How to surprise the Japanese
Any foreigner who has lived in Japan, or even just visited for a few days, cannot fail to have heard “You’re good with chopsticks” from their hosts. This survey from goo Ranking into what foreigner in Japan activity surprises the Japanese (in a good way) looked at what other things people were impressed with. Chopsticks did figure in the rankings!
Demographics
Between the 21st and 23th of May 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. Exactly 50% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 12.9% in their twenties, 31.8% in their thirties, 27.5% in their forties, 11.3% in their fifties, and 10.8% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.
I’d love to see number eight myself, so if any of my readers have suitable photos, please post them and I’ll feature them on the site!
Number eleven is a Japanese habit of sticking a hand out in front to break through a crowd, often seen as someone tries to pass down a train for instance. However, some foreigners have found that a bicycle bell works just as well.
I don’t understand number sixteen! Is this a popular image from manga comics?
Ranking results
Q: What behaviour by foreigners in Japan surprises you? (Sample size=1,072)
Rank Action Score 1 Writing difficult kanji 100 2 Bowing on the telephone 88.1 3 Using dialect 86.0 4 Speaking Japanese fluently 82.5 5 Using proverbs, idioms 77.1 6 Eating natto 74.1 7 Habitually using chopsticks 68.2 8 Getting drunk with tie tied around head 64.3 9 Using Japanese era dates, not Western calendar 62.9 10 Singing enka, folk songs 61.0 11 Passing through crowds with a “suimasen” and the one-handed chop 58.9 12 Sitting “seiza” 56.1 13 Slurping noodles 54.0 14 Dancing a bon dance 37.6 15 Using a toothpick 31.8 16 After a bath drinking fruity milk with one hand on hip 26.6 17 Sleeping on a futon on the floor 25.2 18 Taking off shoes before going indoors 24.3 19 Wearing a kimono, yukata 22.7 20 Queueing properly 20.1
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Опрос: чем иностранец может удивить японца? » Новости из Японии said,
June 23, 2008 @ 00:40
[…] Источник Автор: Ken Y-N, 22.06.2008 Перевод: Кальчева Анастасия для Fushigi Nippon, 22.06.2008 Новость размещена в Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 7:39 pm в разделе Голос улиц, Забавное, Японцы. Вы можете подписаться на комментарии RSS 2.0 или сделать trackback с Вашего сайта. […]
Koichi said,
June 23, 2008 @ 02:12
What the hell’s up with #16 ??
That makes almost no sense at all. haha. Nice find on this one.
wintersweet said,
June 23, 2008 @ 04:53
Yeah, someone explain 16 to me!
When we were at Kiyomizudera, we ate at the semi-outdoor noodle shop. My husband’s a pretty big guy, but he can sit seiza easily. Japanese tourists were streaming by on the wide path between the dining booths on one side and the noodle shop proper on the other side. As people would notice my husband, they’d kind of veer toward us to get a better look out of the corners of their eyes. Pretty soon the stream of people took a wide bend as it got close to our booth! My husband was trying not to crack up. (see above link.) So yeah, I’d say that one is surprising to people!
My client was shocked to see on the Wii voting channel (here in the US) that most people said they took their shoes off at home. We do, just not instantly as we come in the door, but apparently he believed that Americans always wore their shoes at home, right up till bath time.
Fun stuff!
butakun said,
June 23, 2008 @ 06:55
#16 makes a perfect sense to me, but I don’t know where it comes from, it has to be done in a Sento or Onsen, and you have to be drinking a glass bottle of milk. That’s the stereotypical image of, um, what do you call it, зІ‹гЃЄз”·… I’m sure this predates anime/manga stuff. Sento is a symbol of showa nostalgie in a sense.
www.japansoc.com said,
June 23, 2008 @ 07:58
How to surprise the Japanese…
Ken Y-N over at What Japan Thinks has found a really interesting survey this time, about what behaviours in foreigners Japanese people are pleasantly surprised to see. A fun read….
Drew said,
June 23, 2008 @ 08:03
I must admit to doing 14 of those behaviours. I won’t tell you whether or not #8 is one of them.
