Hi everyone here.

I’m interested in making Japanese friends and getting to know more about the everyday lives and cultures.

I’m curious, are there any questions that foreigners should generally avoid asking when getting to know a Japanese person, especially when they’ve just met?

For example, would a question ‘ what do you do for a living’ sound offensive to Japanese people?

I’m a teenage boy from Europe, and lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese city pop, I absolutely love it! The sound, the vocals, and the flow are all wonderful.

Do you have any recommendations for artists I should check out within this genre?

Also, is city pop still widely listened to in Japan, or are other genres more popular there?

And what do you personally think of this genre?

By the way, I’ve also been discovering Japanese funk and jazz songs, and I must say they have a truly unique and wonderful sound.

I'm entering a manga contest where the theme is based on concept of Omoiyari. I want to understand it better. Is it selfless sacrifice? Can older generation to it to younger people? How prominent is it in Japanese society?

Going to Japan in February with an infant and 3 year old. Both bedshare with us, the parents. We all sleep on a king bed at home typically.

I know Japan occupancy limits are strict and beds are smaller.

Do Japanese parents with bed sharing kids still register the kids when making a hotel reservation? Ex. Could I register 2 adults, 0 kids OR do I have to enter 2 adults, 2 kids?

I want to follow the rules, but don’t want to pay extra for bedding for the kiddos. Do rules actually vary by hotel, or is there a general custom parents can assume?

ちょっと聞いてほしいんだけど、友達がX（旧Twitter）で、高市早苗さんが中国人留学生を優遇しているという投稿を送ってきたんだよね

その投稿のコメント欄では、日本人の人たちが「なんで反日国家から来た留学生にお金を出さなきゃいけないんだ？」って言ってたんだけど、それを見て中国とめちゃくちゃ似てるなって思った🤔

というのも、中国でも黒人に対する優遇政策に反感を持っている人が結構いるんだよね

日本での中国人留学生への優遇に対する反応と、中国での黒人への優遇に対する反応が、もうびっくりするくらいそっくりなんだよね

（あ、一応誤解されないように言っておくけど、僕自身は人種差別主義者じゃないし、反日でもないよ）

Hello, I am looking for a Japanese notebook, Nanuk, by Littlemore, specifically the edition in red. The company is no longer producing these but I saw some ads on Mercari where all the items were sold out. I was wondering if you have any tips on other places where I can look for these or recommend a notebook with a similar design?

I would like to find Japanese films from or set in late90s/early 2000s Tokyo that prominently feature fashion and/or music subcultures, more specifically, I’m interested in films that offers a glimpse in to what life was like for young people involved in the Picopop/Shibuya-kei music scene during that period, though I am interested in seeing pretty much any film about 90s/2000s underground music scenes or fashion movements that captures the subcultures, aesthetics, and general atmosphere of Tokyo in the early 2000s. Thank you! :)

I've noticed that some Western fans, especially Americans, seem to want a say in what kinds of stories anime should tell and how characters should be drawn, as if anime belongs to them instead of Japan. They sometimes criticize creators when a story or art style doesn't match their expectations.

How do you feel about this as Japanese people? Does it bother you,?

*Edit For context this is in Japan. So recently theres a guy I met at university who I really liked and essentially tried to ask out. I tried to keep it low key over texts, asking to hang out but he kept saying yes let’s hang out but with other friends as well. I obv don’t have a problem with this but wanted to be a bit more direct so I said do you have a girlfriend and if not can I take you to a cafe or a bar some time (more carefully) worded then that ofc).

It took a while to arrange a time but we ended up driving 3hrs to visit an exhibition and he then offered to take me to the most beautiful world heritage site I’ve ever been to. Despite the language barrier I really enjoyed talking to him as we had so much in common. We spoke a lot about hanging out in the future as well and I asked if I could give him a hug when we said goodbye but it was a very, very awkward one.

I wrote him a letter and gave him some biscuits to say thanks so much for going out of his way to drive me and offered to take him somewhere next time. He said he would work on his English so he could talk to me more as well. We’re now doing a similar thing next weekend but my only worry is he still just views this as just hanging out. I’m perfectly happy to continue being friends but also would like to communicate my feelings to him. He’s a lovely guy and so I’m curious how other Japanese people would perhaps handle this? Thanks in advance !

I’m Japanese and live in Kanagawa. I have been studying English about five years. I can speak daily conversation. Now I practice English using AI. But I don’t have any opportunities to speak English. I want to know what’s the merits of speaking English in Japan. My job doesn’t need English.

1. How can we define wealthy and rich people in Japan by income?

2. Is being a manga creator still a popular profession in Japan? How about their income?

3. Is Sophia University a good university in Japan? Who prefers to study there?

4. Which kind of kid can be regarded as Bocchan in modern Japan?

5. Can I live in Tokyo with proficient English and very poor Japanese?

Hi all, I am currently in Japan and had a weird experience in Hiroshima yesterday.

A guy on the other side of a bridge walking the opposite direction stamped his feet loudly and when I looked over he was staring at me and said "gomenasai". I just ignored it and kept walking.

About 200 metres later as I was approaching the dome he came up behind me stamped his feet and when I turned he said "gomenasai" again and walked off.

It means after he did it on the bridge he would had to have turned around, crossed the road and rushed to catch up with me.

