10 Things You Can Only Find in Japan, Even After Traveling Around the World

The elements of Japanese culture have already strongly entered the lives of many Western countries: many people love anime, many are addicted to Japanese dramas, almost everyone eats sushi and there are also some people who like to listen to songs by singers from that country. In addition, the fun karaoke, popular all over the world, was invented there. Still, there are some things we can only find in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Today the awesome.club brings some cultural particularities that place Japan in a prominent position in relation to the rest of the world.

“You can only cross in the green”. This is a rule we learned early on. However, at some crossings in Japan it is possible to see the bunny Miffy, a character in the children’s books by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. But how did this character migrate to Japanese culture? The answer is simple: Miffy is very similar to Hello Kitty, a character created by the Japanese company Sanrio.

We are used to buying coffee and soft drinks from vending machines. In Japan, it is possible to buy underwear and swimwear from machines of the same type. The sophisticated mechanism allows the person to choose the size on the panel. Perhaps the biggest and only drawback is the impossibility of experimenting.

In bars and bakeries we are used to having tables and chairs almost always at the same height. As the Japanese always seek a high level of comfort, the chairs in the restaurants look like small lounge chairs. For Europeans, this piece of furniture is called izakaya, a name that is also given to bars where you can find this same type of chair.

To relieve stress and eliminate headaches, people use a wire massager with an unsophisticated design. In Japan, there is a more creative version: an electric massager in the shape of a colorful octopus.

Since the release of the jingle “When you make pop, there’s no stopping”, everyone has fallen in love with these potatoes. In Japan, the brand also produces instant noodles.

In many countries it is very common to go to a bakery and have a coffee alone. In Japanese coffee shops, so that customers don’t get bored, waiters bring a plush Moomin for company.

Most coffee machines only allow us to choose the type of beverage. In Japan, it is increasingly popular to service which allows a person to use a specific app and fetch the drink at a specific time. Instead of cups, coffee is served in bottles with labels of various colors that the person can choose from.

Everyone remembers the animal-shaped cookies. When we were little, we loved to get our hands on the packaging and imagine which animal we were going to catch. In Japan, there is something similar, but instead of animals there are cookies in the shape of Pokemon🇧🇷

To celebrate Christmas and New Year we all have a special dinner, different from what we eat on a daily basis. In Japan, these holidays are celebrated in another way: at Christmas dinner, many people like to eat KFC chicken.

If you usually eat sushi, you may have already experienced this: the fish simply detaches itself from the rice when eating with chopsticks. In Japan, this problem does not exist, because they have a special recipe for rice with a sauce based on rice vinegar, sugar and salt.

If you know other particularities of life in Japan that haven’t reached other countries yet, share them in the comments.