This strange Japan. The Six Creepiest and Strangest Features of Japanese Culture

And in general, these Japanese are strange people. Although damn hardworking and talented. But now we are not talking about that, but about sexual fucking in Japan, which is becoming less and less common. It is being replaced by abuse and other sadism.

A couple of months ago, the European public was shocked by the news that young people in Japan are massively giving up sex - that is, altogether. She was shocked, however, not for long: they shook their heads at the phenomenon, as if at hentai, and forgot. Meanwhile, in the ruins of online porn produced in Japan, videos with scenes of violence against women are increasingly found. What’s even worse is that those who don’t always imitate it. We understand why sexual aggression is progressing in one of the most developed and well-mannered societies in the world, as well as how modern media and centuries-old traditions are to blame for this.

On January 8 this year, the entire Japanese police force caught Yuta Sugimoto, a 20-year-old suspect in the gang rape and robbery of a woman on the street of Kawasaki. According to police, Sugimoto escaped during interrogation, taking advantage of the carelessness of the officer supervising him. “It scares us terribly that he is still on the run,” said concerned mothers. “I’ll lock the doors tighter today,” echoed the father of two elementary school students in an interview with a local channel, which, like all other media, covered the chase around the clock. The case, which was not supposed to become public, like most cases of rape in Japan, this time attracted the attention of the entire press and the police themselves: 4,000 police officers, 850 police cars, helicopters and dogs were looking for one escaped criminal, and the next day they found him found. According to official statistics, Japan has one of the lowest rates of sex crimes, and it seems that the widespread interest in the escaped rapist should confirm this. But that's not true.

Every culture defines sexual crimes in terms of what is outside the norm. So what is considered normal sex in Japan, a country of triumphant pornography and unbridled prostitution, which is still not legalized, but is not nearly as condemned as in other civilized countries?

“You know, it doesn’t seem normal to me to write an article about sex in other countries. I understand that many readers will be interested in this, but I believe that each individual has his own path and that this is a very personal story,” says a friend from Japan who, within a few minutes, unfriends me on Facebook. I get about the same answer from three other acquaintances who previously consistently laughed at all sexist jokes and discussed the most obscene hentai every day. Although it may seem like hypocrisy at first glance, this behavior is normal for the Japanese. Japanese women are a little more open, especially those who left the country about ten years ago. Satoko Asahi has lived in the United States since 2004 and says that “statistically, not all young people are interested in real sex, but this is not only the fault of technology. I believe it is controlled by the media and society. In our Japanese media, a new word has even appeared, “neutral”, denoting feminine men, as well as “herbivorous men” ( herbivore men ). Such definitions, of course, change the usual understanding of man and woman, as well as sex, and therefore lead to these oddities in love.”

“Oddities in love,” as well as a noticeable decline in young people’s interest in sex, were documented in the newspaper The Guardian . An article entitled "Why did Japan's youth stop having sex?" made a lot of noise, because in it a former professional dominatrix who turned into a sex consultant talked about Japanese celibacy. Reasons given included financial (childcare is expensive), career (women have finally managed to build a career and want to secure their position) and technological (availability and prevalence of online pornography, sex toys and hentai). The article, however, barely mentions the high level of violence in Japanese media, which supposedly turns women away from sex, and gives men the opportunity to fantasize about dark things around the clock and, as a result, deprives them of the desire to have sex in real life. According to the data Associated Press , of the total amount of pornography available, approximately 20% contain themes of rape, and these numbers are growing every year. Pornography seems so normal that it is quite common for Japanese men to read porno manga on trains while sitting next to women.

In pornographic manga, sex (even by mutual consent of the parties) is usually an action towards the woman, rather than an act of all participants in the process. When female characters express sexual desires on their own, they are often "rewarded" by loss of interest or expressions of anger from male characters. Moreover, women in manga often enjoy pain and humiliation. Such a message to readers suggests that women should not express their sexual independence, but should enjoy the role of objects of aggressive male desire. Simply put, it is the man who gets pleasure from sex. By directly participating in the creation of society's ideas about sexuality, pornography and the prevalence of the sex industry convey the idea of ​​“natural” male aggressiveness. As the Japanese saying goes, “a man’s character should not be judged below the navel.”

In a report published annually White Paper on Crime , which is freely available on the Internet, there are statistics for Japan. According to the report, the number of reported rape cases increased until 2003, but decreased steadily thereafter. According to alternative statistics from the research group of the Ministry of Justice of Japan, approximately 11% of women in Japan simply do not write a statement due to the traditional nature of Japanese society, in which the victim always provokes the rapist with her “loli” appearance. The reason lies in the Japanese legal system itself, in which there is an unspoken acceptance of one true story among all the stories of what happened.

"Individually, Japanese detectives are charming, loyal, hard-working, sincere and very decent people, but as an institution the Japanese police are arrogant and often incompetent," says Richard Perry, a British correspondent who has lived in Japan since 1995. Quite often, court decisions are made not on the basis of facts, but on the basis of the stories of the participants according to their own interpretation of events. When a subjective opinion is consistent with the prevailing ideology and beliefs, it is most often viewed as an objective truth. Stories that go against social conventions make storytellers outcasts. Therefore, there is more faith in the one who was the rapist than in the victim: she most likely enjoyed it.

