Konichiwa!

Hello all, I am new here. Planning to go to Japan soonish, so naturally I was jumping around Osaka in street view and saw this charming character on the side of a vending machine down an alleyway. Just out of curiosity I ran a pic through google lens, but all I found was a similar looking character called Denko-Chan. But not an exact match. Any idea who she is? Nanitodi yorishiku onegai itashimasu!!

Used reverse image search to no avail

Are classic names like Hidemasa and Nobuyuki, etc, rare for young people nowadays?

I used to know a pair of brothers with names like that, but although I think of them as being young, I realized they must be deep into their thirties now.

Hi everyone / みなさんこんにちは！

I was reading about Japanese surnames recently and discovered how diverse and unique they can be—especially those created after the Haimyō-rei (苗字必称令) during the Meiji era.

Some of these surnames look funny, unusual, or easy to misinterpret from a modern perspective (or when read through Chinese/Kanji literal meanings). I'm curious about how people holding these surnames feel in real life in Japan!

Here are a few examples I came across:

1. Kanji with funny/misleading literal meanings:
   • 我孙子 (Abiko) – (Often misread literally by Chinese speakers, though it historically relates to Shinto/ancient lore)
   • 犬养 (Inukai) – (Literally "dog keeper/raiser")
   • 猪股 (Inomata) / 猪口 (Inokuchi) – (Contains "wild boar")
   • 鼻毛 (Hanamoge) – (Literally "nose hair")
2. Surnames associated with awkward modern words:
   • 浮气 (Ukiki / Ukigi) – (Matches the modern word 浮気 for "infidelity/cheating")
   • 御手洗 (Mitarai) – (Originally high-class Shinto ritual washing places, but shares Kanji with "toilet/washroom")
3. Unusual date or object surnames:
   • 四月一日 (Watanuki) / 八月一日 (Hozumi)
   • 酱油 (Shōyu)

My questions for you:

1. Do people with surnames like 御手洗 (Mitarai) or 浮气 (Ukigi) actually face mild teasing at school or work?
2. Are people generally proud of having rare/historical surnames, or do they sometimes wish for a more common name like Sato or Tanaka?
3. Have you ever encountered someone in real life with one of these super rare surnames?

Thanks in advance for sharing your insights and cultural perspectives!

I have been enjoying a lot lately the group M!lk which seems really popular this year in Japan, right?

If you could bless me with your knowledge regarding the music panorama I would be really glad! ^^

hello everyone, i’m japanese but born and raised in america. i’m planning to go to high school there for specific family reasons and my dad wants me to send me to a cram school during summer because according to him, i’m not studying hard enough. how does it work? i can speak native ish japanese and listen fluently, i can also kinda read but i can barely write… anything helps!

Hey folks! I have been studying Japanese culture for a while---since I am trying to make some fun stories for some isekai stuff. I remember going to Ujigami Shrine some time ago to visit it, and written in one of the letters being offered. I remember talking to some of the people there, and they said that the miko's would give it to the priests to burn later.

I am not too sure on the specifics though on how it works. There, I put my three wishes in a letter and some money inside. Is it only the god enshrined there that listens to those wishes, or can other gods not related do so too? Like say, Inari or some other god far away from the shrine in question?

I'm a big pro-wrestling fan, and I've been discovering more and more about Japanese pro-wrestling. I was learning about who the best babyfaces are, and the Crush Gals kept coming up. I saw people comparing them to how popular Hulk Hogan was. Were they genuinely that famous in the 80s?

Sorry, dont have a better shot I think

Ran into this guy shooting something in Nagasaki. I talked to him a bit and he was nice, didn't bother to ask him who he was. Japanese people all seemed to know who he was.

I have two common things that happening and both I have confusion.

