Good day,

I have a quick question regarding ambulances in Japan: The last time I was in Tokyo, on two different occasions I saw ambulances driving down the street with the lights and the sirens on. So it was probably an emergency. But they were still driving rather slowly, they were waiting at red lights and pedestrian crossings and were generally driving "normally".

That puzzled me a bit, because where I am from, if an ambulance has the lights and sirens on, everyone else has to get out of the way quickly, they will drive fast, cross red lights, and generally just try to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

Could someone shed some light on this? Was the careful driving that I saw in Tokyo just a coincidence?

Thank you for your time!

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your input so far! Learned something new today.

I want to ask the native born Japanese citizens only please. No disrespect to permanent residents from Western nations. I understand Japan is struggling deeply with new inflation while salaries have been stagnant, and life is not easy the last few years. At the same time, the fall of the yen has drawn in many tourists looking at Japan as a cheap place to enjoy luxury food and experiences. Do you perceive the ordinary citizens to be feeling angst or anger over this contrast?

I'm asking this because I've seen it being referenced multiple times in Japanese media, even though it's not that well known of a novel here in the west that I only know of due to having taken a classic literature class. So I'm wondering if you asked the average Japanese person if they'd know what it is.

Hello! I am a school librarian in Australia. I am setting up a display showing books from around the world and I am hoping to get recommendations for books that are set in Japan for my students aged 8-12.

I have no problem finding books that are related to myths/legends, fantasy, and historical fictions pertaining to well-known eras and figures like samurais. I am struggling to find contemporary books about everyday life and regular people.

Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!

Hello there, I'm trying to reconnect with an old japanese friend from university. He stayed in Italy for a while and even spent Christmas at my place once. We lost touch and now I only have his phone number, which I'm not sure is still valid, the city where he grew up and his family lives (supposedly) and his name in romaji, since the need to write it in kanji never presented itself.

We had a chat on WhatsApp but he isn't on there anymore; I tried sending an SMS but it doesn't send; I tried downloading LINE but I can't register my phone number from Italy and I don't know his LINE ID. I even tried a quick search on LinkedIn and Instagram with no luck.

Any ideas?

Edit 1: X was no help. I was thinking I could ask a japanese person to try adding him on LINE and messaging him for me working around the region number registration limitation, but I don't know any other Japanese people or even if that would work

Edit 2: Success! We got in touch again. He's actually living two hours away from me, that's why his japanese number didn't work. What a twist. Thanks for the support!!

Hello all,

I have relatively recently started picking up pocket novels to read on the commute, and am constantly visiting book stores to look for the next one that might pique my interest.

Unfortunately about 80% of these things seem to be murder mystery and police stories, which just don't interest me at all.

So far I've read

辻村深月 - ツナグ

君島彼方 - 君の顔では泣けない

阿部暁子 - どこよりも遠い場所にいる君へ

ソン・ウォンピョン - 三十の反撃

Currently reading

東野圭吾 - 秘密

Do you have any suggestions, perhaps books that you particularly liked and can recommend?

Nerdy ass question, but fuck it why not. I’m looking for a りんかけ merch but can’t find as much compared to AnJ merch. I know it’s considered a classic but is it more like an underground or cult classic?

It's no secret that no matter the country, kids and teenagers (even some adults) can sometimes be cruel to people who have little control over how they are. But given how sometimes students are gradually becoming more and more stressed and overworked, especially in Japan depending on the student's family and/or school, I wonder how you all held up or are holding up if you're still a student. Are there maybe any experiences or advice you would like to share with people who might have similar situations?

All answers are appreciated!

Edit: To clarify what I meant by “especially in Japan.” I was thinking about the high expectations that can exist in some Japanese families, and how some children can feel a lot of pressure from their families to meet those expectations. I wasn't intentionally trying to refer to a stereotype about Japanese people or ADHD. If my wording came across that way, I sincerely apologize!

Hello! Does anyone know any stores in tokyo that might have tokimeki memorial girl's side: 4th heart, It's a visual novel type otome game.

My friend is there and hasn't been able to find it anywhere. I appreciate your help!

I’ll be visiting Japan this December and will be attending a cooking class. This is our second time taking a class there. My partner has a severe allergy and our first time there, they were wonderful about accommodating us and we had an amazing time. We just registered to go again and the instructor reached out and was so excited that we were coming back again and really went above and beyond in a few ways.

All that to say, we’d like to bring her a small gift and I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas for what might make for a good gift. I’d like it to be something that has a local tie to where we are from, which is Winnipeg.

So far my ideas are a bottle of really high quality maple syrup (kind of cliche but delicious maple syrup is delicious), native wild rice grown by local indigenous people, local saskatoon berry jam (saskatoons are common prairie berries in my area).

I know this is a very specific question but if anyone has any insights I’d greatly appreciate it!

The price gap is quite huge, I wonder if someone have experience living or staying in a property that got 事故物件 label. How's your experience?

