Interesting Tidbits: The 8 Most Blatant Misconceptions About Japan

I remember bumping into an old acquaintance of mine during one of my yearly visits to my hometown of Montreal. It had been a while, so we cued in the cookie-cutter questions: how've you been, what've you been up to, and the like. When I told him I was living in Japan, he promptly threw in a "Whoa, cool. Do you see ninjas sometimes?" To which I replied, "Yeah man, all the time."
 Only after we parted ways did it occur to me that the guy was actually serious.
 Now hold on! I'm not under the impression that most people think there are still ninjas running around here, but man, there are a lot of misconceptions about Japan. I thought I'd clear up a few.

1. Japanese Don't Eat Sushi Everyday

That's right. Just like Americans don't eat hamburgers everyday. For the most part. Sushi's kind of one of those things people treat themselves to occasionally. I've met quite a few people here who are skilled in the kitchen, but not once have I heard of or seen a Japanese person make sushi at home. On the other hand, I know a whole bunch of people in Canada who have tried to make it themselves or do so on a semi-regular basis. Surprised? It could just be that the average sushi-lover in America eats more sushi than the average sushi-lover in Japan.


2. Japanese Don't Eat Whales Everyday
Or dolphin for that matter. Whale is a rare delicacy akin to snake in North America in terms of how commonly it might be eaten. I've only ever stumbled upon one or two places that serve whale in Tokyo, and absolutely none that serve dolphin. Yeah, sure, whaling boats aren't fiction, but the reality of it is, mainland Japanese people generally don't care for the meat of aquatic mammals. Who would've thought, eh?

3. Japanese Don't Kill Themselves All the Time
Alright, the whole seppuku thing might have brought the stereotype down on the country, but it turns out that, no, Japanese people in general aren't as eager to off themselves as the trope goes. Japan actually comes in 7th worldwide. That's pretty high, but not quite even the highest in Eastern Asia. That medal would actually go to South Korea, which has more or less 30% more suicide than Japan, and comes in 3rd in the world.

4. Not All Japanese are into Anime
 I've had people I know be asked what they think of a certain obscure anime. Surprise! What's obscure abroad is also likely to be obscure over here. Although it does come to be expected that there would be lots of followers here in the birthplace of the art-form, there are heaps of people of all ages who just don't give a damn about anime. Just like Canadians with hockey, French with croissants and Russians with furry hats. You can't get 'em all.

5. Japanese TV isn't that great.
I've written a whole article about how Japanese TV isn't what it's cut out to be. It's not all quirky game shows and daring pranks. Long story short, yes, even here I flip through the channels and complain that there's nothing good on. Even more often than I did back home, actually.

6. Japan-Only Video Games Are Kinda Lame
If you're a bit of geek like myself, you might've wandered at one point or another if Japan has a bunch of kick-ass video games you might be missing out on unless you import them for ridiculous prices. Suffice it to say that, no, actually, you're not missing out on anything neat. All those video games about your favorite anime series are actually mostly visual-novel type games, which is to say they're like digital books, but with pictures that change very occasionally and a random decision thrown in here or there. If that's your thing, then that's all good too, but generally speaking it's nothing to get excited about.  Unless you're a fan of Gundam. In which case you actually are missing out on lots of shit.

7. Geisha are scarce

 If you came to Japan with a list of things to do that included seeing geisha, well you're in tough luck. Geisha are extremely scarce. There are really, really few places that will put on a geisha performance for you in Tokyo, to the point where even most Japanese people will go through most of their lives without even seeing one performance. Kyoto, which is much more rooted in tradition than Tokyo is, has quite a few more practitioners of the art, but you'd have to pay a pretty coin to get a chance to witness it there, too. I lucked out, and had a chance to catch a show during Aala's wedding, but I'm pretty confident that'll be the last one I'll ever see.

8. Japanese People Don't Often Wear the Kimono
 As pretty as they are, kimono are actually just a one or two times a year thing, usually. You'll find yourself kind of standing out if you wear such traditional clothes on your average day. The kimono is most often used for celebrating something, such as a marriage or coming-of-age day, when girls turn 20. If anything, the yukata is more common and is more likely to be spotted on a Summer day during festivals.

And there you have it really. Hopefully my list will prevent one or two white guys from saying something embarrassing to their nearest Japanese person. Feel free to add to my list if you have your own!