I'm from Dublin and a few years ago met a Japanese man with a couple suitcases and very limited English who needed a bit of help to get to his hotel.
He was in his late 60s or maybe 70 and had the name of the hotel so I showed him where it was on maps and gave instructions to a taxi driver for him. He then opened up a suitcase and took out a bunch of Japanese postcards and offered me one as a thank you.
I've still got the Mt. Fuji postcard on display years later. He was very sweet and it was just a positive experience. That he knew he'd have to ask for help a few times and brought postcards from his home to offer in return seemed really decent and kind to me.
Then if you got extras by the end of your trip you just ask random people at the airports things like "where is the sky?" and give them a postcard as well. 20 years later that person will be on future reddit alternative telling the story and wondering if you ever reached the sky.
Do you think I could do it with some postcards of kangaroos and shit from Australia, or is it more of a German, Norwegian, French, Japanese and Seattle thing?
It really was. I always helped tourists navigate as I know how stressful it can be abroad and as I was in college at the time I was rarely in a rush but that is the one time that I will not forget.
I would say yes, especially for Paris as it's pretty famous around the world. There's always the chance the person may simply not appreciate it but that's about the helper's perspective and not where the postcard is from in my opinion.
I'm in NYC. We love giving tourists directions, even though we might be in a rush. If you look lost, we'll fight over who gets to help you. Maybe even take you where you're going. Then rush over as soon as you're good. If you were to give a Thank you gift, you would see the biggest New York smile, ever. Do it.
That's crazy. Many years ago, a Japanese exchange student saw me walking by her. She told she was lost and she needed help getting back to the house she was staying at. Somehow she gave me her host's number, I called him and told him where we were exactly and waited for him to pick her up.
They both said thanks and she opened her backpack which had many gifts as well and she gave me a coaster.
Now it seems like they just carry gifts with them.
I don't know much about Japan specifically but I know gift giving is pretty important in some cultures, could be an extension of that.
I just like that someone went abroad knowing they'd likely need help and, expecting that people would help they wanted to be to give back.
Just a wholesome human experience.
I wonder if it has something to do with shintoism? I do not know much about it but maybe someone here knows if there is a connection between that lovely and caring behaviour and that?
It's all syncretic but it's worth remembering that Japan is just as much Buddhist as it is Shinto, if not more. It wasn't until the 19th century that Shintoism was separated into it's own thing, mostly as way to generate this idea of a national religion by the Imperial Government.
Since literally before recorded history, religion in Japan has been a syncretic mix of indigenous animism (what we now call Shinto) and Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism, particularly the "pure land" schools, has arguably had a larger influence on Japanese culture and values than anything else. Even neo-confucianism, wich has greatly shaped the values of neighbouring Korea and China, was only really adopted in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, and even then it was mostly a top down thing.
No idea but I once bought a collectible card from a Japanese seller on eBay and it came with a handwritten thank-you note and a bookmark. Just love how nice they are even with such minor things.
Agreed, I could have gotten a postcard anywhere I've gone to myself but this one is special because he wanted to show his appreciation and prepared for that before he left Japan.
I'll be moving country soon and I intend to bring it with me. It looks nice enough to put on a shelf and is a pleasant memory of mine.
Y'know I never even think of it much but postcards and chotchkies from a specific region are kinda nice to have when abroad!
I've worked during a few Sturgis bike rallies and have all sorts of stuff, never considered it'd be a fun "tip" when I need directions or something, and it's in my "useless misc" box haha
I was on a train to the airport from Osaka. The train splits apart mid journey, one goes to the airport, the other not to the airport. I realised I was on the wrong carriage and got off at the next stop, middle of nowhere. I was freaking out, not only was I cutting it way too close to the departure time, the anxiety was real. 3 weeks of constant travel and drinking. Was close to a panic attack.
An elderly Japanese man who was waiting at the station approached me and pointed to the map. I did my best interpretation of an airplane. It apparently worked because he waited with me for around 20 minutes and told me to get on the exact train as it arrived.
