Things that rule and suck about life in Japan vs. Life in America

Things that rule about life in Japan:

excellent, inexpensive national health care
less of a rich-poor gap
people are kind
service in shops and restaurants is excellent
being treated nicely because you are a foreigner
you don't have to tip
POS Bush is far, far away, and so are the freeper scum infesting America
nobody ever talks about abortion because it's not an issue here (it's legal, end of story).
there is quick, efficient, economic mass transit to almost anywhere you want to go
the countryside is beautiful
there is an amazing array of the latest electronic gizmos on sale - cheap
I don't understand the workings of the government here so well, so I don't obsess about the politics here. Can't vote anyway.
I have as much freedom as I did in the states, except I can't walk while eating or drinking without drawing scornful stares. What is enforced by rules in dictatorships is enforced by scornful stares in Japan.
The little cakes and confections are delicious
Wendy's and McDonald's and KFC are cleaner, nicer, and taste better than in the states.
People recycle their bath water to wash the laundry.
There's a little sink to wash your hands on top of the toilet.
EXCELLENT educational system, with a wonderful comeraderie between students

Things that suck about life in Japan:

always hitting your head on the low-ass doors
less space
crowds everywhere you go
always being the center of attention because you are a foreigner - you can live here 20 years, but you will never "blend in" people will compliment you on your use of chopsticks and kindergarten-level Japanese until the day you die.
It's hot as hell in summer, but a lot of people here hate air conditioning and want to set it to 82 deg. fahrenheit.
It's cold as a mofo in winter, but a lot of people here hate heat and want to set it to 58 deg. fahrenheit. My old boss when I taught English insisted that the body heat of myself and the students would "warm up the classroom in no time". Watching their little noses drip as my hands got numb from the ice-cold blackboard was NOT FUN.
People give you major bad vibes if you don't conform. On the aforementioned A/C and heat thing, I don't bend. I don't function well in extreme heat or cold - DEAL WITH IT.
It's hard to get to know people because they never want to progress beyond "small talk".
People expect you to be "genki"(enthusiastic) all the time.
Koizumi is Bush's number 2 fluffer.
All the salarymen wear the exact same suit. Almost black, boring tie, fit just small enough to make them look really uptight and uncomfortable on hot summer days.
A lot of people, especially men, still smoke. Many restaurants don't have non-smoking sections.
It's boring much of the time, due to the conformist culture and the tendency to want everything planned and mapped out in advance - very little spontaneity
The only "American" chains are McDonald's, Wendy's and KFC, and the KFC doesn't have mashed potatoes & gravy, and instead of extra crispy, they have "spicy".
Every TV show is hosted by Mino Monta

No SNL on TV.
Schools are a bit much in terms of conformity, oddballs are bullied.


Things that rule about life in the US:

Mexican food
Garbage disposals
space, space, space
great comedy on TV
people have a good sense of humor
Some cities and wilderness areas are stunningly beautiful.
Free interstate highway system
Clothes that fit me are readily available
doors are a decent height
Good BBQ
Arbys' Green Burrito, In & Out, other tasty chains
No Corn or potatoes on pizza
Oatmeal is never served like this:


Everything, every product is catered to MY cultural sensibilities
Free public education is much better than people give it credit for.


Things that suck about the US

Ruled by a cynical, deranged mass murderer and a bunch of corporations
Health care is bad, long waits, and outrageously expensive
groceries are almost as expensive as in Japan
rent is higher than in Japan, except the really cheap markets (contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of places to lie here besides expensive Tokyo)
People seem distracted by social issues and oblivious to the destruction of the middle and working classes
there's a lot of crime, but they lock up small-time drug dealers
SUVs and sprawl
no decent transit in most places, you HAVE to use a car
Rush-addled psychos all over the place, constantly regaling you with their parroted opinions
Fast food chains are filthy, the staff surly, and the food doesn't taste fresh
A million channels, but not a decent thing on TV
Ryan Seacrest
Public schools have to constantly have fundraisers just to function despite massive spending - where is all the money going? Not to the classroom.
Parents allow, and even encourage their kids to cheat in school.

... thanks for typing it in :)

No rhyme or reason to it. To me, it's very hard to say which is better.

But Americans always seem to think America is the greatest place to live - at least the ones who've never lived anywhere else think so.

And Japanese are the same way. They can't imagine why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

Less of a rich / poor gap? Really..... Haven't you see the urban outdoorsmen sleeping in their shacks in all the parks, and road underpasses?

There are a lot of people displaced by the decade-long recession, and there is really very little in the way of shelters or homeless services. But overall, there is less of a disparity. The rich are not as disgustingly rich here, and there are not as many living in dire poverty as the states.

That doesn't mean it's a socialist utopia.

I remember eating corn pizza at Shakeys in Yokosuka. It was the tastiest pizza I had ever eaten.

Japan was a great place to be a kid.

