I always feel like I see a lot more western style breakfast than Japanese style in Japanese media (mostly anime and manga) and I'm wondering how common western style breakfast actually is in Japan.

Hello!

I am visiting Japan for 3 weeks now and interested where could I find illustrated books about Japanese Folklore, especially everything related to Akuma, Yūrei, Yōkai and Kami? Any recommendations for the books are highly appriciated!

Edit: I meant Shinto Shrine festivals, not temples. I was confsued becuase in Taiwan both Taoist and Buddhist places of worship translate into "temple". Apologies for the confusing title.

Japan is famous for its shrine and temple festivals. When I visited Tokyo a few years back, I found that the Nezu Shrine was having its annual festival, so I hopped over to take a look at what it was like.

What surprised me was not the crowd, the food, the performances, which were great but to be expected. Nezu shrine itself was beautiful. It was that outisde of the shrine, it seemed the whole neighborhood was gearing up to take part in the festivities. Different groups with matching Yukatas were readying their Mikoshi to take part in the parade, with drums and traditional instruments. School-age boys and girls as well as families also participated. It seemed like everybody was having a good time, and the event was not only restricted to worshippers but enjoyed by the local community as well.

I found this surprising because where I come from in Taiwan, there is often a bad relationship between temples and the local neighborhoods. The temple will have a certain group of loyal worshippers, which may or may not correspond to the temple's geographical location. When the temples have a festival, they often block roads and throw fireworks without applying for permits, causing lots of disruption and noise. The police turn a blind eye because the temples have lots of "grey connections" with both local police and government. The temples just want to make as much noise as possible and attract a big crowd, becuase this is seen as impressive within the temple's cultural sphere, even though this cultural sphere seems divorced from the lives of everyday locals.

Don't get me wrong -- lots of Taiwanese people do pray in temples and believe in these gods. But having lived here more than 30 years, I only know one or two people in my immediate life that has actually partaken in a local temple festival as part of the worshippers. It's like us ordinary people and temple-goers live in parallel worlds, and whenever their world spills over into ours, it causes disruption and discontent. Everyone I know complains about how temples are noisy, polluting, obnoxious, and above the law. Moreover, people to take part in temple festivals are often seen as poorly educated, bad-behavior types (indeed, it was common back in the day for temples to employ strippers pole-dancing on top of trucks to draw a crowd). I can never imagine a whole local neighborhood, family and all, gearing up to join a festival like I saw in Nezu Shrine.

In your experience, it is common to partake in activiteis for shrines or temples in your neighborhood? Is there a particular group of people associated with shrine activities, and if there is, how are they viewed by the general public? When shrines host festivals, how do locals view the disruptions that it inevitably causes? Are shrine festivals considered family-friendly events?

I'm currently trying to develop a story about a Japanese college student who somehow comes toe to toe with the most monstrous alien empire in the milky way. I'm trying to figure out where he comes from. Also he's meant to be a nerdy, relatable, boring yet quirky guy who's kind of like Gordon Freeman or something.

Hi everyone! I was in the Hands store in Shibuya yesterday and heard a song by a male singer, but Shazam wasn’t able to recognize it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a clip of it, but I’m wondering if anyone has been to the store recently and may know what song I’m talking about?

Having recently returned from the holiday of a lifetime from Japan i have been on a relentless pursuit for Asahi from Japan as what we get here in England is brewed in Italy and tastes completely different.

I've tried all the local Asian specific supermarkets and they all stock the same asahi, brewed in Italy, that I can get in tesco.

Does anyone know anywhere or of anyway I can get Asahi sent from Japan?

I have a friend who lives in Japan but he is unable to send me a pack due to custom laws stating max 2 500ml cans at a time.

Is there any way around this issue as asahi i get here has now been ruined for me

I’m sure that for some time now, you’ve likely come across reports from various parts of the world where the Straw Hat crew’s Jolly Roger is being used as a symbol of resistance during protests. The most recent instances I’ve heard of are from France, but similar occurrences have also taken place in Mexico, Peru, Nepal, and Indonesia—to name a few.

However, while browsing Twitter (yes, I know), a post made me wonder: what do the Japanese think about this? That’s why I’m asking here—that’s all.

Thank you very much. I look forward to reading your responses.

pd: I used the "misc" flag because I didn't know which one was appropriate in this case.

I’m curious about how the experience of living among the sakura blossoms differs for the experience of visiting them.

I've heard that claim many times, is it true? Fax machines haven't really been a thing in my part of the world for the past 20 years or so

I heard that there were Japanese training schools and books to help train people to smile and give customer service. I can't understand Japanese but is there an English version I could read because I am having trouble finding any, thanks!

Basically I'm not sure I'm going about it the right way. Most people I can ever get a longer conversation with are service industry workers that have communication in their job description.　Mostly spent evenings at bars, but besides staff random people often want to drink there alone or within their company. I did speak with a bunch of people (mostly nice bartenders and people they set me up with, hostess and also a grandma on a train that was surprised I speak Japanese) and met a cool American one night.

So having come home, I'm feeling a bit unfulfilled after my second Japan trip (Sendai and Tokyo). To top it off I only get to speak Japanese when in Japan and can barely spend a month there each year which is not enough to speak as naturally as I'd be satisfied with. I guess beggars can't be choosers and being an introvert with few friends doesn't help, but I'd appreciate some tips in case I'm missing something. Planning a Kyushu trip in the spring.

