東京に住んでいる人はそんなに違いますか How different are people from Tokyo compared with people from other parts of Japan?
僕は5年ぐらい東京と埼玉に住んでいました。文化は教科書と新聞で勉強して色々な日本人に聞きました。東京と埼玉の経験で日本人はみんなの言った通りでした、丁寧で真面目でした。恥ずかしがり屋が多くて、外国人に比べたらそんなにフレンドリーと言えないかもしれないけど、いい人が多い感じでした。みんなはストレスが高くて仕事で忙しいですね。
旅行で広島とか栃木とか神奈川とか本州の色々なところに行ったことありますけど一般的に三日間か一週間ぐらいでした。だからあの場所は深く理解しません。大阪だけは三ヶ月ぐらい住んでいて多くの友達ができました。テレビとかで関西人はいつも笑っているイメージですけど住んでいた時はそこまでコメディ的な感じじゃなくてクールでリラックスできると思いました。知らない人と喋るのはそんなに珍しくない感じで「えええええ？」じゃなくて「あ、そうか」って返事しました。中国の生活を慣れてから大阪は東京と中国の間って感じです。外国人にとしてもっと自然的と言えます。
日本には慣れてから知り合った日本人は四国の人とか北海道人とか九州の人で色々な性格です。教科書の中の日本人って感じと違います。もちろんどこでもみんなは自分的な性格がありますけど、僕の慣れた日本の文化は東京の文化だけですかって考えてます。
みんなの言われた区別じゃなくて自分の経験を聞きたいです。steemitの日本人の友達は日本の中でもカルチャーショックを感じたことがありますか？ 具体的な例があればすごく面白いと思います！
I spent my 5 years in Japan in Tokyo and Saitama. I learned about Japanese culture from textbooks, news and asking locals and foreigners about it. When I arrived in Tokyo, everyone was just as they said, polite, a bit serious, often shy, not exactly what a foreign person would call friendly, but many good people. Everyone was stressed out from work.
I travelled around Honshu a few times but never spent more than a week in one place so I can’t say much about people in those places. I only had a chance to stay in Osaka for about 3 months. Japanese television portrays people from Osaka as wild jokers, and I guess in comparison to Tokyo I can see where the stereotype comes from. More than that, I felt people were much more “cool” and relaxed. Speaking with a stranger is extremely unusual in Tokyo but it seemed quite common in Kansai. Responses sounded less like “Wow!” And more like “oh, is that so?” After spending time in China my feeling is that Osaka is somewhere between that feeling and the feeling of being in Tokyo.
After I left Japan I met a few more Japanese who had never lived in Tokyo. The feeling I get is much different from what I experienced in Tokyo. Of course everyone has their own personality, but I started wondering just how different the culture really is outside of Tokyo and if the “Japanese culture that we learn about, even that Japanese are taught, is actually just Tokyo culture.
I’d love to hear any specific experiences from those who have spent time in both Tokyo and other places in Japan.
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Confessions of the Damaged - a collection of short stories
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by @skyleap
I would never admit that to a "real" Japanese, but I like the Osaka accent. Which is quite different from Tokyo :D
I used to speak with an Osakan accent when I was being sassy, it just happened naturally after a month there. I loved it, but I think the Tokyo casual “jan” sounds batter than the Osaka casual “yan”. I’d never admit to a Japanese person that Tokyo is kind of.....stiff compared to the rest of japan.
Interesting observations. Unfortunately I haven't been in Japan long enough to know about this. But looking forward to other comments by people who do know more about this. Culture is such an interesting phenomenon, especially ones that are not easy to understand by people from the outside.
It would have been a very difficult culture to understand had I not consciously questioned everything I had been taught. Still I can only understand to a certain degree as it’s different to be surrounded from birth and know nothing else. I think people’s assessment of their own culture is interesting and sometimes not as correct as we would intuitively assume.
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It's interesting that you feel Osaka is just between China and Tokyo :) I've lived in Osaka for 20 years, and parents are from Yamaguchi pref., so I have no roots in the eastern part of Japan. I'm sure that people in Osaka are more open to strangers (not necessarily friendly though), and distinctively have the custom of small talk. When I stayed at an apartment (or so-called マンション) of my friend who moved to Tokyo from Osaka, she told me that the residents always use the elevator alone and avoid to get on the same elevator with neighbors, and there is a "hidden rule" that you should send the elevator to the first floor after you get off, if you know somebody's waiting. Of course, nobody greets each other. I would feel frustrated if I lived with such delicate neighbors without even greetings...
Ahhh this is exactly the kind of story I’m interested in. Friendly is relative hahah. For me being able to fish for a conversation with someone who peaks your interest, or greet someone when you see them every day is enough! I get myself back into “japan mode” (or “Tokyo mode” as I should start calling it, this is really easy to imagine. Honestly, aside from 2-3 people (who were all hippies and weirdos) I left tokyo feeling that I hadn’t made any friends after 5 years. This was a huge contrast to osaka where I stayed for such a short time and made a few very good friends (we have lost touch finally).
I will make some future posts about the most extreme examples I saw of this. Very good to know not all of japan is so distant and awkward!