47 different things about Japan

Over the last week Marc has been keeping a list of things in Japan that are noticeably different than in the USA, which we've all been contributing to when we come across another worthy addition. These cultural differences were made even more real to us as Marc and I went to spend the night in the homes of two Japanese families on Friday night. Here's the list:

1. Small living space and cars
2. Umbrella storage units
3. $25 watermelons
4. Questionable men's clothing and fashions
5. Bon Jovi/Rod Stewart men's haircuts
6. Toilets are either substandard or luxurious

You know you can get yourself in trouble when your toilet has this many buttons and instructions in a different language

7. Group identify/national consciousness strong
8. Little eye contact
9. No conversation on transport
10. Few garbage cans
11. Lots of recycling
12. Strict sorting of various waste items
13. No shoes in homes and many buildings
14. Eating and drinking on the street frowned upon
15. Crosswalks with all cars stopped at the same time at some places in Tokyo
16. Bowing instead of shaking hands
17. Blowing nose in public unacceptable
18. People wearing dust masks in public
19. Tremendous educational pressure
20. Homogenous population (98% Japanese)
21. No central A/C or heat
22. Driving on left side of road
23. Vending machines galore

24. Clear respect hierarchy
25. Don't consume many beverages (why so many vending machines then?)
26. No street names and addresses
27. Love comics/anime
28. Businessmen work very long hours, rarely see children
29. Fish and rice are main dietary staples
30. Three alphabets are used (Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji)
31. Very orderly way of doing everyday things
32. In general, cities are clean
33. Sing-song, tonal phrases
34. Plastic food displays at restaurants
35. McDonald's items include Green Tea McFlurry, McShrimp burger
36. Expectation for businessmen to drink
37. Popularity of sento/onsen (public baths)
38. Unsual food like natto
39. Quirky cross-cultural interests like Gospel Music
40. Shinkansen (bullet trains)
41. Funny English phrases on advertising and clothing

42. Special tile denoting pathways for the blind on most sidewalks
43. No soap in some restrooms
44. Smallest paper bill is 1000 yen
45. Very few overweight people
46. Every grain of rice at dinner is eaten
47. Bathing done at night