I asked ALL my Japanese friends THIS question...

[@Japanalysis]

Heh. You thought just because I didn't ask you to subscribe at any point in the video, I wouldn't be here in the comments, waiting to ambush you? Think again. Subscribe! We're almost half way to the Silver Play Button (!!!)

[@NeroNemion]

You thought it was an video without self-promotion, BUT IT WAS ME! DIO!

[@boy2man882]

BRAH I TYPE LIKE THAT TOO

[@aceforthelulz9655]

I'm seething about your typing

[@Japanalysis]

@@aceforthelulz9655 even worse: I type 120+wpm with this disgusting “style” 😂

[@niket527]

What's the source for the English proficiency rankings that you are using?

[@s-a-r-a-h]

My Japanese professor told us that the English education was so bad at her middle school, she resorted to teaching herself English by translating classic rock songs (literally the most badass way to learn English)

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Sounds like a great Journey

[@alexander1989x]

Not unheard of. I've learnt English by watching movies without subtitles, listening to English bands and playing PC games that were just in English.

[@r3ll282]

Our education curriculum taught us english starting kindergarten and i dont remember how they did it but by third grade most of us were able to read basic english from our books even though we cant understand all of it and only majority of it

[@ntrg3248]

@@alexander1989x that's how I learn Japanese, just I have more resources like dictionaries and Anki flashcards. It's 100% do-able but people waste their time with methods that don't work.

[@ntrg3248]

@@r3ll282 where are you from? Is it super common for people to speak English in your country or was it just the environment you grew up in?

[@Destroyer249]

the fact that adult strangers will react to kids fingershooting them is the most wholesome fact about japan i know

[@Ren-ik7xi]

timestamp?

[@arctrix765]

@@Ren-ik7xi 9:24

[@Schlittlenutacus]

Now in ameri-

[@kuratse205]

@sxke Only suspended? Damn you must miss a lot.

[@esprero]

same

[@Kaylabobayla5]

About Japan being safe: When I was travelling I went to Akihabara and bought some stuff. Had to go to the bathroom and so I left my bag with all my gifts on the bathroom sink counter. When I came out it was gone! I was shocked! I thought "Well I heard Japan was safe but I guess I should have known better...." Then I start walking out, I turn the corner and there is a woman there with a big smile holding my bag waiting for me to come out! She wanted to make sure no one took it from me haha

[@dennischen8887]

I lived in Japan and Tokyo for 10 years and had stuff stolen from me albeit inexpensive. I used to run 5k at a nearby park in Tokyo and would always bring some snacks for replenishing of calories after the run. One time, I had my snicker bars stolen when I came back to my bench from the run. Till this day, I'm almost certain the high school punks chatting nearby took them. And I would have countless umbrellas stolen from outside my flat near my door. Probably someone at my flat unit who didn't have one on a rainy day and selfishly took mine instead. Pissed me off so bad as I needed it to leave for work as well on those rainy days. This happened like 3 times during my 2 year stay at that flat and I later left a note by my door to warn other not to take it. And not going to mention the countless times other foreigners and I got ripped off at izakayas and restaurants where they made up/jacked up prices without listing items on receipts. Or the complete lack of integrity at the workplace. It's not all sunshine and rainbows for people who actually lived there. I'm living in Taiwan now and not once have I had anything stolen from me including umbrellas left unattended outside my place.

[@centurycleaners96]

@@dennischen8887 Hi Dennis, Sorry to hear about your negative experience with umbrellas and izakayas, etc. Someone should have told you as I was told when I moved to Tokyo in 1983, umbrellas and bicycles are almost “free game” in Tokyo. Weird but true. I remember on a rainy day on the train in Tokyo I hung my umbrella on the back wall of the train car’s metal railing and about a minute later, a fellow walks up, and starts to take it. I just reached over and grabbed it to let him know it was mine. I was standing next to it. lol You have to always lock your bicycles and you can’t park them in some place that you think is safe and okay because some local will call the police and a truck will come by and cut the lock and take it to the lost bicycle storage yard. Japanese people can be extremely anal about following the rules which I’m sure you discovered. In izakays, you will automatically be charged for a small food plate which most likely won’t be on the bill and in the last 30 years you may also be charged a seat/entrance fee that may or may not be advertised. So, I think that may have happened to you. Actually, there aren't any real, delicious izakayas left in Tokyo if you ask me. They used to be family run, all food cooked from scratch and awesome! Now, 99% of them are part of some chain or use frozen, factory-made food for some of their dishes. Japan is the safest country in the world 100%. And that’s why you could drop a bag with 1,000,000 yen on the street and someone will turn it into the police box “Koban”. Crazy as it sounds, that actually happens every year. I lived in Japan for about 15 years and visit every year and have Japanese family. No doubt that crime exists there but like with you and your friends feeling like you were ripped off at izakayas and restaurants, why don’t you list those by name and location instead of making a generalized statement. You may be young and a little naive to not know that for Japan, work and workplace is economic war and has been since 1945. War and integrity mean one thing in Japan, winning by any means necessary. Things like that are unspoken but true, nonetheless. I wish you the best of luck in Taiwan and hope you can remember the nicer things you experienced during your time in Japan. 10 years is a good stay. Most non-Japanese start itching to leave after 7 years. Taiwanese food is so delicious. Lucky you. I hope that the people and culture are not negatively impacted should the mainland decide to invade. Of course, I hope that never happens. kind regards,

[@dennischen8887]

@@centurycleaners96 Thanks for your opinions and inputs, but I thought I made it clear when I said that the izakaya experiences were of my own and no where did I state that ALL izakayas rip off foreigners. If I were to do something silly like disclosing the names of the restaurants, that would open me up for defamation and slander litigation risks as Japan doesn’t take these too lightly, and I don't want that. Funnily enough, it's always the non Taiwanese or non Chinese folks who have never even lived in Taiwan or China to always respond with ignorant China invasion fud right off the bat when they find out I live in Taiwan. This is last thing on most Taiwanese's mind when talking to them. On the contrary, job prospects and what to eat for lunch today are probably high on their list of daily discussions and topics in Taiwan. Although I personally believe there's a very slim chance of a Chinese invasion due to economical and geopolitical factors, not sure how the culture here can be negatively impacted since 99% of it is already of han chinese origin and imported from the mainland. I may be young at heart but anything but young and naive. This may be a generalized and sweeping statement about me personally no? Been through it all - worked around the global including military service for the US as well as cut throat foreign fortune 500 IT environments in Tokyo, as well as running my own company. Foreign gaishikei firms especially startups may internally have the like "war" and winning is everything mentally or else they won't survive in Japan, but traditional Japanese firms from own personal experiences in my dealings with them no longer have the strong drive like they used to and merely on cruise control now. Long gone were the days of promised lifetime employment and attractive compensation packages/large raises/bonuses. Young Japanese studs with decent English ability are flocking to foreign firms for more aggressive pay structure and much more flexible work/life balance and company culture.

[@blehbleh1260]

​@@centurycleaners96 this is the most condescending passive aggressive thing I've read today 😂😂😂

[@iddqd2]

9:22 I don't know if this is true in other parts of Japan, but you can also do this with a Kamehameha. People will instinctively avoid your invisible beam. I remember seeing on TV someone doing this on a crowded train. Some guy did a Kamehameha and all the people on the train parted like the Red Sea.

[@williamang504]

if I ever meet someone doing kamekameha pose infront of me, I will try to move away or dodge, I mean it was probably fake but I won't risk my life for it.

[@ajiibshah3760]

They prolly just wanna avoid any weird shenanigans Japanese outcast do in public

[@BabaJeez]

Hadouken!

[@lee-jj1js]

Dude might be goku im not fighting goku.

[@maskmanfive3774]

You do your own Hadouken and see who wins

[@benklehr1824]

I wanted to chime in on the point of poor English skills in Japan. I am a English teacher here in Japan, and I agree with your opinion that the education is low quality. I wouldn't blame the teachers though, as they have to stick to the curriculum to the letter. It is the curriculum's fault in my opinion, they often teach things out of order and more complicated than needed (words and grammar). The study practices is also mostly just repeating what is heard. Students can mimic what is taught, but usually don't understand the concept enough to make their own sentences. I can give examples when you decide to make a video on the issue.

[@likesflower]

i find this very interesting. do you yourself go against the curriculum when teaching?

[@southcoastinventors6583]

They are not testing speaking skills just there ability pass a written test. Its really no different than the US high school requirement, it really kind of filler. I like countries where you can actually use the language you learned but that only because I been spending time learning.

[@benklehr1824]

@@likesflower no, I'm a guest in this country and don't have the right to declare it broken. It's just my opinion, instead I ask for 5 minutes at the beginning of each class to teach phonics. Only in a few months I have see a huge improvement in my students, not only in pronunciation but also in Grammar.

[@yuriaihara704]

Fellow teacher here. Japan prioritizes order over efficiency. Take care.

[@RedsHitpostMedia]

Forreal just because you know the words of a language dosent mean you can speak it. Its kind of hard to explain but its kinda of like dialects,pronounciations, and tones. England and America both speak English but they have very different styles. Really the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in the culture. If i was a teacher teaching id slap on an American movie so they could see how it was used. Edit: Actually the video itself mentioned Tsugaru

[@mandeadd]

Addressing 4:47 for the Philippines: It used to be that way. However we recently switched to starting in August/September when K-12 was implemented to be "more compatible with foreign schools" and to adopt an "international standard). This was a disaster because now the students' vacation months happen during typhoon season (HAVE FUN STAYING INSIDE WITH NO POWER KIDS!), and the last part of their school year takes place during the hottest months of the year (while most public schools and many university classrooms have no AC). Honestly one of the most poorly thought out educational policies the country has ever implemented.

