What do you dislike about Japan ?

[Bucko]

The complete randomness of city design in Japan baffles me. But I guess I'm use to towns having some structure and design to them, like with a proper city centre, and allocated alotments for certain building types. On my way to Kyoto from Osaka the other day I was looking out the window of a train, into the country side, and in the distance I could see a huge office tower, or residential tower or something, basically in the middle of nowhere. It looked awful. However, as a non-Japanese, who am I to judge the way their cities look? What I can judge however, is the destruction and "taming" of all nature. That type of of recklessness affects all humanity. It really makes me sad when I see a river with a big concrete wall on either side.

The whole "all westerners speak English" thing, while completely irritating, is completely understandable. Although outside Japan there are millions of white people who don't speak English, in Japan I reckon that 98% of whites would be able to. My whole time here I've met one westerner who couldn't speak English. She was Italian. I've met quite a few French, a few Indians, and other people from around the world, and they all speak English to some degree. Even Maciamo speaks English, and can write it fluently. So, yeah, in Japan, if you're white, you speak English.

[Sukotto]

The complete randomness of city design in Japan baffles me. But I guess I'm use to towns having some structure and design to them, like with a proper city centre, and allocated alotments for certain building types. On my way to Kyoto from Osaka the other day I was looking out the window of a train, into the country side, and in the distance I could see a huge office tower, or residential tower or something, basically in the middle of nowhere. It looked awful.

I actually absolutely love this about Japan. It makes going places an adventure. My experience is based on Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and like 2 days in Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Shinjuku (Tokyo) each. Shinjuku around the station was by far the most confusing. Of course, I was only visiting and didn't have to live & work there...

It actually seems much more organic the way it seems to have just developed over time.


As to the rest of the questionare, I really don't have enough experience to comment.

[Bucko]

It actually seems much more organic the way it seems to have just developed over time.

Hmm...interesting choice of words. Definately puts it all into a new light for me now. Thanks

[Spyder93090]

Pretty much only their humid Summers and their (lack of) Dental Hygiene. Their girls would be hotter with tans but not a big deal.

[ricecake]

Pretty much only their humid Summers and their (lack of) Dental Hygiene.

Hmmm .... I've read and heard some ( truth and half-truth ) little unpleasant comments to baseless anti-Japanese crap about them,lack of dental hygiene is the first for me.Can you elaborate further,isn't " cleanliness " a deep-rooted cultural trait ?

[Bucko]

Hmmm .... I've read and heard some ( truth and half-truth ) little unpleasant comments to baseless anti-Japanese crap about them,lack of dental hygiene is the first for me.Can you elaborate further,isn't " cleanliness " a deep-rooted cultural trait ?

This is something that still shocks me everyday and was one of the first things I noticed when I came to Japan. Still, no one has given me a good explanation as to why so many Japanese people's teeth are so bad. (we're not just talking crooked here, we're talking crooked, rotting, plaque covered, black, brown, stinking teeth)

[ricecake]

Still,no one has given me a good explanation as to why so many Japanese people's teeth are so bad. (we're not just talking crooked here, we're talking crooked, rotting, plaque covered, black, brown, stinking teeth)

Are those individuals from lower economic class in Japan,can't afford dental plan ?

None of Japanese nationals I've been in contact with person to person ( for many years ) here in northern California has any of those mentioned denture symptoms,no bad breath or stinking teeth.

[KirinMan]

There are a few things that I have found to "not" like about Japan, but that doesn't mean that I want to leave, heck I think there are probably a million things that I could write, figuratively speaking of course, about my own home country that I hate as well.

I guess I have just learned to take the good along with the bad and leave it at that.

I would probably say the same thing about anywhere I lived so it just doesnt pertain to Japan alone.

However if someone chooses to dwell on the negatives that they have experienced here then "they" have the problem and not the Japanese people.

Oh I want to add here that this comment is directed at noone in particular, it is just my own opinion, that's all.

[pipokun]

Kaoru Hino, share your thought not here, but in the History & Traditions.

One of the examples: when you came here, you always think everyone can speak at least English (at least around Tokyo area), but you just have to ask:
-ちょっと、英語分かりますか。

When I answer your question above in English, "Yes" or "No", then someone else points out, "I don't know why all Japanese always answer my questions in English, even though I ask them in Nihongo".

[Kilt]

However if someone chooses to dwell on the negatives that they have experienced here then "they" have the problem and not the Japanese people.

I have to disagree with that one. If I glance over the dislikes, it is amazing how many foreigners find the same dislikes in common. One I notice that is missing is the pollution. But that might be relative to where you live and where you came from.
Take discrimination. I no longer notice it on a day to day basis, but I am often the only one on the train with an empty seat beside himself. Even when I take the company bus, jam packed with people often no one will sit beside me. Yes, I shower twice a day, so it isn't a hygene issue.
Now if I notice and dislike the discrimination I see and feel, that is my problem, rather than being a problem with Japanese culture/people? Sorry, I don't buy that. Just people a culture/people discriminate, doesn't mean you have to accept it.
There are some good aspects about Japan. My 95 pound wife can walk home at 11 oclock at night from the station through dark alleys and I don't have to worry about her. When I go to the pub, I never feel that I will need to defend myself at any time. And I even enjoy the smoking hot humid summers.
And some problems people point out (like ID check by police) has never happened to me. For one, often these guys getting the ID checks are riding bikes that either are stolen or look stolen. I make a effort to look like I belong. I have even called the police to my home to deal with some noisy construction workers. It worked, and the police were very helpful.
Side note: the police here don't crack down on everyday crimes, speeding, noise violations, drunk driving, ect. They can certainly improve their image a bit in my eyes.
Certainly the dislikes outweigh the likes. Pollution, concrete and wires are easily the biggest dislikes. It is just depressing, no wonder so many people smurf themselves.
If you don't like it, leave - sounds good to me. When I get back home, I suspect there will plenty of things that annoy me and piss me off. But the big difference is, back home I can do something about the things I dislike, and if you make enough noise and other people agree with your view, then things will change. Here, you can't change anything.

Kilt.

[Hoshinoko]

My Heart lies in Japan. Though I haven't yet been able to physically get there yet (that shall be remedied just before Christmas this year) It has even replaced Switzerland (where I was born) as my country of love. The Tetsudo (JR and private lines) are in my most humble opinion second to none on Planet Earth. I am a Nichiren Buddhist (Nichiren Shu) and (so I have been told) I carry Japanese ancestry as well.

The only shocker that I have run into is the requirement that one must MANDATORILY have a four year college degree -- even if the prospective employer does not require such -- and a two year degree is apparently not acceptable! This is a problem for me as I live for the moment(outside of Switzerland) in a place where higher education that offers 4 year degrees are horribly expensive (非常に高い！) and inaccessable to those less fortunate on an economic or financial level. I only wish that this would be relaxed a bit.

Also Domestic partnership. It would be so nice if the Japanese government would reconsider and allow for domestic relationships that are not necessarily exclusively heterosexual in nature to bring their "significant others" to live with them in Japan proper. Otherwise, I am already considered to be "Japanese" in my mannerism and culture. 私も自分の日本語に取り組んでいます。

どうもありがとうございました！ 星の子