It’s hard to believe, but there is one disgusting story to confirm the prevailing morals in Japan (there were no such precedents anywhere in the world). Shinichiro Wada, a student at Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University, created the club Super Free , one of the conditions for joining was participation in gang rapes. He allegedly raped about 500 women after plying them with alcohol. Wada studied political economy and turned gang rape into a profitable business. He organized drunken parties in various clubs, attracting up to 2,000 participants, each of whom had to buy a ticket. After the party, about 100 attractive girls were transported to another club, where they got drunk. Then five or six drunk girls were selected: they were brought to the headquarters Super Free and raped, filming with a camera and forcing her to smile at the camera. One of the arrested rapists, Junichiro Kobayashi, advised the boyfriend of one of the victims to “look at these photographs” and make sure that “everything happened by mutual consent.” Similar "parties" spread to seven cities in Japan and included students from Keio, Meiji and Hosei universities. Although Wada's father expressed regret for his son's actions and advised him to "have courage and kill himself," Japanese officials initially made strange statements.

Yasuo Fukuda, then chief cabinet secretary and minister for gender equality, said that "the problem is that many women dress provocatively" and are partly to blame for rape. Fukuda subsequently stated that his words were taken out of context and he “meant something completely different,” but did not specify what exactly. Waseda University responded in an interesting way: Super Free was dissolved, and a notice was posted for students - “Any sex without consent is rape, and this is a serious crime. Don't be fooled by stereotypical violence in dramas, comics and videos!

History with the club Super Free shook up Japanese society and slightly increased the rate of rape reports. For the first time in a hundred years, Japanese legislation, which has not been revised since 1907, included punishment for participation in mass rape. Japan, a leader in the world of technology and an aggregate of the world's main madness, is hopelessly behind the rest of the world in matters of gender equality. Violent comics have become a gateway to the real world: A 17-year-old student who raped 31 women told police he tried to recreate scenes he saw in pornographic magazines. Japanese youth en masse refuse to have sex. It seems that this is the first community in the world that just needs to read and watch less, and then, perhaps, sex will return to the country, in which no one is humiliated, and kind pink ponies rule the world. “Still, the blame for the lack of interest in sex lies entirely with the media. For example, can you explain why young Japanese women like to watch two gay men having sex? - asks Satoko. - I can’t, but the media spread it as a new trend, and the whole society, as a rule, clearly accepts it. It turns out that we just watch and fantasize too much instead of just living.”

Let us note that ferocity of character is not alien to the Japanese; the descendants of the Chinese who survived the massacre in Nanjing can tell about this. At the same time, the drug that causes aggression, which ISIS militants are pumped with, did not yet exist at that time, so everything came from within. But, apparently, after aggression directed to the outside world was forbidden to them, having previously been treated for violent militaristic madness with napalm, uranium and plutonium, they transferred it to the sphere of sexual life, and instead of caressing the one they naturalize ( Normally, it is pleasant not only for the recipient of the caress, but also for the caresser), they beat her.

They sleep in meetings, refer to others in the third person, and wear special slippers when going to the restroom. How else do Japanese customs differ from ours?

They use a barker

It is better not to go to the shopping streets of Japan without earplugs. Owners of local shops and cafes are still very active in using cheap advertising power - barkers. Nice girls and boys, standing at the entrance to the establishment, shout loudly and almost continuously: “Irrashyaimashe! Gorankudasaimaseee!" which can be translated as "Welcome! Come visit us! It’s quite difficult to bear when you’re not used to it, and, on the contrary, it often scares off foreigners.

They don't understand what sin is

There is a culture of shame in Japan, but in religions (both Shinto, the traditional Japanese religion, and Buddhism) the concept of sin does not exist as such. Of course, bad deeds are condemned, but only out of fear of losing face and being dishonored. In particular, foreigners from Christian countries are extremely surprised by the Japanese attitude towards suicide as a way of salvation, and not as a fall from grace, which is common in Orthodoxy or Catholicism. By the way, Japan has the highest suicide rate among developed countries.

They use special toilet slippers

In hotels and homes, the Japanese use separate plastic or rubber slippers for the toilet and bathroom. They usually stand at the entrance to the bathroom. When you go out, the flip-flops should be taken off and left in the same place. This strange tradition has two purposes: firstly, the Japanese believe that it is more hygienic, and secondly, it is immediately clear that the toilet is occupied. This rule often confuses foreigners, who, of course, always forget to change their shoes.

By the way, visiting street toilets is also often surprising. They look unusual in appearance, and inside they are equipped with the latest technology. For example, here you can turn on music so that others certainly cannot hear what you are doing there. There is also a special button to call the security service in case the client becomes ill.

They sleep at work

Falling asleep during a meeting with colleagues or right at your workplace will not be considered an embarrassment. Some Japanese practice inemuri, which literally translates to “being present during sleep.” The descendants of the samurai understand that a person needs sleep to work effectively, and therefore are not ashamed to devote half an hour to an hour of working time to dozing. At the same time, taking into account several important rules: you need to sleep directly at the table, with your head resting on your hands or the tabletop; if you fall asleep during a meeting but are addressed, you must wake up and respond; If you are new to the company and are expected to be actively involved in the work process, then inemuri will be perceived as bad manners.

They refer to each other in the third person

Don’t be surprised if a Japanese person asks you: “How is Vasily-san’s family doing?” It is not customary to pronounce personal pronouns here, although in the local language there are 15 variants of the word “I” alone. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun are accustomed to addressing each other in the third person: by surname (in official communication) with the addition of politeness suffixes (-san, -sama) or by name (among friends) also with suffixes (-kun, -chan).

They consider tipping an insult

In Japan, tipping is seen as an insult, a sign that the waiter is not doing his job well and therefore needs a monetary incentive.

They paint the trucks

On the roads of Japan you can see extravagant-looking trucks that look like Philip Kirkorov on the stage of the Kremlin Palace. They are always bright, often chrome-plated, with neon lighting and bright patterns throughout the body. Such trucks are called “dekotora”; they appeared after the release of the cult Japanese TV series “Trucker” in the 1970s. Drivers of such trucks organize meetings and exhibitions of their multi-ton friends.

