What do you like about Japan?

[Nyororin]

I am going to strongly strongly second the rarity of drugs bit. I love that there are so few drugs, a virtually non-existent drug culture, and that there are pretty much none of the problems in society that are linked to them. This is huge in my eyes.

I also love that people are viewed as living things. It is kind of hard to explain exactly what is meant by this, but... A good example is related to nudity. Everyone is human, everyone has a body, all of that is natural... So it`s not taboo. A lot of people cite this as openness in terms of sexuality, but I think it is something that comes at least a step before that. Humans have emotions, regardless of their gender, age, etc... It`s natural. This is something that doesn`t tend to jump out at you until you are accustomed to it and come face to face with the opposite. (ie. Boys don`t cry! You should stop him before he ends up gay from acting like a little girl! OMG your little girl has seen her dad naked?!?! What is WRONG with you sickos?!? etc)

This is a rather personal one, but I tend to feel that I could accomplish most anything I set out to do in Japan. Sort of what is usually called the "American Dream" - but definitely not in America. If I wanted to start a little shop, I would have a decent chance of making it work with effort. I did not feel this way in the US. That said, it`s not necessarily that things are different - it`s just how I perceived them.

I like how the majority of people are considerate in daily life. They don`t go out of their way to inconvenience others because it is their right to be able to do so. People seem to automatically make the connection between how they are treated by others to how they treat others - and in turn tend not to do the things they wouldn`t want others to do to them.

I love that you actually have to put work into learning to drive, that it is considered a privileged - and that vehicles are required to be in decent shape... And that people generally take care of them in other ways. You almost NEVER see incredibly dirty cars with trash, spilled drinks, sticky floors, etc.

Oh, and I love the general quality of life.

Obviously there is a lot more - I wouldn`t have chosen to spend the rest of my life here on just a handful of things - but they are things that don`t really come to mind as they`re normal to me now.

[GoNative]

Of course the best thing about Japan without any doubt at all is heated toilet seats! On a cold winters day is there anything better than warming your behind on a heated toilet seat?

[JohnBraden]

I like the lengths people go to help out, as RealJames said.

Back in 2005, I visited the Ikebukuro Animate and did the thing every tourist who wants to spend gobs of moola does: start on the top floor and work your way down, and along with that goes your funds....

Anyways, it was the DVD floor and back then I was interested in getting RaceQueen DVDs which this store has none, for obvious reasons. I began to explain myself to one of the clerks that I needed to find a store that would carry those DVDs. Since I was trying to communicate with him orally, he wasn't very receptive, as my Japanese was limited to a few words and his English wasn't apparently there either.

It was not until I brought out a notebook and started writing things such as "JGTC" and "Racequeen" that about 6 employees on the floor approached me, curious as to what I was writing. I soon figured out that they'd understand my English in writing better than any accent I can speak.

As soon as they realized what I was looking for, they started to work right away. One of them took out his own phone and started dialing numbers. Another one went behind the counter to look at some directory of the area, I presume. And the final one who helped me (the others went out to help other customers) started drawing a map of the nearby streets. When I told him to wait as I pulled out my trusty Kodansha Tokyo City Atlas (best book to have to roam the streets of Tokyo) and found the page with Ikebukuro on it, his eyes lit up and started putting dots all over the place denoting stores that may have them.

I couldn't believe the attention I was being given to look for an item they don't even carry! If it had been here in the states, more than likely they would have told me they don't have it and sent me on my merry way....

I was very impressed.... My sumimasen, wakarimasu ka, doko desu ka, chotto matte, kudasai, arigato, honto ni arigato gozaimasu, smiles and a few bows went a long way.... Just a few words can have a great, positive impact in their disposition.... I loved it....

[steven]

Real James, not to crap on the sentiment of your thread, but I've had horrible experiences in Japan with the exact opposites on everything on your list. I've met some truly horrible people along the way. It makes me appreciate the majority of people who are great even more though-- it's funny how those shitty things tend to happen when I start to take peoples' kindness for granted.

Nyororin's bit about the American dream is something I kind of feel as well. While living in the inaka kind of makes me feel like people are watching all the time, which can feel almost restrictive at times, a lot of those people are looking to help out when they can.

And I feel like we've talked about it before a little bit, but I totally agree with GoNative about the toilet seat warmers. Even growing up in Southern California there were mornings when I wish I had one... now that I experience real winters I can only imagine what life would be like without a toilet seat warmer.

