Worst personal interaction in Japan

Finding out with repeated, violent crossed-arm gestures that you can't take pictures inside most businesses.

Asking anyone if they speak english and only getting the following answer:
NO NO NO NO NO NO

Yeah, right. Give it a shot, you spineless wimps. It could be fun. I'm sure you did great in english class.

Overall, not bad. No horror stories.

 

Nothing too bad, once I was asked to delete my camera's CF card in front of them because I took pictures of the showcase :lol: They were confronting me just like VMS with crossed arms, but I expected that as I was taking pictures intentionally although I knew it was forbidden.
Anyway, there were so many good experiences about personal interaction in Japan, I don't want to rant about anything. I really felt like a pneumatic young beauty in a swinger club: Loved by everyone and can't do anything wrong anyway.

The "worst" experience was maybe on my first day when I asked an employee at Liberty 5 what the sticker on that Quiz Ah My Goddess Dreamcast boxset said. He answered "kompriiit" with an exaggerated smile, but when I returned home I found out that the Omake GD-ROM was missing. I bet this was actually mentioned on the sticker and he may thought like "well gaijin I'm gonna teach you reading kanji the hard way", but that's nothing I do actually complain about. I could have looked more carefully as at the time I was indeed able to read it with a little effort, but after a 26-hour-journey I just wanted to do a little shopping & amazement

 

Being told by the police I could be deported for driving (a scooter) w/o a license. I deemed it inappropriate to bring up the fact that police have no powers of deportation. I just shut up and nodded.

I had a moment in the bank years ago when I learned (the hardway) that you are absolutely fucked if you lose your Tsuuchou and ATM card.

 

I found many gameshops had a no-photo policy for their showcases. Why is that anyway? What is the harm in taking a picture of a nice showcase.

My personal worst interactions in Japan are with people who refuse interaction altogether. Often I approach someone to ask some directions and the person spoken to doesn't look up, doesn't stop and just pretends not to hear anything even though we are the only two people in a 20 meter radius. I wonder if it's a cultural thing.

 

perceived is right. It is a nation of institutionalized hypocracy and misconceptions, that's for sure. It's okay for someone to scream through a megaphone about their cheap sales (this is almost always the drug store, Matsumoto Kiyoshi being the worst offender), or even mount the speaker on your bus and spew right-wing propoganda. But talk too loud on the train, or worse yet, talk on your phone on the train, and the assholes pucker uncontrollably.

The Paranoia deserves it's own thread. Could be mixed with ignorance of science. Not only do doctors sell medicine (often placebo) like there's no tomorrow, it's a common known fact that they won't work unless you take them with water or tea.

 

Says the person who went to the country of Japan, where the national language is Japanese. Why don't you take effort to learn some of the language of the country your in rather than just imply that everyone in the world should know your language for your convenience only? :nod:

 

It's not that... Every time I'd ask (in Japanese) thinking there might be a chance, the response was almost fear. That's ok... many Americans learn Spanish in school, and I know I didn't retain any of it. I couldn't use it on the street. Same thing.

 

an old man in akihabara impolitely refused to sell goods at us gaijins.

 

When I was there I tried out my poor Japanese every time I had the chance. There are three possibilities about what comes next.

1) They turn away/ignore you (oioiOI, it's a motherfucking Gaijin, I don't want to look stupid!!)
2) They talk back in simple Japanese which can be very interesting and amusing
and, what I experienced the most, 3) They start talking right away in Engrish to show off their skills ignoring your effort in Japanese

And whatever possibility they chosed they pretty much always tried to be friendly and helpful. There's a little story I want to tell about me trying to find the way to my hotel in Kyôto.

It was August the 12th and the temperature was fucking 39°C. The hotel was on the left side of the river close to the Geisha-quarter with very narrow streets (-> so I couldn't find it). Drowning in sweat I decided to ask someone on the street. He spoke neither English nor even lived in Kyoto (just a stop on his honeymoon), yet immediately started asking other strangers for the way showing them the map I had printed out from the hotel webpage.
We were following people's hints and had a little chat in beginner's Japanese for about 30 minutes in 39°C at noon untill we arrived at the hotel. And that's in fact just one of several such experiences I had during the three weeks in Japan... I think we'd rather need a "Best personal interaction"-thread than this one :033:

 

Quoted for truth!

