Short Japanese Culture Questions

[ekg]

This thread is for Japanese culture questions that are too short to create a new topic!

(totally ripped this off Short Grammar Questions (Part 1) (ended) and Short Grammar Questions (Part 2) (ongoing) where you should post your short grammar questions and The quick or short Language Questions Thread (not grammar) where you can post your general Japanese language questions. )

I’ve felt for a while now that discussions about Japanese culture could use a space for general inquiries that are not too deep in scope.

Not all questions pertaining to Japan is worthy of a thread of its own, unless you suspect big discussions about it. (do use caution in this instance - don’t bring inflamatory questions in here. Make your own thread for debates, onegaishimasu! )

To sum it up, this thread is an easy way to post questions about Japanese culture that confuse you and other users might enlighten you about!* ^>^*

Let’s help each other out in our search for knowledge!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(This is now a Wiki! Plz add your question at the end of your preferred subheading and link to the post where it was first asked)

Everydaylife in Japan

• Is sharing bath water within a family still a thing in Japan?
• Is it common to stand in a conbini reading a magazine without buying it afterward?
• About train etiquette: Are you supposed to greet the passengers that are sitting next to the seat you’re taking?
• Is it common to have pets in Japan? What is it like to have a pet in Japan?
• How common is digital ticket parking in Japan?

Food and drink culture

• Do men more often frequent standing-and-eating food stalls while women avoid them?
• Why do Japanese people ask for “hot coffee” and not just coffee?
• If you invite someone over, is the host expected to cook for the guests and take the expenses, including drinks, or should people bring their own food & drinks to the party?
• Is there a good historical description of the culinary developments of everyday food in Japan?
• How would you define where it is and is not acceptable to eat in Japanese society?
• When Japanese folks are describing “making chocolate” for Valentine’s day (in manga and such), what are they actually thinking of exactly?

Media and entertainment

• Does anyone here regularly buy Japanese newspapers or subscribe to them, and can tell us about the “odd” content besides news in the paper?
• Does anyone know the name of an arcade game where you have to direct a peg down a tube to hit a button?
• Is 落語(らくご) less popular today?
• Are board games popular in Japan and what types of board games do Japanese people play?

Other

• So in what sort of [social] contexts are onomatopoeia appropriate?
• How common are bonsai actually in Japanese homes?, also What style of gardens are common in Japanese private homes?
• Do Japanese follow British or American naming conventions for floors? Is the floor level the ground floor or the first floor?

Society, social interaction and social issues

• What is the appeal of host clubs and hostess bars?
• Do native Japanese people have any commonly held stereotypes of people from Kansai?
• Are young children living alone in Japan as common a social problem as some movies/anime imply?
• Is it common to avoid an uncomfortable topic in Japan by refusing to answer/ignoring it, or does not answering mean something else culturally/about the topic raised?
• What’s the Japanese naming tradition when it comes to marriage today?

Sports in Japan

• Is ice hockey and/or bandy popular at all in Japan?
  

Studying in Japan

• Is it common for Japanese students to get a part-time job outside of school hours?
• What’s the purpose of the wooden-slatted platforms next to lockers or cubby-holes for storing shoes and packages, like you see in school anime scenes?
  

Traditions, history, religion, and cultural events

• How big a deal is the Lunar Year in Japan?
• Is Napoleon generally popular in Japan?
• Do people in Japan sometimes wear crosses just decoratively?
• What does throwing salt mean in Japanese culture?
• What sort of Easter celebrations are common in Japan for those that celebrate it?
• What is the history of Japanese hand fans being used when some people are happy, happy-drunk, dancing and celebrating something?

Worklife in Japan

• Is it still taboo to have a romantic partner at the same company you work for in Japan?
• What do Japanese people do all day at work, especially when they’re done with their tasks?
• Is there anything like ‘have a nice day’ people tend to use in situations like ending an email?
• What is part-time work and what does “baito” mean in Japanese society?