Pros about Japan:

You can leave stuff sitting on your table (including a laptop) and go to the bathroom, or leave a bike outside, or leave something on the ground in the park and walk away for a moment, and not have to worryt that someone will have stolen it within 1.5 milliseconds. IN fact, you don't have to worry about it being stolen pretty much at all, even if you were to leave it overnight.

Almost no vandalism or graffiti or other ugly criminal bullshit; beauty is very much appreciated.

(And I don't know about where you are, but Kyoto has a Shakey's as well as the ubiquitous KFCs, McDonalds, and, now, Starbucks. I wonder if this is the only Shakey's outside of the US? Hell, there aren't many left in the US, either).

American "urban youth culture" has sadly started to make its way here, and many young Japanese are aping hip-hop fashion, and there is a lot more graffiti along the train corridors than there was 11 years ago.

I've never seen a Shakeys, but Subway, Sizzler and Tony Roma's all went under here. There is a Hard Rock Cafe, but their food is not worth listening to the deafening music there.

Starbucks? Don't go there. Have a "thing" about Starbucks.

it seems to be from the rap and hiphop crowd. I found myself cringing every time I came across Japanese youth dressed in the rap or hiphop styles, as I realize that the good Japan is slowly being lost to the worst elements of American "culture", whether the criminal hoodlum look of rap and hiphop, the slut look, the ugly fast fooding and empty consumerism, or lack of etiquette and civility.

However I would never want to live there. I have heard too much about what life is like there.
Visit yes, I am going for three weeks...live there no. I don't know if you mentioned Okinawa?
I heard people there wish to be called Okinawans rather than Japanese. I wonder if it would be better to live there? Not that I would. I love San Francisco, I will live here till it falls into the sea and we have plenty of Japanese here to keep me talking.

I'd totally dig that. :bounce:

Dave Barry's book on Japan had a great section about Japanese baseball games, the quiet, the designated cheering sections, and his faux pas.

I dunno...

Each team has its own designated cheerers and a special cheering section where the assemble all of their equipment. They lead all cheers for the team while most people just accompany them with clacking noise makers. Also, you only cheer while your team is at bat--while the other team is up their cheering section works their side of the arena.

Incredibly surreal, but very entertainig.

It's contrary to American baseball tradition, and I'm a hard-core traditionalist.

But the Bleacher Creatures, the fan group I co-founded in the minor leagues, had semi-organized cheers — or razzings, really — and I dug the shit out of it.

It's a hell of a lot better than thousands of people who don't know anything about baseball hollering "YOU SUCK!" and stuff. :eyes:

When I worked on the JET program I discovered that the national pastime for Japan is serious drinking. Many companies have a very strict unwritten rule that says employees can not speak ill of their supervisor. However, what is said while drunk is immediately forgotten by all parties involved. As a result, many companies now "require" employees to go drinking on numerous occasions each week just to hear what they really think of a company. Japan has the highest percentage of over-drinking and alcoholics in the world.

I, of course, experienced this regularly, and my tolerance for alcohol by the end of my stay was around 10 beers before serious motor skills malfunctions. Even still, I woke up under the sink in a restaurant's bathroom before (another guy was passed out by the toilet), woken up in bed and discovered that I had acquired a lava lamp, free passes to Star Wars Episode II, and a girl's phone number--none of which I remember obtaining, been visited a few times by the police, and, after a Christmas party, set out on a bike ride with two friends. By the time we were done two of the bikes were totaled, and one of my friends now has a facial scar from riding directly into the side of a wall.

The positive (outside of some very amusing stories)?

Nomi-houdais! You pay one fee and get 3 or 4 hours of open bar. God, I miss those.

I loved reading your post.

You are so lucky to have experienced both cultures.

Pros about Japan:

The government is corrupt as hell, but it's thinking about the future (especially the environment and the aging of the population) and is encouraging businesses to do so as well.
The food. Nobody outside of Japan can make a decent tonkatsu or sushi rice, and some foods (kamameshi) never show up at all in the U.S.
They speak Japanese in Japan!
People don't think that drawing and singing are just for professionals.
The concept of omoiyari--acting with consideration for the feelings and convenience of others
Japanese hospitality
The sense of history
The festivals
The streets are lively and full of people
It has a lot of variety for a country where nearly everyone's in the same ethnic group.
Public baths

Cons about Japan

Bureaucracy
Ridiculously difficult colege entrance exams followed by ridiculously easy colleges
Over-developed system of hierarchy
Filthy public restrooms in train stations, often with no soap or towels
Hot, muggy summers
Earthquakes
TV shows that outdo ours for being completely asinine

the almost psychotic obsession, with cleanliness of all sorts, including the whole separate-slippers-for-the-toilet idea, the toilet in a room all by itself idea, and even the no shoes inside, and all the other rules about cleanliness they have, and yet, in the public bathrooms, one either gets a method to dry one's hands OR one gets soap OR, more likely, neither.