[@j134679]

Your last sentence describes Philippine governance in general

[@WijaVT]

That's so stupid lol I can understand changing it in overseas countries since I went to a Philippine school in Saudi Arabia as a child and June is like...summer so it's super hot, the hottest weather I've experienced being around 50°C and this was probably 20 years ago now lol although our open area has a roof on it, if you do gym/PE, you'll just sweat and it's super hot even if the weather is dry...

[@rosaria8384]

Yeah, it's so messed up ngl that it needs to revert back to June tbh

[@raphgalban2007]

Apparently they will actually revert it back to June

[@azzie2938]

Translations for every facts skipped in the video: 1.Yakuza is disappearing. 2. Every households in Japan has a rice cooker. 3.Nintendo was originally a company making Hanafuda cards.(Japanese card game) 4.Japan has its own Spider-Man movie. 5.Everyone is afraid of presenting in class. 6.Adults doesn't have Summer vacation. 7.The first season of Gundam was discontinued. 8.Instant Yakisoba(Japanese stir-fried noodle) is not stir-fried.

[@Lihoa]

Is there anywhere that adults have summer vacation? I'm moving there.

[@WassupWassup123]

@@Lihoa Finland, 4 weeks babyy

[@kricku]

@@Lihoa all of Europe? Sweden, at least

[@gengis737]

@@Lihoa In France, out of 5 weeks, most companies ask you to take 2 weeks in summer (because there is less activity when more people go on holidays to enjoy the weather). Plants frequently close the whole of August.

[@GouAndSotsuWereMistakes]

@@Lihoa teachers who don't work on summer maybe?

[@ralfjr.]

In Japan you can adopt a grown person if you don't have kids of your own so they can take over the family business when you retire.

[@emiledlund9559]

That was actually something we westerners used to do way back in the roman times

[@KyleGD]

In the older times, they had to resort to forceful adoptions, insane times 😧😧💀💀

[@blackmagick77]

Someone can adopt me, I'd love to get a family business

[@stevestefler880]

You can adopt anywhere in the world.

[@DasParanoi8Projekt]

thats also a thing in germany, i remember a prince once adopted a man in his 30's who know works a c classs celebrity.

[@wkcia]

“Viking” makes total sense for me. The image and sentiment of a giant table with a profusion of food with warriors chowing down and making merry kinda does feel like an all you can eat.

[@jonfuku5097]

Japanalysis: "If you enjoyed this and would like me to spam my Japanese friends with more questions, please let me know." Japanese Friends: *Offers Ochazuke* Japanalysis: *Sweats in regret*

[@annabellthedoll9953]

I don't get it.

[@luka-gr1qx]

It was in the video. If they serve you ochazuke(rice in green tea), it means you have to go home

[@axcelleria]

Go home after finish the dish or just leave and say goodbye the moment food served? Not like i plan to visit Japan one day

[@あたはら疝]

遠回しな表現で皮肉を言ってくる礼儀正しいイギリス人を想像してください。 京都の人はそんな感じの人たちです

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@luka-gr1qx You don't have to go home but you can't stay here

[@0PE.]

My grandmother speaks 津軽弁, we force her to speak standard Japanese at family gatherings so we can understand her

[@mm-yt8sf]

she can choose to speak standard? i wonder what that feels like. i'm imagining if a group of people couldn't understand me unless i tried to sound like the queen of england..i'd feel so silly talking to them 🙂

[@0PE.]

@@mm-yt8sf I think the dialect’s so different it’s another language and less so as an accent

[@michaelm.1947]

@@mm-yt8sf My boss is from Aomori, but he speaks regular Japanese all the time. But when we're in Aomori and he speaks with his mother or with an older local, the Tsugari-ben comes out.

[@AhmedHassan-sp1mx]

@@0PE. its similar to classic arabic. Back they use to speak classic arabic which is also the holy book that muslims learn. But there was one women who took it to the limit. Most of the time she'd speak in quotes of the quran. Just imagine reading a book and speaking from that book most times. Needless to say she was seen as a genius.

[@neardarkroad1347]

@@AhmedHassan-sp1mx that is more like standard Arabic, no? It's just other Arab speaking country have their own dialects.

[@SakiMcGee]

In regards to the quality of English language courses in Japanese schools, it's honestly very similar to the US and its Spanish curriculum. Most high schoolers are requred to take Spanish (or sometimes French) for at least a year or two, and almost no one comes out of it actually able to speak a lick of the language.

[@SeanHartnett-t8c]

i was requiref to grt more, but it required bein dumped in the deep end, to prove my knowledge

[@modernprometheus8876]

Totally true. I took 4 years of French. I know enough to pass as special needs

[@clerothsun3933]

The main reason IMO is in the difference between the languages. As someone who speaks 5 languages, Japanese was the hardest to learn by far, because of how different it is from European languages. Japanese people have a much easier time learning Korean, for example.

[@undertaker9138]

I was reading a Japanese novel that off-handedly mentioned Full House and was rather confused, this cleared it up for me thanks.

[@robinsarchiz]

Was it Bob Saget's autobiography in japanese?

[@304Blaise]

@@ShibaDoge981 I’m almost positive it was lol

[@peterc.1419]

Shows with little girls are quite popular in Japan.

[@alukuhito]

A lot of my Japanese peers talk about Full House, but I never even watched it, despite being from Canada.

[@peterc.1419]

@@alukuhito It's like expecting every Japanese to have watched Akira Kurosawa's films or to be a DragonballZ fan.

[@PsionicDude]

I can't stop laughing at the "bang" thing, it almost sounds made up. It's like something you would imagine happening in a dream. Any idea why they all instinctively act like that? Does it maybe have something to do with the Manzai comedy theater permeating their culture, so they're just really used to slapstick routines or something?

[@THExRISER]

It's the Japanese equivalent of "the floor is lava".

[@delta-a17]

I saw it in anime a few times, so I suppose everyone just sorta gets the joke over there. Not too hard to flinch either so it's a pretty inclusive game.

[@THExRISER]

@@delta-a17 Inuyashiki?

[@christianhohenstein1422]

@@THExRISER The fact, that I just binge watched Inuyashiki and than came across this custom in this video makes me really uncomfortable.

[@THExRISER]

@@christianhohenstein1422 I think it's cute, but the way the show took that custom and turned it into something sinister is definitely creepy, they did a good job.

[@JoumyakuSalad]

I'm from the Netherlands, which is number 1 in speaking English even though it's not our national language. The reason has nothing to do with state education being good (it's really not) but everything to do with the fact that all TV, music, internet etc. is in English. Because our country is small, there are not many things available in our language, so we just use the English version from when we are kids. In Japan, all entertainment and such is either originally in Japanese or translated/dubbed, so there's no reason to use English.

[@EresirThe1st]

Also the fact that Dutch is one of the closest languages to English lol and Frisian is THE closest.

[@stewie3128]

Speaking as an American, Dutch bears no resemblance to English for me. Love the country, culture and people though - would be happy to retire to Amsterdam.

[@jwhite5008]

There are lots of smaller countries with less foreign language knowledge. In comparison to Japan, English education in your country is good. Maybe not super-brilliant - but competent enough to learn the actual language - not a few words. It also helps that your native language has some similarities to English.

[@JoumyakuSalad]

@@jwhite5008 Do you actually have experience or are you simply assuming? I'm sure that relative to Japan the education is better but if this were the reason then Dutch people should be equally proficient in German or French which are also mandatory in high schools and this is certainly not the case.

[@jwhite5008]

​@@JoumyakuSalad I may be mistaken but that is my personal take - it's an opinion based on a very small sample size and likely very skewed input including a lot of stuff including second-hand experience, watching people on youtube trying to communicate, stories by people living in both countries, and much more - not just a theory. I never physically traveled to either country though. I don't speak German or French myself - and never had reasons to research anything related to those - so I cannot provide any useful information on that topic. However I am kinda under impression that mandatory French and German are not universal throughout all of the Netherlands or at least it was not the case until semi-recently - however I never actually researched that topic so maybe I'm mistaken.

[@theatk]

always enjoy your content. two thoughts as someone who has lived in Japan, went to college in Japan, majored in Asian Studies, and taught English there: 1) rather than "oldest country" I would say it is the single longest lasting dynasty in human history. this is a much more mindblowing fact and doesn't have to deal with the nebulous definition of "country" over the course of human civilization. 2) one of the other causes for poor English skills in Japan is that there is no economic driver for Japanese to learn English. Job prospects and the like from the 3rd wealthiest country in the world (until recently the 2nd wealthiest), with much less wealth disparity than either of the top two, means that Japanese people can get Japanese jobs where they only need to speak Japanese. Why learn English? Most of those other countries above Japan on the list have significant populations that can reap massive economic benefits by learning English and then participate in the global workforce. I also believe that this is one of many causes of Japan's insular tendencies. Hoping you get that silver button soon!

[@RPEpsilon-lc4vm]

I agree, much morre fitting than the country one

[@No_Anime_No_Life.]

or longest lasting Empire in human history?

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@No_Anime_No_Life. government with a royal family at the head

[@No_Anime_No_Life.]

