Japan is not perfect at all: 20 things which foreigners find uncomfortable in this country

No country is perfect and of course Japan is not, either. Although when compared to many other countries Japan is considered as one of the most developed and civilized countries, there are still some things foreigners find annoying when living here.

1. ATM doesn’t work 24 hours/day. Usually, after 8 PM, if you want to withdraw your money, you have to pay an additional cost at the convenient stores.

2. Japanese people think that all white people with blond hair are English and American. My friend from Sweden is very upset because he is always thought to have to know English.

3. The Japanese have a habit of repeating the compliments, which makes them lose the real appreciative meaning. If you understand the meaning of those words: umai (good), sugoi (great), kirei (beautiful), oishii (delicious)… then you will understand 25 percent of the dialogues of Japanese people.

4. The background music at supermarkets and shopping malls is too loud.

5. Japanese people hardly use critical thinking. They follow the rules mechanically.

6. English of Japanese people is very hard to hear.

7. Some services are very complicated to register and cancel, for example the internet. When you want to change the contract, you have to contact both the internet access provider and service provider although they belong to the same group (for example, both NTT Hikari and NTT Plala belong to NTT but you have to contact these two providers).

8. The behaviors of Japanese people are almost alike. There’s not much room for individuality at schools, companies or clubs. Those who are different from the collective are often isolated, stigmatized and bullied.

9. Some stores do not accept credit card payments. Even a famous sushi chain store Kurasushi do not either.

10. Vegetables and fruits are very expensive.

11. The sound from saying hello and welcoming someone repeats noisily. You are always hearing “irasshaimase” everywhere.

12. The people who collect charges of NHK are annoying and frightening as the mafia.

13. One yen coin. Many items have the prices like 251 yen or 2203 yen and you have to get a lot of coins. Why don’t change the prices so they can be simple like 250 yen or 2205 yen?

14. Some companies encourage their employees to work overtime unreasonably.

15. There are many perverted old men on the trains.

16. The Japanese are not very friendly to foreigners, maybe because they are too shy, timid and not confident about foreign languages.

17. Gender inequality. Women in Japan don’t get as much respect as men. Japanese women also go to college and work but some things such as cooking, preparing the meals are thought to be their responsibility. Japan is basically a society of men, like the Western 60 years ago.

18. Too little free wifi spots.

19. Visitors with short-term visas cannot buy sims and prepaid phones.

20. People having tattoos are not allowed to go into onsen (hot spring) even when you are clearly not yakuza (Japanese mafia).

See more Japan travel guide at here.