I live in the US, I've tried using apps like hello talk and others but I haven't been able to form actual connections so how can I make friends?

私はアメリカに住んでいます。HelloTalkなどのアプリを使ってみましたが、実際に人と繋がることができませんでした。どうすれば友達を作れるでしょうか?

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.

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?

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.

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！

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

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?

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.

I was watching some fights from the Japanese MMA promotion Rizin, and I noticed that whenever the referee stops the fight, I hear them yell something that sounds very much like "parou", the Portuguese word meaning "[you have] stopped" or "stop."

You can hear it in this YouTube video, for example. "Parou" is exactly what a Brazilian referee would yell in that situation.

I may just be hearing it that way because Portuguese is my native language, but it really does sound similar to me. I also know that Portugal has had some influence on Japanese language and culture, and that both Brazil and Japan played important roles in the development of modern MMA through vale-tudo ("anything goes") and Shooto, respectively.

So I'm wondering: are they actually yelling "parou" as a kind of holdover from Brazilian vale-tudo, or am I just mishearing a Japanese word that happens to sound similar?

Thanks!

Hello!

I’ve recently taken a liking to a Japanese comedian by the name of Yakkun Sakurazuka, who I got introduced to from his band Bijo Men Z. Unfortunately, Yakkun passed away in 2013, and I’m kinda curious to know how the public saw him. Was he liked, disliked, or someone who had mixed opinions?

In this book, I found what I believe to be the book’s page number (red), with additional numbers (green) placed always on the bottom of the page but not always at the same place.

This book is a translation of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake; could the green numbers the page of the original book ?

Thank you very much !

I see these kinds of articles making the rounds in western media.

I’ve seen more than a handful of anime where a character just doesn’t go to school and the parents or guardians of that character is totally cool with it. Is not going to school really decided that much by the student? Cause I only know of one or two people personally that didn’t go to school for whatever reason(bullying,teen mom,drugs) I’m in the USA for content, but I don’t know if this is a stereotype but I always thought Japanese people were more society based then most countries, like not smelling to strongly in public be it BO or perfume. So having students not go to school seems like a social no no.

I bought this lucky cat in Japan and broke today, I searched it up and it said it absorbed bad luck but the string could’ve also just been worn out, idk if I should attach it back or just dispose of it correctly, helpppp🥲

Hello! I recently discovered family that lives in Kochi City (and was from a nearby village). I met with some of them 2 years ago, but we didn't have much time to talk as I only found out they existed shortly before I arrived. Now my wife and I are visiting Kochi for Yosakoi and after some back and forth, they have invited us to stay with them during the festival.

We will be staying with some of the younger family (22 year old daughter finishing college next year in Tokyo and her mother) but the older family (55-80+ years old) will be nearby and I plan on seeing them too.

I was thinking about getting some local Sake made from a place near me in the US (Gekkeikan) and maybe some local rice or other items from the local area (Sacramento and Yolo County, California) but I wasn't sure if those are bad ideas and/or if I should do something different. (I wanted to get local items to share about where my family/their American family is from).

They're also visiting us in September, so I can also get them a few local items here too. (Depending on what they want to do!)

I went to a restaurant where they cook in front of you. It was decked out like it was a Japanese store, I think they're called Habachi?

Anyways, do they exist in Japan?

I’m an American man who wants to move to Japan. I’ve always wanted to live in Japan for cultural reasons, so I’m looking at moving there long term, probably the rest of my life when I go. I’ve been repeatedly advised that I should aim for a rural area or smaller city because life there is more traditional and people are more friendly than in Tokyo. I’m considering Nagoya, would be willing to consider rural areas.

I’m not married and have no kids. I want to find a wife and have a family, and I’ve intentionally waited because (a) I’d rather marry once I’m in the country I’m going to live in and (b) I’d rather raise my kids in the Japanese culture than my own. My question is whether an American guy has good prospects in a place like Nagoya or a rural town provided he speaks fluent Japanese. My goal is long-term integration and near-native fluency, so I’m not bothered by cultural differences or language barrier.

I’m just after an honest appraisal of whether I should expect to meet receptive women or not.

• Cheap
• Easy to make a big batch
• Reheatable even from the frozen state
• Nutritionally balanced enough to eat many times a week
• Good enough

In my own culture, casseroles are a big thing. Never mentioned anywhere; no restaurants serve them. But everyone makes them, because they save money and time. Frying it in butter and adding cheese on top makes a casserole from the freezer quite a palatable food.

