It is believed that Japan occupies one of the leading places in the number of suicides. This is true, but the gap from neighbors is not so great: for example, in 2017, the Japanese committed Roskomnadzor 21,140 times, and our compatriots - 20,100. And in terms of the number of ann Karenins per capita, both we and the Japanese are inferior to the Finns, Estonians and Latvians and Lithuanians. Among the most popular ways of dying is poisoning or hanging, and the reasons for such behavior are associated with stress at work, medical or family problems, discord in personal relationships.
In general, there are many stories about this country, some are collected in the same collections as this one. Some are true, others are made up on the knee. To double-check some facts, we turned to the primary sources, which took some time, but now we can confidently say that we did not lie a single line.
Japanese are allowed to sleep at work
Sucking a quarter of an hour at work is a ubiquitous practice for Japanese corporations. To do this, a special definition was invented - inemuri,which means "presence and sleep". If a person decided to crouch at work, it means that he is tired because of ploughing tirelessly.
What's funny is that the Japanese themselves do not consider such practices to be a dream, this is a cross between a time-out and a meditation practice, because at any time a person can (and should) be ready to return to work.
There is no central heating in Japan
It's true. In the Land of the Rising Sun, minus the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, a centralized system for supplying boiling water through pipes is not practiced. Residents are obliged to engage in the heating of their homes themselves. Salvation from the cold are heaters and kotatsu - a table covered with a thick blanket. On top of all this put a countertop, and under the bottom install fireproof radiators or heating elements.
Tipping is an insult to the Japanese
In local cafes and restaurants, it is not customary to give tea - this can be regarded as a humiliating handout, because the employer is obliged to provide his employees with a decent salary. If you tip, you question that fact. Of course, there are exceptions: young people do not hold on to traditions and are not against additional amounts of cash.
In the Japanese subway there are cars only for women
This is true, because the Japanese metropolitan subway is one of the largest and most densely packed metro systems in the world. During peak hours, it is difficult to breathe there, let alone move, which opens the way for various abuses such as pickpocketing and sexual harassment.
To avoid the latter, several cars in each train during the hours of the greatest workload are intended for the female sex (however, the rest of the time gentlemen can sit in them).
The Japanese dislike people with tattoos
Despite the progressive attitude towards human weaknesses, Japanese society is intolerant of tattoos. The reason is a yakuza,whose bodies are tightly decorated with tattoos. It is with them that the association is made willy-nilly. Therefore, decorated people in the country are forbidden to enter public pools or baths, as well as public beaches. Problems with employment are not excluded.
All Japanese are turned on anime
Not exactly. Yes, manga and anime appeared here, but most of the population is not enthusiastic about this topic. Older people treat with disdain both the anime style and the fanatics-otaku from America and European countries, striving to Japan and pestering people in search of an interlocutor on the topic of children's cartoons.
The Japanese do not drink milk
Untruth. The opinion that the Japanese do not tolerate lactose is erroneous: among representatives of this people, this figure is several times lower than that of the Chinese or residents of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia with Indonesia. In addition, every day primary school students are given a glass of milk here - to maintain the content of calcium and trace elements in the body.
Age of sexual consent in Japan – 13 years
The local penal code states that entering into a sexual character's relationship with persons under the age of 13 is punishable by law. However, each prefecture sets the age of consent independently, it varies from 13 to 17 years.
At the same time, the Child Welfare Act confirms that indecent acts with minors under the age of eighteen are criminal. The same law prohibits girls under 16 and boys under 18 from marrying without parental consent.
In Japan, everything is expensive
Travelers are often frightened by the Japanese high cost. Of course, if you chase After Michelin stars and stay in expensive hotels "Ritz" or similar, everything will be expensive. But in practice, prices are not much different from American. In the fandom you can easily buy a bottle of soda for a dollar, and you can have a good lunch for 15-20 dollars. Also popular stores are "All for 100 yen".
The whole country lives on high technologies
There is an opinion that Japan is the most technologically advanced state in the world. There is a grain of truth here: technologies are used here not only in scientific pursuits and in the production of modern gadgets, but also in everyday matters. But all this applies mainly to the capital and other large cities. In the south of the country there are large organizations where fax or even floppy disks of 3.5 inches caliber are still in circulation.
No one in Japan knows English
Indeed, foreign languages are not very popular in the country, in this we are similar. However, it is not necessary to torture yourself with the study of Japanese: almost all the signs are duplicated in English, and in restaurants, bars, cafes and trade establishments at least one employee probably knows this international language.