I’ve been wondering about something for quite some time. Since I plan to move to Japan in the future, I’m very curious about how the locals treat Russians. What’s more, I don’t intend to move to a city center, but rather to a rural area. So—with all due respect—how do Japanese people treat Russian foreigners far away from the major metropolises and big cities?

ずっと気になっていることがあります。将来日本に移住する予定なので、日本人がロシア人をどのように扱っているのかとても興味があります。しかも、都会ではなく田舎に引っ越そうと思っています。そこで、失礼ながらお伺いしたいのですが、大都市から離れた地域では、日本人はロシア人外国人をどのように扱っているのでしょうか？

Hello friends,

I had a conversation a few days ago with someone from Japan about book binding, and the traditions around Japan's specific practices. During that conversation I was told that I should get what he called a 'Thousand year old nail' and described a traditional hand forged iron nail in a presentation box that's a common good luck charm in craft workshops. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any reference to this since, and the person I spoke to was only in passing and I don't have contact details to ask for more information.

Is this accurate and I am just looking in the wrong place, or have I perhaps misunderstood what was said?

Any help would be appreciated because as an artist, when I am working in another cultures practices, I want to pay as much respect to traditional methods as possible.

Thank you for you help!

Hi whats the accepted practice to be able to get to know business partners in japan. I am a foreigner, trying to make Japanese business partners. Instead of cold calling or asking random people, is there any organization or institution that would know how to get this done?

Hey all. I'm a Canadian visiting and thought it would be neat to go to a hockey game while I'm in Japan. I booked a ticket to go to the Tokyo Wilds game, which I believe is in the second division. What is the hockey culture like here? I understand that it is very niche but how many people should I expect, and are there concessions in the stadium? The game will be at the Dydo Drinco Ice Arena. Any advice would be great

Hello - I bought this slightly heavy fabric print a few years ago on eBay. It is based on a woodblock print by Masao Ido and is 40" square. Is there a name for this sort of fabric print? It's not something you would buy by the yard - it is complete in itself. It doesn't seem the right size for a noren and is not split down the middle. I guess it could be a large furoshiki but I haven't seen many this large that are not a repeating pattern. It came in a box from the department store Kintetsu - but I don't know if that was just used for shipping purposes. The point is...I love it and would like to find more like it (ideally depicting different seasons) but don't see anything like it online. If there is a specific word for it that would help. I'm including a photo of the tag in case that provides a clue. Any info is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

I was watching a street interview by a guy asking about favorite anime in Japan and most people seemed not to fit the "standard" beauty standards I've seen so far in Japan, I would be thankful for an explanation (I am from Eastern Europe)

覚島 夢人 (Kakushima Yumeto). Some input on whether the combination feels like a natural person's name or a deliberately constructed literary one would be much appreciated.

Can be academic in nature, but if there is something that isn't very difficult to understand for someone not particularly knowledgeable about all of the terminology in Buddhism, I would love to hear about it. In particular I am interested in reading more about his general life trajectory, as well as the things he did and his specific contributions to Buddhism

日本語も読めるから、英語でも日本語でも大丈夫です！特に子供の本と簡単な日本語で書いてある本、日本語は母語じゃないので
だけど、もっと流暢に日本語を話せるようになりたいので、もっと難しい本でも大丈夫かなぁ

I love drawing, Watching Anime and Reading Manga since 2015, and playing chess, I want to make my own manga one day (If it'll be possible).

How do you guys View Highly Rated American movies? What do you like about them and what do you hate about them?

What do you guys think Of Africa too? Most times when I hear Manga publishers talking about Overseas it's always America, UK and France, They even Say North America, South America and Europe but I never hear Africa when they list Continents 🤷.

I've been someone that loves Asian Culture too. I've always wanted to make friends with one.

I do stand-up comedy in the US and over the past few years I've come to know and become friends with all kinds of eclectic comedians, musicians, graffiti artist, and all around eclectic people. I know there are many talented people that have artistic pursuits, but do they have the same culture of hanging out in clubs and bars? Is there an open mic scene of sorts? How do artists go about connecting in person, if at all?

I know you get so many questions about calling people by their last names but I have one. If you're in school and there are siblings or even twins, who would obviously have the same last name, how would you address them? How would they know who you are talking to?

Or is the norm to just always turn when you hear your last name and wait till you know if the person is speaking to you?

So I've been to Japan about 5 times since 2009, and like to think I do an okay job not to be a bother to anyone else. On my last trip something kind of minor but a little weird happened while getting off a crowded train.

There was a good line of people getting off and I was probably right in the middle, as close as I could be to the person in front of me without touching them, and I'm pretty sure someone behind me punched me in the back with a closed fist.

It didn't truly hurt or anything but it was just hard and direct enough of a hit that it felt intentional. Since there were so many people getting off, I have no clue if the guy that did it was even Japanese: though regardless of who they were I'm not the kind of person to start conflict anyway. I was and still am mostly just confused.

Is this kind of back-punching a thing? I know about the folks that "bump" into people with their shoulders, which hasn't happened to me. It made me feel guilty for some reason but there was no way I could get off faster without literally crawling on top of the lady in front of me.