They will easily start a conversation. Makes is easy to connect.
We should be more like "Yay!" and "Hi there!"
Hey this is Cathy Cat and today Ask Japanese has come to
Ise Azuchi Momoyama Bunkamura!
Which is an amusement park themed like the old Japan.
Today we have the pleasure to ask Japanese a couple of very
interesting questions. Let's go and Ask Japanese.
Are there some things you cannot understand that foreigners in Japan do?
When Japanese go somewhere, we always buy souvenirs for others.
However foreign visitors don't really buy that many gifts for others.
I see that a lot. I was wondering why.
That's right. We don't buy large amounts of gifts for others.
We share our souvenirs with people in our neighborhood
and keep some for ourselves.
But many foreigners don't seem to do that.
That's right. You got a point there.
We just send a postcard.
I was wondering why we have shorter legs...
Yes they are indeed quite short...
Foreigners have long legs but we Japanese why do we have...
But his legs are super long!
I am under the impression that foreigners have longer legs.
- Maybe they eat a special food. - I want to try that food!
Many foreigners don't have honorific language.
I envy that and also wonder how they make do without.
You have less of a word barrier and can speak more frankly.
Americans and Chinese come and visit us a lot and they are
so easy to get along with.
They are really open.
They will easily start a conversation. Makes is easy to connect.
Japanese are different.
For the area in front of the stage behing me, we ask visitors
to take off their shoes.
Sometimes there are visitors who don't seem to understand that culture.
Even though they took the shoes off to get inside,
they will put them back on inside and walk out with their shoes on.
I have sometimes seen that.
We have many foreign visitors here.
There are many people who are not used to taking their shoes off.
Some will walk on the stage carpet with their shoes on.
Well that's a cultural difference that we can't help understanding.
Sometimes there are small things that are simply different.
One funny story: When I studied in the UK, I once went on the bus.
The driver suddenly stopped the bus in the middle of nowhere.
I was wondering why. Turns out he was getting himself a snack.
- The driver? - The bus driver.
- Wow how liberate! - Wow, liberty! Is what I thought.
He can just go shopping while driving!
And he stood there chatting with the shop lady.
You can't even think of doing that in Japan.
But that casual attitude was fun and I learned a lot abroad.
What do Japanese do that you don't really get your head around?
Japanesef apologize so quickly!
You're right. There seems to be humble culture of apologizing.
- That's true. - Is that a one of your habits too?
Yes it is.
I want hugs!
We don't hug and we are a quite shy nation.
You don't really show your feelings in the open?
We don't generally do that. We're too shy.
I wish we could all greet each other more open and friendly.
Compared to foreigners we are so much more shy.
We should be more like "Yay!" and "Hi there!"
- And you want to hug? - I think that would sound wrong.
I haven't tried hugging as greeting. I would like to try that at least once.
Would be nice to get a hug as greeting.
Shall we hug then?
What no? That's too embarrassing! Sorry!
It's hard, after all!
When I say "Be welcomed travelers!"
Japanese will be like "Uh well hi."
- Too shy? - Not sure if it's just shy.
I wish we could be more open.
You wish people could be more like foreigners who are like "Yay! Nin" ?
Yes that would make me happy!
Japanese are often too tight.
That's often tough. I lived in the UK so this attitude is sometimes tough for me.
We should be a bit more casual with each other.
We Japanese often take our feelings and hide them inside out hearts.
We don't really share our feelings out in the open.
You keep them inside and burn them there.
Keeping it all in, collecting all emotions there.
I think that might be hard for some foreigners to comprehend.
And there is one more things. Why in the world...
are we eating our food with chopsticks?
"I can't hold anything with this" is what some people often say.
Looking at it from a western point of view, fork and spoon are easy to use.
But in Japan we use two thin wooden sticks.
That might be a cultural fact that is hard to comprehend.
Now I see!
What's difficult with Japanese is that we often don't know what the other is thinking.
I believe we should say upfront if we are not happy with something.
But I struggle to do that often too.
I sometimes can't say it or say in a roundabout way.
It's tough.
That's like Honne and Tatemae?
We actually did a video about those terms. I put a link to that in the top right.
Be sure to check out what Honne and Tatemae is.
You'll learn something there.
Here, you can actually interact with the actors from our stage.
We walk around in this area so you can greet us.
When you go to a normal play in Japan, you don't get to meet the actors.
So that's special here.
So foreign visitors can come up to you and greet you openly?
We even try to learn a bit of English and Chinese for that!
- You're studying other languages? - I am!
How about you?
Well here we have 4 stages.
Our plays feature a variety of contents.
We have a court case, a ninja action play,
a beautiful Oiran show (Japanese courtesan)
and also a play where actors and cinema collaborate.
We have a broad variety of plays here that younger and older people can enjoy.
I would recommend you check them out.
In many shows we and the visitors become one on stage.
So it's entertaining for those watching too.
Be sure to come and watch some!
Thank you so much!
Why Japanese people?!
Why foreign people?!
There are a couple of things we can't comprehend
when we deal with each other. It was nice to see that Japanese people
could also criticize themselves and be critical.
One thing I find important, in the UK it was ok to be 15 minutes or later delayed,
While in Japan you HAVE to be on time and if you are later...
then you buy the person who was waiting for you something.
Like dinner or lunch or something sweet.
So you balance it out. That was one of the two things I was surprised about.
Hope you have a lovely day. Let me know about things you don't understand
that people in your country do! And things you don't understand Japanese do.
Let us know your comments. Might be the new stuff for a video.
Catch you soon on Ask Japanese!
Ise Azuchi Momoyama Bunkamura
is a theme park themed around the old Japan and it's located in ISE
in the MIE prefecture for you to check out how the old Japan used to look like.
The buildings are themed after the Sengoku period and
they have lots of shows and stuff happening. Depending on the season
they have different shows. And the visitors are invited to join in to some of
those shows and experience them live as well.
Apart from that there are lots of other games you can play for example you can
have a go at bow and arrows and try to see how the old samurai used to fight.
And if you wanna test how brave you are, there are ghost houses and mazes
and similar things to see if you are brave enough to become a ninja.
There are also delicious foods that you can try. Regional foods and other foods
as well to enjoy the old Japan in a new taste.
To get to Ise Azuchi Momoyama Bunkamura
it takes you about 100 minutes by Shinkansen to Nagoya.
From Nagoya it takes the local train to the nearest station about 90 minutes.
From there you can get a shuttle bus or a taxi that takes you there in 5 minutes.
Depending on where you start your journey there are other ways to get there
so check their multilingual homepage for other details of how to get there.
If you feel like traveling back in time and experiencing Japan how it used to be
in the Sengoku times, then be sure to check out
Ise Azuchi Momoyama Bunkamura