Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

Anime Expo update, advice on traveling in Japan, on the idea of Japan as “#81” and two words every pop Japanologist must know

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
18 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

We’re still here at Anime Expo in Long Beach, and it’s been a real blast. Monday is the last day of the show, so if you’ll be around, come on by! Just look for the really big banners featuring our official mascot, whose name is Megumi-chan, in case you were curious.

Japan is an expensive place, and travelling here can quickly add up to a lot of money. I once took my family to Kyoto for a few days and managed to spend enough for all of us to fly to Europe instead — ouch. However, there are still plenty of ways to make a trip to Japan affordable. First of all, be sure to make use of the Japan Rail Pass discount tickets, which let you go anywhere on Japan’s speedy bullet trains for a very affordable fee. (Poor Japan-bound gaijin like me don’t get to buy these, as they’re only for visitors from outside the country.) All Japanese cities have affordable youth hostels where you can stay for around $30 a night, more or less. You also might try what I’ve done in the past, staying in capsule hotels — you’re sure to have an unforgettable experience, sleeping in those tiny cubbyholes. Guidebooks like Lonely Planet are useful, but a word of warning: if you locate accommodations using these books, be prepared to find yourself staying at a traditional ryokan filled with other foreign tourists, all clutching copies of the same guidebook. Avoid this by trying a Japanese minshuku, a kind of Japanese-style bed-and-breakfast where you can enjoy the hospitality of the owner and meet locals also traveling on the cheap.

Everyone naturally views the world from the viewpoint of their own culture, and many people consider their country to be “best,” at least on some level. But while many Japanese view the world from the standpoint of their own culture, I don’t think I’ve met one who thinks that Japan is “#1” in the world. “Everyone knows that America is number one,” a guy drinking next to me once said. “Japan is number 81.” While he was making a joke about the international code used to call Japan, I think that certain Japanese, especially members of the older generation who experienced defeat by the Allies and the kids raised by them, have a bit of a complex about the U.S. and Europe, and naturally assume that their own culture is inferior to the greatness of the West. This is part of the reason why Japan’s government is happy to take its cues mostly from the U.S. and Britain, to introduce their own “Big Bang” banking reform program only after the U.K. rolled out their own program, or to name the retirement investment system used in Japan “the Japan 401(k).” Just once, it’d be interesting to see a major idea put forth by Japan’s government, which would be studied and adopted by the West, instead of the other way around.

I’d be remiss in my discussions about Japan if I didn’t bring up two core concepts any pop Japanoligist needs to know: tatemae and honne (TAH-tay- MAH-ae and HON-neh), two concepts which are woven into the fabric of Japan as a nation. Tatemae could be translated as the ideas expressed in public, or the way we pretend society is, while honne is the way we really feel, or the way the world really is. Often tatemae are the things you say to people in certain social situations, even though you don’t feel that way inside. When I see my English-bilingual wife talking with the other mothers at my daughter’s school, I can see some this idea in action: she has to hold her own opinions back much of the time and pretend to agree with the other mothers who have never been outside of Japan, lest she stand out too much. Tatemae can also exist in the society at large. For example, gambling is illegal in Japan, so you win “prizes” at Pachinko parlors, which you “sell” for money at small shops located conveniently next door. Prostitution is also illegal, yet there are “soaplands” where a beautiful girl will give you a full body wash in a bath (including one in Shibuya, located right behind a police station). And on Tokyo’s busy Kan-Nana Bypass, the speed limit is a meager 40 kph (24 mph), but anyone actually going that speed would surely cause an accident — so everyone speeds along at 90 kph (55 mph). Tatemae are the little white lies we live with every day, and honne are what is really in our hearts. Do you have tatemae and honne in your life?

Tags: bathingconventioncosplayculturefamilyfoodgaijinkids

More Posts Like This

I Raised That Boy
Your Friend in Japan

What Anime Raised You? J-List Customers of Culture Respond!

by Peter Payne
3 months ago

One reason I love social media like X, Bluesky, and Facebook is that I can post questions to my followers...

Camera Angles In Anime
Your Friend in Japan

Yandere Meets Instant Noodles! Anime Marketing with Seiyuu Saori Hayami

by Peter Payne
6 months ago

Last week X lit up with the hashtag #早見沙織, or #HayamiSaori. Being a huge fan of anime voice actress Hayami...

Is Japan Xenophobic

No, Japan Is Not Xenophobic. Here’s Why.

1 year ago
Shimoneta Weird Anime

16 Ways Being an Anime Otaku Makes You Happier!

3 years ago
San Diego Comic Con Harry Potter Image

San Diego Comic-Con is Back! Four Things We Love About the Show

3 years ago
This Man Won Anime Expo As Far As I'm Concerned

Anime Expo Supremacy: Anime Takes Over the World?

3 years ago
Next Post
J-List Default Featured Image

Being sick in Japan and America, the concept of "political correctness" in Japanese, and all about Japan's famous alcoholic drink, sake

Trending Today

Please Put Them On Takamine San PV2 5
News

The Power of No Panties, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san

3 months ago
Anime Reverse Image Search Ultimate Guide
Your Friend in Japan

Find That Anime! The Ultimate Anime Reverse Image Search Guide

6 days ago
Shock! Manga Artists Who Also Created Hentai
Your Friend in Japan

Shock! 15 Famous Manga Artists Who Also Made Hentai

1 year ago
Spring 2025 Ecchi Anime Web Cover
News

Spring 2025 Ecchi Anime and Where to Watch Them

2 months ago
Haite Kudasai, Takamine San Episode 1 Featured Image
Featured

Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san, Episode 1 — The Power of Pantsu Compels You!

3 weeks ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
Summer Pockets Blog Post
Your Friend in Japan

Summer Pockets: Rewinding to a Simpler Era of Visual Novel Anime

by Peter Payne
May 16, 2025

Summer Pockets: Rewinding to a Simpler Era of Visual Novel Anime

The Guilty & Punish Punish Figure — Mixing Succubi with LSD

Marin Kitagawa Cosplay That Hypes Us for Season 2

Secrets of the Silent Witch Revealed in Battle

Yandere Dark Elf, Episode 3 — Smacking Balls, Inner Thighs, but Not Lips!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.