Quoted again just to make sure.

And just in case you didn't notice, quoted again.

Probably the worst I've had was when I needed to take a real Japanese drivers test like all Japanese do. Not that piss easy crap with 10 questions but the real deal! Anyway, I couldn't understand the awful Japanese manual's descriptions of the many traffic signs so I asked my wife who didn't know. I decided to ask the local police station which was a mistake. They reacted as if I had told them just to give me a license or else. All I wanted was a simple explanation to what the hell the sign was meant to say to which they replied "If you don't know then you can't have a license.". I soon got my own back though as I pointed to a sign I'd never seen in my 10 years of living here and neither had the poice. They had no idea what it was even after searching through books. It was then I said "you don't know what it means but you have a drivers license? That can't be right." Oh man, never have I felt such satisfaction :dance: It turned out that the sign is only used in 1 part of Hokaido!

Other bad experiences are again with police poking their nose in where it isn't needed.

Yakumo

Oh, just remembered that those politicians driving around in their stupid mini vans scream out allsorts of hyper tension voiced crap at annoyingly high volumes at 8:30 am in February and March. that should be outlawed. It's nothing but noise pollution.

 

THis is quite common. It's probably done out of fear of looking silly by not knowing the answer, or so I was told.

yakumo

 

Despite the fact theh have coined the phrase "paper driver"? What dipshits.

Worth noting, that one incident with the police is really the only tricky time I've had with them, and I *DID* rear-end a lady on my scooter (whoops). I was asked to show my passport/gaijin card once in the wee hours of Shibuya (where the Iranians used to sell drugs). Didn't have it. Explained myself. They were pretty cool.

I find the right-wingers worse. A friend of mine threw snowballs at them one time. His poor wife... standing there, turned bright red (and I think ran off).

The christian movement is pretty hysterical too. They sit there, holding signs and recordings about repentance... and the looks on their faces were as if someone just killed their pet puppy. Not a very welcoming image to get someone to join your club.

My favorite new one are these old-timers (a top figure at Waseda University for example) who are spouting off lines straight out of Reefer Madness to curb young peoples ideas of marijuana (a booming industry). The hypocracy part comes in that the only reason it's illegal in Japan is the occupational forces. I'm sure most people ranting on and on about how western influence has given rise to the drug trade don't know this... or that they've been doing fine importing/manufacturing/using methamphetamines for years w/o any support from whitey.

 

You should have pointed that out to begin with. Anyone who read your previous comment would think you're bashing Japanese people for just not knowing English

 

Well, since that's the worst interaction I've had, it's pretty much a compliment. If this was the "best interaction" thread I could write pages.

Always fun to read Yakumo's crazy stories, though.

 

one of those points which pushes on my nerves the most. and don't forget about the fuckards, rinin' at your bell at sat mornin' 10 o'clock to try to sell you a mansion, altough you already living in one.

 

Two nights ago, some political party was delivering leaflets at 3am (Yes THREE AM!!!), some reason they couldn't open my letterbox so made a horrible racket trying to post the leaflet, causing me to wake up, in a slightly sleepy and piss off mood and open the door to a surprised old woman, who said sumimasen a lot and ran off....

Although my favourites are the people that ring your bell, you open the door, they see you are a gaijin, they apologise and then go to the next flat.

This morning at 3am, after finishing the last of my conference calls to the UK, I decided I needed some Beer, so went out down the road to the local 7-11 store, a police car passed me on the way and stopped at the lights, I thought nothing of it and walked around the corner. Then it sped pass me, with lights flashing, and stopped in front of me, two policemen came out and said Sumimasen first and then asked if I spoke Japanese, as my Japanese is poor I just said chotto chotto. They then asked for some ID or passport and I said in broken japanese that I had neither, it was at home, I said I just had my wallet. Which they looked inside, saw about 3000 Yen in notes, some coins, my Suica card, some receipts and my Royal Bank of Scotland cashpoint card and then they said arigatou and walked away... not sure what the point of it was as they didn't search me or ask any complex questions...

 

Suica card. No visa overstayer would have one of those.

Anyone have any Japanese friends that have gotten searched? I have one (who is more western than me when you start talking to him) who was in Roppongi. I see them do the bike-stop thing all the time.