15 Strange Things You Will Only See in Japan

japan is an incredible place it belongs to the continent of asia and has over 6 800 islands but perhaps the more interesting fact is that it's an industrialized and innovative nation believe it or not deploying the landers isn't even the coolest thing that this some of the most advanced technology comes from this small island nation along with a few kooky products from high-tech toilets to cheese flavored kitkats here are 15 strange things you will only see in japan number 15 high-tech toilets visiting a public toilet can be a stressful occasion in most places you open the door slowly hoping and praying that it's recently been cleaned or that there hasn't been something questionable left behind but if you visit japan you never have to worry about that not only is hygiene incredibly important to japanese people but they place a lot of value on technologically advanced toilets most toilets you would have seen probably had one or two buttons but a japanese toilet at least a dozen if not more you can change the pressure of the water the position of where it goes and you can use the toilet for soft front and rear cleansing japanese toilets even come with dryers and the option to heat the seat while you're sitting down and over here we're still hoping that there's gonna be a seat to sit on when we venture into a public toilet japan is well ahead of the game still they can be a little confusing to work out if you're not from japan often the flush button sits at the back of the toilet and there are limited instructions for how to use them if you're in a hurry having just one button would be easier before we go on like this video smash the subscribe button and click the notification bell right now or slenderman will come from under your bed while you're sleeping [Applause] number 14 a cafe for lonely hearts for some people it can be quite a daunting prospect to go into a cafe alone you'll want to enjoy delicious cafe goods and a barista made coffee but sitting solo is not something that everyone feels comfortable doing one little cafe in japan though is making it a little easier there is an anti-loneliness cafe called moo men house cafe which saves customers from the awkwardness of dining alone rather than sit facing an empty chair you can dine with a moomin a stuffed white hippo soft toy created by tove jansen a finnish writer and illustrator both solos and groups can sit with the soft toys and everyone can have a turn the cafe has always been well known for its delicious range of moomin character pastries and baked goods but the anti-loneliness aspect has made it even more popular quite often there are lines out the door with people excited about the prospect of not having to dine alone sure the soft toys aren't great conversationalists but it sure beats sitting at home on the couch on your own number 13. a napkin for eating burgers with manners let's face it burgers aren't the easiest or most flattering thing to eat not only do they tend to be quite tall but you can't wrap your laughing gear around the whole thing at once as a result you end up with sauce dripping down your face and a collapsed burger cover in your hands knowing this freshness burger which is a japanese hamburger chain decided to do something about it they had noticed that their largest burger called the classic burger was only popular with men not women small male zen women known as ochabo are considered attractive so many women don't feel comfortable consuming the burgers in public so that's where the liberation wrapper comes in the burger wrapper doubles as a face mask letting any woman feel comfortable about eating a huge juicy and delicious burger no matter where they are since they introduced the wrapper which covers your face for modesty sales by women went up 213 you hold the burger in its wrapper and there's an extra flap that goes up half your face between your eyes it even has a picture of a woman's face on it so it can make it look like you're not eating a burger at all number 12 interesting vending machines interesting and vending machines are three words that don't tend to go together they sell a few snacks and some drinks so they're more of a convenience than anything else but in japan vending machines are next level alongside delicious snacks you can also buy hot noodles and other hot foods like french fries if you're gearing up for a night out you can even pick up alcohol and cigarettes from vending machines too oh and kids will be over the moon at being able to secure their favorite toys for a few coins as well believe it or not if you're roasting on a hot summer's day in japan then you don't need to find your closest ice cream parlor just hunt out a vending machine they sell all kinds of ice creams to cool you down and hit the spot basically everything you can think of you can buy it a vending machine in japan even rice if you have time to spare on vacation in japan withdraw some money and go on a vending machine shopping trip you'll be amazed at what you can find number square watermelons over 126 million people live in japan which is a lot when you consider their land mass so they're always coming up with innovative ways to save space sure they designed some pretty amazing storage solutions but they also come up with some genius solutions with the produce they grow too now it doesn't take a genius to work out that watermelons are not the easiest thing to have in your house they roll around in your counter and fridge and they're just huge japan in typical problem-solving fashion came up with a solution and that solution was square watermelons having a square watermelon not only solves the problem of them rolling around but also makes them far easier to store stock and manage businesses that sell them don't need as much space and they can also be transported on trucks a lot easier too while they're a lot more expensive than their round counterparts can you really put a price on