- A doctor will put a pregnant women on a diet if she gains more than 30 pounds during pregnancy.
- You are required to take off your shoes when entering a fitting room.
- Store attendants will walk you out of the store with your purchase (not all stores, but some).
- Some stores provide you with a sweet face mask when trying on clothes. (Don't I look very attractive in mine!)
- Red wine is served cold.....well cheap red wine that is. We were told this when we brought red wine as a gift and noticed it was chilling on the table, ha!
- Eating and drinking in public is not very popular. You can do it but you'll notice its only the foreigners and students who eat on the streets.
- Pale is beautiful, not many tanning beds around! We still haven't seen one.
- In general, people will not hold the door open for you (even if you are right behind them) they will however, hold the elevator door open for you.
- While on the escalator people still stand in a single line on one side allowing others to walk past.
- At the gym people carry small bags with them with water, towels, etc. You can also rent shirts, shorts and shoes at the gym (not cute though!)
- There are no paper towels or hand dryers in public bathrooms so many times you have to carry a small towel with you.
- Toilets have two flushing options - small and big flush.
- People will not say excuse me or ring the bell while passing you by on a bike. Gets very frustrating because its so easy to run into bikes! You have a bell, use it!
- It is believed that blood type indicates the type of personality you have. Check out more info here.
- Food at train stations is very good, anything from sushi to fresh pastries! So is convenience store food in Japan, rice balls, pasta, sandwiches, everything is very fresh and yummy! (As long as you can figure out what you are about to eat.)
- Buildings under construction are covered with plastic to minimize dust.
- While drinking with your boss, you can tell them exactly what you think about them. The next day you can say it was just the alcohol talking and your boss can't do anything about it. Mmmmm....you definitely couldn't get away with that in the States!
- Train conductors will bow as they leave individual train carts.
- Cleaning crews also bow as they leave the bullet train after cleaning it.
- People wait in a single file line to board buses, trains and subways.
- There are "women only" subway cars in certain cities. Check out why here.
- People can sleep anywhere, especially on the subway. We have not mastered this skill just yet, maybe we are too worried about missing our stop.
- For the most part, you can only find one type of Gatorade, grapefruit flavor. Its looks like watered down milk but actually tastes very good! Its similar to Japanese sports drinks Aquarius and Pocari Sweat (doesn't the name make it sound appetizing?) Sport drinks here don't have all the fun colors you can find in the States, it is believed the more flavoring and artificial color something has the worst it is for you, hence the Japanese natural color sport drinks (very smart! We are onboard!)
- Cities in Japan have their own mascots, similar to sports teams.
- Staircases in Japan turn the opposite way than in Western countries.
- Many Japanese apartments look like US Motels with an open-air hallway and individual doors leading to each apartment.
- Japan has A LOT of rules and everyone follows them, however they don't have regulations (or they just don't follow them) when it comes to child seats in the car. Most little kids ride up front with their parents or roam around the car freely and infants sit on their parents laps.
- Many government forms as well as some corporations, such as banks, require the use of a Japanese signature seal. Its basically a little stamp with the Japanese characters of the bearers name, similar to a Western signature.
- Restaurants in Japan have a plastic display of their food.