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I also love that people are viewed as living things. It is kind of hard to explain exactly what is meant by this, but... A good example is related to nudity. Everyone is human, everyone has a body, all of that is natural... So it`s not taboo. A lot of people cite this as openness in terms of sexuality, but I think it is something that comes at least a step before that. Humans have emotions, regardless of their gender, age, etc... It`s natural. This is something that doesn`t tend to jump out at you until you are accustomed to it and come face to face with the opposite. (ie. Boys don`t cry! You should stop him before he ends up gay from acting like a little girl! OMG your little girl has seen her dad naked?!?! What is WRONG with you sickos?!? etc)

Yeah there's a pretty big undertone in the society which contrasts a lot with western cultures but it's hard to pick out most the time.
When my mother and sister visited they went to an onsen with my girlfriend, at first they were so uncomfortable with the idea but the second they got there it felt very natural and right.
It's confusing at times why some of the things which most westerners consider taboo are in fact taboo.

Originally Posted by GoNative

Of course the best thing about Japan without any doubt at all is heated toilet seats! On a cold winters day is there anything better than warming your behind on a heated toilet seat?

YES!!! How could I have forgotten that when I wrote the original list!
(*goes back to add it right after this post*)

Originally Posted by steven

Real James, not to crap on the sentiment of your thread, but I've had horrible experiences in Japan with the exact opposites on everything on your list. I've met some truly horrible people along the way. It makes me appreciate the majority of people who are great even more though-- it's funny how those shitty things tend to happen when I start to take peoples' kindness for granted.

Yeah pretty much all good things have their exceptions, not all the toilet seats can be heated.
But like you said, the majority are so kind it's so nice!

[konbini]

[quote=Nyororin;845952]I am going to strongly strongly second the rarity of drugs bit. I love that there are so few drugs, a virtually non-existent drug culture, and that there are pretty much none of the problems in society that are linked to them. This is huge in my eyes.

Yes it is much better to see less drugs than in other countries and the problems associated with them. But drugs are still a problem. I saw a syringe in Odaiba.

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by konbini

Yes it is much better to see less drugs than in other countries and the problems associated with them. But drugs are still a problem. I saw a syringe in Odaiba.

That's so nice for it to be a big deal that you saw a syringe!
I used to see them on a weekly basis, sometimes more often!
And that wasn't nearly as bad as the foamy mouthed od'd addicts in random alleys or violent robberies and frequent break ins for drug money.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by RealJames

That's so nice for it to be a big deal that you saw a syringe!
I used to see them on a weekly basis, sometimes more often!
And that wasn't nearly as bad as the foamy mouthed od'd addicts in random alleys or violent robberies and frequent break ins for drug money.

Pretty much this.
Spotting a syringe is a lot different from knowing that it is an illegal drug (there is a tiny tiny chance that it was a legal item - insulin, for example) and spotting addicts hunting for specks on the pavement that might be dropped drugs...

I honestly cannot think of anyone I knew in the US (other than my grandparents) who did not use drugs. My mom is an addict, my sister "experiments", my brother had suicide and addiction issues after having a school nurse suggest ADHD medication for him, I lost a friend to an OD, and "lost" several other friends to heavy addictions. My cousin is a zombie, now on multiple anti-depressants and anti-psychotics to "fix" what other anti-depressants screwed up. A friend was given heavy duty stuff after becoming depressed when a relative died, and is now a long term addict and can`t function without it.
And... Everyone else seems to dabble in pot, crack, meth, and ecstasy.

For the longest time I was the ONLY person around in school, work, and pretty much everywhere else that DIDN`T use something... I was seriously getting requests for my urine at every turn.

It`s a completely different world in that regard in Japan.

[Ronin4hire]

This thread has obviously served its purpose.

To try and balance out and deflect criticism of the extreme views presented in other threads lol

I think the better strategy is to just be balanced from the start.

Saying "Japan is <insert positive here>" does not cancel out the fact that "Japan is <insert negative here>" may or may not be factually or even relatively incorrect and I'm not going to stop criticising people for holding views that I think are innaccurate or offensive just because of the existence of this thread.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by RealJames

That's so nice for it to be a big deal that you saw a syringe!
I used to see them on a weekly basis, sometimes more often!
And that wasn't nearly as bad as the foamy mouthed od'd addicts in random alleys or violent robberies and frequent break ins for drug money.

I can't say my area is quite ~that~ bad, but yeah, -A- syringe in a main area in the capital city is not really a big deal. I live in a fairly rural place and yet I could name a whole bunch of people who dealt drugs and the junior school classes were exempt from litter picking, because people always found needles around the edge of the school field.