@@comradekenobi6908 well not all Empires anyway being absolute monarchy in past time Japanese Empire have government with a PM at a govt and Emperor at the head even Shoguns in Sengoku-era is same level as PM and they still in below than the Emperor today after WW2 the Emperor still be treated as the head and anyway listening by PM or govts in some situation like the Emperor ordering PM to focusing on helping people in Tsunami disaster 2014 even the Emperor come to that places to meet with people

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@No_Anime_No_Life. I know but they're probably the most constant thing in Japanes history, surviving numerous brutal wars

[@toolittletoolate3917]

A very common sight in Japan is small children (we’re talking 7-year-olds here) walking ALONE, even after dark, girls and boys both. In Kyoto Main Station, I saw a trio of small boys dressed in school uniforms, holding an impromptu meeting right in the middle of rush-hour crowds. They were as sober and focused as a panel of high-court judges. No one bothered them, spoke to them, or paid them any undue attention. Japanese children are taught self-reliance from the age of 6, walking to school in groups but returning home ALONE. If you greet them, they respond cheerfully and respectfully. TOKYO =/= JAPAN!!!! Shout it from the rooftops!

[@ducklingscap897]

This is not uncommon in many European countries as well.

[@StarboyXL9]

It's amazing how safe ethnostates can be isn't it?

[@kuratse205]

And then they grow up and get forced with exams upon exams and lose all hope and cheeriness.

[@jozefbania]

When parents work 16h per day to pay rent for 30m square flat is no wonder kids must do everything alone.

[@GugureSux]

Pretty common in Finland as well, although most parents do try to drive their kids around at least until they're ~10. Not possible everywhere, so some kids take busses or ride bikes to school. Alone.

[@brandonsayring]

Just found this channel recently and I love it! The Japanese memes/pop culture deep cuts are super interesting. Also carrying on with the KFC christmas fact, some KFC and convenience stores also offer roast chicken preorders for christmas day. This is kind of a big deal because having an oven in your apartment is very rare.

[@CanadianReset]

My partner who is from Hiroshima was fuming when you called it hiroshima-yaki and then was cool when you explained the background. I never realized that outside of Hiroshima that people call it Hiroshima-yaki. Anyways I wanted to say you are definitely becoming one of my favourite channels. Not only do I learn something. Often my partner learns something too! This is a cool channel

[@UtilityCurve]

I live in Buffalo, New York. You know, "Buffalo wings" and generally anything "Buffalo" flavored. (I have eaten bison, the "American buffalo"--it is wonderful, almost enough to justify the price.) Anyway, if you were to order "Buffalo wings" here, you'd totally out yourself as a tourist. Even "chicken wings" is suspect. Here they are just ... "wings," no further elucidation required (except the heat, mild, medium and hot, though some joints do us proud by offering "suicidal"--I've never heard of killer wings being offered elsewhere).

[@alukuhito]

It's like when non-Canadians (including Japanese) call hockey "ice hockey". Any other type of hockey is irrelevant, so you just call it hockey.

[@lunal3blanc]

The sushi with the hand for scale killed me XD Looks comically large! Also, after seeing the tofu on fire nameplate, I'm just imagining legit blazing tofu attached to children's shirts. (Somehow the flame doesn't set the clothing & child fully ablaze in my imagination :D ) Great video!! =]

[@atsukorichards1675]

About the big sushi in Edo Era, I hear that the city back then had larger single male population, so the fast food like sushi and tempra were very convenient for those workers. The bigger meant fewer needed to eat and less time.

[@lunal3blanc]

@@atsukorichards1675 I wouldn't mind if they were still that size! Hehe =]

[@Atmos_Glitch]

2:50 As a person from Ireland we're required to learn our native language Irish. We do this pretty much at the start of our education in Junior Infants _(not sure of the equivalent but I think it'd Kindergarten?) until we don't have to anymore which is when we get to college,_ It's just known that in most of Ireland people don't speak Irish even though its our language so we never actually use it anywhere else other than Irish class and exams _(unless if you go to an Irish only speaking school),_ because of that we don't put into practice the things that we've learnt for Irish especially since most of us think it's a dying or dead language anyways. And so you'd find that alot of people even after 12 or so years aren't actually capable of holding a proper conversation or even understand most of whats being said, the things that we do know how to talk about are the things we learn for exams but thats more so learning how to pass the exams than actually learning how to speak the language. The only main reason why I believe we care about learning Irish is so that we can get into college, because it's required that we atleast pass during our final exams in order to get into basically any college in Ireland even if the course you're studying doesn't have anything to do with the language, other than that it doesn't feel necessary to learn unless if you understand that's it's important to keep your native language alive. It also doesn't help that alot of people dread Irish exams more than they do other languages they can learn optionally in school and since Irish is mandatory the only escape from it is getting an exemption maybe because you're dyslexic or only moved into Ireland a few years ago. So the issue with Japanese students might not just be the quality of education alone, though I can easily understand how that might be the case also. *_(This comment ended up being way longer than it should have, I don't expect anybody to read allat lol)_*

[@snapdragon6601]

Is that Irish Gaelic/Gaeilge that students there are required to learn? Here in the US we are required to take 3 years of foreign language classes to graduate highschool. We can choose which language we want to take for that amount of time but in most schools we are limited to what they offer (usually French, Spanish, German, and in some schools Italian).

[@Thindorama]

​@snapdragon6601 What other Irish language are you familiar with?

[@vuhoangthi106]

about the bad english thing, I'm a Vietnamese and Vietnam ranked just above Japan so the English level is pretty much the same and here's what I have to say about the education: students don't take English courses seriously and what they teaches in school is not great either: In 12th grade, we are still learning about friends and family vocab. I'm a 6.5 IELTS (pretty average) and finished highschool gradualtion English exam in less than 30 minutes while the exam period is 2 hours and still get 98%, that's just how lightly English is taken in VIetnam and there are still students failing the exam!

[@chickenfoot2423]

this is similar to something a japanese man told me about the ‘truth’ about english education in schools. he said that as poor as the standards are within the curriculum and the staff themselves, the actual students simply dont care or try hard enough. its the same in the english speaking world, i think we all (?) take a foreign language at some point in school, but we cant speak it at all because we dont take personal responsibility outside of that. the teaching also sucks, but his point was that you cannot learn a language for someone.

[@chad_bro_chill]

Almost all of your post is written quite acceptably and doesn't make it obvious that English isn't your first language. That said, there are two words at the beginning that make it obvious that it isn't your native language. The word Vietnamese, like Japanese or Chinese, is an adjective and never a singular noun. You are Vietnamese, or a Vietnamese person, but you are not "a Vietnamese." That works for German/Korean, or other words ending in N, T, or K, but not for words ending in softer sounds like -ese or -ish. "A British" is also not correct, but a British person, a Briton, or a Brit would be. The exception is when using it as a mass noun; "the Vietnamese" would be acceptable when referring to all Vietnamese people. It's a really common mistake (in Japanese/Chinese natives, anyway) but one that's never pointed out.

[@TheFowo]

Another thing to add here (I live in Poland but was in a relationship with a vietnamese girl for few years) is the focus on written language and not enough on listening or having a conversation. My ex that I'm mentioning here had C1 certificate but, at least when we began dating, having a conversation was really hard for her since she struggled with understanding what's being said or using more than few basic words while talking

[@zeitgeistx5239]

Well we did bomb your country.

[@rakninja]

granted we only have ~4 years of compulsory non-english language education in the US, but most people come away from it barely remembering a word or two.

[@Nezuji]

I saw the program that your first "point finger and say bang" clip came from. Later on they also tried imaginary sword slashes with similar results, including an older woman with shopping bags in both hands at the top of an escalator, who did a perfect pratfall straight onto her face without hesitation. I was actually a little worried about her, but it was hilarious.

[@mlandry21169]

Yes, please do. I enjoyed watching this video and it was very enlightening. I love learning about Japan’s culture and it’s wonderful people. Ty

[@IkePaz]

3 days ago a Taxi driver ACTUALLY got out of his car and opened the door for me... After living in Japan for over 20 years this is the FIRST time it has happened, I usually get the auto-door. Anyways, great video! and in the edo-museum in Ryogoku (tokyo) you can see a life-size portion of the giant sushi they served back then.

[@kenzolohmuller6565]

the auto-door was broken lol

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

How old was that sushi?

[@advancedmonkey7702]

@@kenzolohmuller6565 Most likely, yeah lol

[@heythave]

Yep, one of the taxi that I took had a nonfunctional opening door and so the taxi guy went out to open the door for me.

[@stickyfox]

I had a college friend from Japan who asked to be roomed with an American student so he'd learn English because he knew only basic travel phrases. They became the best of friends and he was conversationally adept in two semesters, even using slang comfortably. And that was ostensibly after his nine years of state English education.

[@jaycee330]

No surprise. Japanese English teachers are notoriously bad, and basically only teach rote things, and there is very little conversational level work done. Really, one of the best ways to get good at a language is immersion.

[@maegalroammis6020]

it remember me of an annoying teacher who do his posoned morals at every section he goes. he impose his moral dictatorship in every comment of japan videos. he thinks to ne a living encyclopedia , he annoy everyone , he antagonize the ones who refuse to believe him.. He once said that relationshps takes time but it depend of the people. he assume that everyone wants to live in japan but it's false we could befriend people when travelling in a country. his name his Graham. please report him if you saw him.

[@davfb8622]

Pretty much how I learned French. Best way when you hit it off in a roommate situation.

[@maegalroammis6020]

I like japan but I don't appreciate the locals. I met an arrogant Japanese girl who defended her compatriots when she saw my comments. I was just warning people. she said that seeing them made her sad but it's ridiculous, she forced herself to read them. she should know that her compatriots have many cultural faults and refuse to understand aznd discriminize foreigners. she refused to admit their flaws. she asks me to speak Japanese but it takes too long and her compatriots would not forgive badly spoken Japanese even in a slight way. then she forced herself to say "nyyyeeeeh good day" with her forced politeness. it's pathetic. her compatriots are not good . they think they say what would be good for us but they are wrong. I can show you her comments to show you why she make me want genralize them now.