Epson employee says

There is a stereotype that Japan is a good place to work. This stereotype comes from our compatriots who work by invitation in foreign companies, where the Japanese try to adapt to the level and style of foreigners. Meanwhile, in the Land of the Rising Sun itself, the traditional work system is structured in a very unique way, and it is quite difficult to exist in it. That is why there are not many foreigners building a career in classic Japanese companies. Epson employee Marina Matsumoto talks about what it’s like for the average office worker in Japan.

Dress code

Of course, the conditions depend on the specific company, but in principle the dress code in Japan is much stricter than in Russia. Failure to comply with its rules has serious consequences for the employee, including immediate dismissal.

In a traditional Japanese company, a mandatory black suit is worn regardless of the weather, even if it is +40 outside. The Japanese tolerate both heat and cold calmly, as they go through a very harsh school of hardening the body in childhood. Recently, a new law was passed allowing people to wear short-sleeved shirts to work. This is due to the forced saving of electricity, in which even in extreme heat air conditioners are no longer always used in offices.

In some companies, women are not allowed to wear fitted suits - they must be completely straight. The skirt must cover the knees.

Women's accessories are also prohibited. I have a large, serious company, it is known internationally. But I work where mostly Japanese work. At the workplace I was only allowed to wear a cross - under my clothes so that it would not be visible - and a wedding ring.

Makeup should be invisible. Japanese women love to wear bright makeup, their cheeks are very rosy, and almost all of them have false eyelashes. But at work, a woman should be as unattractive as possible to men.

In some places, women must only wear short hair that does not cover their ears. Hair color must be black. If you are naturally blonde, for example, you will have to dye your hair.

In addition to long hair, men are not allowed to wear a beard or mustache. This is an unspoken rule that everyone knows. The persistent image of the Yakuza (this is a traditional form of organized crime in Japan) gets in the way.

Subordination

When I got a job, I signed a bunch of documents, where I assured that I would not discuss anything with clients and colleagues except work: neither the weather, nor nature. I don’t have the right to share my “personal data” at work - who is my husband, how are I doing... At home I don’t have the right to talk about my work. My job is not secret, but it is customary and stated in my contract.

At work they only work

They only take to the workplace what they need for work: for me, these are documents and a pen. I can’t take my bag, wallet or phone; it remains at the checkpoint.

In Russia there is a favorite saying: if you have done your job, go for a walk. In the Russian workplace, the main thing is that you complete the plan for today. In Japan, no one is interested in “plans for today”. You come to work and have to work at it.

How the Japanese slow down the work process

In Russia, we all know that your salary depends on the results of your work. If you work poorly, you get nothing. If you work well, you receive bonuses and promotions. You’ve done everything - you can leave early or ask for an additional task to earn more.

In Japan you pay by the hour. Almost all Japanese people take overtime. But this often results in them stretching out one task that can be completed in two hours over a week. The deadlines set by the company also do not always correspond to the level of complexity of the work. The Japanese will poke around for hours, it seems to us that they work like sleepy flies, but they think that they do the job “thoroughly”. They incredibly slow down the workflow, so it’s difficult for us to work with them.

And this, by the way, is one of the main reasons why their economy was not in the best condition. They have trapped themselves with this hourly payment system. After all, in essence, work is designed not for quality, but for the number of hours spent in the office.

Long, lengthy conversations

We all know that brevity is the sister of talent, but in Japan, brevity is narrow-mindedness. The Japanese cannot speak briefly and to the point. They launch into long and extensive explanations, which are aimed at ensuring that even a narrow-minded person understands what they are talking about. Meetings can last an incredible number of hours. The Japanese believe that if they talk for a long time and in excessive detail about the same thing, then they respect the interlocutor.

Stratification of society

Growing rice requires a lot of work and organization. Therefore, historically, Japan has developed a system with a very narrow specialization of labor and strict stratification of society. Everyone has their own responsibilities and their place in the life and production process.

Japanese communities have always been clearly organized. For example, a samurai never prepared food for himself; he could easily have died of hunger if the peasantry had not helped him out.

As a result of this mentality, it is very difficult for any Japanese to make an independent decision that is not inherent in his status. They cannot take upon themselves basic responsibility that somehow goes beyond the scope of their everyday routine. To put a comma or not to put it is a problem for half a day. Preparing basic documents is a series of endless, very slow consultations. Moreover, the mandatory nature of such consultations is amazing. If an employee nevertheless takes it upon himself to make a decision that is not based on his status, then everyone in the hierarchical chain associated with him will receive a reprimand. This is eastern despotism in action: “I am a small man, I am a simple peasant, and I should only do the work assigned to me.”

Again, everything is understandable: Japan is a small country with a large overpopulation, it needs strict frameworks and rules. To survive in Japan, you need to clearly know: my border is here, and this is the border of another person, I must respect it. No one goes beyond their limits. If a Japanese man marries them, he will literally be lost.

Russia has a huge territory, vastness, and open spaces. We are not constrained. We are free. A Russian person can do whatever he wants. And the Swede, and the reaper, and the player on the pipe - this is primarily about us, Russians!

Same as everyone else

Interestingly, in Japan you are not supposed to demonstrate your difference or superiority in mind. You cannot show your uniqueness, specialness. This is not welcome. Everyone should be the same. From childhood, uniqueness is burned out there with a hot iron, so Japan will not give the world either Einstein or Mendeleev.