I’m a quarter Japanese a quarter Irish and half Chinese. When I went to Japan my mom said I was exploring my culture but I don’t know whether I count. I don’t want to be one of those people who is like “oh my god I’m like 2% Japanese!” Since I’m only a quarter but then again I’m a good bit more than 2%… I don’t quite know where I fall. Sorry if this is a weird question but I’d like to know what people generally think. :)

My Current Situation

I want to explain what has been happening in my married life because I have been going through a very difficult time mentally.

1. My Relationship
   I love my wife and have tried to understand and support her. I know she has mental health difficulties, and I have tried to be patient and sympathetic. Whenever something happened, she often apologized afterward, and I hoped things would improve.

2. Repeated Incidents
   Unfortunately, the same problems have continued. She has repeatedly shouted at me, insulted me, blamed me, and humiliated me in public. On one occasion, she came to my school and slapped me around 10 times in front of a teacher.

3. What Happened in Osaka
   During our honeymoon last Thursday, she suddenly became extremely angry while driving. She drove dangerously fast, stopped the car unpredictably, shouted at me for hours, lay down on the road in what appeared to be a suicidal act, and threatened to kill me around 10 times. The episode lasted approximately 30 hours, followed by about two hours of crying. Afterward, she returned to her usual behavior.

4. How I Feel
   These repeated incidents have seriously affected my mental health. I feel exhausted, stressed, and emotionally hurt. I wanted our marriage to work, but I am now worried about my safety and what might happen in the future.

5. My Decision
   We are currently separated. I have tried to be understanding because I love her, but I cannot continue living in a situation that repeatedly harms my mental health and safety. I am considering ending the marriage peacefully and respectfully.

I am not sharing this to make anyone hate or blame her. I simply want my family and friends to understand what I have experienced and why I need support during this difficult time. I need some peace, time to recover, and understanding rather than pressure or judgment.

hello, i am the owner of a sony aibo 210 named greyhound, and i am curious: with the launch of sony's aibo in 1999, how groundbreaking was Japan's robotics for the late 90's and do you think is has improved a lot since 1999? for further context, im trying to see where my sony aibo greyhound was built in japan specifically. i know she was a Y2K girl but im not sure where she was built or what year, i know she's an early 00's pup, as she's a second generation of sony aibo, but im going nuts trying to find where exactly she was built in japan. i know the modern sony aibos are built at the Sony Global Manufacturing & Operations factory in Kōta, Aichi Prefecture (located in central Japan) and im also aware of the aibo cafe in japan as well, but for my girl particularly, can any robot lovers help me point in the right direction?

I bought this item in a shop in Hakone, it was advertised as a calendar. It has three wooden blocks on it - the first block has japanese characters, the other two blocks have numbers. But, I'm not sure how to use it as a calendar.

I've used Google translate to attempt to translate the characters, and they seem to translate to things like "gold", "tree", "water", "moon", etc.

My friend and I have a tradition to gift each other interesting, unique, or vintage calendars for Christmas. I thought this would be a good gift, but I'd like to know how it's supposed to be used before I gift it. Any help is appreciated!

From all of the Japanese media I've consumed, there appear to be stereotypes about who sits where in a Japanese classroom, but basically nothing ever seems to happen with the students in the inside-center seats. How much of this is rooted in media tropes vs reality?

Do students usually get to choose their seats? Are there stereotypes about who sits where or is that just me projecting? If there are, what's the stereotypical inside-center student like?

Dear mods, I understand if this kind of post doesn’t fit the community guidelines, please feel free to remove it if so. I’m simply trying my luck on behalf of my grandmom, and this felt like the best place to start. Thank you for your understanding.

Hi r/AskAJapanese, I’m a Singaporean currently living in Kansai, and I’m posting this on behalf of my grandmother, who is now in her late 70s.

I'll try to keep this brief: In the mid-to-late 1970s, a Japanese family was living in Singapore, and my grandmother was their babysitter. She looked after their children for roughly 1-2 years. It was long enough that she grew genuinely fond of the children.

The family’s surname was Kitabayashi. The children would have been toddler age in the 1970s, which would put them in their late 40s to early 50s today.

The family knew my grandmother as Jan-san. They called my grandfather "Jan-san Papa", which I find completely charming, since I believe they didn't really knew his name but knew him enough anyway.

My grandmother remembers this family with real warmth. She was young herself at the time, and it was clearly a meaningful chapter in her life. After the Kitabayashi family returned to Japan, they sent her some letters. Unfortunately the last letter they sent had no return address, and she was never able to write back. She has kept that letter to this day. Now that I’m here in Japan, I thought it felt like the right moment to try reaching out.

If this story sounds familiar to you, or reminds you of something a parent or grandparent has mentioned, please DM me. I have no agenda beyond passing on Jan-san’s warmest regards, and perhaps letting two families who clearly meant something to each other know that they’re still remembered.

Thank you for reading 🙏

I'll be in Fukuoka later this year. My friend wanted me to buy him some "sweet-sour" umeboshi. He said that it comes from Wakayama. He said it looks like regular umeboshi (see photo).

I did some research and I'm wondering if hachimitsu umeboshi is what he was talking about.

Besides hachimitsu umeboshi, is there any other type of umeboshi that has a sweet element (in addition to the sour and salty elements)?

Thank you!

im a big fan, not of japan but yuri,
i was in japan

I asked this in a UK subreddit and was amazed by how strongly people connected songs to childhood places, family memories and particular periods of their lives.

I’d love to hear the Japanese version.

What’s the song, and what moment does it bring back?

I wanted to bring a small snack from Germany as a gift for the hotel staff to the places we will stay. Is that ok to do?

My uncle is in his 60s never married and no kids living in japan. I'm traveling from the US to Japan for a vacation and i want to bring him some gifts. what are good options to bring him? I really dont know much about my uncle except he has a flower garden