[@cejannuzi]

Good for him. Most just get with people who speak the same language and don't learn anything, despite being overseas.

[@fuzzyschwartz]

07:50 The reason Japan favors the left size goes back to the Samurai. It is so when samurai pass each other in the street their katanas don't bang into each other.

[@connorruss5976]

The buffet being called a Viking actually makes a hell of a lot of sense. The term to go Viking, literally meant to go raiding in another place, so it makes sense as you go raid the food bar and return with your spoils

[@Dennis-DK2]

lmao, no it doesn't, people today are not even sure about the the meaning of the word VIKING, maybe something like "bay warrior"

[@ferretyluv]

It was really because they couldn’t turn smorgasbord into a wasei-eigo. It would be like 8 syllables. So Viking is easier.

[@chrisinjapan5736]

Actually it is Biking because no one can really say V properly here

[@idkhowbutdiscosarechemical]

@@ferretyluv but that's never been a problem before, they just shorten the word to スモボ sumobo or スガボ sugabo because sumo might be confused

[@alukuhito]

That's not why it's used. It's because Smorgasborg is too difficult of a word to use when changed to a katakana equivalent. It's much easier to say バイキング. Smorgasborgs come from the land of the Vikings. It's as simple as that.

[@게임영상-i8e]

As a Korean, yes I can confirm that Korean school starts at around early March. This has caused a bit of funny "non-realistic" depictions in Korean comics (called Manhwa [for paper medium]/Webtoons). In many Korean comics drawn on the topics of students/school, beginning of a school year is depicted with cherry blossom blooming, just like in Japanese manga/anime. I think this is only because a lot of current manhwa/webtoon artists grew up reading and watching Japanese manga/anime, where beginning of a school year is pretty much always depicted with cherry blossoms. In reality, since cherry blossoms bloom in late March ~ early April, most Korean people will not get to see cherry blossom when the school starts in early March, unlike Japanese people who starts school right around when cherry blossoms bloom. The correlation between the beginning of a new school year and cherry blossom should not be at all apparent to most people in Korea who don't follow up on Japanese media.

[@Kolesha]

Cool. Thanks for sharing!

[@everysinglehello]

Ok

[@sophiesong8937]

This is true. My daughter started elementary school in Korea.. in 2020. Due to the pandemic, the first day was delayed, and ceremony cancelled (ㅠ) they attempted to start classes in April, so I actually have 1st day of school photos of her with cherry blossoms, but then they delayed school again, and there was a second attempt in June, meaning I got more 'maybe this will finally be the beginning of school' photos when the roses were blooming everywhere. .. but ultimately she spent the first year and most of the second online.

[@ファスト-m1g]

Wow I didn't know about that! Thanks for sharing!

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@ファスト-m1g FAst

[@AkamatsuCreative]

Excellent video, both background info and presentation. Here are some more factoids: the word adopted to mean "voluptuous/curvy" in Japan is "glamorous". So if you try to use the word glamorous to describe someone to your Japanese friend, better than good chance they will hear that as 'large breasted'. Speaking of describing physicality, the word "style" means "body shape" in Japan. If you really want to say directly to a lady "I like your style" , realize you are saying something closer to "I like your body/physique". And the word for 'elegant' or 'upscale' is "gorgeous." The word "diet" is not used to mean "what or how you eat", it means "losing weight, whether through working out, dieting or otherwise". Similar, but different. Obviously these word adaptation issues are more relevant to those communicating in more broken English-broken Japanese situations. If you are fluent in Japanese, you would already know the actual borrowed English phrase meanings. Other possible topics of interest: rajio taiso, region-based escalator-standing rules, the sky high percentage of food/eating-related TV programming. And additional info on the KFX Christmas thing covered in the video- it's not just fried chicken (but oh, is it that). It's also : CocaCola, "Christmas Cake" and a range of romantic dating related themes. Akin to Valentine's day, if you will. But the holy consumer trinity of Christmas in Japan is (fried) chicken, Coca Cola and 'Christmas' cake. Would have never guessed this if I hadn't lived here and experienced it annually without fail, and I assume those from outside of Japan wouldn't either. Viva el Mundo!

[@DaveTexas]

I wonder if Japanese students learned English more thoroughly 50+ years ago. When I was in the third grade in the early 1970s, a Japanese family moved into the neighborhood and the son was in my third grade class. The family had just moved to the U.S. from the Kyoto area, but the eight-year-old boy spoke nearly flawless English, as did his parents. The father had accepted a teaching position at a local university. This boy became my best friend - we bonded over our love of Speed Racer - but he wouldn’t talk about what school in Japan had been like. The year before, we had a student from Russia in my second grade class and he spoke NO English. We would play with him but he was totally lost when it came to academics. He didn’t even know the western alphabet. That’s why I was shocked at how well my Japanese friend spoke English. I assumed that people only learned their own language as kids. A very American viewpoint, I know. Anyway, I’m just curious as to whether my friend’s English was good from having been taught well in school, or if he had been taught outside of school in preparation for the move to the U.S.

[@starlyghtdrifter66]

yes before the reform in the 80s, English education was taken seriously in japan. The reform, which came along with a low birth rate era, in an attempt to prevent people from leaving the country, changed the educational goals to "raising people who can read / write". Communication was left out, on purpose. Yes I have been teaching in Japan for over 10 years now, this is my area of expertise.

[@KaitouKaiju]

If they were wealthy enough to move and the father was a teacher then their education was probably pretty high tier compared to the rest

[@HanakoSeishin]

Nowadays schools in Russia start teaching English in first or second grade, I think, but as recent as in 90s or 00s it was only started in 5th grade and back in the Soviet Union I think English might have been started as late as in 9th grade. In the Soviet Union most people didn't really have a use for English anyway.

[@poppinc8145]

@daenackdranils5624 Not really. More foreign-language speakers would have meant more Japanese people leaving. Japanese people used to leave in droves to the US and South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The biggest reason why Japan's English-speaking skills suck is partly the same reason why French, German and Turkish people's English tend to suck in contrast to say Scandinavians who sound fluent. The former airs English-language programming dubbed whereas the latter airs it subbed. The ability to hear and get used to a foreign language is what helps the most in speaking it yourself. Japan's case is even harder because so much time and memory is also spent learning Kanji (Traditional Chinese) which is logographic and is so different from Latin or even native Japanese (Katakana, Hiragana) alphabets which are phonetic.

[@giannilyanicks1718]

seven reasons why japanese doesn't make good friends for western ppl: 1 they choose who is worth to hear their honne (truth thoughts ) and prefer to overuse tatemae ( lies) for any pretexte except when they get drunk, it's just stupid 2 they only thinks to work-work , notghing else 3 they're too serious and too positive, they're creepy , they force themselves to be polite and helping others for no reason 4 they never wants to learn international languages, and when we speak poorly japanese they mocks at us while we just do what we can to communicate 5 they have national xenophobia , their elders assume bad things about us 6 they treat us as walking wallets/dictionnary 7 they thinks that our apparts are like museums don't trust their politeness. stop with the praising. even ppl in my country aren't like that.

[@nicjansen230]

4:49 It's true school starts in september in the Netherlands, kind of... Most types of school start in september, but primary and secondary school have a different system. You see, the country is not only split up into provinces (including north and south Holland), but also in north/centre/south. Summer vacation is 6 weeks for kids and the exact timing depends on where the school is located. This spreads out traffic and such, so we don't break this densely populated country

[@attractivegd9531]

Same in France

[@burgeulfassal1523]

Lol dense. Hold my f in biere

[@SupremeKame]

Yeah but it's not significant because there is only a 2 week difference between the regions. It's only divided between North, Mid and Southern region.

[@thestudentofficial5483]

really? wow.

[@yuudofu]

Thanks for the video, it was very interesting! By the way, in Northern Italy (Piedmont in particular) it's also common to eat raw horsemeat.

[@sorual4604]

Thanks for being a video with honest content that isn't padded out too much.

[@jojobani8235]

As a Filipino, 6:20 leaving something personal such as a freaking iPhone in the middle of a crowded food court was a culture shock to me when I was visiting Tokyo 6 years ago. I remember observing that nearby table to make sure the group's table was indeed saved for them and the iPhone 6S ( the latest that time) was untouched. We also make this habit to save spot in Philippines but it's often "unimportant" stuff like umbrellas, hats or bottles. If leaving something like an iphone was done here, it could be gone before the owner gets back. I applaud their (Japanese) discipline on this.

[@psychedelicacynical]

in Korean cafes too, many people will leave their laptops and phones on top of their tables while they go off to the restroom. with the expectation that their electronics will all still be there when they get back (and they usually are) 😅

[@gracewood6768]

nako pag satin yan wala pang 5minutes wala na. HAHAAHAHA

[@xXxSkyViperxXx]

in ateneo and lasalle, i can expect someone there to use an iphone or any smartphone or laptop to reserve a seat a seat or table

[@RejectHumanityReturn2Monke]

You can leave laptops and cellphones to save your spot in cafes and restaurants here in Davao. Keyword "cafe and restaurants" because security is tight. Just don't do it in fastfood chains or the mall's foodcourt where security is a lot loose.

[@detleffleischer9418]

In Mexico City doing something like leaving your shit anywhere is bound to be stolen, it's why everyone learns to either be really good at hiding their things or just not bring valuables out on the street.

