Things That Look Strange To Foreigners

It’s been said that Japan is the only country in the world that cares what its foreigners think, and I’m inclined to agree. The other day I caught a variety show that featured a panel of “talents” (well-known entertainers and idols) talking about things in Japan that stand out as odd or interesting to foreigners. For example, there’s a scene in the film Battle Royale in which Beat Takeshi is holding a cheap umbrella in the rain, which looks odd to non-Japanese eyes because it’s clear plastic, something you don’t see in America or Europe but which is very common here. Bookstores in Japan are supposedly interesting to gaijin, too, with books that have obi or paper “belts” around the outside with advertising or other information printed on them, or cards handwritten by the staff of the bookstore recommending this book or that. Japan has many home electronics stores which foreigners love to visit, and they’re often surprised to find “washlets,” those butt-washing toilet seats that are so popular in Japan, which you’d never expect to see in a Best Buy. Also, most every electronics store has a theme song that they play constantly while you’re in the store, designed to get stuck in your head so you’ll come back and buy more. Hot towels handed out to you in most every restaurant, taxis with doors that open automatically via a hydraulic mechanism and those cool health masks were also discussed. Of course, the most interesting thing to me is that the idea of people sitting around taking in great detail about how their country and customs appear to foreign visitors. I could be wrong, but I just can’t see a similar show in the U.S. being very successful, although I’d love to be proven wrong.

Books in Japan (and sold by J-List) often have a removeable paper “belt”