Famous Japanese technology is a myth. As a rule, these are ideas that were not created by the Japanese. What they are good at is deftly picking up and improving on time. But we, on the contrary, can brilliantly create and forget...

To survive in Japanese society, you have to be just like everyone else. In Russia it’s the other way around: if you’re the same as everyone else, you’ll get lost. New ideas are constantly needed to master and fill a large space.

Career

In a classic Japanese company, it takes a long time to build a career. Career advancement depends on age, not merit. A young specialist, even a very talented one, will occupy an insignificant position, work a lot and for a low salary, because he has just arrived. Because of this organization of the work process, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Japanese companies to compete in the international market. Yes, there is the concept of “Japanese quality,” but this no longer saves them, because business is conducted too much in the Japanese way.

Salary

Officially, salaries in Japan are high. But with the deduction of all taxes, which amount to almost 30%, they receive an average of a thousand dollars. Young people receive even less. At 60 years old, the salary is already a very decent amount.

Vacations and weekends

There are no holidays in Japan. Weekends are Saturday or Sunday. And, depending on the company, you are entitled to a few extra days off per year. Let’s say it’s 10 days, but you can’t take them all at once, you need to split them up. It happens that you need to take one day off during the week and go somewhere on business. In my company, I have to give a month’s notice about this so that everyone can cooperate and replace me. In some companies these terms are even longer. Taking time away from work due to an unexpected incident is problematic.

If you are sick on Monday and are thinking of not going to work, then they will not understand you. Everyone goes to work with a fever.

Weekends may include holidays, All Souls Day - Obon, in mid-August. But a young specialist does not have such an opportunity; he will work for the first two years without extra days off.

For the New Year, 1-3 days are given. If they fall on Saturday-Sunday, then no one, like in Russia, will move them to Monday-Tuesday.

There is also a “golden week” in May, when several public and religious holidays occur in a row. My husband worked all days, I had 3 days off.

Working day

Standard working hours are from 9 am to 7 pm. But the main thing you must keep in mind: if it is indicated that the working day is from nine, then you cannot come directly to this time. Even if you arrived at 8:45, you are considered late. You have to arrive to work at least half an hour before, some people come an hour before. It is believed that a person needs time to get into a working mood and prepare for work.

The end of the official workday does not mean you can go home. It is not customary to leave before your boss. If he is late in the office for two hours, then you are late too, and this will not be considered overtime. Your personal circumstances are your personal problems, which, as I already mentioned, according to the agreement I signed, are not discussed with colleagues.

Informal communication

In Japan there is the concept of “nomikai” - “drinking together”, reminiscent of a Russian corporate party. Somewhere "nomikai" takes place every day, in my company - twice a week. Of course, you can refuse, but they will look at you askance. Why drink? Because in Japan there is a positive attitude towards alcohol. Shintoism involves offerings to certain gods in the form of alcohol. Japanese doctors believe that drinking alcohol every day is beneficial. Nobody talks about doses.

The Japanese do not know how to drink and, as a rule, get very drunk. The drink itself will not cost you anything; either your boss or the company always pays for it.

Now, to further encourage visiting bars with colleagues, workers are even being paid for “nomikai.” It's part of Japanese culture to work together and drink together. It turns out that you spend almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year only with your work colleagues.

In addition to "nomikai", you need to drink with clients, with partners, with officials with whom the company is connected.

Yes, there is something similar in Russia, but it is incomparable to the Japanese alcoholic scale. And besides, in Russia the attitude towards alcohol is much more negative.

Now you can imagine the whole picture. A Japanese man leaves his house at 7 am. At work, he exists within the strict confines of his status. After the end of the official working day, he takes extra hours because he has to feed his family. He then goes out drinking with colleagues and returns home at 2 a.m., most likely drunk. He works on Saturdays. Sees his family only on Sundays. Moreover, until the evening, he can either sleep or drink all day off, because he is under terrible stress from such a cruel regime.

In Japan there is a special concept: “death by overwork.” This is a very common case when people die at their desks or, unable to withstand the workload, commit suicide. For Japan, this is par for the course, an event to which there is practically no reaction. People will even be outraged if someone's suicide interferes with their work. Everyone thinks: “Why didn’t you do this in a quiet, inconspicuous place, because of you I won’t come to work on time!”

We must understand that the Japanese did not sit and invent these rules for themselves. Everything has evolved over the centuries due to the geographical and historical uniqueness of Japan. Probably everyone will agree that they had good reasons for such a mobilization of society, constant readiness for something. Small territory, many people, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis - everything can collapse at any moment. Therefore, from childhood, the Japanese learn to work in a group, learn to survive on their own piece of land. In essence, all Japanese education is not built on teaching a person something, developing him - it teaches him to be a real Japanese, to be competitive in Japanese society. Not everyone can bear this kind of life because it is really hard.

Japan has always been known for being one step ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology. The unfavorable geographical location and unusual natural conditions of the Land of the Rising Sun made the Japanese an incredibly inventive and efficient nation.

But sometimes their creativity and technological research go too far, resulting in things that Westerners find strange and shocking. If you're planning on visiting this amazing country, be sure to check out the following 25 crazy curiosities that can only be found in Japan!

1. Artificial fangs.

Japanese women are literally crazy about pointed teeth, which in the Land of the Rising Sun are called “yabea”. Local women are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on cosmetic procedures to attach these mini fangs to their teeth.

2. Toilet slippers.

The Japanese are renowned for their strict hygiene and sanitation habits, so it's no surprise that they have toilet slippers, which are used to minimize contact between the unclean bathroom floor and the clean floor in the rest of the house.

