How To Fit In When Visiting Japan

This is a sponsored guest post.

Visiting Japan is a unique experience. You get to learn so much about its rich culture through various experiences. One funny experience I had was when I went to the local department store and eavesdropped on the employees talking about their company. They were using the most humble language I’ve ever heard anyone use when talking about their employer. Eventually, I got caught and was more embarrassed than I’ve ever been in another country. I had invaded their privacy and it was a disrespectful thing to do.

I was expecting them to kick me out of the store. But they didn’t. Instead, they apologized for making me uncomfortable and I soon realized it was like that because I was now an in-group (uchi) for them. Having learned Japanese from a preply Japanese tutor, my fluent Japanese speaking ability had made them appreciate my attempt at eavesdropping and I was soon out of there with nothing but a big smile on my face. You see, in Japan, if you’re an out-group (soto), you’re not gonna be cut off slack. Fitting in is the key, and what better way to do that than to speak Japanese. 

Japanese people have different concepts of common moral principles than others. With the concept of honor and always showing your true face (honne) to having a public face (tatemae), Japanese people are ahead of the game. Although the concept of being a polite and respectful person to strangers while being the complete opposite with your friends is common, it plays out differently in Japan because of the culture. I couldn’t make fun of my boss and had to trash-talk him once I got back home, because doing it in the office was extremely irresponsible, especially since my “tatemae” was on. 

Finding Out What Group I Was In:

People from societies all over the world generally assume that only their loved ones; Their family and friends are part of the “in-group” while strangers and less known acquaintances are part of the “out-group”. This does change often though. People make new friends, their groups change and they start confiding in people they never thought they could confide in. It mostly depends on the context. In a workplace, your colleagues might be your “in-group” while the bosses will be the “out-group”. 

With Japanese people, I always found that to be part of someone’s in-group, I had to be a mirrored version of them. I would speak Japanese, but not to the point where it came off as a brag. I’d bring up interesting topics to talk about regarding the history of Japan or anything remotely related to Japan. 

Being “The Foreigner” in Japan:

Outsiders, regardless of whether they’re sightseers who don’t communicate in the language of lasting inhabitants who’ve brought a family up in Japan, are quite often considered a piece of a more noteworthy out-bunch that comprises the whole world outside Japan. 

With this impact, outsiders are regularly treated as an aggregate society of English-speakers. Japanese individuals will take precautions to be courteous to outsiders, endeavoring to communicate in English regardless of whether the outsider being referred to communicates in Japanese (or to be sure doesn’t communicate in English by any means). Nonetheless, many are reluctant to really draw near to outsiders or get anxious while associating with them. Outsiders in Japan will consistently be outsiders before they are whatever else. 

Japanese Notions Around Infection: 

Individuals like to envision our precursors had no information on medication and circumvented utilizing untested techniques to address preventable illnesses, yet old individuals were more astute than they’re given acknowledgment for! All things considered, not the entirety of their shrewdness sounds good to us today. 

Dolts Don’t Get Bugs 

This is an expression you’ll hear as often as possible in anime. The thought behind this is that blockheads won’t see that they’ve contracted a bug, however, it’s developed to join with the strong imbecile figure of speech. 

Sniffling Implies Somebody is Discussing You 

This appears habitually in the media also. Two characters will examine an off-screen individual when it slices to that individual, who sniffles and turns upward confusedly. The more extended notion expounds that one sniffle implies they’re expressing two things, two wheezes implies they’re expressing terrible things, three methods you have an admirer, and four methods you have a virus. Except if you’re a simpleton, obviously. 

Cover Your Belly Button 

Kids in Japan are regularly cautioned to keep their belly buttons covered, particularly in tempests. This is on the grounds that the thunder god (raijin) might eat it! A few forms additionally incorporate the breeze god (fūjin). It’s estimated that this fantasy is associated with the conviction that keeping your stomach warm shields you from ailment and was initially an approach to get children to appropriately conceal. 

Lowliness in Japanese Culture 

This characteristic is particularly valued in Japan, albeit all the more regularly what is shown is the façade of it. You are relied upon to abstain from commending yourself or pompously gloating. This is reached out to cover your entire in-gathering, so it’s normal to hear a parent saying their youngster isn’t so shrewd or somebody guaranteeing their work was deficient regardless of whether it was. Everybody enigmatically comprehends this is exactly what you say so nobody believes you’re being presumptuous; you presumably don’t really feel that way. 

Since secondary school and college selection tests are so thorough, Japanese understudies loosen up a piece once they start school. In spite of the fact that they are obviously scholarly establishments, undergrads have more room to zero in on social exercises or low maintenance occupations. Rather than clubs, universities have “circles”, which are basically something very similar yet with additionally drinking. 

Adulthood in Japan 

The lawful period of adulthood in Japan is twenty. When you’re twenty, you can cast a ballot, drink liquor, and do whatever else you like. Japanese individuals, similar to youthful grown-ups around the world, start their work looking once they finish school. Those fortunate understudies who make great associations can discover positions through their upperclassmen or instructors, while every other person enters the labor force ordinarily.