"What surprised you about Japan?"

Hello, readers!

This is your English blogger here!

Sometimes students ask me about my impressions of Japan. They want to know what surprised me about Japanese culture when I visited for the first time.

Since I am asked this question often, I decided to share my answers with you all!

→ Japanese people have a lot of shoes!

In America, I mainly use 3 pairs of shoes: tennis shoes, ballet flats, and winter boots.

In Japan, I see students changing their shoes many times in one day. They often have slippers at home, outdoor tennis shoes, school shoes, toilet slippers, and sports shoes for P.E. class. Isn’t that a lot?

In America, I put on my shoes to go out, and then take off my shoes when I return home. I don’t change my shoes at all!

→ The ATM closes?

This surprises a lot of foreign visitors to Japan. In the US, ATM machines are open 24 hours– even on Saturday and Sunday! In my country, we think the purpose of an ATM is for people to access their money any time, especially when the bank is closed.

When I heard that an ATM in Japan closed at 18:00, I was really surprised! I thought, “What if someone is driving their car at 11:00pm, and they need cash for the gas station?”

→ The bus is talking to me?!

I was surprised by the very polite buses in Japan. When I was studying abroad in Tokyo, I went to the train station by city bus. When the bus arrived, it said, “omatase itashimashita!”, even though the bus was not late. I was surprised by the polite bus voice talking to me!

In my hometown, the bus is often late, and it never apologizes. How rude! 😉

No, it’s not!

Every day I visit new places, talk to new people, and get surprised by new things! Being surprised often means that every day, I can learn something new about Japan. I can also learn how Japan and the US are different. It makes my life here very interesting!

Well, that’s all for now. Talk to you next time!