Interesting Facts about Japan PART 2

Yo.  Interesting facts number two has arrived.  This time it’s a countdown, although they’re not listed in any particular order.

20)  In Japan, there are a more than ample amount of clothes with English writing on them, but I’ve found very few that have even reasonably coherent English on them.  They’ve even managed to make no sense with a single word, by printing “RACISM” on a shirt in sparkly lettering.  WTF.

19)  Another thing that boggles my mind is the prevalence of tiny shops in residential areas that can often barely be distinguished from ordinary houses, usually only by a sign out front or hours posted in the window.  Maybe it’s because I can’t read much, but I can’t understand how these places stay open.  My only guess is that they’ve somehow developed a returning clientele that manages to keep patronage at an acceptable level.

18)  Of all the hotdogs I’ve eaten, the ones I’ve eaten in Japan are by far the best, even better than Phil’s hotdogs, if you can believe it.  Moreover, they came from a Seven Eleven, which in Japan has it’s own bank and is one of the most popular convenience stores around.  Does your head hurt from confusion yet?  If not, then let me introduce the “Big American Dog,” which is basically a corndog, except for that it’s level of deliciousness sends me into spasms of delight every time I eat it.  It also comes from Seven, along with the most convenient ketchup/mustard packet I’ve ever seen in my entire life.  I’m planning to bring some of these home as souvenirs, after which I will gladly educate anyone I give them to on how to use them.  They’re that amazing.

17)  While I’m on the topic of food, I might as well mention the eggs.  Eggs here are fresher, the chickens are clearly healthier, and it’s one of the things I’ll probably miss quite a lot when I come back to the US, which is plainly unfortunate.

16)  Japan is responsible for quite a few international flavors of Doritoes, some of which are quite strange.  Here’s a link to both the complete list of Doritoes flavors, and a list of only the strangest ones.
(link died and became an ad)

The strangest 35

Japan is responsible for 27 out of 35 of the ones on the bizarre list.  Not to spoil the fun, but that last flavor is "chili tacos" and was probably not translated simply for amusement's sake.  In my opinion, the picture is amusing enough.  Also worth noting is that here Doritoes are synonymous with corn chips.  I’ve never seen any other brand, so if you want corn chips in Japan, you want Doritoes.

15)  A couple of curiosities about Japan’s department stores.  First, they can often found to be playing instrumental versions of older English songs, and second, I sometimes find small TV’s tucked away on the shelves advertising a nearby product.  I could see this being in the US as well, but I haven’t seen it yet.  They’re usually for either a kitchen appliance or some sort of alcohol.

14)  I’ve found Japan to be a good place for seeing interesting birds, maybe just because the birds I see are different from the ones I have at home, but it’s interesting nonetheless.  I think the birds I see the most are the giant crows that inhabit Tsuru and other areas.  If you’ve ever noticed the prevalence of crows in anime, know that there’s a reason for that.

There’s also a bird that I have yet to identify that occasionally gets really energetic and starts screaming at everything.  That one is quite annoying.

13)  Another true story that anime tells is the frequent use of umbrellas.  Tsuru at least doesn’t seem to get the sideways rain that I find in Wisconsin, and hence umbrellas are more effective at combating the frequent rain that falls here.  They’re also used for snow, which I’ve found more effective than I thought it would be.  In response to the popularity of umbrellas, almost all stores leave an umbrella rack outside their doors for customer’s convenience.  The Japanese even have a word that means “sharing one umbrella,” namely “aiaigasa,” which is frequently abbreviated as “aigasa.”  Also common is drawing an umbrella with two people's names under it to mean that they're in love, or something.

Regarding alcohol:

12)  One of my favorite things about alcohol in Japan is the widespread availability of a drink called chuuhai, which is composed of shouchuu (similar to vodka), tonic water, and some sort of flavoring, usually just fruit juice.  My favorite is lemon, as I mentioned in the previous blog entry.  These are kind of like Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff drinks, but having said that, Japan’s version is better.

Their lack of corn syrup makes them go down easier and taste better.  There are a wide variety of brands and flavors and alcohol strengths, and these drinks can be found relatively cheaply at almost every store I’ve ever been to.  Not only that, but…

11)  In Japan, every single alcoholic drink is required to have both nutrition information and alcohol percentage on the label, including beer and other softer varieties.  Also, in the case of chuuhai, the percentage of fruit juice is also found on the label.  I’ve found this to be so convenient and sensible that I’m actually pretty mad that this isn’t required in the US.  I swear it seems like all a drink manufacturer needs to do is throw a little alcohol in something and suddenly the need for any labeling whatsoever (except for the government warning) goes out the window.  I’ve never questioned this before, but if Japan can label their drinks, so can we.  So what the hell?

10)  Another interesting thing about alcohol consumption in Japan is the legal drinking age and how it is handled here.  I knew before coming here that the legal age of drinking is 20, the same age as that of adulthood, but what I didn’t know is that anyone can walk up to a cash register with no ID and purchase a drink.  This gets some question marks from me, but apparently the legal drinking age is barely, if ever, enforced.  This is why when Naru gets raging drunk in a restaurant, Keitaro tells her to calm down so that she doesn’t get busted for underage drinking.  The owner of the restaurant would probably be upset if he found out that she had ordered drinks while underage, but at the same time no one would be asked for ID to remedy the problem, and I doubt that his place would get shut down as a result of selling to minors unless it was in extreme cases.  Long story short, it seems the legal drinking age is enforced more by random citizens than by police or store clerks.

9)  Another thing police don’t enforce, because it isn’t illegal here, is public drunkenness.  So basically, I can go into a store, with no ID, buy a drink, walk outside and crack it open in front of a cop and we both say good evening to each other and go about our business.

8)  Final alcohol fact:  Considering the tendency of things to be more expensive in Japan, Alcohol is fairly cheap.  I’d say about the same price as it is in the US.  One exception is beer, which is probably more that twice the expense it would be in Wisconsin.  There’s a distinct reason for this, but I can’t remember what it is.

7)  This is probably true for other countries as well, but I thought I’d mention it here anyway:  When I go to certain websites in Japan, they automatically switch to a Japanese version of the site.  I find this endlessly annoying.  Unfortunately, as yet, I cannot read Japanese, and were I to want to go to the English version of the site it is impossible without a proxy because the default address takes me to it’s respective Japanese version.  Grr.

6)  Okay, so I knew that Japan released far more dating simulation games than the US, but I was astounded upon seeing their quantity.  Even at the small game store a few streets down there’s a couple of entire sections dedicated to them.  Also, I think most of these games have characters of high school age or below, which even if you don’t find worrisome you’ve got to think that’s at least a little strange.

I think Japan needs to encourage its youth to date, rather than telling them they should just study harder all the time.  More of them might also have realistic expectations about relationships by the time they reach adulthood.  I have heard that this tends to be more of a problem here than it is in the US.

5)  Over packaging is also more of a problem here than in the US, if you want to look at it that way.  This is brought on partially by the gift giving aspect of the culture.  If someone’s going to receive it, then it ought to be covered in a least three layers of packaging or they might suspect they aren’t special enough.

Where did four through one go?  I ate them. Goodnight everybody!