[@l33t2h4x00r]

Japan currently observes Japan Standard Time (JST) all year. DST is no longer in use. Clocks do not change in Japan. The previous DST change in Japan was on September 8, 1951.

[@Mav79]

I accidentally went into a mixed onsen in Tohoku like 5 years ago. I did NOT know it was mixed.. I walked from one outdoor bath (just outside the men's changing room) to a different one (had to go through passages inside the Ryokan), and was relaxing for like 5 minutes when I started hearing women's voices. Turned my head and saw two women walking out of the building. I freaked out, thinking I took a wrong turn somewhere.. Thankfully their husbands/boyfriends were just behind them.. Of course me being a gaijin, they stayed as far away as possible, so no awkwardness for me after.

[@michaelcherokee8906]

You know, I just learned the word 外国人 gaigokujin, and now the term gaijin makes SO much more sense to me.

[@ripcurl4456]

4:50 Yes, Australian schools start in January. Though up until high school I legitimately thought that basically all schools around the world started in January, because in my eyes it makes sense to do a schooling year ALL in one year. Instead of splitting it between two years. But that might just be me 🤷

[@ИмяФамилия-ф2д8ш]

If you think of it - it does make sense to start new school year after New Year...

[@lemonwillow]

In India, a new academic year starts in june and ends in late march [the next year]. This makes sense for us as April and May in India gets scorching hot, unfit for even going outside to school, as most of our classrooms dont have AC.

[@nataliatheweirdo]

It still weirds me out how school can work may-august? Like? You just take out a whole chunk of school 😂 i was looking at going to school somewhere different and i could either go in august or december and it *didnt sit right*

[@anustubhmishra]

@@lemonwillow lmao my school started in april for a month but then we got may and june of as summer vacation

[@aixtom979]

Most countries start school after the summer holiday, and end the school year before summer vacation, which of course is then a good fit to the calendar year in the southern hemisphere. And I wonder if maybe the start in April for Japan somehow originates with "Golden Week", a week long stretch of holidays that is most peoples main vacation time, so it would make similar sense to switch the school year then.

[@tonydejesus2134]

Here in Thailand you can absolutely leave your belongings on the table in a cafe when you go to the bathroom or something; nobody will steal them. I had a friend who was a known artist. He used to paint at a Starbucks near me. I ran into him there once and we went off to get lunch; he left all of his valuable art on the table and we went off to eat. On at least three occasion as I have accidentally left my key in my motorcycle and came back to find it still there, key still in the bike.

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

Concerning the school start date: in Germany it changes every year and it depends on which state you live in. It is based on a rotation system so that not all states go into holidays at the same time, because before the new school year starts there is a 6 week school break, which is often used for vacation. So it happens that in Saxony school starts mid August, while Bavaria has to wait four more weeks and school begins in mid September.

[@oobee123]

Damn, feel bad for my German bros 😞

[@gazz3867]

@@oobee123 But it means less of a pile up on streets and airports as people leave or return from holidays. =)

[@oobee123]

@@gazz3867 But only 6 weeks of summer holidays? Geez...

[@shouryaaswal5681]

Only 6 ?! In india we only get vacation for june. 4 weeks

[@walkelftexasranger]

Germany is weird as usual :D

[@Ilusionistify]

Having lived in Nagano and now living in Kanagawa and working in Tokyo at an international school I can say the commute from Kanagawa into Tokyo is like riding the subway in NYC but cleaner and more polite. Packed like sardines but everyone shuffles around to make room for new passengers. I love my work, but I miss the mostly empty and more open to talking countryside feeling Nagano gave me. I will never forget wandering into the mountains with friends in Nagano. Discovering an old ninja village turned theme park and almost missing our last bus off the mountain to head back into town. I will always love my native home of America but for me Japan has become a home. One which I hope to remain in for a long time.

[@MelaninMagdalene]

Funny. I just rode the packed train and people push there way in. No one cares tho.😂

[@michaelcherokee8906]

Youre the fourth or fifth person Ive seen who has their name spelled in both English and Japanese, and the second one just today. What is with that, and am I missing something?

[@Ilusionistify]

@@michaelcherokee8906 I live in Japan. I have my name in both. No special reason really. :)

[@maegalroammis6020]

japanese does not make good friends. i had made the experience with a chinese-japânese girl from Kyoto. i can tell you.

[@archvermin]

3:29 Men only want one thing. Men only need one thing.

[@Jimmy-qx7sf]

I was at the gym (sleeve tattoo, but completely covered) and my tattoo cover slipped like 1cm and my tattoo showed for the duration of one whole set. Later I got a phone call that someone reported a "scary, mean looking foreigner that has tattoos and is not following the rules" I told them I had them covered, but the cover slipped for like 15 seconds, and that reporting me for being a "scary foreigner" is extremely racist and that ill be contacting the corporate office. The dude seriously told me that I should "just smile more"

[@Kyoukichi]

You should smile more.

[@WesticlesUK]

It's mad, because I used to go to a kickboxing gym in Nagoya where i could be shirtless and still train (two full arm sleeves), and now at my current gym in the changing room I only get compliments and people will chat to me, the manager/ trainers know I have them (although in this gym I do have to cover up). It's not as if regular people actually care, it's like one obaa-san with literally nothing better to do in her life. Rules are rules. Even sitting on trains with sleeves rolled up/ short sleeves (I have p scary tats; skull w/ crown of thorns, wolf w/ 4 eyes, Eredin from the witcher/ snake tattoo visible), I'll get some obaa-san/ kid sit next to me and no one gives a fuck. Idk who reported you but they've seriously got no life, they're just tryna start shit.

[@Kyoukichi]

@@WesticlesUK Hope someone reports you soon.

[@zeymort3926]

You tell 'em Jimmy! 🙄

[@phobiahd9954]

It's their country, don't cry about racism like a little infant.

[@coolhwhip86]

Probably well known but in Okinawa a popular dish is called taco rice. Story is that because of the US military there they couldn't get taco shells so the shells were substituted with rice. It's so good and I prefer it to actual tacos now lol. Also SPAM (canned pork) is very popular in Okinawa because of the US military there.

[@ColonelFatass3]

As someone stationed at Kadena, this is true

[@coolhwhip86]

@@ColonelFatass3 🇺🇸

[@theKobus]

Spam is a big Japanese-Hawaiian thing too, so the Japanese-American community even in the Rockies where I live has picked it up. Spam Musubi is a very powerful snack

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

Spam, just like plastics, gained huge popularity during industrialization because they DID provide quite decent and preservable items to a large population that was previously impossible, only eltisim came along and started to give special "quality" assurances to food that is difficult to get, just like caviar, diamonds, and all kinds of controlled goods like simply local farming that doesn't fit regulations. When capitalism ALLOWED England to make hearty soups easily, and Germany to make tasty brisolettes and wiener schnitzels that were not functionally different from ones made traditionally out of preserved meat despite coming out of a can, only more capitalism came along and strted marketing for that to be a bad thing, and deserving more money for worse things on the basis of rarity. Currently they're trying to walk it back with stuff like gestated "impossible burger" meat substitute, that is returning to the basics of fermentation that originally gave us cheeses and wines. Those being themselves highly preserved and highly nutritious delicacies that shouldn't be rare at all.

[@RandomUserX99]

spam is popular in many places with former or current US bases, like Korea and the Philippines.

[@zowlambda]

I lived in Kansai and thought the "BANG" thing was a countrywide thing! Thank you for pointing it out (pun not intended), so that I don't embarrass myself if I do it in another region.🤣

[@brucetownsend691]

My wife is Japanese and I have been a regular visitor to Japan for about 25 years. Yet I learned quite a few things from this video. So thanks for making it. I also appreciate the style of the narration which is very easy to listen to. Cheers from Australia.

[@Japanalysis]

Thank you very much!

[@sebulller]

HEy im from Denmark could you take Mary back? any chance of that happending?

[@boycottnok1466]

No one asked. Stupid.

[@nolongeramused8135]

I worked for a major Japanese company in the US for many years, and while it seemed that most Japanese employees could read and write English fairly well (some odd sentence structure was about the worst of it), speaking it was another matter. I'd frequently "borrow" one or two colleagues that were fully bilingual to translate if I was dealing with coworkers from Osaka. It was so much easier for everyone to work in their native language. Some of my coworkers spent enough time listening to the heavily accented English to readily understand it, but I never managed to. Teleconferences with the Osaka facility were a horror until one of the guys just started typing out "notes" (translation) on the overhead. Ironically, they understood our English just fine. On the flip side of that, I met a guy that I had assumed to be a native English speaker as he had zero Chinese accent and had all the slang and idioms down perfectly. Nope, he'd been in the US for less than a decade and had arrived for college knowing zero English.

[@ambi3nttech]

That is super impressive, especially for a native Chinese speaker. Even Chinese speakers who have lived in the US for decades tend to have a pretty heavy accent.

[@gartankthesecond3726]

When I went to Japan with a travel group, one of the guys traveling with us tried the horse sashimi. I remember going to a bar with the whole group for dinner, and the dude I was sharing a table with pointed out that there was horse sashimi on the menu. I was pretty surprised and perplexed at the idea, but he wanted to try it. When he got it, I believe he shared it with some of the other members of our group, and the consensus was that it was tough and didn’t taste very good.

[@kalhilton9703]

I’ve had horse meat in France , it is disgusting .

