I have lived in this country for about 5 yrs now.
Personally speaking, 5 years is quite a large chunk of my life, but to some people it may not seem like all that much. I have met people who have been here faaar longer.
But here are some things that I still have a hard time believing in/adjusting to. You guys can judge me if you want.
Here is number 1:
MAYO USAGE
Putting mayonnaise on everything
I actually loathe mayonnaise. I am extremely biased on this subject.
All you mayo-lovers and mayo-indifferents probably do not care about the Japanese mayo issue (I envy you people…).
But, let me tell you how bad it is!
There exists a group of people known as “Mayo-rah” who love and worship mayo. They love it so much that they continually try to find innovative new ways to put mayo on more stuff. I decided to make a chart to help those poor people who have forgotten where mayo’s true place should be (hint: a bin labeled “Not for human consumption”).
Most common foods with too much mayonnaise:
Any sandwich sold in a convenience store
Half of all takeout pizzas in Japan
Hamburgers
Any salad that a restaurant that doesn’t invest in dressing makes
Because we are talking about condiments I will take the time to address another food trend that I don’t really get:
HOT SAUCE SLATHERED ON PIZZA
Anecdote Time:
Today I went to an Italian restaurant and my coworker started slathering his pizza with some habanero sauce from Belize. I told him I find it funny that in Japan they decided to mix hot sauce from Central America and Italian food. He looked at me and asked me if Belize is a country there. I think I taught him the first piece of information he ever learned about Belize.
…Okay, maybe after eating Saizeriya pizza I have actually begun to understand that this isn’t necessarily terrible. It isn’t terrible when you are eating sub-par pizza and you want to drain out the sub-par taste.
WHAT PEOPLE COVER
If you have ever been to Japan or known Japanese people for a long time, you tend to start to notice a trend. People love to cover things here. They have covers for almost everything imaginable from passports to computers.
I made a list to help you navigate your way past some possible social faux pas in what to cover.
THINGS TO COVER:
1. Books, etc- Even if you are not reading something racy; it is preferred (usually by the reader) to cover it up. Bookstores will ask you if you want a cover, and will cover your purchase up for you.
2. Laughter- Being happy is good. Showing your teeth and the inside of your mouth may, however, seem uncouth. Make a Japanese person laugh and see if s/he uses her/his smile shield or not.
3. Upper body- Summer here is hot. It is also really humid, yet I barely ever see people wearing tank tops around town. Consider that and consider the fact that many Japanese girls wear short-shorts and mini-skirts in January. For some reason I have yet to understand, exposing leg and exposing shoulders are two very different things. I am almost 100% convinced that one of my coworkers does not own a single pair of pants. My only supporting evidence for this is I have never witnessed her wearing something that extends below the knee.
4. Money- Giving gifts of money for weddings, funerals, New Year’s, etc. is very common in Japan. There are special envelopes made for all of these occasions. Even money that you are paying to someone is first put in an envelope.
5. Tattoos- This is one that could land you in trouble. Tattoos are synonymous with organized crime in Japan. You cannot go into a public bath or onsen if you have one. Some people have actually been threatened with being fired because they exposed a tattoo.
Do you have any customs/national habits that you have a hard time dealing with?
