Comments on: Japanese culture tours for foreign tourists

By: Bilingual Weddings: not so Uncommon Anymore | How To Speak Japanese

Bilingual Weddings: not so Uncommon Anymore | How To Speak Japanese — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:22:39 +0000

[...] Japanese culture tours for foreign tourists | Japan Probe [...]

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:01:55 +0000

Fun is not the only reason for experiencing things. One of the things my parents most talked about after they came to Japan was how we took a commuter train out from Tokyo at rush our. It certainly wasn’t a lot of fun at the time, but it equally certainly gave them an interesting experience and insight into Japan, so was definitely worth it.

By: niels

niels — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:36:29 +0000

100 yen shop is for the rich only.
The only shop I can afford to buy those items at is Shop QQ (99 yen shop)

By: TofuUnion

TofuUnion — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:26:11 +0000

What you referrer to are not as much fun. There are a lot of things Japanese do in daily life which can be fun and culturally Japanese enough. These are, going to public bath (Sento), eating delicious Rahmen or Yakitori in restaurant, eating Sushi in Kaiten-zushi restaurant, buying glossary things in 100 Yen shop or taking a Sauna and sleeping in Capsule Hotel.

By: lee

lee — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:12:22 +0000

well for one i still dont think what they’re doing in the video are “true japan” stuff. All these sumo wrestling, kimonos, ninjas and sushi are the typical image of westerners about japan. If you think of the american equivalent it would be baseball, steak, cowboys. Pretty far from reality hehe.

If you really want to experience how it is like being japanese then you should really live in japan. Riding a train on rush hour, working yourself to death, eating bentos in convenience stores, ordering ramen in a vending machine, these small things really matter the most

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:10:04 +0000

Some of the tours on offer in Saitama did actually look like they show a bit of the “true Japan”–for example going to an Urawa Reds game or an izakaya–but this segment very ironically focuses on the more stereotypical elements of Japan like martial arts, kimono and tabi socks. And then, goes on to to trot out all the most hoary stereotypes of and condescension toward foreigners: they are large, prefer loud colors and have a hard time sitting seiza style, but my, aren’t they good with those chopsticks!

On the other hand, this type of tour is certainly better than the traditional Japanese package tour on which the participants only meet other Japanese people and have almost zero interaction with the local inhabitants of the country they are visiting. That’s the kind of travel that narrows the mind rather than broadening it and buttresses stereotypes rather than breaking them down.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:51:42 +0000

It’s odd really – is it overseas tour companies being lazy and fobbing them off to Japanese, who love the opportunity to give the visitors their view of how Japan should be seen, or are there actually barriers to foreign tour guides? I don’t necessarily mean it’s actually illegal, but things like exams or something to take to be qualified that most non-Japanese can’t be bothered with. Or, more likely, a combination of both.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:33:01 +0000

It is the norm when you want to make it clear that the Japanese is broken Japanese – or in general foreigners speaking Japanese, as we all know that foreigners can’t really speak Japanese. It is similar to when US documentaries overdub a Japanese person speaking Japanese with a person speaking with a thick Japanese accent. It calls unncessary attention to the fact that this person is foreign, and is rather offensive.

By: ah

ah — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:29:08 +0000

I think I’ve seen that theater troupe before… I didn’t catch a name though in the video.
I thought it was pretty funny that they katakana-ized the foreign girl’s Japanese. Is that the norm?

By: Bruce Smith

Bruce Smith — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:29:20 +0000

Given that Japanese tourists travelling outside Japan were almost always accompanied by Japanese tour conductors and Japanese tour guides surely gaijin tourists in Japan should have gaijin tour guides ?

By: Haf

Haf — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:01:18 +0000

Was there Naruto music playing during the sword scenes?

I lived near Kawagoe for a while and also visited it for a festival, which was quite fun. I don’t think they had these tours back then.

I was asked by my japanese friends at the beginning of our friendship if japanese-style sitting is ok when we went to izakayas for the first copule of times.
I think it’s ok to ask, as sitting on tatami might get uncomfortable quickly when you’re not accustomed to it.

To just assume something however can sometimes alienate and offend people and should therefore be avoided when there’s a possibility to simply ask.

Now people who are familiar with using chopsticks when eating might feel offended when being asked if they can eat with chopsticks, but they tend to forget that those questions are not only based on ignorance but sometimes also on previous awkward moments as really quite a lot of western people are not able to use chopsticks without making a mess.

Ah yeah… HE SAID GAIJIN, HE SAID GAIJIN! ;P

By: Japanese culture tours for foreign tourists | Japan Probe | forexaud.com

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:05:49 +0000

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