The little mochi things. I think that's what they are called.
The toilets!
- There is mist? - Yeah!
I didn't even know that.
Hey guys this is Cathy Cat and today we will ask Foreigners here in Japan
what they were surprised about or something that weirded them out
a bit when they came to Japan for the 1st time. Let's ask foreigners in Japan.
When you came to Japan, what do you think was kind of funny?
Kind of weird. Something that surprised you when you came to Japan.
Weird is... a lot of people.
It's crowded everywhere.
I like Takeshita Doori because of the Japanese dressing like you are.d
- Which is really nice. - You know the playzone game?
A building with all the game players.
- It's noisy. And people are really focused. - Music everywhere.
People are staring at us, cause we're white skinned and have light hair.
That people stare at us.
When we went to Osaka we were the only like...
light people tourists we felt so... yeah.
I think the food as well is quite weird.
We came to Japan 8 years ago and we loved it.
We always kept saying we'd like to come back. People are polite and helpful.
When you went to Osaka you said you were the only tourists there?
Did you go to the countryside or...?
I think in Tokyo you get more tourists than in Osaka.
Where we were staying it was...
we were in little restaurants and they couldn't speak English but
last time we came I remember they could always speak English.
We were guessing at the food and things like that.
- Everyone is really helpful.
The little mochi things, I think that's what they're called.
The texture is weird here. But I like it.
Most of the food.
She is very good at trying things. She tries everything.
We didn't always know what we were ordering.
We just picked something off a picture but didn't know what we were getting.
The food is really good.
The bowls with the stew sort of stuff in it.
with noodles. I like them.
When you came here the first time, what surprised you?
How people are all very nice.
Way nicer than in France!
They are very open and when you have a problem you can always go to
whatever people you find and they will be nice.
They will show you the way and it will be very cool.
That's great.
Anything you found weird when you came like "Oh what's that?!"
The toilets!
She says there are many buttons and...
The water thing. You know you have to...
wash. I mean that's weird. Does anybody use it? And the sound it makes
when you don't want people to hear you and...
That's weird. It's like super modern toilets. Futuristic toilets.
Anything you found funny or strange when you came here?
The toilets.
The bidet is quite nice I must say.
Did you try any of the buttons?
I tried all of them and let's just say I prefer the cool and the mist.
- There is mist? - Yeah.
I didn't even know that.
The fashion here. We call them the wavy pants.
For women. They seem to be very IN here.
Wavy pants?
They are high wasted and they flare.
They are almost like bell bottoms and they are maybe like linen or...
silk. But they are quite high wasted.
They look like shorts and pants at the same time.
What surprised you when you came to Japan the first time?
Anything weird or different?
You often hear that Japan is a little bit crazy.
But they are not as crazy as I thought they were.
There are not walking robots, neither is everyone dressed up as a Manga character
Maybe you find that in some areas but it's not as crazy everywhere.
But of course some things are. Like having designated toilet slippers
- Heated toilet seats! - And the whole toilet thing.
We expected it already but
also the shower in our apartment is different.
You can control everything and you can even dry your clothes in the shower.
I found that very amusing. But the Western culture has spread already in Japan.
What surprised you when you came?
I had difficulties in shops, when I was looking for something.
For example electronic stores.
I needed a charger for my DS and went to an electronic store
but they would only sell home electronics and didn't sell it.
So I had to go to the neighboring store of the same chain to
to then find my DS cable.
I found that so confusing.
Also if you are cycling...
Japanese won't ring the bell.
Yes! True! And people don't lift their arms to indicate when they are turning.
Someone explained to me, that you don't ring the bell because
it's noisy and it might disturb others.
But it's super dangerous without, that's why I always think
"Come on please, ring!"
That was the biggest thing, where I was like "That's a bit weird."
Instead some bicycles in Japan have squeaky brakes.
You hear the squeals of the brake and know 'seems like he wants to go past'
but he is too polite to ring the bell.