I've asked my partner about this, but she never gave a good answer. I ask, "Why, for a country that is so fucking out of control anal about cleanliness, especially so absolutely fearful that anything bathroom-based might enter the world, do you not provide a way to cleanse your hands after you've shat? You've made sure I don't have any bathroom-ness on my feet when i come out, you've made sure that my clothing didn't touch the bathroom floor, but you don't care that I have germs from poop and pee on my HANDS?!?!?!?!"

Is that a country so obsessive about recycling almost everything, that the people generate so much unnecessary waste. I am especially thinking of product packaging. Why is every Oreo cooking in its own bag inside of the big bag? When I get a dozen bagels why is the compulsion to put plastic wrap around each before putting them in the paper bag? Rhetorical questions I know, but that aspect of living there always got to me.

stop using so much plastic.

It's all beautiful, and is fun when one gets home to then unwrap all the "gifts", but it produces a shitload of waste.

I told storekeepers not to wrap my purchases, because I knew that airline security for my U.S. connecting flight would just require me to unwrap them.

I could tell that they really felt uneasy about letting me take items out of their store in JUST a box and bag.

...everything. Maybe it comes from being a culture developed in a land with so little space, I'm not sure, but it is odd.

When I order my Big Mac, no sauce at McDonalds, they REFUSE to put mustard on it or give me a packet of mustard, so I have to ask for ketchup and put that on it. Even if you get fries, you have to ASK for the ketchup.

:wtf:

And yet others go around all day in a surgical mask because they have a cold?

True, some things make no sense at all...

I've never been but I like to watch Sumo and bicycle track racing whenever it is on.

She decided to learn English and make a living as a translator here in the US, and has done well.

She has some very hot buttons about Japanese culture, including the conformity and sexism.

Being military (Navy) I suppose I saw a far different culture from what the OP describes. I was stationed on shore duty Yokosuka after returning from Korea and Sasebo.

Exchange rate 360 Yen to a dollar.

I never saw a public rest room.

We Sailors moved through the society with an arrogance which shames me even today.

Benjo buckets full of human waste was a common and odorous sight sitting in the open waiting for pick up to be taken to the farmers fields.

Men and women would pee in the open.

Most food establishements were off limits to the Military. We were told not to eat local fruits and veggies.

It was nearly impossible to find an eatery that served beef-except in Sukiyaki and that meat was often said to really be dog meat disguised as beef.

Tokyo was not a nice place to visit. Shimbashi was the military hangout. Cheap everything. " When Its Soba Slurping Time in Shimbashi" was a real song.

At one time I lived with my girl friend and her sister in a house I rented. It had a benjo, a single cold water faucet in a cooking area and one electric light bulb. All major bathing was done at the public bath-also off limits to we sailors. (But we used them anyway)

In my dress white uniform I once visited a remote village where I drew the attention of some Japanese boys in baseball uniforms. "Basebaaalll basebaaalll" the say to me. They toss the ball at me and me being very awkward I miss the catch. I could see the terrible disappointment in their eyes. I am sure they thought All Americans were baseball stars. I bought them some sweets and the became very happy.

Inside the Buddha at Kamakura the walls were covered with graffiti. I understand one no longer has free access to the Buddha. At that time we did.

The official occupation of Japan ended in April 1952 but I think it took a few more years for everybody to become accustomed to it.

180

1. A long long time ago I heard that Japanese men lack an enzyme to process alcohol, and hence they will get drunk on sake faster than an American man. Any truth to this?

2. Several years ago Mrs. Kay and I went to London, and ate lunch at a Japanese (I think) restaurant, hibachi-style, but the chef made a sort of thick omelet rather than the usual Benihana-type fare. She chopped and mixed vegetables on the hibachi, whipped up eggs, formed it into a circular mound, and then placed a pan over it to finish cooking. Delicious, and definitely different. BUT I can't remember what this dish was called. Any idea?

many Asian people. My roommate in college was of Japanese ancestry and her face would get beet red if she had one drink.

OTOH, found this at the Adopted Korean Connection:

Okonomiyaki is what we had (found that via a Wiki search on hibachi, the American name for teppanyaki)

Kyoto has a wonderful Okonomiyaki restaurant. Perfect for late night food needs. Wonderful! They have hot plates built into the tables and they bring out the batter and pour it and one gets to cook it, and smother it in sauces, oneself.

which is a cross between a crepe and an omelette.

I absolutely loved everything!


In fact, If I had to be homeless in any country in the world, I would pick Japan....they have these crazy shanty towns setup with generators, bikes, etc... and it seems like a rather charmed life for a homeless person.

I was amazed at how they used space (e.g. the car elevators).

One negative thing that really got to my cultural sensibilities was the noodle SLURPING. I know it makes sense to slurp hot noodle broth so you don't burn your mouth, but I was in a restaurant full of slurping salary men and I had to get out of there because the sound of dozens of people slurping really got to me. x(