Questions for those who live(d) in Japan?

Question

I've got into a few debates over this and I wanted to clear it up once and for all.

1) The stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl is in a pleated skirt, a sailor top, white socks and pennyloafers. How many schools actually enforce this? Is it as common as the blazer type uniform?

2) How often do those that actually live in Japan eat sushi or sashimi? They're the most recognised food outside its borders, but how often is it eaten in it's country of origin?

3) I've heard a lot of horror stories regarding Nihonjin 'racism' - ie, "All gaijin speak english, don't know how to use chopsticks. Japan is the ONLY country with four seasons." and often asking gaijin, especially Caucasian gaijin, "Can you eat XXX?" (which is really quite rude! Of course I can eat XXX, whether I like it or not is a different matter.) Well, regarding that, is it truly as widespread as that? Would a Caucasian tourist be charged more for services, ie a nightclub, or the like?

I know I sound really ignorant; but help!

Thanks for all your answers so far people, but people seem to be assuming I'm American - I'm not! ^-^ I'm actually British, so it's kinda hard to know what the difference between high/junior school is, for example.

A few people have told me off for asking questions like these: let me just let you in on a secret - I know how this must look. It's like asking if all English drink tea. Well, of course they don't, and I never assumed all Japanese ate sushi and omusubi 24/7.

And finally, regarding the 'racism' point - a lot of people kneejerk at the R word, maybe I shouldn't have used it, but it was simply the best way to describe what I was looking for. Please don't bite my head off! ^^

Thanks for reading (and answering!)

Answer 1

everything is still the same, they're still traditional cities all over nihon...sushi and sashimi is a favorite SNACK...
once you visit a country, make sure you can adopt, specially to a polite society like japan...be careful with your words and actions for nihonjin people are quite sensitive...

Answer 2

1. High school girls wear blazers and plaid skirts. JUNIOR HIGH girls wear navy sailor tops and navy pleated skirts that cover the knees.
2. It's eaten all the time. And there's no snobbishness associated w it ala the USA. You can buy sushi anywhere. There are many different types ranging in price. You can buy cheap sushi in a convenience store, mid-priced sushi in a kaiten sushi joint, or expensive sushi at a specialty sushi restaurant. Sashimi is a bit more expensive but also quite common.
3. Every country has its share of ethnocentrism. Japanese people who have never been abroad or known a foreigner well have their share of silly beliefs. Is this racism? I don't think so. If you want to get offended by silly questions then that's your problem. It does, however, get extremely TIRESOME being asked the same questions again and again. If more gaijin answered these questions with patience then perhaps the misconceptions would dissipate over time.
Every time I heard the chopstick remark I would cringe. But then these groups of tourists come over that don't know one end of a chopstick from the other. Sigh.
And I'm sure that if you were French, Italian, etc you'd be extremely annoyed at being mistaken for an American all the time. Esp since they fancy themselves so much better than us (hee hee).
As far as being charged more, I'd say no. That happens in other Asian countries more often than in Japan. In Japan if they didn't want you they'd just not let you in! But unless you plan on visiting Soapland I wouldn't be worrying about that. . . .

Answer 3

1. I hope you are asking about Seifuku the sailor uniform used in Japan schools. Actually most schools are using these sort of sailor type top and ultra short skirt as their uniform for the girls. The boys wear pants and normal shirt but the cap looks sailor type.

2. The eat most often. These are even available in the convineo stores here. My coleages eat Sushi very often atleast once in a day. I have seen the Sushi the Raw fish stuffed with boiled rice is the fast moving items in take aways. Next item takes the place is Choba.

3.Chopsticks could be used easily if you train yourself for a 2 food sessions. I think its not only in Japan in any other country people will be curious to share or update their knowledge about aliens, here the Caucasian. However accepting or rejecting an offer for a food is solely on the persons decisions who is the offeree. The Gaigin night clubs especially in Roppongi area are growded with many outsiders. There you will find the larger crowd are from forign nations.

