Japan Unwritten

Valentine’s Day in Japan Valentine's Day and White Day's Origin Imagine if the roles were reversed on Valentines Day. Where the ladies of the relationships were the ones who had to make the moves, and the men didn’t have to pretend they forgot or “aren’t good at this sort of thing.” Valentine's Day in Japan is exactly that.  After the end of the second world war a western style chocolate company called Mary's in Japan introduced the idea of Valentine's Day. They started the association of February 14th as a day for women to give gifts to the men they like. The men got to see how popular they are by comparing how much chocolates they got from different people. And the women get to feel empowered because they get to take the reins and initiate something if their crush wouldn't get the hint. Or that was the idea back then. The tradition further became popularized by other companies and it became a full fledged commercial holiday. The holiday later evolved into some...

Gestures in Japan In many cultures our hands tell stories. From saying hello to a friend, to getting a thumbs up from a parent. Gestures are the easy way to communicate a thought or a feeling. Japan is a culture that values harmony and respect. A gesture here is worth a thousand words. Tourists do what they can to learn the basics of a language before traveling. But sometimes the words don’t immediately come to mind. Below are five useful gestures that would be good to know to get around when the words in Japanese fail us. Cultural Side Note. People in Japan avoid speaking in a direct or frank manner. When two people talk to each other they try to broach the subject of sensitive topics in a way that seems gentle. This is to avoid making the other person uncomfortable. No one in Japan wants to be seen as aggressive or confrontational. People speak indirectly rather than speak on something directly. One example of this kind of scenario is if a customer wants to return something. It might...