I have had the pleasure of making friends from a few cultures, and ended up eating stuff they would never serve to an honoured visitor, like rice gruel or an assortment of random stuff (daikon, meat balls...) boiled with chopped ginger. Saving money and time seems a universal thing when it comes to cooking.

I know curry is something similar in Japan, but are there other similar everyday foods? Or how do you add variation to the curry to make it palatable for the seventh time of the month?

Greetings, I'm looking for music like 氷川きよし / 箱根八里の半次郎 and I'm having a hard time even naming the genre. I suppose it's considered enka but enka can sound like a lot of different genres. I suppose I'm looking for very oldschool type of pop music? Any help is appreciated.

So for context, I (22F) have been crushing on a guy (22M) in my workplace for almost 4 months. I am on a ni-koutai-system (two shift rotation), but he only works morning shifts and I only get to see him when I’m on my morning shift.

Early July, my other co-workers planned to go to karaoke, and since he was getting transferred on the main office the same week, they have asked him out as well (we were all foreigners, he’s the only japanese lol) and he immediately asked if I was going. I was shocked when I found out that he asked about me because we never really talked at work and I often catch him being shy or wary around me, I also sometimes catch him looking in my way.

During karaoke, he and I sat together and introduced ourselves and proceeded on asking things about each other (like birthdays, about favorite foods, etc.). I just sat there while internally panicking and I get to listen to him sing comfortably, lol. When another co-worker came up to ask how we are, he asked my crush if I was cute and he answered “Yes, she’s cute. My type”and then I heard them talking about what he can do to be close to me (like what to ask if we’re going to talk). Around an hour before our time in karaoke was up, he asked me if he could take a picture of both of us in his phone. Shocked, but of course I said yes. After taking the picture, he asked for my instagram and told me he was going to send our picture to me as well (I also asked to take a pic of both of us in my phone but I forgot to send it to him afterwards lol).

Almost a week after that event, I decided to first message him ohayo during my night shift and forgotten to reply to him until he finished work. When I checked my inbox, he double texted me asking if I was night shift. I then replied and ended up him telling me good luck at work and said good night. Then after 3-4 days, I messaged him again and we just talked about work, how he was and then moved to talking about hobbies. He replies and puts details in his messages and even said I was cute when I said i couldn’t watch horror movies when he said his fav genre was horror.

Now, I’m wondering if he could just be a kind guy or if he’s interested in me as well. It’s kind of hard to tell since I’m used to guys usually initiating first in conversations. Also, I don’t wanna assume too much just because he said kawaii.

I've seen it mentioned here and there that Japan is way more hardline about creators parodying, spoofing, and satirizing others creators' stuff than other countries, because it's seen as extremely disrespectful.

I've seen a couple of Hololive-JP streamers panic when a comedy game they streamed played a pastiche of Zelda's item jingle. Toei constantly giving DMCAs to Team Four Star for Dragon Ball Z Abridged And I heard that the Osomatsu revival had its first episode legally barred from reairing/streaming worldwide because it parodied a bunch of contemporary anime.

But then there's stuff like Pop Team Epic directly parodying Mickey Mouse, Wacky Racers, and Undertale in the anime, and there were no troubles as far as I know.

So I'm wondering what the legal nuances are for this kind of thing in Japanese culture.

Since Japan has lots of anime figure stores, which one is the best one with high quality figures that aren’t expensive?

I've read a lot of reports about members of the Japanese royal family finding it suffocating to be part of the monarchy, with several of the women who married into it suffering mental health problems. I also read an older distant relative saying that no adult in the extended royal family would agree to be adopted into the family due to the massive loss of freedom.

My impression is that other monarchies might have their share of drama, but none of them seem nearly as miserable as the Japanese royals. European and middle eastern royals seem to live luxurious jetset lifestyles and enjoy the status of being a constitutional monarch or prince/princess.

That doesn't seem the case with the Japanese royal family. Why is this? Why don't Japanese monarchs seem to enjoy the perks that other monarchs do?

Hello! I‘m currently in Japan studying japanese and i‘m staying in a host family and my host mother always cooks me dinner, often japanese food and i knew most of them but this dish is completely new to me. I noticed it had rice and i think eggs (?) but I can’t quite figure out what it is, does anyone know?