[@namensklauer]

2:50 as a german learning japanese I can tell you why. Because those languages are too different. The little bit of English at school was easily enough to open up the online world for further self improvement. I've spent a lot of time learning Japanese and I'm still not quite at that level. I can guarantee that, IF I had put the same effort into Spanish nstead of Japanese, I would be perfectly fluent by now

[@GraveUypo]

it's more a question of how much you use it. japanese isn't that hard to pick up if you use it a lot. well, the spoken part, at least. writing is neigh impossible to "pick up". my self-taught japanese is enough to understand a lot of un-subbed material and probably hold simple conversations too (never got the chance to do that though), but i can't make sense of a single one of their runes. that was not a problem with english. in fact, i learned written english way before i could speak any of it.

[@FDE-fw1hd]

@@GraveUypo if you want be fluent I would say just the grammar is way harder than the writing. It’s not comparable. I also think that no. As a a language learner that goes to japan over the summer and goes to school, I’ll tell u that the education is a big factor. It seems like they’re quite literally learning for the tests and not the language. When I was in 6th grade, so they would have been learning for over 6 years, they were learning how to say “What do you like to play?” “I play guitar?” No offense because it’s not there fault, but the pronunciation was terrible including the teacher.

[@pauljs75]

And the ones that do speak English half-decent will likely have an Australian accent. (I suppose it's a proximity thing, making it easier for instructors that travel.) Second might be with U.S. accent due to U.S. military being there or Hawaii still being a tourist spot for Japanese vacationers.

[@herrakaarme]

Haha, too different? Finland beats Germany in the English as a foreign language ranking. German and English actually belong to the same language family, while Finnish belongs to an entirely different one, separated by so many thousands of years that nobody can even make good guesses about it. Others have already told the real reason in the comments: The Japanese don't have enough use for English. If they had more, the poor English teaching would also be fixed. But because there's little need, they won't even bother. They know that those who dream of leaving Japan or otherwise need to use English, they will learn it on their own. English is not a difficult language, anyway.

[@whiskeyvictor5703]

@@herrakaarme I was tutored in Finnish by a kind journalist from Turku about 30 years ago. After a year of instruction on a weekly basis, I still could only manage very basic expressions (thank you, good day, etc.). The grammar of Finnish is a labyrinth of inflectional complexity (too many noun cases, for example). The mere memory of those lessons still gives my poor head migraines. The grammar of Japanese is much simpler than that of Finnish! 😁

[@8S1ns]

The Kansai "Bang" gag is quite wholesome and funny. And yes June is the start of school here in the Philippines since April to May is dry season here so it gets super hot outside while June is the start of rain/wet season.

[@jmgonzales7701]

And it rains hard, like the recent typhoon

[@JLALALALA]

I know about the automatic doors and yes, the drivers do get a bit testy whenever I accidentally opened them. Haha. The drivers also wear white gloves.

[@HappySnoutHour]

I'm not Japanese but I do know that most viral clips from Japan that people here consider "game shows" are usually comedic sketches from various comedians called "batsu games". For example the famous Silent Library was from Gaki no Tsukai. It seems like most of the ones that got popular in the west were usually from the comedic duo Downtown. Also most of the normal game shows in Japan are usually competed in by various Japanese celebrities. The sole Japanese game show remaining where normal contestants compete is Panel Attack 25 which also has been on the longest. Since 1976.

[@alukuhito]

One big difference between Japanese game shows and western ones is the Japanese ones always have celebrities, as you noted, and that's actually how a lot of them make a living. Whereas in the West, it's all about regular people as celebrities already have lots of money. Westerners want to watch regular people get the jackpots through their skills and luck. Japanese just want to see the same old trusted people again and again on TV.

[@Joseibruc]

Remember 'ninety nine" back in 1990s

[@EmperorSigismund]

It's probably exactly the same with comedy panel shows from Britain where people think that every British quiz show must be like 8 Out of 10 Cats or Would I Lie to You.

[@maegalroammis6020]

I like japan but I don't appreciate the locals. I met an arrogant Japanese girl who defended her compatriots when she saw my comments. I was just warning people. she said that seeing them made her sad but it's ridiculous, she forced herself to read them. she should know that her compatriots have many cultural faults and refuse to understand aznd discriminize foreigners. she refused to admit their flaws. she asks me to speak Japanese but it takes too long and her compatriots would not forgive badly spoken Japanese even in a slight way. then she forced herself to say "nyyyeeeeh good day" with her forced politeness. it's pathetic. her compatriots are not good . they think they say what would be good for us but they are wrong. I can show you her comments to show you why she make me want genralize them now.

[@Manbit101]

Banger video as always! I loved it. It would be awesome to make a mini-series of asking your Japanese friends about Japan-related stuff, like maybe things to absolutely not do or worst places to visit or stuff along these lines. Looking forward to the next video :)

[@pieTone]

One of my favorite videos from your channel :)

[@WizardAmbrose]

4:50 For India, the CBSE board of education has schools start in April so as to finish the syllabus by August since we have mid terms in September. It is essential to note that CBSE can be said to be a harder education board than the State board therefore to have students catch up and not give them stress, they start their curriculum in April

[@SpeedKing..]

India and Japan are like polar opposites

[@ameera3562]

Cbse schools start in june.

[@s.pparamita9031]

Now state board is following CBSE..

[@marchbelongee]

@@ameera3562 nope, as a student studied from cbse and recently graduated from school in 2022 i can say, they don't, we get summer holidays starting from the end of June to the mid of July. (Btw no summer holidays for senior students generally 9th-12th grade) The school session every year starts from either the beginning of April or from the mid. The state boards are also following the central board these days so the dates don't vary much.

[@ameera3562]

My children are studying in cbse. Here the school starts in june. We have summer holidays in april-may. It starts raining in june.

[@kaas8212]

Fun fact: here in the Netherlands school vacation time depends on the region you’re in to not make the airports too crowded when family’s are going on vacation

[@bluwasabi7635]

Genius!

[@dhanbahadur4350]

In Nepal all the academic institutions start on April.. ( As Nepal has its on calendar called " Bikram Sambat " Which is now currently running at 2080 BS .. Since the first month of BS calendar falls on April all the colleges and schools starts from April)

[@exexalien]

Magic Mushrooms were technically legal here until May 2002. They were never a mainstream thing, but you could buy them from street vendors in Tokyo (I bought some from a guy in Shibuya while a police officer stood across the street giving us the FROWNING of a lifetime) and there used to be head shop type of place (reggae/hippy themed clothes and goods) in my area up in Tohoku that sold them in a glass display case. 1500 yen a gram for "Hawaiian" and 1000 yen a gram for "Mexican". Good times while they lasted!

[@angloedu5499]

Mugwort- or Artemisia princeps Pamp. - Korean mugwort (ssuk), Japanese mugwort (yomogi), used as a culinary herb and in traditional Chinese medicine. It was used by the Ainu for the Bear festival Shaministic ritual. Parts of Northern Russia, Siberia, North Korea, the people used to be hunters of Asian bear meat. The root is called Artemisia Princeps and when burned induces a trance like state. Western drug companies hate it because it helps ward of Cancerous toxins from the body naturally after a sauna water bath. The Asians used it to rid the intestines of aches and diarrhea due to drinking unboiled stream water. It was mixed with a white tea made from the peaks of herbs found in mountains. The Native Americans of the Midwest and Atlantic Coast used it to protect families and lands from evil spirits, ghosts, night walkers etc. This incense herb is popular with magic practitioners and grows wild in all parts of the planet but is varied due to climates and temperatures.

[@angloedu5499]

The World War however was inevitable due to the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czarist Russians, Germany, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty in China. World War II was a by product of the defeated Axis powers of Germany and military men bent on rearming their military in order Conquer lost territory, add more lands, and colonizing foreign lands much as the Western Europeans had done on all major continents displacing the Ottoman Empire from Ukraine and parts of European Russia and Central Asia.

[@stuartdparnell]

That makes sense, given their beliefs in the shinto kami.

[@psychosomaticstatic]

@Homie Yeah. I was gonna say that other commenter wasn't right- I have mugwort, and I use it occasionally, but it does nothing more than screw with your dreams and maybe calm you down when you use it. No hallucinations from mugwort. Tbh I use it to practice rolling joints at this point lol

[@alukuhito]

An old Japanese man told me about growing up in the countryside and how him and his friends would pick magic mushrooms and eat them, getting quite the high.

[@jermaineevans6910]

Since you mentioned the different types of okonomiyaki in the video... Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki can be found in the US! My hometown of Tampa, Florida has a restaurant named Chanko that sells Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

[@Falnky]

2:36 I honestly think a big portion of Japan's difficulty with English despite their focus on education comes from Japan's cultural shyness. The Japanese people that I've met with the best English ability are all unusually outgoing and much more willing than the average Japanese person to risk social embarrassment.

[@m.i7211]

I think what they meant by tofu on fire isn’t that Japanese people call it (I’m Japanese and I’ve never heard anyone call it)but that foreign people call it that way because they don’t know what the emoji is supposed to represent. Most Japanese people will just call it 幼稚園バッジ (preschool badge) or something.

[@_sandy_]

2:51 as an aussie, i can confirm that school does indeed start in january. (late january) good video!

[@CuttinEJ]

I lived in Iwakuni for a year. I found it very difficult to learn more than a few common words and phrases in Japanese because literally everyone there spoke excellent English and quickly became very frustrated with trying to decipher my very poor Japanese.

[@johnknapp952]

My first time in Japan with US Navy in '79 I was made a duty driver and had to take a drivers test so could drive on Japanese streets. I was told that a year or so prior the military bases drove on the Right while Japan was a Left hand nation. This became a problem after awhile so the bases converted to Left hand driving.