convenience well yes you can they're about 83 each which means they tend to be a bit of a wealthy person's treat number 10 a ramen noodle bath ramen noodles are a big hit in the united states with plenty of memes dedicated to them being acceptable as breakfast lunch and dinner they are affordable delicious and are also versatile for use in a range of dishes but are they something you bathe in well that trend hasn't entirely made it over here but it's only a matter of time if you find yourself in the southeastern town of hakone in japan it's worth stopping in at the unison spa house while you won't be able to chow down on your favorite ramen noodle snack you will be able to bathe in it do amazing things for your skin according to the spa's owner ichiro faroova the desire for beautiful skin is what has made the idea of bathing in ramen noodles so popular collagen is found in the pork based broth so that's mostly what the bath contains along with synthetic noodles the next time someone says they love a particular food so much they could bathe in it don't be so quick to judge them you never know more food you can bathe then might be right around the corner number nine european cheese flavored kitkats you either hate cheese or you'll love it there's no in between it's delicious in a sandwich on toast in a salad as a sauce and pasta the list goes on there's nothing you can eat where cheese doesn't belong or is there what about chocolate would you eat cheese with chocolate japan has always been a bit crazy with their kitkat flavors from banana and baked potato flavors to cough drop and creme brulee they're all about thinking outside the square as it turns out there's no limit to the things you can do with chocolate for you can now also buy a european cheese flavored kit kat now before you turn your nose up at the idea hear us out you like cheese right you like chocolate right so what could be so bad about combining the two well a lot of things and to be honest most people are divided the packaging looks like it should be a mixture of swiss cheese and chocolate but according to many people it's more like a tangy type of romano cheese it's a little bit pungent a little bit odd but probably not the worst creation after all someone came up with the idea to combine baked potato with chocolate and that flavor sold number eight naki sumo baby crying festival if there's a baby in your family that never seems to stop crying then they're likely to be the star of the show at the naki sumo baby crying festival most parents spend half their day actively trying to stop their baby from crying but that is not the aim at this japanese festival instead babies are strongly encouraged to cry to get rid of demons funny we thought that crying to get rid of your demons was something you did in your 20s the annual festival takes place in april at the sensoji temple babies are paired with sumo wrestlers who try and make the baby cry they might try putting on a scary mask or they might just yell at the baby to cry it seems absurd but there's a method to their madness making babies cry dates back centuries and relates to a proverb naku koasudatsu or crying babies grow fat it is believed that the cries of a baby will drive away any nearby demons who might be hanging around to do harm if your baby is the best crier at the festival then they are thought to live a long and healthy life number seven godzilla is an official citizen of japan only in japan could you destroy an entire ward of the country on three separate occasions and be rewarded for it but godzilla is certainly getting special treatment in 2015 the giant atomic lizard a character that is the pride of japan became a citizen of the country the announcement was made in an official ceremony in april of that year led by shinjuku ward mayor kenichi yoshizumi the mayor said that with the offer of citizenship came a lot of responsibility for godzilla he was now the tourism ambassador for the shinjuku ward which is the word he destroyed in three of his films nice going godzilla to further honor the creature that has well and truly put japan on the map godzilla would also have a giant model of his head put on top of the offices of the japanese film studio that brought the film to life in 1954 the announcement was made after rumors began of the studio planning for a reboot of the film in 2016. it was released ahead of the american sequel of the 2014 film godzilla which was planned for release in 2018. number six sleeping on the job is encouraged japan is known for being a country of hard workers but it's also a country that doesn't get a lot of sleep according to a u.s national sleep foundation report japanese workers get on average 6 hours and 22 minutes of shut-eye every night that's far less than any other country so some companies are taking matters into their own hands to solve the problem a home renovation firm near tokyo called okuda is letting its workers take a 20-minute power nap by doing so the workers are fresher and better able to do their jobs one worker ikuko yamada said that when he feels tired he has to double check all his calculations and that takes twice as long he believes his performance has improved since being able to take a nap at his desk or in the staff lounge okuda isn't the only company adopting the policy either an internet consulting firm in osaka hugo inc has as well between 1pm and 4pm workers are allowed to take a half hour nap i don't know about you but i wish they would roll that policy out worldwide number five crooked teeth are a fashion statement americans spend around 111 billion dollars per year on dental care all in the name again that set us straight pearly whites but is having straight white teeth really the epitome of perfection if you live in japan then no in recent years crooked teeth in japan have become even more desirable than having them as straight as a picket fence people are even paying dentists to add plastic covers to their teeth to