

Repeat as needed.

At the end of the meal it is proper to drink green tea. Congratulations. You are now a certified sushi ninja.

5. And Now For Something Completely Different

Kaiten-zushi

kaiten-zushi by jlastras

Conveyor belt sushi is becoming increasing popular outside Japan. Instead of placing your orders with a chef or waiter, diners simply lift their choice of sushi off a belt that rotates around the room.

The dishes, which are counted at the end of the meal, are color coded to determine price. Kaiten-zushi is usually much cheaper than a regular restaurant.

Nyotai-mori

Some rather twisted people like to pay a lot of money to eat sushi off a naked body.

Although women are typically the centerpieces, men can be used as well (called nantaimori).

Do you have a favorite sushi restaurant?

Give us a heads-up in the comments, and be sure to leave a link – maybe the chef will give you some free maki in exchange for the review

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Why is sushi the sexiest food on the planet?

Check out Tim Patterson’s Sexy Sushi: The Global Foreplay Food.

If you’re interested in traveling to Japan to try some really fresh fish, brush up on Japanese customs with Turner Wright’s Zen-like advice.

Want something even more exotic?

Nellie Huang explains why every day is an adventure when you’re eating in Asia.

Feature Photo: miguelitos91 Photo: Puamelia

If you’re living abroad, struggling with a foreign language and can’t seem to find the time to go over phrases in a textbook, what’s the best way to learn?

Go out to dinner!

Here’s how to eat your way to fluency.

1. Start Small

Photo: davies

The best way to learn a language is to start off with simple words.

The vocabulary of food is dead simple. Even if you’re taking the easy route and going to a McDonald’s, you can still use words like “beef”, “chicken” and “drink”.

Editor’s Note – Is there any real chicken left at McDonald’s? How do you say McNugget in Mandarin?

2. Daily Meals

Try to eat out at least once a day to build your language skills and practice any material you might have reviewed. It’s tempting to save money and just let the rice cooker do the work at home, but you lose opportunities by staying in.

When I was living in Japan, each day I typically had one set phrase that I learned from the textbook, bounced off my coworkers, and then practiced in the restaurant (e.g. “Kyou no osusume wa nan desu ka?”, or “Yo, what’s cooking?”).

Not only was I able to eat well, but I also used the sentence structure and grammar to form conversations in other situations.

Photo: yomi955

3. Currying Favor

Every culture has their own “foreigner food test” – a seemingly disgusting food that’s actually kind of good once you get used to it.

In Japan there’s natto (fermented soy beans).

Durian (stinky fruit) in the test in Thailand. Australia has vegemite and we’ve got Dominos in America.

Although you may have no control over your gag relax when first trying these foods, finding the taste buds needed to enjoy them and telling the locals that they taste delicious will tear away cultural misconceptions.

4. Start With Delicious

The most valuable word to learn first in any foreign language is simply “delicious”. You might even find yourself muttering the word when no longer in the country, nor eating the same exotic foods:

“Délicieux! Oishi! Aroi mac! Que rico!”

Eventually you can move on to “sweet”, “sour”, “smooth”, and “Yes, I would like fries with that.”

5. Get To Know Your Neighbors

Photo: imorpheus

One of the advantages of being one of the few white faces in a country like Japan was being recognized at the local supermarket, yakitori stand, convenience store, and izakaya.

By visiting shops and restaurants frequently, most of the staff and waiters came to know me by name. Sometimes they would encourage me to try something new, which always involved me learning a new word and a new phrase to describe the food:

“Excuse me… what is this exactly?”

“ Ah yes, that pasta is topped with octopus and salmon roe covered in squid ink.”

…well, it was worth the experience anyway.

Do you know how to say “delicious” in any foreign language? If so, please tell us how by leaving a comment below!

Community Connection

To get jump started learning about food wherever you’re headed, check out these essential cookbooks for the culinary traveler.

For an exploration of how eating is a cultural experience, take a look at tasting place.

If you’re stuck on just where to begin, Japan expert Abram Plaut offers his tips on ramen joints in Tokyo, Contributing Editor Sarah Menkedick gives an overview of foods you can’t miss in Mexico and Matador Nights shares the best cities for late night snacks.

“Of all the gastrointestinal hazards in faraway lands, a tough one to avoid is traveler’s diarrhea, which is caused not just by tainted food but by general changes in diet and climate.”