3. Unusual parking lots.

More than 126 million people live in Japan. Naturally, saving space has become one of the main concerns for local residents, and parking spaces are no exception. If you come to a shopping center, you will probably come across these unusual parking spots.

Judging by the ingredients, Japanese mayonnaise is no different from ordinary mayonnaise, but it is its use that makes the Japanese strange. While the rest of the world typically uses mayonnaise on sandwiches and salads, the Japanese use traditional Kewpie mayonnaise for... ice cream, chips and even pancakes.

5. Super umbrella.

When a downpour is accompanied by strong winds, an ordinary umbrella is useless. The Japanese solved this problem with their characteristic ingenuity.

6. Girls in elevators.

In Western countries, lifters are almost extinct. You can no longer find them in department stores and hotels - it’s cheaper. But in Japan, this amazing service is still available.

7. Microwave puppy.

A super umbrella can protect you from the rain, but what will you do if it suddenly gets cold? Forget blankets! Japan came up with this wonderful puppy that will keep you warm. Just pop it in the microwave and voila!

8. Sleep in the office.

While in the Western world, falling asleep in the office is considered unacceptable behavior, which can result in a reprimand or worse, Japanese business culture allows office workers who work so much to do so-called "inemuri" - dozing off at work. Some employees even imitate inemuri to make their bosses think they are working really hard.

9. Japanese whiskey.

Have you ever heard of Japanese whiskey? It's definitely worth a try. It is available almost everywhere and is quickly gaining traction due to its quality. Suntory's Hibiki brand recently won several awards for being the "best whiskey in the world."

10. Chin rest in the subway.

The Japanese work very hard, so it is not surprising that sometimes they fall asleep on the subway. To support their heads, some sleepy workaholics use this special device.

11. Unusual additives for ice cream.

Japanese perverted taste is well known to everyone, but still some things amaze even those who have seen a lot. For example, would you like to try ice cream with horse meat, cactus, coal or octopus?

12. Ear examination device.

So, imagine that one day you realized that you urgently need to look into your own ears. The Japanese invention pictured above will make your dream come true. Thanks to a special device, you can find out for sure where the largest lumps of wax are hidden in the ear canals. Go for some ear treasures!

13. Vending machines.

At first glance, most Japanese slot machines are not very different from those that can be seen in Europe or the USA. However, it is worth noting their ubiquity and strange content. After all, in Japanese vending machines you can buy everything - from religious objects near ancient temples on Mount Fuji to fresh eggs, pancakes and batteries. And also umbrellas and even worn underwear.

14. Mop children.

Yes, you read that right. Mop children. Just give your baby a chance to clean the house while he crawls on the floor. This overalls with a “built-in” mop is another crazy Japanese invention.

15. Endless bubbles.

So many people love to pop air bubbles on wrapping film for fragile items. The Japanese took this popular entertainment to a new level and came up with... endless bubbles that are constantly filled with air and which can be popped constantly!

16. The world's shortest escalator.

It is located in the basement of the More's department store in the Japanese city of Kawasaki. It has only five steps, and its height is 83 cm. Who said that Americans are the laziest?

17. Creepy forest for suicides.

For many, the forest is a place where it’s nice to take a walk, watch the birds, or relax with friends around the fire. But in Japan, even here there are some strange things. Japan's Aokigahara Forest is officially called the "suicide forest." It is located at the foot of Mount Fuji. The trees in this forest grow so densely that they block the wind, making it eerily quiet. This is why it has become a popular place for suicides. According to statistics, about 100 people lose their lives here every year.

18. Unusual Kit Kat flavors.

You've heard of Kit Kat chocolate, right? And you probably already realized that the Japanese love strange tastes and aromas. Well, they made it to Kit Kat. What do you think of the Baked Potato and Soy Sauce flavored Kit Kat? Or maybe you want to try a Wasabi flavored Kit Kat? By the way, these, God forgive me, chocolates are very popular in Japan.

19. Pillows for single men.

For those Japanese who do not have a wife or girlfriend, local companies make pillows like these. Well, at least this fake girlfriend will never argue with you.

20. Pillows for single women.

Naturally, single women were not forgotten either.

21. Braille on beer cans.

When you buy a can of beer in Japan, you may find these strange symbols on it. This is an inscription in Braille for the blind, who also deserve the joy of a cool beer. This is such a touching and obligatory concern for the visually impaired in Japan.

22. Bicycles, bicycles and more bicycles.

Due to overpopulation and lack of space, bicycles have long become one of the most convenient means of transportation in Japan. So such spectacles are not uncommon in the country, especially at train stations, near shopping centers and other crowded places.

23. Japanese toilets.

More precisely, “Japanese super toilets”. These are toilet seats with a water supply function that will wash... your butt and genitals. And although the Japanese have long been accustomed to such... ahem... care, foreigners are sometimes frightened by such a charge in the ass.

24. Island of gas masks.

To the southeast of Honshu is the island of Miyakejima with the active Oyama volcano. Since its last eruption in 2005, there has been a constant leak of poisonous gas, forcing everyone on the island to wear gas masks...at all times! If a sharp rise in sulfur levels is noticed in the air, alarms are triggered.

25. Capsule hotels.

This is probably the craziest Japanese invention in history, which was picked up by the whole world. Such "hotels" first appeared in Tokyo in 1979 and have since successfully served hundreds of thousands of clients - from busy businessmen to drunks who are afraid to return home late at night.

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The Japanese love cleanliness, and sterile cleanliness. The morning for a store owner begins with washing the sidewalk in front of the entrance to his establishment. Cleaners wipe out trash cans. Markers dust off parking lines and return them to their virgin whiteness. Airline employees on their knees, by hand, with duct tape cleans the smallest specks from carpets.

