What I, a Taiwanese, felt in Japan (Lifestyle)

Thank you! Hello! Landlord good!

I came to Japan in September 2022, lived in Osaka for half a year, and joined the company mid-career in April of this year.
I'm Lee-chan from Taiwan, and I'm currently in charge of sales at the System Development Department in Yokohama.

A year has passed since I came to Japan, and I experienced Japan's "spring, summer, autumn, and winter" for the first time!
While thinking about this, I wanted to share with everyone even just a little bit of something that is not normal for me as a Taiwanese person, so I wrote this blog!

*The content of this blog is just my opinion, so it is not absolute.

Is the traffic direction the other way? ! 😲

I think the first thing that surprised me when I came to Japan was the direction of traffic.

In Taiwan, the right direction is for going and the left is for returning. Also, the steering wheel is on the left side of the car, so it's the exact opposite of what it is in Japan. The direction of traffic in Japan is the exact opposite of that in Taiwan, and I found it strange that the steering wheel was on the right side.

In the past, I had intended to get into the passenger seat, but I accidentally opened the door on the other side and asked the driver, ``Do you want to drive? ” once made me laugh out loud. (lol)

What surprised me even more is that no matter where you go in Japan, when pedestrians want to cross at a crosswalk, they always give priority to pedestrians!

Even if you are far from the crosswalk, they will usually stop and wait for you!

In Taiwan, pedestrians generally stop when a car approaches. When crossing the road, it is common to cross after a car has passed.

 

So, when I first arrived in Japan, there were many times when a car came and it was awkward for both me and the car to stop. In fact, this kind of thing still happens. 💦

Well, the restaurant doesn't have that service! 🍴

When I go out to eat or drink with friends or seniors in Japan, I sometimes feel something strange when I see the food left behind.

Later on, I realized that in Japan, there is no culture of taking leftover food home after a meal.

After investigating the cause, we found that the main reason is that restaurants are allowed to take out take-out food because the food may deteriorate during the process of taking leftover food home, which may cause food poisoning and affect the health of customers. , basically if you dine in, we don't offer a take-out service for your leftovers.

Another thing that surprised me was that the staff squatted down to take orders.
My friends and I were surprised when we first met!

I felt it was difficult for the staff to squat down and take orders. In fact, I felt a little bit pressured and a little apologetic to have to sit down and order. (lol)

 

 

 

This may be a sudden change, but I would like to share with you an interesting foreign culture.

The timing of using wet wipes (wet tissues) is different.

In Taiwan, it is usually used after meals or to wipe food-stained hands. In Japan, people wipe their hands with a towel before eating.

The toilet will surprise you! 🚻

One of the nice things about living in Japan is that the toilets have toilet paper! That's what it means.

In Taiwan, department stores and restaurants will provide accommodations for you, but most common areas will not be provided, so I always carry tissue paper with me when I go out.

*I always carry one pack, but that's just a personal habit. (Embarrassed)
That's why it's so great to have toilet paper in the bathroom!

Also, I feel that Japanese toilets are more Western-style than Japanese-style.

There is another feature that confused me the most at first...that "Otohime" !

When I first saw it, , ``What is Otohime? Is it a toilet princess?'' and I looked it up on Google.
I thought, "Wow! That's how it's used!" and thought that Japan was strange after all.

 

 

summary

The above is what I felt while living in Japan.
Thank you for reading to the end!