[ekg]

My immediate reason for making this thread was watching an anime bringing up the idea about not showing yourself as being involved with someone at work.

Basically, the characters are avoiding being recognized as being romantically involved. And it’s pretty recent from other times I’ve seen this theme (Fune o Amu).

My question:
Is it still taboo to have a romantic partner at the same company you work for in Japan?

Edit: And why are people discouraged from romantic connections?

(meanwhile, my parents were at the same company (which is a bit unusual, but yeah, and worked together until their pension)

[yamitenshi]

Am I missing something or is this essentially a duplicate of this thread?

https://community.wanikani.com/t/short-japan-culture-questions/50793

[ekg]

I’ve done a baddie?! O_O Because, I’ve never really seen any thread active pertaining to cultural themes like this!

Checking thread. no they are not alike at all. That was just @Nemuitanuki having several short questions it seems

I wanna make a general thread for all questions from everyone like the Short Grammar questions thread. ^^

[yamitenshi]

I stumbled across it in one of my “read the top stuff in Latest so I can make Regular status” moments and it ended up watched, so that’s why I knew of it Maybe you missed it because it’s in a different section of the forum than the other two short questions threads?

[ekg]

@yamitenshi

Maybe you missed it because it’s in a different section of the forum than the other two short questions threads?

I missed it, but it’s also not general. See comment above. It might evolve to that, but I wanna make a official place to put those questions in for everyone, not just me when I read manga.

[yamitenshi]

Ah - yeah, seems like I misinterpreted the intent of the thread I linked indeed.

[ekg]

Lol. My feeling also. I think the thread would have gotten big if so and I’d know about it! ^^; But, great for checking!

[WeebPotato]

@ekg

My immediate reason for making this thread was watching an anime bringing up the idea about not showing yourself as being involved with someone at work.

Basically, the characters are avoiding being recognized as being romantically involved. And it’s pretty recent from other times I’ve seen this theme (Fune o Amu).

My question:
Is it still taboo to have a romantic partner at the same company you work for in Japan?

Edit: And why are people discouraged from romantic connections?

(meanwhile, my parents were at the same company (which is a bit unusual, but yeah, and worked together until their pension)

Like the initiative of the thread!

Unfortunately, I don’t work at a company in Japan (yet ), but based on the shows I’ve watched so far (Wotakoi comes to mind) and my very poor knowledge of how things are out there I wouldn’t really say it’s taboo per se, but perhaps something people don’t openly talk about, despite knowing well who’s dating whom. There are also company mixers where people are supposed to mingle, right? That being said, I think it might be weird if you and your romantic partner work directly together and have a more formal relationship aside from the personal one. One could consider this a conflict of interest of some sort.

I’m actually more cautious of things like that in companies outside of Japan where things like that are a big no-no.

(things like that - そんなこと, well done grammar. I’m forgetting how to English. )

[ekg]

@FirstMate-san

people don’t openly talk about, despite knowing well who’s dating whom.

So, like an open secret kind of social framework. There historical precedent for that for sure, also in Europe. But I still find it strange - when even heterosexual relationships are alienated like this. Just why??

(I guess it explains the birth rate in Japan, but I still don’t get the social climate around the issue…) …what is the purpose of keeping people apart?

Edit: I’d love to hear any work-climate discussions if you do work in Japan and can enlighten us - if just a bit?

[yamitenshi]

Is it maybe related to the general aversion to public displays of affection of any kind? Considering those are generally frowned upon from what I understand even in casual settings, it’s a fairly logical consequence that they’d be even more frowned upon in a workplace setting, and in the spirit of professionalism you’d be expected to not show your closeness.

Which doesn’t make it more sensible in my opinion, but it feels somewhat logical considering what I’ve picked up on in terms of Japanese societal norms.

[ekg]

@yamitenshi

Is it maybe related to the general aversion to public displays of affection of any kind?