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Answer 4

Here in the suburbs,
1) You forgot to mention that the skirt is too short..!! And the socks are usually those ones that make their legs look the same width from thigh to ankle..! I don't know about the sailor-type blouse, I think that would be more likely in elementary school kids, but the ones round here don't have any uniforms. Well, maybe the older kids just hide the sailor tops under their blazers...!?? Usually the girls wear some sort of shorts under their short skirts - despite what some gaijin like to say about how schoolgirls wear nothing at all under their skirts! When there's a new school rule about HAVING to wear shorts brought in you know about it - you find yourself walking past girls with shorts hanging down at least 3 inches beneath the skirt hem - or in extreme cases wearing beige slacks...!! UNDER the skirt! Funny..!
; )

2) Difficult to be sure, and everyone's different! Many people will buy a bento (lunchbox) from the supermarket or somewhere with sushi in it - but not normally every day! They might eat sushi maybe once or twice a week I suppose, but sashimi is a lot more expensive, and would be eaten less often - and not for lunch normally..! (There are so many cheap and good restaurants to choose from! Why eat the same thing every day??!)

3) When it comes to the food, I've heard plenty of people (all on the net!) complaining that the opposite is true! They insist that they're expected to eat things in quantities that no self-respecting Japanese person would normally choose to eat - including one who claimed that he and his wife went to a restaurant with the boss and his wife, and the Western man was the ONLY one given plate after plate of sashimi - fish, horse, etc! For some reason he forced it all down, even though they were probably just waiting for him to call it quits! It's not a competition to see how much raw meat you can swallow...!!! Anyway, no-one's said either thing to me. If I don't want to eat something, I don't eat it!

Yes, there may be an assumption that all gaijin speak English - but if you're a Japanese person, and you only speak Japanese and a little English, you WILL try your English to help the gaijin understand - and just HOPE they're not German or something..! And if a Japanese person wants to practice their English on tourists - which happens occasionally, especially in Nara and Kyoto - they will approach a likely looking foreigner, and if they don't speak English the Japanese person would apologise (in Japanese) and leave them alone. It's not such a shocking thing to do..! Students are like that..!

I don't know whether Caucasian tourists would be charged more - maybe in some places, but that's nothing that isn't done to foreigners everywhere! (I used the shower in a Heathrow terminal twice - the sign said that you pay a deposit of £2 for the towel, and get it back when you return the towel to the attendant. Both times - different women - they 'forgot' to refund the £2 and I had to remind them! Just an example, it's easy to overcharge tourists, especially foreigners who don't understand the rules..!)

Answer 5

As for Question Number one I can’t help you much but I can help you with 2 and 3.

I lived in Japan for about a year now and I visited on vacation before I got stationed there.

Yes the Japanese eat sushi all the time. My Japanese girlfriend and I probably eat sushi at least 2 times a week if not more. And the sushi restaurants are always packed!

I’ve never really experienced any “racism” at all and I’m 6foot, 215lbs, brown hair and blue eyes. The Japanese people are Extremely polite and so nice and helpful! Its amazing how far out of their way they will go to help you.

Japan is a wonderful country and I would highly recommend visiting!

Answer 6

I don't think it's ignorant. However, I think it's little hard to generalize. Can you generalize Americans like that? I don't think so. Both nations are large enough.
There are 50 states in the US and the population is nearly 300 M?
There are 47 prefectures in Japan and the population is more than 125 M.


1) It depends on the area. And each school adopts different uniforms, especially for girls. Some time they (schools) compete the designs. (Did you think all blazer types and the Sailor fukus are the same?)
http://nishiki.biz/girls/

2) Sushi or sashimi? How often? Can't tell you and it depends.
My family like fish, but not sushi or sashimi. We eat fried fish more than sashimi.
How often does American do BBQ? Every family does that?

3) Yes. Young Japanese may have a HOPE that every Caucasian should speak English as the mutual or international language.
As for Chipsticks: I think your generation is alright. However, I have often seen TV shows about foreign tour groups to Japan, 50% of your dad and mum generations are seen it's hard to use chopsticks, or the way of using it looks weired (did you know there is the right way to hold chopsticks in Japan?) .

