7 questions about japan
Wow, this is very interesting to see how many people are curious about Japan!
Because Japan is very different than other countries in terms of culture, people tend to misunderstand some aspects. But in most cases, Japan is raising fascinating questions that I would like to answer.
If you want to ask anything related to the Japanese culture, type your question in the comment section at the bottom of the page, and I will answer you.
It could be related to how to learn Japanese, how is living in japan for foreigners, about a job, or how does school in japan work. Really, you can ask on any topic you are curious about!
I am a native Japanese woman so i will answer from my point of view because some answer might differ from men to women depending of the context. 🙂
Ok, let’s start!
What is a gaijin mean?
That question is hilarious. Well, gaijin is the word for foreigner or outsider. Many people think of caucasian people when we hear gaijin. And the name gaijin is very friendly.
If you wonder if naming someone, a Gaijin is polite, well, the answer is, so so.
If you call a stranger foreigner by saying “Hey you, Gaijin”, it is not polite and he or she might be offended so it’s better to use the polite form which is, Gaikokujin.
It is a slang form if I may say.
Gaijin in Japanese is written like this: 外人
外: Outside
人: Person
So, in short words, it means someone from outside Japan and yes, it can apply to any race except Japanese people.
In Japan, almost every foreigner i met calls themself a gaijin instead of saying, i am a foreigner. It is very common.
What is a gaijin hunter means?
I like this question!
In Japan, many people are looking for foreigners.
It could be a Japanese woman looking for a foreigner man or a Japanese man looking for a foreigner woman.
We call them Gaijin Hunter because they are searching for foreigners.
It could be for practicing English or French, which is the most common reason or for flirting or dating purposes.
The best example I can give you is in Roppongi. This area of Tokyo is known to have tons of foreigners traveling from foreign countries.
If you go to a coffee shop such as Starbuck or Turret Coffe, you will notice one or two caucasian seat with a Japanese person. (One on one only).
If you watch them for more than 30 minutes, you will see the Japanese are leaving after 30 minutes or one hour, and another Japanese person is coming. It is because they are doing oral English lessons. It is very common. In Japan, one of the most popular job for foreigners is teaching languages. Mostly English or french.
And at night time, still in Roppongi and mostly from Thursday to Sunday, gaijin hunters arrive in mass!
Many Japanese women go out in Roppongi seeking for foreigners for dating and flirting.
We call these ladies Gaijin Hunters, and it is widespread, more than you think.
If you go to bars in Roppongi, 9/10 of the time, you will see a Japanese girl leaving hand in hand with a foreigner. (This is one of the best spots for dating in Tokyo)
Why Japanese people wear masks?
In western countries, most of my foreigner friends told me they though the Japanese are wearing a mask because of pollution.
It is partially correct.
The first reason you are going to see someone wearing a mask in the subway by example is the person is sick. Flu by example, and he or she doesn’t want to pass the virus to others. This is the main reason.
Let me show you. On that photo, we caught a cold so we were wearing a mask to prevent us to make our friends sick too.
Secondly, some people wear it to protect against pollution, but here in Japan, we don’t have this problem so much, so it is less likely to be for that reason. Not like in China.
Younger people wear a colored mask for fashion. You can see many Japanese in Shinjuku and Harajuku area.
What’s in Japanese curry?
Let say curry is very, very popular in Japan. We almost all enjoy this meal because it is delicious.
There is even a small, fast food curry restaurant named “CoCo ICHIBANYA,” A little bit like Mcdonald’s but for curry food. They serve quick and cheap prices. It’s very delicious!
The most famous dish with curry is the most simple one, the “curry rice.”
Here the three popular curry dish in Japanese: Karē raisu, karē udon and the karē-pan.
karē-pan (カレーパン), in English, we call it Japanese curry bread, and this is one of the most popular pastries in Japan. It goes almost the same as with the Yakisoba Pan! Maybe it is just me but i feel it more in demand in Osaka.
So if you ask what’s in the Japanese curry, the answer is veggies with meat but like the Kare Udon, it includes noodles and eggs.
Is Japan safe?
Yes, very much!
Japan is one of the safest countries in the world.
The level of crime is so low that most people even forget to lock the door at home, and it’s true!
Maybe that’s why Japanese get scammed so easily, UNFORTUNATELY!
I am not sure if you are aware of this, but Japan is a very closed country. And what I mean by that is that we don’t see so much news on TV about other countries. CNN of a paid channel ad mostly used by foreigners in Japan. Local news rarely talks about what is happening outside. There is a real focus on the Japanese press, and it probably prevents us from seeing the wrong side of people or what is happening outside.
