It’s fun to analyze the impressions foreigners have of Japan when they first arrive in the country. The surprise at seeing vending machines on every street corner. (There are about 5 million of them, one for every 23 Japanese citizens, in case you wondered the exact number.) The odd disconnect of seeing older Japanese women wearing traditional kimono while using a smartphone. I remember being amazed at the kawara tiles on the roofs of normal houses, which seemed to my untrained eye like something that belonged on thousand-year old temples in Kyoto. Another thing I noticed pretty quickly was the incredibly high level of service you nearly always get in Japanese shops and restaurants, and if you spend any time here you’ll be spoiled for the rest of your life by this. Part of this service usually involves wrapping your purchase – such as the amazing cakes sold in shops inside Tokyo Station – multiple times, placing it in a bag, then in a box, then in another bag for good measure.
I’m always amused at the way the Japanese love dividing themselves into groups using labels. One of these words is 族 –zoku, which means “tribe,” and journalists will try to come up with interesting terms like 蛍族 hotaru-zoku, or the “firefly tribe.” This term describes men who have been banned from smoking in the house by their wives, so they smoke alone on the balcony, the ends of their cigarettes looking like fireflies dancing in the dark. Another such descriptive word is 派 -ha, short for 派閥 habatsu meaning “faction,” and Japanese will talk about whether people are ブリーフ派 buriifu-ha or トランクス派 torankusu-ha, debating the benefits of membership in the “briefs faction” vs. the “trunks faction” with respect to underwear, or whether someone belongs to the 醤油派 shoyu-ha or ソース派 sauce-ha, the soy sauce faction or Bull-Dog Tonkatsu Sauce faction, describing which sauce they prefer on fried eggs. (While I love tonkatsu sauce on nearly all foods, I always go with soy sauce on my eggs.) I’m sure that somewhere, some otaku are debating the various merits of 巨乳 kyonyu (big boobs) vs. 貧乳 hinnyu (flat chests), a theme of a few H-games we could think of. Which 派 ha are you?
This month J-List is having a great sale on all delicious chocolate products including Pocky, Japan Kit Kat and Meltykiss, as well as personal stress toys and “dolphin polishers.” Through the end of February, you can get 3x J-List points on all these great products, whether you’ve got a special date planned for Valentine’s Day or plan a quiet evening alone. Everyone will be happy during February!