The four seasons, they are proud of Japanese four seasons. It is not about the number of 4. It is about their 4 seasons.
e.g. In their Autumn, Japanese enjoy the color of their Autumn like this.
http://www.jal.com/world/en/guidetojapan/seasons/autumn/img/img_autumn_4.jpg
But I have heard some (of course not all)foreign tourists say that "it is just a color. Why are Japanese fond of watching this scene?."

Other questions are nothing. They are like :
"Japanese eat dogs? (Hey it's not Japan. We eat whale though)." "Where can I meet real Ninjya? (I have never seen and confirmed they exist.). "Is Samurai still in Japan.(Maybe in the 100 yrs ago...) "

I would like to ask Americans "Does whole Americans hold a weekend party like the 'Beverly Hills 90210'? ".
You know what I want to say.

Answer 7

1) Many schools do enforce the sailor top uniform but there are almost just as many blazer types. In fact, I actualy went to a public highschool that had NO uniform, except when we were at special electives (PE uniforms for PE and in electrical class we had an olive green jacket that most electricians use).

2) I ate sushi pretty frequently, but certainly not daily. It was standard to have sushi at parties, holidays, and at special all-sushi resturants. You know how it's very common to just go to Mc Donalds or Burger King to get a hamburger for 99c or something? Well, in Japan, they have special places where you can get plates of sushi/sashimi for 100 yen ($1). It's just like that.

3)Unfortunately, the last thing is kind of true and though I got offended at first, I came to realize that they just honestly don't know. Japan is a homogeonous country (one-race) so any experiences they have with foreigners is about 90% tourists who are just there for a month and don't know how to speak the language and don't know much about the culture. For the 10% like me who lived there for a while, we eventually learn a lot and are able to use chopsticks like we've been using them our whole lives, and they are not used to that, because of the 90% I just previousy told you about...
The place I lived in had almost NO foreigners, and we all made it our business to know each other. Anyways, the Japanese were always shocked to find I actually knew how to speak Japanese, use a chopstick, and was even willing to bathe in a public bath. By the 6th month of being there, I was a bit peeved, but when I went places with a lot of tourists, I could see that the only time I really saw any foreigners, they knew nothing about nothing about Japan.
I used to get offended when the Japanese asked if I could eat something, but their food is very different any many snobby tourists that come over feel really uncomfortable with eating their food. (Why thse people would bother going to a foreign country just to eat McDonalds, I'll never know) There isn't any food in the American diet that entails dried baby anchovies rolled in rice and wrapped in seaweed (an onigiri) or little octopi over soy sauce, but there is in Japan and that's why they ask. They've probably seen a lot of squeemish foreigners, so they just have to ask.
I don't know anything about being charged more for anything but I highly doubt it. I paid the same theater admission as anyone else and if anything, I got a lot of freebies from some really nice clerks.

Don't worry about this being an "offensive" question. These are pretty standard issue when involved with Japan...

Answer 8

1. There are variations, but yes, it is standard for all HS students to be in uniform.

2. Two types of sushi, kaiten sushi and the more expensive sitdown, one chef per 2-3 people type. Kaiten sushi is like fast food. Sushi plates go round on a conveyor belt. We go there like we go to any other ast food chain.

3. It exists in different forms, but not so harsh and direct. When I visit the countryside or non Tokyo 23 ward places with Japanese friends, despite me speaking Japanese and initially asking the question to a local person, the Japanese person looks at my Japanese travel companions and talks directly to them. It is more of a lack of exposure to gaijin. Oh, the term gaijin is deemed derrogatory, but, i dont care. I gues when you call yourself the gaijin, it is not so bad.