They are indeed portrayed like that in all media I’ve encountered (unless intentionally breaking realism).

[ekg]

I guess the answer is cultural. Japanese. Like, how to ask for a date. How to write love-letters if you’re serious etc. But is it all just stuff anime feeds us vs what is really going on in Japan when you are in LOVE!

EDIT
I forget that I should try to make this thread serious like it’s 2 cousin-threads. ^^;

[WeebPotato]

@ekg

I guess the answer is cultural. Japanese. Like, how to ask for a date. How to write love-letters if you’re serious etc. But is it all just stuff anime feeds us vs what is really going on in Japan when you are in LOVE!

There was a YouTuber who tried hugging Japanese people in public and she was very European about it:

Can Foreigners hug Japanese? How FAR Japanese girls and boys go when greeting a foreigner

That’s from the times long gone when touching people in public was still a thing.

EDIT: Okay, I just realized this is specifically about approaching foreigners hmmm

[ekg]

I learnt a new word for sure: ドン引き - どんびき- being put off (by someone’s words, behaviour, etc.); being taken aback; recoiling (in shock, disgust, etc.); being left speechless​

~basically a reaction to being kissed out of the blue.
I would as well sure about this one…

[ctmf]

@ekg

So, like an open secret kind of social framework.

I don’t know about Japan, but there are other possible explanations for keeping something like that to yourself. Here, dating within your work group isn’t so much taboo, as, a well-known terrible idea and people might be embarrased for people to find out they did a dumb thing.

Also here, while being romantically involved with a co-worker is not discipline-level prohibited, it is, again, a terrible idea and one of the two WILL be moved to AVOID a conflict of interest. Not fired, just put in as unrelated a position as possible. And sometimes people try to keep it on the down-low because neither wants to be moved.

[ekg]

@ctmf

Here, dating within your work group isn’t so much taboo , as, a well-known terrible idea and people might be embarrased for people to find out they did a dumb thing.

I’m just gonna cut off your next argument, because falling in love with people you work with is only natural if you do so for a long time

(not that was the case for my parents that me at university, not work, but still ended up at the same place), but basically, there IS romance in the workplace and it’s only about how you handle that I feel.

[yamitenshi]

Interesting, it’s a bit different in companies I’ve worked for (in the Netherlands) - it’s usually been technically prohibited (as in, listed in either contracts or the employee handbook as being prohibited), but never really enforced, it’s just a clause put in so action can be taken if a romantic involvement leads to issues.

In one particular workplace it was in the contract but there were quite a few couples who were very open about it - two of them were even having a child together So much for “prohibited”

[ekg]

@ctmf

WILL be moved to AVOID a conflict of interest.

That’s only relevant for certain jobs and especially boss-employee relationships. not the rest so it’s bs to be honest, sounds more true to corrupt countries around the world…

[Jonapedia]

@ekg

Basically, the characters are avoiding being recognized as being romantically involved. And it’s pretty recent from other times I’ve seen this theme (Fune o Amu).

My question:
Is it still taboo to have a romantic partner at the same company you work for in Japan?

I don’t know about Japan, but what I can say is that I’ve always had the impression, growing up in Asia and watching East Asian dramas (mainly dramas from Korea and Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China) that it tends to be something you don’t let the other people at work find out about, at least not until, perhaps, the relationship is really steady (and maybe you’re about to be engaged/get married). Perhaps conflicts of interest are the issue? I mean, it’s a TV drama staple for gossip to involve the beloved of someone high up in the hierarchy being promoted rapidly because of favouritism. That aside, perhaps some people feel it might cause jealousy or disrupt the ambience at work (e.g. team spirit vs private interests)?

However, I believe a survey showed that most Japanese people meet their romantic partners at work or in university, so perhaps it’s not so much taboo as it is something that’s often kept private, which should therefore not be brought into the professional sphere.