Is It Bad-mannered to Make a Slurping Noise When Eating Noodles?

  Hi, it's Sho.

  I apologize for that I haven't published any post for a while. My flight for Japan is coming soon ,so I'm preparing for leaving.

  Do You Think It Is Bad-mannered to Slurping Noodles?

  In Japan, all the people including adults slurp noodles with making some noises. It's not considered ill-mannered even if you are slurping noodles in front of your boss. This is a typical cultural gap. But, they do not slurp Western type of noodles, such as spaghetti. They do only Asian type of noodles, such as Ra-men, Udon, and so on. you wondering why they do that?

  Why Japanese Slurp Noodles?

  I guess you guys see Japanese as well-mannered people. So, why do they behave such wrongly when eating noodles?

  Japanese are said to be dainty about foods. And, they think that slurping noodles, you can enjoy an aroma of soup and taste of noodles.

  Is This True That Slurping Noodles Makes You Enjoy Them More?

  Unfortunately, I don't know if it's true or not, but I slurp noodles. The one more reason why I slurp noodles is that I've got used to doing that!

  If you come to Japan, you can make sure if it's true or not! Or, If there is a noodle restaurant around you, you got to try slurping noodles!

The Highest Life Expectancy in the World

Japanese Live Longer Than Any Other Countries     -Why?

  Hi, it's Sho.

  The average life expectancy of the Japanese in 2011 is 79.44 years as to men and 85.90 years as to women. Those averages are the ones  of the highest levels in the world. 
Do you know why Japanese live such a long life? 

  It is said to be related to the lifestyle of Japanese. They take in less oil in comparison with other developed countries. They prefer fish and veges to meat. That's why Japanese foods are mostly healthy. 
  Also, they have a custom to take a bath everyday not just shower. And, there are many hot springs all around Japan. Taking the hot spring is said to be good for your health.

  Those are just a few of many reasons. There are more other reasons than above. But, Japanese have been changing their lifestyles little by little. They tend to eat more meat than they did before. It is not just bad thing because the most important thing is to take a well-balanced diet. 

  The average life expectancy of Japanese is not the highest in the world. Actually, it's still one of the highest ones, though we should think about it over; otherwise their life expectancy is getting lower.

Do You Wait For the Traffic Light to Change?

  Hi, it's Sho.
  Today, I am talking about manners of traffic rules.

Do You Obey the Traffic Signals All the Time?

   In the US, I have seen many people ignore the traffic light. This is very common case over the world except for Japan. Japanese never ignore the traffic light even if it is 2 in the morning and nobody's around them. 

When people from outside of Japan see this scene, they may not understand why they don't ignore the traffic signal because it is nearly meaningless to obey the traffic signal without any cars.

Do All Japanese Obey the Traffic Light?

   No. Some Japanese ignore, but most of them tend to obey in general. You see people ignore the signal in Japan less than in any other countries. 

Then, Why Do Japanese obey Strictly?

   There is no car as far as you can see. It means you are safe to intersect the road. But, Japanese won't do that. 

The reason is that Japanese obey any rules. They obey rules regardless it is worth obeyng. This is one of the reasons that they are not flexible. Japanese could obey even though the traffic lights are placed in a remote island.

 

Do You Wear Sunglasses? Ashamed to do that?

Hi, it's Sho.

   Have you seen Japanese wearing sunglasses in Japan?

We are not suffered from that severe ultraviolet rays in the sun shine. So, we don't wear 

sunglasses in our daily life. If someone wears sunglasses in a downtown, some people may look at

him/her a little curiously.

   Most Western countries people wear sunglasses and take it granted.

Because, they have a bit severe and strong UV rays, and especially, those who live in Australia 

are suffering from very harmful UV rays.

For this reason, they don't hesitate to wear sunglasses, but Japanese do. We generally do not

have to wear sunglasses on account of the mild UV rays.

   Do we see people from foreign countries living in Japan and wearing sunglasses as weird?

No. Interestingly, we take foreigners wearing sunglasses as granted.  This might be because the 

sunglasses are very suitable to Western countries people but to Japanese.
 
This is merely my guess, but that might be why.. 

If you have an opportunity to visit Japan, you do not need to hesitate to wear sunglasses.

You just do not need to WEAR SUNGLASSES in Japan!




image from  http://unkar.org/r/eleven/1277973699

Why do Japanese bow as a greeting?

   Hi, it is Sho.

Today, I will tell you an interesting Japanese custom.

Have you ever seen 2 Japanese bowing to each other?

 

 

They are greeting each other by bowing not shaking their hands.




As you always do so, American shake hands when they first meet with someone.
But, we rarely do such a thing. It looks weird for Japanese.




Here is more interesting thing. Japanese often bow to the person who are talking with them
 on the phones in spite of that he/she doesn't see them bowing.



This might be why Japanese are said to be too polite by other countries.



By the way, the majority of japanese house have doors which open to the outside.



It's perfectly opposite from Western countries, such as UK, US, Canada, and so on.




This difference is related to the difference of greeting.



Japanese are standing in front of a door, but not too close to a door because



we have to make a small space so that the door can be open and also we can bow
to the host of the house.

Japanese could misunderstand if you hug them suddenly.

 

In general, we Japanese don't hug as long as we are just friends. There are some
cases we hug each other as friends, though. It's not happening so frequently like American.



In my view, there are more unsocial people in Japan than in the US.



So, if you hug your Japanese friend, you need to be careful to not be misunderstood.

About This Blog

Hi, my name is Sho.

I have started a new blog about my home country, Japan!

I am going to write the unique and novel culture in Japan. 

This is the first post on my blog, so I would like to introduce myself to those who look at my blog.



My name is Sho, and I am from Japan. I am 21 years old. I have lived in California for 9 months.

I go to the community college in Northern California. The reason I created this blog is that I really want you to know of the culture in Japan.

On this blog, I am comparing Japanese culture with other countries, especially American.

Sometimes, I might misunderstand American culture and post impolite stuff.

When this kind of case happen, please, notify to me about it, and tell me the revised opinion if you do not care.

And, I have been studying English for 8 years, but speaking and writing for just 1 year.

My English looks so poor, though I will make my effort to write this blog, so please, have fun!