Answer 9

I lived in Okinawa, which is a bit diffrent. Yes I saw many many schoolgirls who looked like they stepped directly out of a bisoju anime in the sailor fuku. It's the standard middle school uniform, btw there are lots of variations though. As for stereotyping, it's no diffrent than any other country, theres good people and bad people. Personally I loved it there. Most of the people were so nice, and very helpfull even if you didnt speak Japanese, they'd try to help you out, and I had several cop friends who would teach me little bits of language, and culture any time he had a chance. They arent racist against others so much as proud of their own beliefs in a way Americans havent been since the 50's and 60's! The Japanese are extremely polite as a generalization.. theres exceptions, of course, but the way the culture is, they're very polite, but rigid. You dont go into a diner, and ask for substitiutions (learned that the hard way). I was never complimented on my ability to use chopsticks, but any time you speak Japanese to them, if you speak it correctly they are never short on compliments. If you mispronounce, they are very friendly about correcting you. You will notice a little hostility every now and then, especially directed at the armed forces due to the extremely high number of American military bases in Japan. One way they will catch the unwary (For Guys) is the Juicy Girls acams. A mamasan runs a crew of girls who will go up to lonely a American guy, and get him to buy her things. She will order these juice drinks that are outrageously expensive.. it's a whole scam. But as I said thats the exception not the rule. Other than little things like that, though, They are no more racist than any other culture, and in many cases less so. Infact, when I came back to America, it was such a hard shock to be back where people are so rude to one another. I think if you visit Japan, you'd be pleasantly suprised

Answer 10

1) I don't know too much about the school girl uniform. Would be kinda creepy if I did. But your explanation pretty much meets my image of a typical Japanese school girl. Socks are usually white but I've seen many black ones as well.
And as Joriental has said, some schools are very competetive about their uniforms. Many schools actually have big name designer companies design their uniforms.


2) Sushi, like steak in the US, is more like a special occasion food. As you know most sushi restaurants in Japan are considered expensive. When i go eat sushi in Japan I'm always ready to use 10,000Yen ($100US) per person. So I guess it depends if the family is wealthy or not, but on average I'm guessing we eat it like once or twice a month for the expensive sushi. When I was a student and had little money, I usually went to a cheaper tachi-gui (eat standing up) sushi place and it cost me like 3000yen ($30US) to eat and be satisfied. So I went 4 or even 5 times a month.
I'm sure it varies depending on how much you like sushi because I know people who eat sushi everyday and people who don't eat sushi at all but once or twice a month is my guess.

3) Funny you'd think it's rude for the Japanese to ask you if you can eat something. Because the Japanese would consider it rude not to be considerate of someone's particular diet, especially if that person is from another country. They don't want you to be uncomfortable or be forced to eat something because you don't want to be rude and say no to something.
I guess this is difference in culture....Western culture is pretty open and free on saying no or refusing somethng that is offered without it being rude. In Japanese culture it isn't considered rude necessarily to say no, but people tend to follow what the other people are doing so doing something or saying something that is different from what the others are doing is considered....strange. That's the only word I can think of.
Also I think many westerners have allergic reactions and are quite picky with their food. (My opinion not of the Japanese) I worked at a restaurant and caucasian customers would ask if there was any butter in the dish, any meat, any fish, any mayo. How is it cooked? Any alcohol?
I'm not saying that it's bad to be picky about your food but they are a lot more pickier about what they can eat and what they can't eat so I tend to ask if they are cool with whatever is served just to be safe.
I guess you can call it racism in a way because they are treating you differently because of skin color, but the aim of the treatment is to make you more comfortable at the table so I wouldn't say it was a bad thing necessarily.

As for the all gaijin speak english. This is true, most Japanese regard caucasians as American or British. Maybe Australian, sometimes French. This comes from not knowing better. Majority rules and the majority of the caucasians who live in Japan are usually either Americans or British and maybe Australian. Sometimes French. It certainly is a form of stereo-typing but I get that a lot in the US too because I'm Asian. Usually they think I'm Chinese and I don't consider it racism. It's just lack of knowledge.
Chopsticks is a hard one. I can see you considering it a racial issue and I do agree with you. Though it wouldn't bother me much. Let them think you can't use chopsticks and bust out your own pair and start eating. They'd be in awe.
Many caucasians I met in Japan could use chopsticks better than I could.

And Japan being the ONLY country with 4 seasons.
This is just ignorance on them. They've never visited places like Virginia or Washington DC. I always thought Japan had the best fall season in all of the world until I went to Richmond VA in late October. now I think Virginia is the best in the world!

Answer 11

One gets pretty tired of being asked. "Can you eat natto?" and being complimented on ones chopsticks acumen. However; if that's racism, it's a pretty trivial form. I never got used to being asked my blood type even after ten years in Japan. No matter what blood type I said I was when questioned, I was invariably told that it matched my personality perfectly?!