– Rolf Potts, Vagabonding

Let’s say you’ve spent a week or two in Thailand.

You eat Thai food regularly, exercise every day, and spend weekends drinking with your expat friends. At some point, your buddies might have a hard time ignoring the fact that you’re ducking away every ten minutes, coming up with a different excuse each time, returning to the table looking red and flustered…. our own Tim Patterson can tell you how it feels.

One should never be less than a hundred meters from a porcelain throne when TD hits. Though, depending on where you are in the world, there might not be a throne on which to sit. Or one made of porcelain. Even life-saving paper can be absent at the most critical of times.

What are some of the best and worst places to deposit your waste across the world?

Incredible India

“An Australian girl on our bus was unfortunate enough to have found herself with sporadically urgent stomach problems on a fourteen-hour journey. She, quite admirably, would get off at the various five-minute stops to settle whatever intestinal disagreement she had, in full view of the bus and anyone who cared, or dared, to be watching.

This went on throughout the night until we arrived at one of the customary twenty-minute service stops. Here, she proceeded to go through the usual, but desperate motions of finding a bush, manoeuvring herself into position and engaging in whatever comes next.

It was only then that she realized, not only was there a perfectly acceptable, and surprisingly clean toilet facility in the service station only ten metres away, but that she had just soiled the entrance to the only house within visible distance.”

-From the blog “Dirty India” by Matador member Swazi

Photo by Rheanna2

Squatters of Asia take some getting used to; public areas of Thailand, China, Laos, India, and Vietnam, among other countries, are rife with them. In Thailand many restrooms have a tollbooth. Even in some of the more touristy places of Beijing you’re probably better off holding it in until you return to your hostel.

Few travelers take bottom washing practices into consideration when researching customs, but toilet paper really hasn’t caught on in many parts of Thailand and India.

“I am honored to accept your waste.”

Photo by Yuya Tamai

Only in Japan will one find the most advanced butt-warming technology on the face of the planet. Toilet seats in this country allow the user to select the temperature of the seat (VERY handy in the cold weather of Hokkaido), and control how high and fast the rinsing and bidet water moves.

Some of these space-age crappers even have advanced features like a computerized voice, gentle massage, and self-lowering seats. Just be sure not to enter a suspicious looking lavatory that’s likely to be featured on Japanese prank shows.

The Deep, Deep South

McMurdo Station in Antarctica might have a few facilities that are comparable to any you’d see back home, but all bets are off when you’re walking out in the field – a bucket with a polystyrene lid and subzero temperatures. That’s right, you ARE freezing your ass off.

Wishing On A Crap

Photo 2001: A Space Odyssey

Grab some reading material and $20 million and you too can experience the joy of a zero gravity toilet in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

Unlike nearly all ground toilets, this one uses absolutely no water, instead relying on vacuum energy to clean up the mess. It also happens to be very energy efficient: liquid waste is distilled to make water that is clean enough to drink.

The solid waste is expelled at regular intervals to burn in the upper atmosphere. So remember: when you wish upon a falling star, you might just be basing all your dreams on a flaming pile of… well, yeah.

Be careful if you’re a Russian citizen, though, as you might have to hold it until you return to Earth.

Incredible India Two: Slums Of Calcutta

“I’ll never forget this early trip [4:00 AM] to the latrines of the City of Joy. Access was already obstructed by a line of several dozen people.

The arrival of a sahib in jeans and basketball shoes provoked a lively upsurge of curiosity and amusement, and all the more so because, in my ignorance of the customs of the country, I had committed an unforgivable blunder: I had brought with me a few sheets of toilet paper.

Was it conceivable that anyone should want to preserve in paper a defilement expelled from the body? A young boy came up to me with a tin full of water.

‘Take this water, big brother, and wash your bottom with it,’ he urged gently.”

- Dominique Lapierre, I Should Have Stayed Home, “Enlightened Sahib”

You’re A-Peein’ Exhibitionist

Photo by Jose Luis Roldan

There’s really nothing wrong per se with public urinals in Amsterdam and around Europe, depending on your sense of modesty and whether you have a shy bladder. If so, you might want to cross the border and find a public restroom with walls… located a little distance from the sidewalk.

