25 surprising facts about Japan

Japan is a huge, fascinating, and unknown country, with almost 130 million inhabitants. There are many curiosities that we have discovered, many of which are truly surprising.

• In Tokyo, before buying a car, you must show that you have a parking space or a parking lot.
• Smoking is prohibited in the street, you can run the risk of burning (unintentionally) someone. You can only smoke in the points indicated, where ashtrays are available. Nevertheless, you can smoke in bars and restaurants.

• Tokyo has the lowest percentage of car owners. Many companies in the city prohibit going to work by car and pay the employee a public transport pass.
• The sex industry is one of the leading sectors in Japan, which is why the Muryō Annai Sho was created, places of information and management of night-time activities, from the fun night to the most “serious” of nights.
• Shinjuku station, with its 36 tracks, is the busiest in the world. 3 and a half million people pass here every day.

• In Tokyo, a city of 13 million inhabitants, when you come back from work you leave your bike in the street, without a lock. The next day the bike is in exactly the same place!
• Don’t leave tips! Leaving the tip is unusual and is seen as “strange”: if you have to pay a bill of 297 yen and leave the 3 tips, the waiter would be able to follow you on the street to give them back to you.
• On trains and in general, in public transport, it is forbidden to talk on a cell phone.
• The Shinkansen (high-speed line) has no restaurant car. Everyone brings lunch from home or buys it from the vendor passing between the corridors. Everyone eats strictly seated in their own place, in the wagon. This is why many western tourists often remember the strong smell of Japanese train food.

• The car bumper is purely “decorative”. No one ever parks so close that he can inadvertently hit the nearby car. If there is not at least half a meter between one car and another … do not park.
• Japanese teenagers follow Kawauii’s fashion, according to which walking with feet turned inwards is a sign of tenderness and fragility.

• In Japan, we first think of the community, then of the individual.
• In condominiums and communities, garbage management is very strict. The organic waste is thrown away every day, but the one to be recycled once a week according to a specific order: for example, on Monday, plastic, glass on Wednesday … If someone is wrong, the neighbors are ready to attack!
• Money, credit cards, and business cards are always given with two hands. If you receive a business card during a work meeting you must take it, look at it carefully for a few seconds and memorize the name and position of the person who handed it to you.
• In Japan, you never give “you” to those who are older than us or have more experience in the workplace. This is especially true in companies, but also in associations that involve a hierarchy.
• In the subway, when the speakers are used to announce a minute delay, then you are apologized for using them, thus disturbing the passengers.

• The metro ticket must be kept jealously. You cannot leave without a ticket.
• Despite being the third economic power in the world and a highly technological country, the use of credit cards is not so vast. In many shops, restaurants, and clubs you can only pay in cash.
• Never shake hands when someone is introduced, even less if it is a woman. Personal contact is not well received.
• There are precise schemes for ordering at the restaurant. One at a time and determined: the order is not changed suddenly. There is no “ah, no … I would prefer the sandwich with ketchup instead of mayonnaise” … no. Just order it.
• The inhabitants of Osaka are not well seen: they are very open and friendly, sociable, and cheerful… a rarity that recalls the regions of our Mediterranean (from southern Italy to Andalusia).
• The percentage of suicides is very high (the ninth highest in the world). Generally, those who commit suicide in Japan do so by throwing themselves under the subway or train, causing delays to passengers. In this case, the transport company may claim compensation from the suicide family.
• October is the month of the Gods in Japan: all go on pilgrimage to the oldest Shinto shrines in the country.
• Generally, Japan is not a believing country, the major religions are Shinto and Buddhism, very confused by the Japanese themselves. According to a recent survey on the population of 128 million people 100 million declared themselves Shinto, and as much as 100 million, Buddhists!!
• The magic word for a Japanese is “Onsen”: a boiling water bath, with its ritual, that the Japanese do daily. There are in all the hotels and in various public places, and for the most part, they are free or cost very little. They are divided by sex and are entered naked.