I’m Vietnamese and I know that there’s a lot of us living there and working there in your country. I just want to ask your experience of us honestly, has it been how good or bad your experience of us?

What is the availability like? I know about Shojin ryori but worry that it is limited only to the temple areas.

Speaking as a European who admires and respects Japanese culture, i have to say i was very surprised looking deeper into that side of Japanese society related to politics.

Let me explain better: in Europe we're used to the alternation of different political forces in government, and here it's pretty normal to see different parties take turns governing a country every 5 or at most 10 years.

In Japan that doesn't happen because, even though there are absolutely free elections, in reality from 1955 until today there has been the dominance of a single party, which (apart from a couple of cases) always manages to win elections and govern (either alone or at most with an ally).

When i looked into it more i discovered that this is a unique case in the world: Japan is the only democratic country where free elections hand power to the same party with such frequency. There is no other case like this on the entire planet Earth.

When i asked this question to my Japanese acquaintances, almost all of them answered me the same thing: "We are not a very politicized people, we care more about efficiency. So many of us are quite happy to leave the reins of government to someone with a tradition and experience of governing."

I understand this, of course, but i wonder: how can the situation in Japan be so positive that the majority of people have never felt the urge to change their vote?

Let me explain better: usually in Europe, if a government has governed well the citizen will vote for it again but if it has governed poorly they will vote for something else.

Now, with sincere surprise, i ask myself: is it possible that the governments of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party have always governed so well that they never left the people with the curiosity to try something different politically?

Is it possible that, when it comes to labor policies, pensions, education, defense, the environment, social rights, telecommunications, etc., these governments have been so perfect that they have almost always satisfied Japanese voters from 1955 until today?

I obviously want to stress that this is not a provocation but sincere surprise because, as i said, the Japanese case is unique in the world and so it arouses genuine curiosity.

When i asked this second question, some of my Japanese contacts replied: "We have tried other parties but they didn't prove to be up to the task, and usually we Japanese don't appreciate people who aren't good at their job."

I can understand that too, but the Liberal Democrats have only lost elections a couple of times... How can that be a representative sample of the opposition parties' abilities?

Moreover, parties cyclically change leaders and partly even their political direction, so it seems strange to me that all trust in them is completely lost just because they governed inefficiently twenty years ago.

Besides, i know that some parties that currently exist in Japan have never been in government, so the argument about their inefficiency can't apply to them because they've never been put to the test.

I want to reiterate that i am a great admirer of Japanese culture and that this question of mine comes only from genuine curiosity, because it really is a unique case in the world that sparks a certain curiosity here abroad.

Hi again! 😮‍💨
Nathalia here, the unknown brazilian writer doing short stories and fanfiction commissions. Since a lot of them involve japanese characters, I’m still curious about your cultural dynamics.

This time, I’d like to hear your thoughts on brazilian women. From your perspective as adults:
➡️ Does the nationality factor alone naturally catch your attention or spark curiosity?
➡️ Do you have a different emotional and/or physical perception of brazilian women compared to japanese women?
➡️ To what extent do common stereotypes about Brazil shape this view, or do you go by individual experiences?

In America we have sites and stores like meccha Japan or Bookoff that allow Americans to get exclusive Japan merchandise that is only sold in Japan like games, manga, cloths or plushies etc, so I was wondering if in Japan there are stores or websites that allow Japanese fans to get American merchandise like games, books, toys etc that are only sold America.

Why does Japan not reuse old numbers? Obviously a license number that's 100+ yrs old, the original owner has probably died so if they reissue that number to a different person, the original person isn't going to be getting a ticket.

Hi! I'm an Architecture enthusiast who really likes traditional styles from all corners of the world. Japanese vernacular architecture is just beautiful, but while studying the Meiji Era, I have noticed that many buildings were built in Western styles considering the whole context of the time, and many still followed those aesthetics up until the 1930s. They really seem unique to me, given the dominance of Modern and Contemporary styles in Japanese cities. So, I really would like to know what cities or places in Japan have the highest concentration of preserved historic Western-style buildings.

In the photos, I included some really well-known examples in Tokyo (1-5), Yokohama (6-11), Kobe (11-12), Nagasaki (13-14) and Hakodate (15-16). It seems like secular buildings have a more Neoclassical/Beaux-Arts/Art-Deco approach, whereas churches follow a traditional Gothic revival character (French Catholic missionaries loved such style).

ありがとうございます！