Worthy of Donald Trump’s Golden Poop

This is one of the few times when it may be excusable and not the least bit suspicious to take a camera into the bathroom. The Shoji Tabuchi theatre in Missouri is the essence of luxury: freshly-cut flowers, marble, gold, stained glass, even a fountain. Maybe they should invest in rich people toilet paper.

Going in Ghana

“I tried not to step in the stream that came running out of the hut. Inside, I was alone. There were several stalls, separated only by short concrete walls. Each stall had a couple of bricks for the feet on either side of a small pit that was shallow enough to be superfluous.

There were lumps everywhere, filling the holes to an uncomfortable height, over which one would not want to squat, for fear of contact. They were strewn all about the holes as well, even on the brick footstools. I must digress, but not without mentioning that the West African diet must be as varied and unpredictable as any on the planet.”

Gone to Ghana: The Worst Toilet(s) I Ever Saw

The Big Loo

The public toilets present in parks and major urban areas of New Zealand are nothing special, but I appreciated them because they had automated doors that locked, opened, and told you if anyone was inside. The ones at Auckland International Airport even spoke in computerized voices.

Other than that, you might try taking a dump in the southern hemisphere just to watch the water spin the other way.

Want more? Check out the Golden Plunger awards.

Feature photo by kalandrakas. Photo above by kalandrakas

1. Addressing Someone, Respect

Bowing is nothing less than an art form in Japan, respect pounded into children’s heads from the moment they enter school. For tourists, a simple inclination of the head or an attempt at a bow at the waist will usually suffice.

The duration and inclination of the bow is proportionate to the elevation of the person you’re addressing.

The duration and inclination of the bow is proportionate to the elevation of the person you’re addressing. For example, a friend might get a lightning-fast 30-degree bow; an office superior might get a slow, extended, 70-degree bow. It’s all about position and circumstance.

In addition to bowing, addressing someone properly is key. Just as a “Dr. Smith” might feel a little insulted if you were to refer to him as “Smith”, so would a Japanese if you do not attach the suffix “san” to their last name, or “sama” if you are trying to be particularly respectful.

Usually children are content with just their first names, but you can add the suffix “chan” for girls and “kun” for boys if you like.

2. Table Manners

Some simple bullet points here:

- If you’re with a dinner party and receive drinks, wait before raising the glass to your lips. Everyone will be served, and someone will take the lead, make a speech, raise his drink, and yell “kampai!” (cheers).

- You will receive a small wet cloth at most Japanese restaurants. Use this to wash your hands before eating, then carefully fold it and set it aside on the table. Do not use it as a napkin, or to touch any part of your face.

- Slurping noodles or making loud noises while eating is OK! In fact, slurping hot food like ramen is polite, to show you are enjoying it.

- You may raise bowls to your mouth to make it easier to eat with chopsticks, especially bowls of rice.

- Just before digging in, whether it be a seven-course dinner or a sample at a supermarket, it’s polite to say “itadakimasu” (I will receive).

3. No Tipping

There is no tipping in any situation in Japan – cabs, restaurants, personal care. To tip someone is actually a little insulting; the services you’ve asked for are covered by the price given, so why pay more?

If you are in a large area like Tokyo and can’t speak any Japanese, a waiter or waitress might take the extra money you happen to leave rather than force themselves to deal with the awkward situation of explaining the concept of no tipping in broken English.

Just remind yourself: a price is a price.

Photo by tavallai

4. Chopsticks

Depending on the restaurant you decide upon for that evening, you may be required to use chopsticks.

If for some reason you aren’t too adept with chopsticks, try to learn before passing through immigration. It’s really not that hard.

One false assumption among many Japanese that’s slowly being dispelled by time is the “uniqueness” of Japan. Japan is an island nation; Japan is the only country that has four seasons; foreigners can’t understand Japan; only Japanese can use chopsticks properly.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve been told I use Japanese chopsticks with skill and grace, despite the fact I’ve seen three-year-olds managing just as well.

If you’re dining with a Japanese, don’t be surprised if you receive a look of amazement at your ability to eat like a Japanese.

5. Thresholds

Take off your shoes at the entrance to all homes, and most businesses and hotels. Usually a rack will be provided to store your shoes, and pair of guest slippers will be sitting nearby; many Japanese bring a pair of indoor slippers just in case, though.

Never wear slippers when you need to step onto a tatami mat (used in most Japanese homes and hotels; the standard unit of measurement for area even today), and be careful to remove the toilet slippers waiting for you in the bathroom.

