4 interesting aspects of Japanese culture

I was only in Japan for 10 days, half of which were spent in Tokyo, the other half in the north chasing cherry blossoms. However, in those 10 days, I noticed four distinct aspects of the culture there:

Nerd culture is everywhere

This was very evident in Tokyo, and I'd hazard a guess that it is in other parts of the country as well (e.g. Kyoto, where Nintendo headquarters is located). There is an entire district in the middle of Tokyo called Akihabara, or Akiba, that is dedicated to all things nerdy, which here is mostly anime, electronics, and video games. At night, "electric town" looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie - neon lights, tall buildings, and giant anime characters everywhere. There are huge 8 floor buildings dedicated solely to manga, whether it's the comics themselves or action figures derived from them, and grown men in suits browse these places just as (or more) often than the younger people you would expect. Other electronics shops and action figure stalls are found down some of the many labyrinthine networks of alleys in the area, which are fun to get lost in. One of my most fun hours in Akiba was perusing Super Potato, a 3-floor Nintendo-themed shop with everything from old games (which were being played on 20-30 year old TVs) to stuffed animals.  

Everything is extremely efficient, and orderly

Most people tease me about how polite I must be when I tell them I'm Canadian, but I don't think we hold a candle to Japanese people. Between the bowing and the many "arigato"s we doled out, I really hope we didn't offend anyone too badly over the course of our short time there, but sometimes it was hard to figure out exactly what we were supposed to do to be polite. For example, apparently you are absolutely not supposed to jaywalk under any circumstances. If it's 3:00am and there are no cars for miles in either direction, you still wait until that little man turns white to signal that you're allowed to walk. Coming from Nepal, whose streets look like someone took thousands of cars and pedestrians and somehow tied them all into a knot together, I was used to just playing Frogger whenever I wanted to get to the opposite side of the road, so Casey and Jordan had to tell me about this rule. An interesting example of the orderliness was at the metro, which is famous for being absurdly on time (and actually apologized for leaving 25 seconds early a few months before we got there, and again a few months after - more on that below). Surely one of the reasons that it is so efficiently run is that there are designated lines to stand in as you wait to get onto the train. It stops in the exact same place every time it comes to the platform, so the doors open such that people can file out of the train and easily walk between the others queued up to get on. It was actually kind of magical to see, especially when I compared it to my experience riding a crowded TTC train, where people arrange themselves in disorderly clumps around the doors as the train pulls up and half-try to let most of the commuters out before jamming themselves in all at once.

...which is juxtaposed with being unabashedly sexual

Contrary to the politeness and reservedness is the often strange sexual undertones of the culture. While there are some outright obvious sex-themed places, like the giant 7-floor sex department store in the middle of Akiba, usually it's a bit more under the surface. Nowhere is this more obvious than at the famous maid cafes, also found in Akihabara. I had heard vague things about these from Kris, but didn't know what to expect until I convinced Casey and Jordan to go. It turns out, these are multi-floor cafes, mostly focused on "cute"-themed dessert and drinks, where you are served by young Japanese women dressed as maids. But it's so much more interesting than that: some cafes allow you to select the maid who will serve you; you ask them to come over by ringing a little bell; they call you master; you are immediately given a membership card which lets you accumulate loyalty points, and the loyalty points get you more favourable service, like delighted high-pitched squealing when you come in; you can pay to take pictures with the maids, or even play games with them. It was definitely unique.

On the surface, there was nothing shady about the place, at least not the one we visited - no suggestive touching, sketchy backrooms, or anything like that. But the clientele was almost all single men, chatting and taking pictures with the servers, and enjoying their, ahem, cuteness. In fairness, there were some couples on dates, too, and a few families with young children enjoying cat-shaped cakes. Actually, surprisingly, almost everyone there was local - this definitely wasn't a tourist trap. However, there was an undeniable weirdness to the place - definitely not a fully wholesome vibe. A really memorable experience, though, and successfully made Casey uncomfortable, so worth it just for that. 

Strict working hours which extend until very late at night

We saw evidence of the very demanding work culture many times, mostly in Tokyo. We learned that the reason why there is a public apology when trains leave slightly early is that many people missed that train because they were there a few seconds too late (but normally would have been on time), forcing them to take the next train a few minutes later, and as a result, being late for work by that few minutes. Apparently, strolling in at 9:02am when you are supposed to be there at 9:00 is a big no-no, trains be damned, so a lot of people actually got scolded for this by their superiors.

Not only do people have to be extremely punctual for work, but they also work long hours. My first night in Tokyo, I saw several men in suits standing out on the street chatting, with a drink in one hand and a briefcase in the other. They had definitely just gotten off work, but this was after 10:00pm. I noticed more of these men on the subway. Apparently this is a normal thing: they are called, in English, "salarymen", and most of them work 12-14 hour days and then go get drunk with their coworkers. Sometimes they don't even go home before going back to work the next day - they just find a place to sleep nearby. The famous pod hotels in Japan are mostly filled with salarymen and, as a result, cost $50-60/night, about double the price of a hostel dorm (and way outside my budget, unfortunately, since I hoped to stay in one). If they don't want to pay for a bed, they will sometimes rent a karaoke room to practice their karaoke (yep, that's a thing) and sleep there, because it's cheaper.  If these men have families, they barely ever see their kids. The suicide rates among them are relatively high - there was even a famous place near where we stayed in Fujiyoshida called the "suicide forest", where lots of people go to kill themselves. We thought about going while we were in the area but decided that it was too eerie.

And there you have it. Japan certainly has one of the most unique cultures in any place I've ever visited, and although not all of it is positive, it's a fascinating place and I can't wait to return.