Cleanliness in Japanese

In every house, even the smallest, there is a special place in front of the door where take off street shoes and put on flip-flops. Entering a house without taking off your shoes is the height of indecent impoliteness. In front of the toilet there are special slippers with the inscription “Toilet”.

Japanese bath

The Japanese simply cannot understand how Europeans manage to relax in a bathtub with dirty, soapy water. is categorically different from the same ritual in other countries. First, they will lather up, wash away the dirty foam with a stream from the shower, and only then plunge into a scalding hot bath, where they will “soak” until they are completely satisfied.

The love of cleanliness is caused by vital necessity. Most of the country is located at latitudes of the thirties and forties - that is, in the climate zone of California or Crete. So Summer in Japan is quite hot and humid.

IN Lately The obsession with hygiene among the Japanese turned into a mania, taken to the point of absurdity. The country was literally swept by a wave of antibacterial products: kitchen utensils, cutting boards, toilets, towels, curtains, ballpoint pens, sheets, socks, toys... Not a bad addition to the 500 billion trade turnover per year!

It’s not just things that need to be clean and disinfected. The human body must also literally squeak with cleanliness, and even the slightest hint of physiological secretions of the body is unacceptable.

Young Japanese women take special pills so as not to leave behind the notorious “aroma” in toilet stalls. If a girl happens to forget about taking her medication in the morning, she would prefer to endure it all day long, rather than cover herself with shame.

From simple holes in the floor, Japanese toilets have evolved into something that looks more like a computerized captain's bridge.

Toilet stalls are literally packed with high-tech electronics: from special thermal devices that gently warm your buttocks just as long as you sit “on the throne”, to adjustable nozzles that promptly release streams of heated water from below, and then dry the wet parts of your body with dry and hot air.

Similar works of art have already been installed in almost all of them. As a result, children began to shy away from ordinary toilets, which are still installed in schools, not to mention the primitive “monsters” where you need to squat.

Everything that happens behind the doors of the women's cubicles must remain a secret. Fearing that the sounds would give them away, they got used to flushing the water before the “process” began. Not to wash it away, but to drown out all other sounds with the noise of flowing water. Trying to save water and make money at the same time, Japanese manufacturers came up with a special one.

Now it's in many public restrooms (at least women's ones), and is located next to the toilet paper roll. When you press the button, the mechanism imitates the sound of water being released. One of the models was called “Princess Melody”.

Some of these devices have tiny light bulbs built into them. They light up sequentially, one after the other, so that the light runs from left to right, indicating how long the recording will play. Press the button again, and you can relax as much as you like under the soothing and incessant splash of water.

High technology in a Japanese toilet stall

Everywhere. And even in toilets - this is almost the most important thing. Japanese toilet models are equipped with sensors, which immediately allows you to take a urine test and transmits it wirelessly to your doctor.

A few more arguments about Japanese purity

Computer mouse can become a breeding ground for infection in the office if it is not made of antiseptic material, so do not thoughtlessly grab it with your bare hands. First wrap it in antibacterial handkerchief, – and only then “click” for your health.

Insert an antibacterial card into the ATM and it will spit out a sterilized wad of banknotes. Office phones are regularly sprayed with antibacterial spray Taxi drivers wear white gloves. The bacteria were not given the slightest chance. © Materials compiled from information from the book “Those Strange Japanese” (authors: Sahoko Kaji, Noriko Hama, Jonathan Rice)

If you are not in Japan, but, for example, in Ukraine, then nothing can stop you from maintaining Japanese cleanliness and order in your home. You don’t have to go to extremes, spraying everything around with antibacterial sprays, but buying a vacuum cleaner in Ukraine is a simple matter and good for your health. Cleanliness is the key to health. The Japanese are the first in this.

1. Japanese phones have a built-in national emergency notification system. When some kind of cataclysm occurs, a loud beep sounds on all phones (even if the sound was turned off) and a message appears explaining what happened and how to behave.

1. In Japan, girls show affection and give gifts on Valentine's Day. I won’t tell you what this tradition is connected with, but today it performs an important social function: it allows girls to say “yes” without waiting for a Japanese man to have the courage to approach her.

2. In Japan, fish and meat are cheap, but fruits are very expensive. One apple costs two dollars, a bunch of bananas costs five. The most expensive fruit, melon, a variety like our “torpedo”, will cost two hundred dollars in Tokyo.

3. In Japan, pornography is sold absolutely everywhere. In every konbini (grocery store), there is always a separate shelf with hentai on the press counter. In small bookstores, hentai makes up a third of the total assortment; in large bookstores, 2-3 floors are devoted to pornography.

4. Hentai is allowed to be freely sold to minors.

5. The two most popular subgenres of hentai are violence and underage sex.

6. Wrapped in a cover, hentai can be easily read on the subway.

7. The Japan Subway and JR have women-only cars. They are added in the mornings so that during rush hour no one harasses the girls. The Japanese are voyeurs, and groping girls on crowded trains is something of a national sport.

8. At the same time, Japan has one of the lowest rape rates in the world. Five times less than in Russia. It seemed important to me to note this, after everything I said above.

9. Most Japanese characters consist of 2-4 syllables, but there are surprising exceptions. For example, the character 砉 is read as “hanetokawatogahanareruoto”, that’s thirteen syllables! Describes the sound made when flesh is separated from bone.

10. The issue of honor still plays a central role in Japan, even in politics. The last Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, resigned after failing to fulfill his campaign promise (sic!). Two of his predecessors too.

11. Japan is a small country, but there are a lot of big things here. It is home to the world's most expensive amusement park, Disney Sea, and four of the ten tallest roller coasters. Tokyo has the most developed subway system in the world, the largest railway hub and the largest mixed pedestrian intersection.