[@alukuhito]

That would be crazy. There seem to be a LOT of American soldiers in Japan. It's hard to imagine them constantly switching from one side to the other.

[@meowjestic2783]

In regards to school starting in April, its same here in Nepal too. Well to be more precise Mid April as it is the start of New Year here. I think it related to seasons where they start at spring and end at winter. Thats how our calendar system works.

[@espe_pineda]

Side-note: The “tofu on fire” is meant to be a side-view of a tulip, with a cut-out for the nameplate to show through.

[@dsodragon8152]

4:45 I know you probably don't know but a small country in Asia known as India also has schools starting in April.....

[@ErehhYeagahh]

Fr bro ! People don't seem to care about the small countries in the world !

[@TommyLikeTom]

I'm in my thirties and for some reason I am starting to love Japanese culture.

[@GhibliLuvr1234]

As a Japanese, I actually thought all people knew this until now 😂😂

[@notuxnobux]

I think the driving side in japan has to do with the walking side which was on the left because samurai didn't want to bump their swords into each other because they wore it on their left side

[@hayden.A0]

Huh, that's very interesting!

[@justadummy8076]

It’s also to do with horse & carriages, when mounting a horse it’s usually easier to do so from the left hand side, but to avoid collision or halting anyone else currently on the road, it makes sense to mount the horse on the left hand side of the road and then merge. The reason most of Europe drives on the right hand side is because Napoleon wanted to make a change that would change the world & would be caused by him, that’s it lol, just ego.

[@theKobus]

We carried swords on the left in Europe and Britain, too, however.

[@satyakisil9711]

All urban societies usually drove on the left throughout history. It's easier to navigate a horse on the left to prevent it from colliding with something on the opposite side of the road as the righ eye in more responsive in most people. In more rural societies with mud roads people drove on the right as the right hand could be used to rein carts with multiple horses(assumuing the driver would mount on the offside).

[@blotski]

@@theKobus Britain is still Europe, you know. Just as much as Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine etc. The EU and Europe are not synonymous.

[@rovidelarosa]

About the Kumamon keyboard, you could just easily pull out the keycap to see if it's mechanical. And just from the video, you could see there are switches under the keycaps.

[@marks3680]

I learned some Japanese when I lived on base years ago. I was a small child and it was part of our education. As I moved on to the next grade, they did away from it. I wasn't the greatest at it and when I went to work, I had a coworker from Japan tell me not to give up my night job. Lol. It's definitely a fun language to learn. Wish I would have studied it more.

[@poegetsbored6640]

For schools starting in the US, it can very state to state, and even county to county. In Texas some schools start in the first week of August, some the 2nd, some the third, and some in September. And if you go to a private school then your school schedule could be radically different than public school attendees. It makes setting up end of summer parties with relatives a hassle as your end of summer may not be the end of summer for your relatives.

[@TheCRAZYEYES1000]

I'm from Montana and my whole life up until this point I thought school started in August everywhere in the us.

[@meesalikeu]

yeah but the variation is only a couple weeks difference. after or just before labor day and then the school year ending early or late june.

[@Xyponx]

Came here to say this. I grew up in NW Florida and we started school in August but I talked to people on the internet from all over the country when I was a kid and school starts anywhere from July to October depending on where you're at.

[@crustyalexander3268]

What of the best content, consumed it with pleasure. Please keep it up

[@Rokudaimedono]

You left out July and August in your list of what months different countries start school (and November and December, but I'm guessing maybe no one starts school in those months). Here in Norway, summer vacation is from the middle of June until the middle of August, so school starts around the middle of August (generally slightly later, around the 20th or so).

[@nozarashi4329]

In the US, it's kinda similar, a lot of places start in September but many schools start in mid-late August as well. It really depends on the county and state.

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

I just find it weird because i can tell so many global schools start all over the place in August and September so... what makes the three that wait until October so special? Fall is FALL. And math class starts in it. Well, I guess the japanese article just picked up some dates and only intended to show the big picture of the variety without putting so much diligence into it. Not like you should learn this stuff by the heart anyway like it's Pluto's planetary status. Or enforce it with strict national law. I'm not so keen on strict mandatory amount of school days either, high or low number.

[@blotski]

They also start in August in Finland. At first, when I saw the list I was annoyed when I saw 'England' in September thinking they had made the very common mistake of confusing England and Britain. Then I remembered that actually in Scotland they start school in August so they were right to say just England. They start the school year in September in Wales too, by the way.

[@stevemanart]

Japan has the longest unbroken history. It's current government has a legitimate and traceable heritage longer than any other existent country. One could argue that China and Egypt are older, but unlike Japan hey have had massive geopolitical overhauls that break the continuity of what makes a country a "Country".

[@RedsHitpostMedia]

I guess better phrasing would be something like surviving dynasty. Like people still live in the area but the ancient civilizations of ancient China and Egypt dont exist anymore and China intentionally eraticated theres. Although China was fairly recent thanks CCP.

[@Aka.Aka.]

@@RedsHitpostMedia Yezzz thank you CCP for eliminating the harmful dynasties!

[@theKobus]

​@Oivin F Well, most recently it was sun yat-sen and mao. But. Qin Xi Huang Di did all that history-eradication in what, 221 BCE. Just something China does from time to time...? Attempted cultural reboots...?

[@Andrei-vv4ou]

What does "unbroken" mean? There are parts of Japanese history (like the sengoku era) where no central government existed, if you consider that a country exists even if its government has collapsed or radically changed as long as the culture still exists then China would still be older. Japan does have the oldest unbroken dynasty though.

[@Andrei-vv4ou]

@Oivin F I mean, the Japanese word for their emperor could also be easily translated as "heavenly leader", i.e. like a pope, and for a long time that's kinda what the position was. In the middle ages in Catholic Europe for example the clergy was often legally above the nobility, but we still wouldn't count the medieval Catholic Church as the ruling government of half of Europe during that time-frame.

[@pixelpuppy]

I love the chill music and vibe! subscribed!

[@IndiaBusinessInsights]

India is large and varied country, so there are some regional variances. In many parts of the country Schools have their exams in March, and the new session starts in early April and goes on until mid-May. Then they usually break for summer, which could be anywhere from 1 month to 2 months. Now it is generally about 6 weeks in New Delhi. When I was still in school, more than 4 decades, it used to be 2 full months.

[@cacameleon]

Exactly i was looking for someone to comment this like in northern india most of the school or those follow cbse board starts in april

[@seneca983]

3:40 I've seen at least Yuta say that the Yakuza connection isn't really that strong. Even though tattoos aren't common in Japan Yakuza members are even less so meaning a very small percentage of people with tattoos are Yakuza.

[@theloniousm4337]

4:55 I heard "Viking/smorgasbord" or "baikingu" started after the 1958 movie "The Vikings" starring Kirk Douglas which was supposedly wildly popular in Japan. Apparently some of the feast and eating scenes in the movie really struck a chord in Japan. Now that I think about it the idea of a "smorgasbord" in America is a bit bizarre as well.

[@LeewardStudios]

Many schools in the Southern US have shifted to Mid to early August start dates but have included a full week of fall break and many have stopped have classes the week of Thanksgiving since so many people travel to see relatives that week and pull their kids out of school on either the Tuesday or Monday.

[@savannah7375]

Ohh I thought that was standard pretty much across the US (90s kid from Atlanta)

[@cooperlittlehales6268]

Yep, Australian school starts in January. Also I think a video on Japan's English education system would be really awesome

[@uttambohara2137]

In Nepal new classes starts from the month 'Baishak' and it lies around early or mid 'April'

[@65BAJA]

2:03 Are you supposed to eat tea/rice then go home or just get up and jet out the door?

[@apurbakhanra4387]

I was thinking that too 🤔

[@opienti]

10:29 "i remember flying back from tokyo to 🤖osaka🤖"

[@garryferrington811]

In America, pointing your finger and saying "bang" to a policeman might be a bad idea.

[@niyanlan8928]

It’s very true in the UK that school starts in September. The reason for this is very traditional and often forgotten. Pre-Second World War Britain was a very agricultural country. It used to be the case that poorer people in the cities couldn’t afford such things as a holiday and would often go to the country to pick crops during August and September. It’s the reason why we still have a very long children’s summer holidays of six weeks when the whole families would go and pick crops. Probably time for a change really.

[@jaycee330]

Same reason in the US. Summer was for farming.

[@BloodyShrimp]

To comment on Shirako, in a few regions in Poland we have a Christmas dish called woda śledziowa/zupa śledziowa/chłodnik śledziowy (herring water/herring soup/cold herring soup, in my region it's called herring water) where one of the main ingredients is herring's milt so I was surprised to find out that there's another country crazy enough to eat fish's sperm.

[@silenttakuza]

That's why he didn't want to talk about it. 😀

[@marty8895]

@@silenttakuza You can count Italy too. In Sicily and Sardinia it’s called “lattume”.

[@dan5992]

What surprised me is that some of the vending machines have a lottery thingy that activates after you use it. I was walking around and decided to buy a bottle of water because it was hot, so I bought it and then afterwards the electronic display with the money turned to "9999". I thought I broke it, so I pressed the water bottle button again and a second bottle came out! I was terrified that I just destroyed a vending machine so I left the second bottle at the vending machine (I didn't want to steal it) and told my host family and some friends about it. They found it funny and told me that I just won the small chance of a free drink. I wonder if anybody took that free bottle lol. But I can imagine that after the vending machine murders the trust in random bottles lying around vending machines is a bit low.