It is extremely bad form, for example, to reenter the main room of a house wearing slippers that have been running across dirty linoleum.

6. Masks

Photo by toestubber

SARS is long gone, though I did happen to see a “SARS Preparation Kit” during my brief stay in a Japanese hospital.

Nevertheless, sterilized masks, like the ones you’d see in the emergency room, are commonly used by salarymen, office ladies, and municipal workers to protect other people from their germs.

Rather sensible when you think about it, as masks do not protect the wearer so much as the ones around him. The reason could be anything from a slight cold to simply being worried about exposing other people; don’t let it concern you on your Japanese vacation.

7. Conformity

When groups of high school students in Japan were asked to identify the dangers facing children today, the majority agreed on the number one threat: individualism.

Japanese society is focused on the group. Western cultures are focused on the individual.

Does this mean that the Japanese are nothing more that worker bees in a vast hive of steel and concrete? Certainly not, but their presentation of such individual qualities are carefully calculated and given in doses.

Drawing attention to yourself as an individual is a huge no-no: don’t blow your nose in public, try to avoid eating while on the go, and don’t speak on your cell phone in crowded public areas like trains or buses.

The main problem with this is that foreigners simply can’t avoid standing out; we stick out like sore thumbs no matter how long we’ve been here, or how much we know about Japanese culture and society.

As a result, being in Japan gives foreigners the status of D-level celebrities: you’ll get glances, shouts for attention, calls to have pictures taken with people, requests for autographs (happened once to me on a southern island), and overall just more awareness of being a “stake that sticks out”.

8. Bathing

Photo by meganscheminske

Public bathhouses are alive and well in Japan.

Sento, or neighborhood bathhouses, can be found from the largest area in Shinjuku to a small town on the island of Shikoku.

Onsen, or hot springs, are very popular as weekend excursion resorts.

Unlike in western cultures, the Japanese bath is used after you have washed and rinsed, and feel like soaking in extra-hot water for 10, 20, 30 minutes. It’s an acquired taste to be sure, but can be very relaxing.

If you happen to be invited into a Japanese household, you will be given the honor of using the bath first, usually before dinner. Be extra careful so as to not dirty the water in any way; the sanctity of the ofuro (bath) is of utmost importance.

Take the time to visit a sento if you have the opportunity. These are places without barriers, without regard to skin color, age, or language… well, they are separated by sex with the exception of some mixed-bathing areas.

Lying in the hot water and slowly listening to my heart beat slow down is a time when I feel most attuned to Japanese culture.

9. Speaking English

Japanese will generally assume you are a native English speaker until you prove otherwise. Even during a short visit, you’ll see:

-A group of schoolchildren in neatly pressed Prussian uniforms walking across the intersection, shouting “Hello! Hello! Herro!” as they assess your foreign features

-A random person just walking up to you and asking “Where are you from?”

Friendly? Certainly. But I can see how constant celebrity status might get confusing or frustrating for travelers who don’t speak English.

Although you may speak some or fluent Japanese, the default language of choice is English. Many Japanese will insist on using their own English language ability, however limited, to converse with foreigners, in spite of the fact that the person on the opposing end may have more knowledge of the local tongue.

10. Safety

Every Japanese person I have met warns me to be safe in my travels, to take care of my belongings. Every foreigner tells me not to worry, nothing can go wrong, nothing will be stolen. This may be based on individual experience, but there are other issues:

- The fear of crime in Japan is high, especially among Japanese citizens.

- Murders happen. I repeat, murders happen. People are attacked, robbed, assaulted, raped, beaten, and swindled

However, Japan’s low crime rate is evident when you see businessmen who have missed the last train sleeping outside on a park bench, or a group of 5-year-old boys walking by themselves for over a kilometer to make the starting bell at school.

Going to Japan?

Check out our humorous list of 10 Extraordinarily Useful Japanese Phrases.

Community Connection!

There are a bunch of cool Matador folks living in various parts of Japan. If you want the lowdown on teaching English, ask Abram or Stephanie.

If you’re looking for a photography outing in Asia, ask pro photographers Ryan Libre or Scott Lothes.

Wanna ride a wave? Ask Angie where the best surf spots in Japan are.

Wanna go hiking? Check out Tim’s definitive list of the top 10 hikes in Hokkaido.