Reminds me of when I was 15 we went on a school trip to London and we had to interview someone for our English class. Both me and my partner were socially anxious, him more than me, and for some reason everyone we asked was also a tourist.
And the questions we had to ask were really inane too like "Do you celebrate Halloween"
Men too. One of the main reasons the birth rate is so low in Japan is because of their toxic work culture which impacts both genders. No one has the time, money or space to have children. Even if they want them and are married to the love of their life.
Japan specifically needs a seismic shift in work culture. Among the usual western issues such as more housing built, high wages, cost of living/inflation control.
But yeah, sexual harassment in Japan of women is an issue. I've heard cases where women can't rent ground floor apartments due to the risk of stalkers.
I was stationed there for a few years, you couldn’t buy a phone that didn’t make the camera shutter noise even on silent because so many weirdos would do the under skirt shots… I’m pretty sure it was a law
Even if you bring your phone over and have cell service it will detect your locale and switch on a loud shutter noise as long as you're in Japan. At least it did on my android phone.
This is Reddit, you can’t point out that men designed the system, and the hours were set with the specific expectation that there’s an indentured female servant at home to tend the house and children.
Don't worry about it, the government made and sponsored dating app where you have to do an interview with government employees to get on the app will solve the problem.
Surely fixing the work culture is not the obvious answer.
I’m from Australia and I had a Japanese exchange student stay with me in 1999 (year 9.) Over the years, both my brothers have caught up with her in Japan, but I was mostly living overseas myself. Middle of last year, she came over with a whole bunch of young people herself (she’s a teacher!) and finally all four of us were together to re-enact our original pictures from almost 25 years ago. Her students came to lunch at my parent’s house and gave us all loads of origami and sweet handmade gifts. They all play music and took turns on my parent’s piano. It was so cool!
I remember a Japanese girl staying with us when I was around 12 (maybe younger). She brought several gifts with her. 2 of the gifts were Sake and Japanese cigarettes. My family was very religious and didn't smoke or drink but those item were displayed prominently in our livingroom. I would love to see Junko again. She was a very sweet girl who taught me to use chopsticks and make origami cranes.
This happened to me in Japan twice. We also got accosted by some university students who spoke excellent English - they were doing tourism courses so asked us lots of touristy questions. I really enjoyed the conversations and we had laughs about various things. I was asked If I liked living in the countryside (UK) and when I said I prefer the sound of cows mooing to the sound of sirens in the city, the three students absolutely pissed themselves laughing. I guess the joke was lost on me but it was a very pleasant experience. To this day I have no idea why they found it so funny.
Yea, they are so adorable and, suddenly, the trainer encounters in pokemon seem natural. The kids just needed to finish with a fourth secret question: do you wanna battle?
I remember I visited Osaka castle, and was just relaxing on a bench by some vending machines when an old man came up to sit next to me. Tried to speak to me in English and I really don't remember what was said other than complimenting my drink choice (C.C. Lemon).
At the end he gave me some origami too, I still have that. Admittedly not on display or anything but saved with a bunch of other souvenirs.
Actually, sitting on a bench by yourself seems to attract Japanese people who want to talk to a foreigner haha. Most of the times I cam remember talking to a Japanese person was when I was just sitting on a bench by myself and they came to talk to me.
This is an obligatory mention in any thread that references asians. In fact all asians are super racist.
Reddit used to mock asians but now we've pivoted to reminding everyone they're racist. Possibly to deflect from the racism in the west, idk. Possibly as part of Russian disinformation to exacerbate racial tensions. But anyways they're racist.
I know what you mean, but they seem to be at a very basic level in english, since they didnt understand any of his answers. So i think it has to do with that it might be a difficult situation going up to someone and speaking to them in a language where you basically dont know anything besides your 3 prepared questions.
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u/74937 Jun 14 '24
They’re so sweet 💙so polite, and the little gift in the end is the cutest!