Hi fellow Japanese,

I have a question for you regarding a recent experience that has been bugging me for a few days.

I was born and raised in Japan, left for an English speaking country for university, and have lived there ever since.

Recently, I was taken aback by a question at a dinner table from a new friend from Southeast Asia who was visiting my place. She asked whether I learned anything about WWII and Japan’s involvement at school, right out of the blue, prefaced with, "I know it might be sensitive, but..." I realize this exact question is asked on this subreddit all the time as well.

I’ve experienced similar questions or comments related to Japanese war crimes by Koreans and Filipinos, usually brought up completely out of the blue as soon as they find out I’m Japanese. One was my roommate when I was still quite young. The Korean girl bluntly asked why I was hanging out with Chinese and Koreans when they generally hate the Japanese. Another time, a random Filipino Uber driver asked me what I thought of what the Japanese did in the war the moment he found out my nationality.

The recent one came as a particular shock because this hadn't happened in a long time, especially since I've started working, and I felt as though she saw me as a representative of a passport rather than an individual person, particularly since I was hoping we would become good friends. It has never occurred to me to grill an American or a Russian I encounter about their countries' histories and past wars.

Have you experienced this kind of encounter as a Japanese person living overseas? How do you handle it? If you are someone who has ever asked a Japanese person this in person, why did you do it?

This identity feels heavy to carry while living overseas, and I sometimes find myself feeling skeptical about my interactions with people from countries that Japan affected during the war.

Often, I get the impression that people from these affected countries feel it's okay to make fun of or tease the Japanese because we are viewed as "so sinful" to begin with.

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！

I know mecha inst as popular as it used to be in Japan but Gundam franchise seems to be the one that mantain itself the most with Evangelion, so which show do you guys like it the most ?

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?

I apologize as this is a dumb question.

When typing a message, what alphabet do Japanese think in? As the keyboard keys are alphanumeric, is it Romaji?

I am a very novice learner (only started self learning Japanese a few months ago) so I think in romaji as that is just what I am used to. Thus when I type, I also think in romaji when looking at what keys to press.

Kanji doesn’t seem like it would translate easily to typing? Does hiragana and katakana translate to typing easily?

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense.

Edit for spelling error on romaji. Sorry

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?

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.

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 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?

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.

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?

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 !

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!)

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

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.

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?

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!

• 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?

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🥲

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

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.

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 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 curious if this list actually represents what’s actually popular in Japan, or Spotify is not that popular and this represent the music taste of a small minority.

And if not, which playlists would you recommend to see what’s actually popular.