Sunday, April 20, 2008

Things you probably didn't know about Japan-miscellaneous #2


Ok....ate delicious sushi, prepared some orders and decided to write some more!

The picture above is a "ringo usagi" or apple rabbit. Moms cut apple pieces to look like rabbits!

Ok...more things you might not know about Japan.

1) Japanese people are very very nice (ok, I'm sure you already knew that). If you ask them where something/some place is, they will often take you there themselves even if it means walking in the opposite direction of where they want to go.

2)Japanese love shopping!! They also love name brands! I've heard that 40 % of Louis Vuitton's business comes from Japan! This would not surprise me as many young women (18 years old) have a Louis Vuitton something or other. Young women will even go without lunch or buy really really cheap food just to save up enough money to buy a bag.

3) Each area or big city in Japan has it's own unique food or snacks such as cookies, cakes etc. My city is famous for "mentaiko" which is tiny tiny spicy fish eggs (delicious). People who come to Fukuoka love to eat them or take them home as souvenirs. (see post below about the souvenir system). This is cool because when you travel in Japan you get to taste local specialties!

4) Most (ok....many) Japanese women can cut like a chef! Ok....maybe it is only my family and friends who can't but honestly I was shocked when I saw that all my older female students can seriously cut veggies and stuff like a pro. When I took cooking classes, I explained to my sensei that I can't cut like that. She said "ok"....I knew she didn't believe me and sure enough as soon as she saw me cut she kind freaked out!! ^__^

5) You need to carry tissues with you all the time in Japan as toilets don't always have paper. Things have gotten better since I have been here (10 years) but still, there are toilets that don't have paper. This is probably why you can get free tissues on the street. There are many people whose job is basically to hand out packs of tissues that have ads on them. I almost never have to buy the little packs of tissues-very handy!
Ok....gotta run.


9 comments:

rohanknitter said...

I really enjoy reading your posts about life in Japan! We had 2 Japanese exchange students for about 3 weeks many (17) years ago and ever since i've been interested in life in Japan, so thanks for sharing!

Kari said...

Wow, lol. Why are most women able to cut like chefs? Do their mothers teach them? I wish I could cut well, but I don't think I have the skills for it.

All of these facts are so interesting!

Anonymous said...

I love reading your blog, and the lil bits about Japan are always my favourites!
I love learning things about different places!!
All this makes me want to visit Japan!

FromJapanWithLove said...

rohanknitter-thanks for reading my blog!

Kari-I have NO idea why they can cut like chefs but it is just common. Not sure young women can but ALL the older women can. They wanted to know why I couldn't!!

Pili-You should visit-Japan is a very interesting place. But you should try to visit the not so famous places as well, like supermarkets and electronic stores etc. My mom loved those kind of places the best!

maoiliosa said...

i'm enjoying these! keep 'em coming :).

Jet Lag said...

Thta's really cute !!!

Jess littlebunny.etsy.com said...

ooh i love all these facts!!
i need to visit japan!

Christine said...

Wow, that's all very interesting, especially that last part. It only makes me want to go to Japan even more.

Anonymous said...

Wait, if there are no tissues then how do people wipe themselves after they go? XD

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