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

Japanese Culture and “Thinking About the Next Person”

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

San Diego Comic Con 2018 Cosplay

We’re finally done with the San Diego Comic Convention. We had a great show, meeting thousands of fans and shaking lots of hands, and selling many kawaii plush toys, English-translated visual novels and our signature “naughty” products. We also saw lots of fun cosplayers, and made a blog post about them here. With our convention season over, it’s time for me to relax with my Japanese family in San Diego, including Mrs. J-List, who just arrived from Japan.

Do you think about tsugi no hito — the “next person” who will use a public place like a table at a food court or a public restroom — much in your daily life? It’s a concept I encountered when I first arrived in Japan as an ESL teacher, and noticed the clock in the classroom I was teaching in was off by a few minutes. I stood on a chair (with my shoes on) so I could adjust the clock, which caused my students to react negatively, with one telling me, “You need to think about the next person who will sit in that chair. Now it’s all dirty from your shoes!” I’d not yet internalized the rather intense cultural attitude towards shoes, which are always considered kitanai (dirty), and removed before entering a house. The correct course for me would have been to remove my shoes and stand on the chair in my socks while I adjusted the clock, which I naturally learned to do pretty quickly.

I ran into this idea an hour ago, while eating at a food court over in Seaport Village, a tourist-ey area in downtown San Diego. The tables weren’t very clean, and my wife got a rag and cleaned them herself, complaining about previous guests who left the table dirty when they left, not even clearing their trash. It reminded me of the time I rode the train from Los Angeles to San Diego during a rainstorm and had to ask the lady across from me to remove her muddy shoes from the seat I was about to sit on, which was a pretty big dose of reverse culture shock for me. The idea behind thinking of the “next person” is known as omoiyari, literally “consideration and empathy for others,” and it’s one of my favorite aspects of living in Japan. It’s also the idea behind why Japanese soccer fans clean up stadiums after a game, which seems to have started to catch on with other fans recently.

Just think what the world would be like if we’d all try to “think of the next person” a little in our daily lives!

Jlist Banner Wide Doujinshi July 24

J-List has been posting more and more excellent doujinshi from Japan’s top artist circles to the site, allowing you to buy parody works of your favorite anime works in naughty form. See all the new doujin titles here.

Tags: cosplaySan Diego Comic Con

More Posts Like This

Shimoneta Weird Anime
Your Friend in Japan

16 Ways Being an Anime Otaku Makes You Happier!

by Peter Payne
1 year ago

One thing I love about being an anime otaku is the way it seems to make fans happier than they...

How To Pick Up Girls At A Con Cover
Your Friend in Japan

Book Review: How to Pick Up Girls at a Con!

by Peter Payne
1 year ago

I've been blogging since May 20, 1998. This was the date of the Japan release of that awful American Godzilla...

San Diego Comic Con Harry Potter Image

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

1 year ago
This Man Won Anime Expo As Far As I'm Concerned

Anime Expo Supremacy: Anime Takes Over the World?

1 year ago
J List At Anime Expo!

Day One of Anime Expo Special Report!

1 year ago
J List At Anime Expo

J-List is Ready for Anime Expo! Will You Be At the Show?

1 year ago
Next Post
Asobi Asobase Overview

Anime Brings Familes Together: Asobi Asobase

Trending Today

Why Is Umi Yatsugake So Popular
Your Friend in Japan

Why is Umi Yatsugake The Most Popular JAV Actress?

3 days ago
Roxy Migurdia Blog Post
Figures

This is the Roxy Migurdia Figure We All Needed!

5 days ago
Why Are There So Many Characters Named Sakura
Your Friend in Japan

Why Are So Many Anime Characters Named Sakura?

5 days ago
Tan Fighters List1 6
Featured

Lovely Tanned Fighters Who Need No Protection

1 week ago
Neko Pako Fuck Paradise
Adult Toy Reviews [NSFW]

J-List’s Top 11 Hentai Cosplay JAV Works

3 years ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
What Autumn 2023 Anime Will J List Watch
Your Friend in Japan

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

by Peter Payne
September 28, 2023

TenPuru, Episode 12 [END]: Where Are You Looking?

Rurouni Kenshin, Episode 13: Sword vs. Gun

Comic Con Africa Is a Slice of Global Otaku Culture

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

Bibury Animation 100 Girlfriends Who Really Love You

  • 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.