Me said,
June 23, 2008 @ 08:56
There should have been another choice - “being foreign”.
Deas said,
June 23, 2008 @ 11:11
I’m just echoing Koichi and Wintersweet. Number 16 is just…a serious WTH type moment. And how many Japanese people have the opportunity to witness such an event? I’m tempted do it to see if anyone is actually surprised, or if they think I’m just being a weirdo.
Miles said,
June 23, 2008 @ 12:52
Here’s a perfect illustration of number 16 (via google image search) - Some pro-wrestlers imbibing Fruits Gyunyu with hand on hip after a bath:
http://number.goo.ne.jp/kakutogi/column/20040708-p.html
Mmm mmm good.
I love seeing “opinion” polls on internet sites. It just sets its self up for comments. « Shit I Be Thinking said,
June 23, 2008 @ 13:51
[…] I love seeing “opinion” polls on internet sites. It just sets its self up for comments. Filed under: Life in Japan — sukebechan36 @ 1:51 pm http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/06/22/how-to-surprise-the-japanese/ […]
Ways to surprise the Japanese said,
June 25, 2008 @ 01:17
[…] Japan, and want to make an impression on the people there? What Japan Thinks has just published the top 20 things done by foreigners to suprise Japanese. Here are the top […]
Kristo said,
June 25, 2008 @ 17:02
Wow..lol - this is all too good. Especially the 8 and 16
So if I learn to speak fluently japanese then that’s all it takes to impress them. One more reason to speed up my japanese learning.
And here is that picture with tie around the head
http://flickr.com/photos/11099548@N00/273541188/
йѓЅзЋІ said,
June 26, 2008 @ 08:21
What a great read! I am guilty of everything, save #8. (Though I have taken my shirt off and dancing on the tatmi during an enkai.) 日本社会に溶け込んでいるからかな (^o^)/~
JimR said,
June 27, 2008 @ 21:22
I asked my wife about #16. She says that after the war, a lot of people had to work as charcoal-burners (people who make charcoal by burning trees) and that of course they were very poor and very dirty from the charcoal, so they took lots of baths at the sento. At the sento, they always sold cold bottles of milk, esp. fruit flavored ones. Apparently there was a picture taken of someone drinking milk in that hand-on-hip pose, and it became sort of an iconic image of the showa era.
My wife does it all the time.
Apparently, ramune is also acceptable.
newyorkdude said,
June 28, 2008 @ 12:41
Being in the same room as an open container of natto would be #1 in my book.
Nihon on the Net - 6/29/08 said,
June 29, 2008 @ 20:01
[…] How to surprise the Japanese is a great list of things that surprise the Japanese about foreigners. On the list, the ability to speak the language and use chopsticks. […]
whatsburning said,
June 30, 2008 @ 04:36
I’ve seen #16 on multiple visits to Japan onsens/furos. I never gave it a second thought until I read this… funny stuff!
Jason said,
July 1, 2008 @ 09:05
You know I remember I the first time I saw the milk vending machine at the onsen. At the time I thought, “Milk after the onsen?!? Ewww!” I mean, the milk is thick and slimy and the bath is hot and sweaty. Then my girlfriends parents came to visit us here in Japan and my girlfriends father decided to give it a try. He recommended I give it a chance and I must say, I have never been so happy to be wrong in my life. Although, I prefer the plain milk to the flavored varieties. It is incredibly satisfying. Never bothered to notice if I put my hand on my hip. I will have to give that a try next time.
Ren said,
July 2, 2008 @ 10:28
I didn’t know that you’re supposed to bow on the phone. I’ll ask my sensei about that…
Kurisu said,
July 2, 2008 @ 19:45
After many a long year in Japan I still don`t understand why 15 surprises folk. Been asked by lots of folk if we have 爪楊枝(toothpicks) in my country, but no one ever explained why they asked.
Link Blitz « Imbroglio said,
July 2, 2008 @ 23:35
[…] 6. Gaijin are amazing! http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/06/22/how-to-surprise-the-japanese/ […]