We don’t have bank robbery, or if we do, we never hear anything about it.
Murder is so rare in Japan!!
When it happen, it become a piece of massive news because it’s rare, and maybe sometimes, they hide it from dispatch, but i am not sure.
The best example I can give you is if you walk near a little shop, you will notice they even leave the items outside without surveillance. If we want, anyone can take something and keep waling without been seen! Nobody does it of course but this is to show you how the level of crime is very low in Japan and even in Big cities sush as Osaka and Tokyo.
If i can be honest but i don;t want to offense anyone, please. We started to see an increase of little crime since, 2014 if i remember. Again, i am sorry to say this but i just say what we see. It is happening mostly since there is a increase of foreigner in Japan. I am not sure why.
In Roppongi, we rarely saw fight and violence before, but since 2014 or so, there are some strange events such as fighting between foreigners.
Let me tell you a story that happened to my friend when we were walking on the street of Roppongi near midnight.
We were finishing work from TrueloveJapan’s office at the Roppongi Hills, and we wanted to have a drink and eat something to relax.
If I remember, we were walking in front of a host club when it happened, a little bit before the “Gaspanic club.” If you are in Tokyo, you might know where it was.
Then, suddenly, a caucasian guy runs away from that bar like insane.
And when he reached the street, he kept running and punched my friend on the face by mistake and kept running until he disappeared. A minute after, all I remember is to see my friend layed down on the street crying and a bunch of black guys running out of that club searching for him.
Imagine two girls alone getting punched on the face for no reason.
Such s situation never happened in the past, and it becomes more and more common sadly.
The excellent news is Roppongi became so out of control that since a year, Tokyo has decided to instaure a new “blue collar” police managed by black people so if you go to Roppongi now, you will notice big and tall black men wearing security suits and they are there to stop such a situation and fight at night time.
In Tokyo, this is the most violent area and this is where there is the most density of foreigners. That is why i say, there is a rise of crime since the increase of tourism in Japan.
But, honestly, except this small area, Japan is very safe. You can go outside all night without being robbed or attacked and Japanese usually are very kind regardless of the time in the day.
What is a host or hostess in japan
A hostess club is a bar where people can sit, relax and have a drink while talking to a host. It does not involve sexual intercourse because prostitution in Japan is highly illegal.
Usually, it’s a one-one situation. Rarely people goes in group. The majority of client are single people (not married) and lonely people seeking for some company. Of course. Married people can go, it’s open to everybody and i have to say, unlike what some people might say, it is not that bad if you are seen to go there. There is some prejudice but generally speaking, it’s ok if you are single.
However, the hostess bar are very expensive. get ready to pay at least $500 for few hours up to a couple of thousand dollar in one single night! If you look at that image, this is the payment of one night from a woman. Each 10 000 that you see on that image are equal to $100 so you can count how much she paid to have a a time with a host in one night.
Here how it works.
There is hostess bar for men and even women!
Yes, everybody needs some attention, even women, why not. 🙂
In Shinjuku, this is where the number of hostess club for women is the highest.
Host club for women are very popular in Japan and it looks like this in Tokyo:
When it’s about host club for men, the excellent spot is located in Roppongi. Many model women are working there as a side job with big income from host club.
In very expensive host club, it is very rare to see foreigners due to the language barrier. But in casual host club in Roppongi, it is easier to access host club.
Overall, a host club is this.
You can leave a comment if you want to ask a question about it.
Why Japanese don’t shave
Oh, what a funny question again!
I am a 26 years old woman so i think i am the right person to answer that question!
It’s all about the Japanese culture.
If you go to the Onsen, you will feel things are getting hairy out there 😉
It’s always been like this as far as i know, Japanese women never shaved the pubic hair.
It’s only recently since the web and the increased of foreigners in Japan that some Japanese women find it more attractive to shave it.
There is many survey about it and over 60% of the entire Japanese women population do not shaved the pubic hair at all and some never shaved it not even once.
If i go to onsen shaved, other women will look at me like i am a “party girl”.
It’s difficult to explain by words but this is how people think.
Some people say it is a lot of work grooming down there and some says it’s even strange to look totally without hair on the pubic.
But it’s true that since few years, think are changing.
With the web, we see other women without pubic hair and we can feel what is attracting men in general so shaving the pubic is becoming more welcome but i have to say that the majority of my Japanese friends don’t shave while some of my Japanese girl friends who are in couple with a foreigner are shaving to avoid embarrassing situation.
In case you wonder, i never met anyone who doesn’t shave the armpit, this is a minimum for the esthetic purpose. The only area where Japanese men and women don’t shave is the pubic area. This is only the majority of people in Japan.