Most of the bicycles here are quite old too.
And you hear them squeak loudly and you're like "Uh..."
I would prefer to hear the bell.
What surprised you?
Firstly the game centers. I was a bit shocked.
But that's also culture you need to adapt to.
What surprised me in a positive way was the hospitality.
No matter what question you might have, young and old tried to help you.
That's surprising. In Germany we wouldn't go out of our way that much.
I know that many Asians are great hosts but...
I think Tokyo and Japan manages to top that.
When you ask people, they don't just quickly answer.
They might even take you there. They really take their time for you.
In order to find out things for you too.
And things are a bit more flashy here than I thought they would be.
We are quite into those game centers.
Also the shops here. Especially clothing stores
Thousand times better than in Germany.
Japan is more bizarre than I though it would be. Like cat cafes and owl cafes.
They have a quite childish taste. On one had childish and flashy,
on the other had super plain. Like in a traditional Japanese restaurant.
Traditional places are kept simple and straight and then
around here everything is flashy, Hello Kitty and pink.
I didn't expect that.
- Completely opposites. - That's right.
Hey guys today we have a special guest.
I am Endigo, a guy from Sweden, YouTuber, singer musician and vocalist
of the band BatAAr, a Visual Kei, metal band from Sweden.
Now doing the soundtrack for Tekken 7
As I understand this was your very first time in Japan.
First time ever. Been wanting to go here for my entire life, pretty much.
You are here now. What is the things that surprised you, something you found weird.
Something where you went "What?!" when you came to.
First of all there are no trash cans anywhere in Tokyo.
I have had some friends warn me about this.
I did not fully realize the extent of which they were absent.
There were none anywhere. Bit of a shocker.
Also the fact that people don't smoke on the streets.
That's a relief. I am a non-smoker.
But they do smoke in every bar you go to which was kind of a pain
in the beginning but I got kind of used to it.
That was probably the biggest surprise I was like "Whow shoot."
I gotta get used to this.
What's the weirdest food you ever tried?
One person once gave me some Natto...
No idea who it was!
But if I FIND HER!!!
I had Natto with you.
- Wasn't very good. - Oh God yeah...
- You seemed to enjoy it but... - Oh totally...
I have heard horror stories and seen YouTube videos of people
trying Natto. And everyone will go "Nah it's not so good."
I was like "It can't be THAT BAD" but it WAS.
- It was THAT BAD. - It is.
If you are curious about that, once the video is done we put it in the
top right of the screen. Also find Endigo's channel and all the links in the top right and
in our comment box below.
All the stuff. Thank you very much.
- See you next time you come to Japan. - Absolutely see you next time.
Thanks for having me. Bye
So some of the things people were surprised about included the toilets
but also that Japanese people are very friendly and they really
will go out of their way to help you out.
Which is always a lovely thing to see.
One of the things why I appreciate Japanese culture so much.
Another thing that Endigo mentioned:
No bins! Be prepared your little luggage of rubbish around with you all day.
Please don't litter!
It's hard to find bins. My tip for you would be, if you come to Tokyo...
Have a look around the convinis, some of them have bins inside or outside
if you are really searching for a bin bag and can't find one.
Generally they have taken them off the streets, there seem to be 2 reasons.
One - there was an attack of the Tokyo subway and that's why they removed them
apparently then they brought them back. What I heard then is...
if you actually have bins, people litter more.
They litter around the bins, if the bins are full
stuff like that. Actually that makes the town look more dirty.
So that's why apparently some of the bins got removed again.
Interestingly enough when there's a special event like the Summit,
during those times all the bins were SEALED on the main stations
so you couldn't throw anything away even though they were see-through
cause obviously again, making sure there are no attacks on the trains.
What surprised you when you came to Japan`?
We've done a similar video like this, that's in the the top right of the screen.
That's been quite popular actually so there are a couple of other things that
people are very surprised about when they came to Japan
Enjoy that video and catch you soon on Ask Japanese. Bye.