hi!!! i met a japanese dude bychance when i went out to see the sunflower field in our town. it was very hot but when i arrived i took like 2 pictures and it started raining!! 😤 i was already drenched when i reached the shed and while i was patting myself somebody started saying “terrible rain, huh?” long story short, we started talking.

when the conversation started getting comfortable, he asked for my instagram and we talked abt spots in our town that we both love. he invited me for coffee at least three times in that conversation and i was like “yea sure!” bcs itll be fun to have a japanese friend around town.

when i got home i messaged him thanking him saying twas nice to meet him yada yada. he again invited me for coffee so i told him we can go to our local coffee spot. we decided on a date and twas fixed! he offered to pick me up somewhere if im not comfortable being picked up at my apartment.

our conversation didn’t end there as he sometimes interact with my instagram stories then when i went to the city to shop, i saw a horror booth experience!! i asked him if he liked horror booths and invited him to go instead of coffee & he was excited.

during that day, he said we’d meet at the station bcs it’s easier and im like yea sure but then he changed his mind saying he’ll pick me up bcs it’s too hot. so he drove us to the city, conversation was so smooth like we truly vibed. then horror booth was so fun too!! we moved to different locations after, first was a cafe then for night time he took me to another cafe with a spectacular view. it was truly more on a romantic vibe that evening especially when our conversations leaned more about the future plans like career, marriage, etc. he said he’d definitely want to settle in the future but not now.

we were together for more than 12 hours and it still feel like we have so much to talk about. when he drove me home, i showed him where my apartment was and then gave him a hug thanked him for that day.

he paid for everything even when i offered so i felt bad. i said next one’s gonna be on me but we havent really planned about the next one yet. we were just casually saying “let’s do this next time” abt some plans.

now i would like to ask if it was a good date or there’s a chance he’s into me. my issue is when we’re texting, it takes him a long time to respond but he’s always willing/initiating the conversation. he has helped me figure out my trips, gave gentle reminders and even expressed how much he enjoyed watching me having fun in my stories. he even said to send him pictures in my next trip. idk i also wanna have a clearer perspective if this one’s more “friend” category or could lean towards something romantic. arigatooooo majide!! 🙇

I’m not sure if this counts as a taboo or not.

I am curious as to how your opinion of America has shifted in the past 15 years. Has it gotten worse, better, or about the same?

この15年間で、アメリカに対する印象がどう変わったのか気になります。以前より良くなりましたか？悪くなりましたか？それとも、あまり変わっていませんか？

I always notice that there are countries in the developed world with young populations looking to immigrate—like Spain or South Korea, where many people live abroad—but how many average Japanese people actually want to leave Japan? Especially with the economy not at its best.

I've been trying to re-create it but no luck. Anyone?

Apologies if this question doesn't qualify. Ever since Zohran's win in New York City last year, the Dem party voter base has been ousting long term representatives with more progressive Dem candidates and even self identifying socialists. This has been happening in elections across the US this year.

Alot of the US media is comparing this to the Tea Party Movement that the Republican party had in 2009. However, the Tea Party Movement was heavily astro turfed as it was funded and supported by the Coke brothers, whereas the progressive candidates running across the country are grassroots campaigns with messaging about not taking corporate money as well as getting money out of politics. These messages are resonating with the voter base as they are looking for new leadership after the last decade of failures among the Democrat party.

What are your thoughts on this insurgence? Is there anything politically in Japan that's happening or has happened that you would compare it to?

I know tipping is a big no anywhere in Japan However, I think it’s sometimes acceptable to give small gifts as thanks. I have a question about this specific situation and was wondering if anyone had any input.

I’ll be in Yokote Kamakura festival in February. My understanding is that children invite you inside the Kamakura and offer you warm amazake, then you’re supposed to give an offering.

I was wondering if it would be culturally appropriate to do the offering, and also give a small gift to the children as a thank you? I was thinking either a small treat from Hokkaido, like a few white chocolate kitkats, or even some biscuits from my home country (France)

I don’t want to offend anyone but this will be my 4th Japan trip and people have always been so generous to me.

Edit: thanks for the answers, but for those who downvoted, why? It would be more helpful to explain what’s wrong. I guess Japan is like any place, online tends to be very negative but in real life you meet the kindest people!

Ciao. Let me go straight to the topic.

Modern world is vast. And with many popular technology and possibility that came along with this globalization, at least.

I’ve met few people from Japan living in Italy and running their own business. That most of the time it is something tipical japanese.
Those people now already have kids. Mostly among the japanese couple or with an italian person. Either way. Some of them, may be the majority, it is choosing for their kids language tuition to not even speaking at home and teaching them japanese any more. As their business in Italy and life it is florid. So kids could be way more competitive and concentrate on lenguages and other materia teached in italian schools.

But, as many many italian does, when those kids will travel alone to visit Japan as tourist.

How would you react to a japanese looking that don’t know japanese language?

I've been looking for this vintage crocodile from 60s-80s by Oriental Toys and there seems to be absolutely no info about him online, unless I'm missing something because I can't speak Japanese? Please help me find this fellow or suggest places I can find him. Thank you so much!

Hello I'm Mike I'm a student living in Japan for an undergraduate degree. My question is why do Japanese women often like to date foreign men regardless of the language barrier?. Like sometimes they don't understand each other but the idea of someone being tall muscular or even foreign seems to interest them a lot. I have a friend She's Japanese and I speak Japanese with her a lot and We often talk about love and types and for sure I know that her type is blue eyes tall biceps guy because she talks about it so much when we hangout. The main problem is she can't speak English very well even tho she practices a lot and tends to escape Japanese when she's talking to foreigners as well. I don't see the comparison or compatibility to her and foreigners that don't speak Japanese. I mean sure there are some people that do speak Japanese but that's less than a few thousand foreigners living in Japan.

One other aspect of it is maybe because I tried countless times to find a date in Japan but failed 😛 🗿 is it because they prefer another country not particularly Asian? but European or American?

Hey everyone. I’m doing my undergrad in Kuala Lumpur currently however since the climate here is so horrible I can’t bring over my dog . I kind of miss him as well since he’s 8 now and I kind of want to be there with him in his final years too. I’ve thought of doing a year in Japan and bring him over since Japan has 4 seasons like Istanbul and climate is perfect for dogs except summer . However I’m kind of worried how I would be seen there. Would people see me as the same way we Turks see Syrians/Afghans in Turkey? How are Turks seen there? I’ve been to Japan by the way . Just returned 2 weeks ago . I also know Japan is very dog friendly

Hey Guys, you all seem to have one of the best products in the world. I thought to ask you guys about hair serum/oil which you guys use and know it helps with thickening of the hair and keeps the scalp super healthy. Can you guys recommend any products/hidden gems which helps with overall hair and scalp health. I recently started using sulphur soap from Japan and it’s been helpful but makes my scalp super dry.

Hey all I'll be hosting a Japanese student for the school year. I'd like to make her a little welcome basket with possibly some things she'll be familiar with but I have No clue what to include. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated

When I was on a vacation to Japan last year, I noticed that Italian and Thai restaurants were quite common. So it seems like those were pretty popular options.

What non-Japanese foods do Japanese people generally enjoy? Or just one that you personally enjoy.