12. In Japan, it is customary to sculpt snowmen strictly from two balls, and not three, as in the rest of the world. And then the Japanese distinguished themselves.

13. Colonel Sanders is one of the main symbols of Christmas in Japan, like Coca-Cola in the USA. On Christmas Eve, the Japanese like to go to KFC with the whole family and eat a large portion of chicken wings.

14. In Japan, 30% of weddings still take place as a result of matchmaking and bridesmaids organized by parents お見合い (omiai).

15. In all northern cities of Japan, where snow falls in winter, sidewalks and streets are heated. There is no ice, and there is no need to remove snow. Very comfortably!

16. However, in Japan there is no central heating. Everyone heats the apartment as best they can.

17. In Japanese there is a word 過労死 (Karoshi), meaning “death from overwork.” On average, ten thousand people die every year with this diagnosis. Studio Ghibli director Yoshifumi Kondo, author of my favorite The Whisper of the Heart, died with this diagnosis.

18. Japan has one of the most liberal tobacco laws. Smoking is allowed everywhere except on railway platforms and airports.

19. Japan is the last country in the world to formally retain the title of Empire.

20. The Japanese imperial dynasty was never interrupted. The current Emperor Akihito is a direct descendant of the first Emperor Jimmu, who founded Japan in 711 BC.

21. Japan turned 2671 this year.

22. Japanese people constantly talk about food, and when they eat, they discuss how they like the treat. Having dinner without saying “oishii” (delicious) several times is very impolite.

23. In general, the Japanese love repetition. When girls do this, it is considered kawaii.

24. The Japanese language simultaneously uses three types of writing: Hiragana (a syllabary system for writing Japanese words), Katakana (a syllabary system for writing borrowed words) and Kanji (hieroglyphic writing). It's crazy, yes.

25. There are no guest workers in Japan. This is achieved by a simple law: the minimum salary at which it is allowed to hire a foreign worker in Japan exceeds the average salary of a Japanese worker. Thus, the path to the country remains open for highly paid specialists, and unskilled migrant labor does not dump the wages of local residents. Solomon's solution.

26. More than half railways private in Japan. Non-state carriers are responsible for 68% of the country's total rail traffic.

27. Hirohito was never removed from power; after the war, he led the reformation and ruled until 1989. Hirohito's birthday is a national holiday and is celebrated every April 29th.

28. Mount Fuji is privately owned. In the Shinta shrine Hongyu Sengen, a deed of 1609 has been preserved, with which the Shogun transferred the mountain into the possession of the temple. In 1974, the authenticity of the deed of gift was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Japan, after which there was no other choice but to transfer the ownership of the mountain to the temple. Because property rights in Japan are inviolable.

29. The Japanese language has several levels of politeness: colloquial, respectful, polite and very polite. Women almost always speak a respectful form of the language, men a colloquial one.

30. Seven percent of the male population of Japan are Hikkikomori. Seven!!!

31. In Japanese, months do not have names; instead, they are designated by serial numbers. For example, September is 九月 (kugatsu), which means “ninth month.”

32. Before Japan opened up to the West, the only word to describe romantic attraction was 恋 (koi), literally meaning “an irresistible attraction to something unattainable.”

33. Japan is a mono-ethnic country, 98.4% of the total population are ethnic Japanese.

35. In Japan they eat dolphins. They are used to make soup, cook kushiyaki (Japanese kebab), and even eat them raw. Dolphin has quite tasty meat, with a distinct taste and is completely different from fish.

36. There are practically no personal pronouns in the Japanese language, and those words that are sometimes used as pronouns have at least one more meaning. In Russian, for example, the pronoun “ya” means nothing other than “I”, and in Japanese 私 (watashi, ya) also means “private, personal”; 貴方 (anata, you) - “my master.” It is polite to use “anat” only when meeting for the first time; then it is customary to address the interlocutor by name or position.

37. Tokyo is the safest metropolis in the world. Tokyo is so safe that children as young as six can use public transport on their own. This is fantastic indeed.

38. The Japanese consider the outside world very dangerous and are afraid to travel. So a Japanese friend once asked me whether it would be too dangerous for her to stay alone in the Kensington Gardens area of ​​London. They consider the United States to be the most dangerous country.

39. The ninth article of the Japanese constitution prohibits the country from having its own army and participating in wars.

40. In Japan, the school year begins on the first of April and is divided into trimesters. Schoolchildren study from April to July, then September to December and from January to March.

41. There are no trash cans in Japan because all garbage is recycled. Waste is divided into four types: glass, incinerable, recyclable and non-incinerable waste. Each type of waste is removed on a certain day and can be thrown away only on strictly designated dates. For violating the procedure there is a large fine, in my house it is one hundred thousand yen (about a thousand dollars).

42. There are also no trash bins on the streets, only special bins for collecting bottles. A good example of what is clean where people don’t shit.

43. Japan has very low pensions. The maximum social benefit for poor old people is 30,000 yen, which is about three hundred dollars. There is also no compulsory pension insurance; it is assumed that every Japanese person must take care of his own old age.

44. Godzilla (Gojira in Japanese) is not an accidental name. This is a portmonteau of the words “Gorilla” and “Kujira” (whale). One can only guess how they crossed so that they got a reptile.

45. Transport in Japan is very expensive; the cheapest metro ticket costs 140 yen (50 rubles).

46. ​​In Japan, men are always served first. In a restaurant, the man is the first to place an order, and the drink is brought to him first. In stores they always greet the man first.