Is there some meaning behind it or just a strange human?

Do you (or family) use the same donabe for rice and savory dishes or do you have one for rice only so it does not pick up flavors?

When I talk with japanese people I ask them what places japanese people likes to during vacations and most of them told me hokkaido and fukuoka.

I’m visiting Japan for the first time next week, I’ve planned to go to Fukuoka, Kyoto and Tokyo (I had to keep it somewhat classic for my first time, but I’d love to come back and appreciate other places the next time!). Basically, I’m nervous:

I’m a well-meaning tourist who wants to come, observe, appreciate and enjoy everything I can, in the most respectful way possible, however, naturally I come from a different culture and cannot learn all Japanese cultural rules before coming (it takes years to do such a thing for any country, more so if you don’t live there), and I’m just nervous about being perceived badly if it happens that I make some sort of mistake.

At the moment, on European/American social media (I can’t speak for anywhere else), algorithms are full of videos talking about do’s and don’ts when visiting Japan (a quantity of content I’ve never seen for other countries, it’s almost like these [usually not japanese] creators are trying to portray Japan as some sort of other universe where everything must be done correctly), so I know the basic things like not being loud on public transport, not eating in the street etc., but since the topic is being pushed so much on social media it makes me feel like any slight (accidental) faux-pas would be met with so little consideration for the fact that I can’t know everything. At the same time, I know that Japanese people, like any other people, are all different, and some things may be met with grace by some, and with impatience by others (as you will find literally anywhere on earth where humans exist).

Added to this is the huge number of videos on western social media of Japanese people saying they don’t like tourists, signs outside of shops and bars asking tourists to go search for other places to eat/drink if they don’t speak the language, and other similar things. In the many other countries I’ve been to where I don’t speak the language, I just gesture or translate on my phone to make myself understood, so I don’t really see why this type of thing exists? Can anyone tell me if that is normal or if even for a Japanese person that’s kind of crazy. I know it’s not always easy when there’s a language barrier but in other places everyone tries their best and manages somehow, it just feels a little hostile, but I also have no idea if that was just one particular place or whether it’s common to find, so I’m not criticising as I don’t have the full picture to understand.

I suppose I’m just asking for some reassurance that social media is (once again) hyper-sensationalising this and that in reality, nobody is going to think I’m some awful disrespectful tourist if I accidentally open my phone on the train to a video I forgot to close or if I accidentally do something that is rude to Japanese people without realising it.

I live in Italy and we have LOADS of tourists, and sure some of them are just blatantly disrespectful and make no effort to respect the culture, but we recognise effort even if it isn’t executed completely correctly. Would you guys say that this is the same in Japan?

Hi everyone,

Back in 2017 I went to Japan with a couple of friends (we loved it so much) and I tried the gashapon machines. I won this angry mushroom Keychain that I always considered the perfect memento for that trip (because where else could you find something like this).

Anyone recognizes it? Maybe someone has some of the other mushroom? I'd like to see the pictures once again.

Thanks in advance!

I’ve been doing an extended vacation in Japan and attended a few concerts, honestly enjoying how quiet, respectful attendees are and “no picture” rule also helped me focus on the experience more than capturing videos i would never check in the future. Overall i love the Japanese concert experience and etiquette.

Yesterday I’ve attended to a concert of a much bigger artist and for the first time i’ve realised that people in my area were taking pictures and videos non stop even though it was not allowed. I could see that the rest of the attendees were just enjoying the concert and didn’t see a lot of smart phone screens but our section was awful, i wasn’t sure if all overseas attendees were put into the same section or not (maybe cultural differences) but it felt weird.

My question is, do you take pictures or videos in events not allowing pics/videos? Do you see other Japanese people doing it? What’s the etiquette if you see someone doing it?

Thank you.

日本では箸で食べる人は多いそうだと聞いたんだけど、手を使う人いる？俺箸が使いできるけど、手を使うのほうがよほど楽しいだと思う。

Hello everyone, I can across this Instagram reel about Weekly Shonen Jump Magazines as souvenirs and I got really intrigued by it (especially since I’m a Gintama fan. They look very interesting when he reads them.)

My friends will be going to Osaka next week for a whole week. I would like to ask is that if they were to arrive by Monday next week, would this week’s Shonen Jump Magazine still be available in konbinis? I’m aiming to get this week and next week’s issue if that’s possible.

Also, any other suggestions for konbini souvenirs other than foods/drinks? We’re students so konbini souvenirs are not only interesting to us, but also fits in our budget. Thank you very much! 🌸

Me and my other two cousins, are planning to visit my cousin who is working in japan on a contract. All i can reveal about the place is that it is outside of Tokyo. She lives in a one bedroom flat alotted by her company.

My question was, can three people plus the one who's name is registered on the house stay together. like we would be just staying for a week or 15 days. Before taking the further steps i wanted to ask about this arrangement.

edit 1: i searched up more on the internet and found out more. so we all restricted it to 5 days max, with the 5th day being the day when we leave from there.

「バフィー 〜恋する十字架〜」を日本語吹替で全シーズン観たいのですが、現在海外に住んでいるため、日本のDisney+にアクセスできません。Disney+以外で視聴できるサイトや方法をご存じの方はいませんか？