[@audrablue515]

Here in Australia, the school year starts in January, usually after 26th which is Australia Day and ends in December. Depending on which state or territory you live in, you could either finish in early December of a few days before Christmas Eve. There are also periodic holidays throughout the year, eg Easter and other public holidays, eg Anzac Day. Also, we drive on the left with the steering wheel on the right, so I would love to visit Japan for this reason (amongst many others). I tried driving in Canada (the opposite) and it really did my head in. I felt like I had no clue what I was doing and driving in traffic scared me so much!

[@alukuhito]

Aussies are so British that they just follow their masters. School starts at the end of summer break in both countries. Australia just happens to be in the southern hemisphere, so that's why it starts in January.

[@aw-h3875]

God praise Queen Meg

[@GL-GildedLining]

It messes with my head that random people in Japan would totally recognize Uncle Joey's "Cut It Out" motion.

[@bubblegum6828]

4:51 in Norway it’s always mid-august!

[@SpidersHandle]

Please ask them what their favorite Japanese cuisine comfort food is. Might give us some ideas of what to try besides sushi and sake.

[@atsukorichards1675]

For me, it is Niku-jaga.

[@佐藤田中-s3o]

蕎麦美味しいですよ。カロリーも少ないしどこでも食べられる

[@lime7870]

I can confirm that in Canada school starts in September. It seems most of the northern hemisphere countries follow this as well, which makes sense since September is generally the start of the fall season and it means students get their time off during the summer, when young kids can actually get outside and enjoy our few months of present weather. In a places in the southern hemisphere I could see this being swapped due to seasons being swapped, but Japan is north of the equator so they seem to stand at odds here. The country thing is probably flat out wrong, depends on what you mean by country. Like a lot of places have continuous records of history dating back many thousands of years but are no longer governed as they were before. Think Greece, thousands of years of history but it used to be made up of city states and is now just one country. Egypt has pretty much always been one country though, and we know that the First Dynasty rose to power around 3150 BC. This point represents the first unification of Egypt and finalization of a society. Like at this point it wasn't a culture developing towards a society, it was a true country, with a government, cities, trade, etc... Conversely the unification of Japan into Yamato doesn't really happen until around 250 CE, so nearly three and a half millennia later. Heck, the Yamato Japanese that make up almost 100% of the Japanese population weren't even in Japan until around 800 BC.

[@Kromaatikse]

Japanese schools do have a long summer holiday, but it fits between the first and second terms of the school year, rather than between entire school years as in British Commonwealth tradition. Originally this holiday was meant to free up children to work on the family farm during harvest season, at a time when most people lived in the countryside rather than in cities.

[@platypusdreamtime]

My first thought about the oldest country was 'surely Egypt is _much_ older' so came here to see if anyone thought the same, prepared to call out the nonsence claim in the video. You, sir or madam, not only got here ten months before me but have also presented this information far more eloquently than would have I - Bravo! / Brava!

[@hyakin7818]

School started in germany around april, after easter holidays, till like the 60s aswell

[@Eterrath]

Hi, here from Green Japan aka Bangladesh. Japan is often praised here for its quality of education (well, when you look at our system, every country should be praised) so it was a surprise learning about their poor grasp of English. Here in the capital, people speak in a mixture of English and our native tongue so even rickshaw pullers (yes, not the same tho) can understand the slightest bit of English, if you can even count that. Anyway, fluency is a long shot tho. Even my broken English here is above average. Still, I recently came to the conclusion that education quality regarding language shouldn't be judged by how good you are in a second language, but rather how well you can translate from that language to your native one. Look at me, I use English so much that I've forgotten how to even think for 1 minute in my head in my native tongue. But my English is full of holes and sounds like a joke compared to a somebody actually good at it. I'm losing on both sides. I think a country should establish the use of its primary language everywhere and after that, the secondary language should be established by interlinking it with the primary one. As a kid, I was taught English and Bangla separately, which resulted in me unable to express myself to the fullest extent in either language.

[@younglingmaid2526]

Hey, I'm a Bangladeshi from America! I think the USA’s language learning system is very faulty as we often learn the formal way of speaking when most native speakers would have a casual or normal way of speaking. I took two years of Spanish and I feel like if I learned Spanish on my own using friends and family to help me out, I’d have been better at learning the language. Additionally, there are regional dialects and accents so Spanish from Spain would differ from Mexican Spanish...

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

The issue there is English itself. In most places with European heritage, people are excited to have their language spoken. This is different in English heritage where this is considered a justified entitlement. This is fundamental part of their cultural morals, freedom of speech is so prioritized for this exact reason. They go the opposite direction, being offended if you DON'T explain yourself clearly in common English, and that defines their idea of "freedom". You ONLY buy freedom by TALKING YOURSELF INTO IT. It is very rude to do anything around English speakers WITHOUT TELLING THEM WHY, and IN THEIR LANGUAGE. This is something every person OWES as a moral courtesy, it is ASSUMED with phrases like "you owe me an explanation". There's quote from shakespeare, "if you prick me, do I not bleed?" that tells the common humanity by the metaphor of a wound, but there's a catch to this: it's only valid if YOU MAKE THE ARGUMENT. If they prick you, and you bleed, that is not enough of a proof, the communication through enforced common language is the key part of what makes you appear fully human in their culture. Otherwise you will just be exotified, and treated somewhere between a pet or cattle, like an animal that doesn't quite THINK or EXPERIENCE things. They don't quite stand FOR their presumed right to MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS, they just want ALL power to judge it to come with the clear report of WHY you made your own, PRIVATE decisions. - cutoff because the comment is so long, the following is more relevant to your problem - This makes English enforce particular hostility to LOCAL LINGUISTIC VARIATION, and it becomes not a thing of joy to learn the language; it becomes a thing of protecting yourself against the hostility reserved for those who don't walk and talk like the local mainstream. This makes english-speaking extremely TERRITORIAL, and extremely RELIANT on territorial ACCEPTANCE. You can ONLY learn good English by mingling with a SPECIFIC part of English diaspora, some local DIALECT, that has the excuse of making the EXACT, "correct" mistakes for that local dialect. This only applies to countries like Australia that don't appear to ahve their own, "real" language besides English, that might make them more accepeting of variety, not multilingual states like the Philippines. Compare to this how insignificant millions of native Spanish speakers are MADE, in USA that occupied even the Spanish territory of Texas. It is ROUNDLY a polyglot state, but not extended the courtesy of having "any" official language, to pretend English has equal treatment to Spanish. They don't HAVE a formal language that YOU could learn, to protect THEIR STATUS as the elite. English CANNOT REPRODUCE ITSELF in the form of clear, formal language that the school system is designed to impart. It can only be learned by taking part to some level of it's local expressions, and doing things like being appropriately hostile to the neighboring states' football team or something like that. And also, blaming your neighbors for "talking white" if they speak formal English while being black, and that sort of thing. You will not be prepared for this simply by knowing between polite Japanese and casual Japanese, it's a lot more complicated than that, and Americans don't have the linguist understanding of THEMSELVES to explain this to you. They will go so far as write a constitution in English but ferry millions of slaves who have their own language INTO the country. These days, the "their country" concept reproduces itself through the internet, and EXPANDS that global plantation rather than taking you there. And you will ANSWER in English, and it will not be a pleasent exchange between equals fumbling through some silly mistakes. It will look like "yes, master". This is WHAT the translation of Bible from Latin into common speech sought to prevent.

[@snowykoyuki]

Im a foreigner but these seem to be quite well known facts about Japan About the Kyoto people, they're really well known for their indirectness, other than the ぶぶ漬け being a sign to return, there are also many other indirect things hinting at you to leave, such as complementing your watch, which means "look at the time, it's late", or if someone is too loud, they will say "you're so energetic"

[@Dark_Lord_Mr_B]

New Zealand largely starts in February for school. This is to avoid a number of public holidays that are close together and may be disruptive.

[@sethwood7105]

From my experience teaching English in Tokyo I noticed it wasn't so much that Japanese were bad at English per say, their reading and writing comprehension was rather good. But their speaking was always awful. I think it has a lot to do with their curriculum, and lack of native English speakers to teach them correct tongue posture/situational verbiage etc... but also take note of the personality of most Japanese people. Their extremely reserved culture tends to hinder them when it comes to learning English verbally. Practice is the only way, and if they're too shy they won't be able to ever practice.

[@theKobus]

YUP. Risk-taking and enthusiasm for making mistakes is what's required for speaking practice.

[@kougamishinya6566]

Nothing to do with teaching tongue postures lol. They just never listen to native English so they don't have a fully formed mental model of how it's supposed to sound. When they want to improve their accent they approach it like a really scientific way by thinking about tongue positions, etc. In reality you can pick up on all that unconsciously with enough input. They just don't get nearly enough of that. But true on your overall point, it's just that practice is not what they are lacking, it's input. Also I have met Japanese people who seem like they don't know any English but then I'll switch to English for a bit and they understand perfectly, just they are too shy to speak. Especially if they know you have a high level of Japanese, it gives them a good excuse not to use English. You're right, their reserved culture does hold them back in that regard.

[@jakubrogacz6829]

@@kougamishinya6566 same shit everywhere. It's same problem in Poland

[@k4keko]

@@kougamishinya6566 I think that learning the tongue posture is very important. For example, it was crucial when I started learning Mandarin Chinese with all the similar sounding sounds. Same can apply even to languages you use every day. I was 23 when I learnt that my way of pronouncing 'k' had been wrong for my whole life. It had caused it to sound somewhat similar to 't' to some people and recording devices. I would never have been able to find this out if hadn't seen a picture of tongue position. My way of pronouncing it was literally opposite to everyone else.