47. The Japanese drive big cars. It is impossible to find city cars even in cramped Tokyo, but there are a lot of jeeps.

48. During my entire time in Japan, I have not seen a single toilet without a heated toilet seat and with fewer than 10 buttons. And recently I discovered that the toilet in my house can make the sound of running water in order to hide, um, its own sounds.

49. In Japan, everyone knows that Hello Kitty comes from England.

50. Tipping is strictly not accepted in Japan. It is believed that as long as the client pays the prescribed price for the service, he remains on an equal footing with the seller. If the buyer tries to leave extra money, he thereby depreciates the service/product provided to him, reducing equal exchange to a handout.

51. During the year of living in Japan, I never encountered any manifestations of racism against myself. I think this is very cool.

52. Japan is the best country in the world.

53. On Japanese MTV there is a popular series Usavich, a cartoon about two birds with one stone, Putin and Kiriyenko, trying to survive in a police state.

54. The age of consent in Japan is 13 years old.

55. Japan is three times the size of England. The area of ​​Japan is 374,744 km², England is 130,410 km².

56. Japan is often cited as an example of an overpopulated country. In fact, Japan's population density is only 360 people per square kilometer. This is less than in England, where there are 383 people per square kilometer.

57. In Japanese, the words “irregular” and “different” are expressed by the same word 違う (chigau).

58. In Japan, things have taken root that twenty years ago seemed like the future, but today leave a strange retro-futuristic impression. Automatic doors in taxis, vending machines that sell everything from fruit, to soups, to used underpants. Fantastic shaped trains and funny fashion. This is all very cool.

59. The Japanese word 御来光 (goraiko) describes the sunrise seen from Mount Fuji. Japanese has a lot of meaningful words.

60. Hitler admired the integrity of the Japanese nation and called them “honorary Aryans.” In apartheid-era South Africa, the Japanese were the only ones who were not denied rights, as they were considered “honorary whites.”

61.In Japan, girls show affection and give gifts on Valentine's Day. I won’t tell you what this tradition is connected with, but today it performs an important social function: it allows girls to say “yes” without waiting for a Japanese man to have the courage to approach her.

62. There is no looting in Japan. If you type “looting in japan” into Google, you will only find tens of thousands of surprised foreigners who cannot understand why empty houses are not looted in Japan.

63. The Japanese speak almost no English, but use a fantastic number of Anglicisms. Alex Case tried to make a list, counted over 5,000 words and got tired of continuing (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) However, the Japanese pronunciation of them is so distorted that you can not hope to understand them, or that they will understand you if you pronounce the word with an original accent.

64. Few people know that the words “cotton wool”, “pollock” and “ivashi” are borrowed from Japanese. I think everyone knows about “tsunami” and “typhoon”.

65. Japanese also has borrowings from Russian. The words イクラ “ikura; caviar” and ノルマ “noruma; norm". There is also a funny expression “ヴ・ナロード” “wu people; to the people,” it was inherited from Alexander II.

66. Japan has the death penalty. Last year, eight criminals were executed in Japan. The last two executions were attended by the Japanese Minister of Justice.

67. Japan has the lowest murder rate and the lowest violent crime rate per 100 thousand population of all countries analyzed. It has the highest average life expectancy in the world.

68. Tokyo is home to one of the largest gay districts in the world, Shinjuku-Ni-Chome. It has the largest concentration of gay bars in the world.

69. Japanese and Chinese characters are one and the same. There are regional differences: in Chinese there are more characters and in simplified form they are written differently. But knowing Japanese, you can understand the general meaning of Chinese signs.

70. Instead of a signature in Japan, they put a special personalized hanko stamp. Every Japanese has such a seal and it is used many, many times a day. You can also buy it at any store.

71. Japan is the only country in the world where the criterion for a train being late is a minute mark.

72. In Japan, it is considered impolite to open a gift in the presence of the giver. They thank him for it, and then put it aside to open it in private.

73. The Japanese believe that a person should be able to hide suffering behind a smile. There is even a saying 顔で笑って心で泣く (Kao de waratte kokoro de naku; smile while you suffer inside).

74. The Japanese are a nation of very passionate people. If they do something, they strive for complete authenticity. Thus, in all French bakeries, Japanese inscriptions are duplicated in French. An Italian gelateria will have ice cream labeled in Italian, and a Spanish restaurant will have a menu in Spanish. However, there will be nothing in English. Sometimes it seems that for them it is just “another European language.”

75. In Japan, property rights are strictly observed, so there are dozens of companies with a history of more than a thousand years. For example, the Hoshi Ryokan Hotel has been continuously operating since 718. It has been run by the same family for 46 generations (sic!).

76. Tanuki are wayward Japanese werewolf animals that bring happiness and prosperity. Their eggs are a traditional symbol of good luck. For the canonical happiest tanuki, the area of ​​the eggs should be 8 tatami, which is 12 meters. In case of trouble, they take retribution with them. Studio Ghibli has a wonderful cartoon about them, Pom Poko, check it out.

77. Two thirds of Japan is covered with forests. Japan prohibits commercial logging of its own forests, but it consumes 40% of all the wood that is mined in tropical forests.

78. For 10 years, from 1992 to 2002, Japan was the largest donor of international aid in the world. This is a word for everyone who is now gloating over the Japanese disaster.

79. When the conductor enters the next carriage of a high-speed train, he must take off his headdress and bow, and only then begins to check the tickets.

80. In Japan, the third way has been successful, which we have been looking for for a long time and cannot find. There is a unique organization of society here: on the one hand, a completely Western legal state, on the other, an original culture that lives not only by traditions, but is constantly evolving. I don’t understand why no one in Russia studies the Japanese experience.