Hello moving here in about a month and I'm curious what the biggest culture shock was.
I'm from the US and have lived here my whole life.
I know it's more americanized than mainland but what are somethings that are massively different from America?
by fanblade64
9 comments
The japanese drivers here are more polite.
For me it was the volume of my voice in public. As a “quiet” American, I didn’t realize how loud I was in public settings in Okinawa. Okinawans (and I assume the rest of Japan) are very quiet and courteous in public. I got looks like I was screaming when I thought I was just talking to a buddy walking around American Village
Be prepared for the car in front of you to suddenly stop in the lane of traffic and turn on their hazard lights regardless of how it backs up traffic
First, welcome! The culture shock I experienced was really positive for the most part. In a way, my bubble was popped for a lot of things I thought we’re world standards, but turned out to be US specific.
Not sure if you’re single or with family, but it’s crazy safe here. Like, beyond what you’re thinking. People leave their wallets/cellphones on the table unattended at the mall to hold their seat in the food court. 5 year olds walk unattended to school. I have a family, so that was a really positive aspect of culture shock, one that I didn’t even realize existed until I saw it here.
It’s super clean. I’m from New England where it’s pretty similar, but I remember my time stationed elsewhere that had some serious trash problems.
There are no public trashcans. Despite that, it’s still super clean. People just take their trash with them.
The overwhelming majority of people are super polite and take pride in their work. McDonald’s food looks like the menu picture lol. Once you get used to Japanese customer service, it’s tough to accept anything less.
Japanese toilets. I remember the days I used to dry wipe my poop. LoL never again. On that topic, public toilets are clean and don’t have a 3 foot gap for others to watch you do your business.
Price. I just visited the states and holy crap was it expensive. The yen rate is super in favor of the USD, so your purchasing power just went up like 40%
No tipping off base.
In general, it’s a much more community based mindset. Schools don’t have janitors in the same way we do in the states. Why? Because the kids clean the classroom. The elderly are out every morning helping kids cross the street, people stop you when you drop stuff and help you pick it up. It’s really refreshing to see the level of community support.
Anyways, soak it up! Even if you find it’s not your cup of tea, the more experiences, the better.
My cousins car had a tv in the front dash. You can watch live tv on it too.
Ice cream is served for breakfast at hotels.
Christmas time is fun. They love celebrating it.
What are you moving to Okinawa for? Job?
The safety is the one that will shock you the most.
Americans are so accustomed to considering the world around them dangerous, that we do it without thinking. Lock your doors, vet strangers meeting your family, keep your children close, don’t stop your car in slums, don’t go for long walks alone in the wrong areas at night, etc.
After a while it will start to hit you that you don’t have to consider so many things risky anymore and it will be an experience you have never felt in your entire life. Like relaxing a muscle you had been holding tense so long you forgot it wasn’t a bone.
Makes it very hard to go back.
Secondarily…I guess buying groceries. Okinawa has plenty of variety of foods but you can’t go to the store and buy 2 gallons of milk without weird looks because that’s 6 bottles of japanese milk and you start to look crazy buying so many. You can forget about most breakfast cereals without base access, and breads are…different, and more expensive.
People are super nice here , they will go out of their way to help you .
Drivers are nice, they will let you merge , but be aware of red lights , they like to run them !
People are friendly, I feel safe almost anywhere, the food is always good unless you eat some weird stuff, party and club scene does not stop until like 8 AM, traffic kinda sucks but not really, lots of Japanese people with tattoos, English friendly most of the time, American friendly most of the time, a lot of other cultures here like Filipinos, Chinese and such, it actually gets surprising cold in the winter but it’s hot every other month, etc