make them look a little less perfect what we call snaggle teeth or fangs here in the united states japanese call doubletooth or yeba there are entire blogs dedicated to photos of people with yeba both real and artificial so why are they doing it well according to some people having crooked teeth is endearing it shows that the person isn't perfect whereas having straight teeth may indicate that a person is too perfect for some reason teeth go through a fashion stage just as clothing and hair do remember the gold teeth face or when everyone wanted lots of colored bands on their braces then after tyra banks encouraged a contestant on america's top model to widen her teeth gap that became a thing too number four japanese traffic light blues red means stop orange means wait green means go right but what if it doesn't could blue mean go getting used to driving in japan is challenging at the best of times there are narrow winding roads that end in the middle of nowhere then there are right-of-way rules that don't seem quite right and don't even get us started on the side of the road they drive on we're sure everyone has an opinion on that though but their traffic light systems are a little tricky too the international convention dictates that all traffic lights must be green but japan definitely has different shades of green bordering on blue but as it turns out it's all down to how the color is represented in language in old japanese the word ow was something you would use for green and blue which made it somewhat tricky to decide what color was being spoken about then when dozens of countries signed the vienna convention on road signs and signals which would standardize traffic signals worldwide japan didn't sign neither did the us still they did make a move towards standardizing their signals so they met in the middle they could have the bluest shade of green but their ghost signal would still have to be green so it is kinda number three kids clean their own schools it can be hard enough to ask kids today to make their own beds or keep their rooms tidy imagine asking them to clean their schools too in japan that's how things are done not only do kids clean their classroom from as young as first grade but they also serve lunch to their classmates and take care of bathroom cleaning too the practice is designed to turn the children into model citizens and it's part of each school's education cleaning is not a government mandate but it doesn't need to be each school follows the national trend and they don't tend to stray too far from each other with how they do it it's also thought that by giving kids the responsibility of cleaning their own space they form it as part of their life and culture by doing so they don't detest work this rings true when you read the book on japanese education called looking into the lives of children it says that the goal of japanese education is to help the child become a fully productive and integrated member of society number two see lion curry in a can you've heard of chicken in a can but have you heard of sea lion curry in a can well that's certainly not something you see every day canned hokkaido sea lion curry is a northern japan delicacy and one that's definitely an acquired taste in a hot and spicy curry are chopped up pieces of stellar sea lion which is a 10 foot 770 pound sea lion in the northwestern pacific it's hard to describe what this canned delight tastes like without actually trying it for yourself it has a kind of fishy flavor and is quite strong on your palate the canned sea lion is described as a traditional hokkaido delicacy that's made in japan it has sugar salt starch corn oil and beef extract among other ingredients while hunting stellar sea lions is prohibited in russia and the united states it clearly isn't in japan every year a fixed number are removed to protect the country's fisheries industry in canada you can hunt them too but only with a permit and for reasons such as them destroying fish farms and causing chaos number one tipping is an insult in the united states it's pretty insulting if you're not given a tip as a server it makes you feel like you didn't do a good job or you weren't appreciated waiters and waitresses door people hairdressers cab drivers luggage handlers they're all given tips but in japan tipping can be considered insulting in most cases japanese people will give excellent service as part of their job and culture a simple thank you is often enough to let them know you're grateful for what they've done for you if someone does accept your tip then it's often because they don't want to offend you by not taking it if you are adamant that you want a tip in japan then there's a proper way to go about it you can't just get out your wallet and hand over some bills instead it's appropriate to put money in a sealed decorated envelope you may even like to give it to the recipient while bowing many japanese people will be some of the most polite people you meet so it pays to research their culture before you pay a visit every country has its quirks but wow japan has really outdone itself have you seen any of these things in person or maybe tried the cheese flavored kitkat we're not sure we'd be in a hurry to try it out also check out our other cool stuff showing up on screen right now see you next time

Channel: The Finest

Views: 481,482

Rating: 4.8792801 out of 5

Keywords: funny, japan, japanese, only in japan, weird, exist, things only in japan, things that only exist in japan, strange things, travel hacks, traveling, police geese, japanese food, japanese culture, japanese inventions, japan travel, japanese trains, transportation in japan, facts about japan, japan facts, square watermelons, toilets in japan, blue traffic light, vending machines in japan, rabbit island, fake food in japan, crazy facts, japan food, japaneese food, Kit Kats

Id: JjtGPdWpgpU

Length: 19min 41sec (1181 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 12 2020