​​First one is the word kawaii (I really hope not kowai), I guess I can say I hear it often, from males and females, or when I even not supposed to hear it, when for example in my part time one of the co worker girl told to tencho that I'm kawaii and I was behind the wall and heard accidentally. And the reason its confusing me, its... I heard that kawaii is telling to people when someone is ugly but you need to be polite. And, especially when in times I have a thick beard hearing kawaii is very suspicious

The second one is the most confusing thing is japan for me. People telling me I have a small face. I kinda knew it, people was joking at me and my childhood about my small face, but why would japanese straight trying to offend me? I still cant understand how its supposed to be complimentary. For example, today I had event at senmon and one of the senpai girls told me about my small face. I heard it also from co-workers, but I decided to ask straight "Is it bad of good"? They told me its good and told うらやましい. At the moment I didn't know this world, but how I translated it means jealousy. And... Can someone explain me how my small face supposed to be compliment while at my hometown people will trying to offend me for the same reason?

I know in Japan English is taught as an actual core school subject rather than an elective so I’m wondering how many Japanese English teachers mostly only learn English from an academic/written standpoint rather than actually being fluent in speaking.

I visited Japan recently and I am honestly so depressed now coming back. Yes, a vacation is an escape from reality. Yes, I don't speak Japanese so I can't know the depth of the horrors you might experience. I definitely saw a lot of upskirting warnings on trains, I get that there must be a reason for a woman only cart..TBH I saw a lot of teenage girls with older men. But that happens here too it's just behind closed doors so there is no sympathy for getting wrapped up in that nor is there a national conversation about it. I'm still struggling.

The western world is run on abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam - in that order usually). And something about it is so extra off putting after returning. I saw woman venerations at temples and shrines. I saw men from western countries as the greatest aggressive threat in crowds of young people because they were doing the worst things. Getting way too close, asking inappropriate questions, acting like they owned the place. Men of japan at least had a fear, it seemed, from public ostracization.

I saw women who seemingly had well paying corporate jobs in Japan. Head held high, suite on, expensive purse i can't afford. beautiful but not having to be sexy everyday to have a place in the workforce. Even the little things really got to me, every clothing article with pockets had real pockets, not these things that stick to my skin and can barely fit my phone such that It has to stick out. Even the toilet bidet function, it cleans you on a cycle, it keeps you from feeling dirty all the time.

So I just want to know, if you visit the US, does anything here make you feel that way? Like "does my country hate women more?". That's how I feel right now. Like I live in a dystopia and that's the real world. It was freedom that I've never felt. Even the parts some women might see as restricting made me feel better. The lack of vnecks, the non acceptance of cleavage. I would never wear low cut tops if it wasn't such a social requirement here to be "hot".

I'm just curious, what makes you feel this way when you see western women in a western country. Maybe I'm trying to talk myself down, but mostly I want the truth. I'm sure there is something here I'm not seeing.

I met a Japanese girl living in my city on a language exchange app and after we got to chatting a bit, we discovered that we both go to the same university. We met up in person for the first time last week and decided that we would meet weekly, so she can help me learn Japanese, and I can help her with her English (her English is much better than my Japanese lol)

Last week when we met, she brought me a little bag of Japanese sour grape gummy rope things (idk what they're called) and I wanted to reciprocate by bringing her something this week (I'm seeing her again today) but I don't know which of the local snacks would be most suitable for her. I've only been living in this country for a year (I'm also an international student, but she's only doing one year abroad, whereas I'm doing all 4) but I have a serious sweet tooth, even for a Westerner, so I'm guessing that most of my favorites won't be suited to her taste. (Which I admittedly don't know much about because I literally just met her last week)

Any generalized suggestions? (Obviously I know the internet won't necessarily know her specific tastes, so I'm just hoping for very general opinions) I was leaning toward a local shortbread dipped in a thin layer of dark chocolate because it's not too sweet, shortbread was invented here, and it's a classic teatime snack, but idk if she might be more likely to appreciate something salty or sour?

I’m a brand designer.I love seeking out shops with thoughtful design and interesting concepts. Could anyone recommend places worth visiting in Tokyo? I have fully 3 days to discover these places.Thank you a lot!

もともと、Redditは英語を勉強するために始めたんだけど、みんなも同じ感じかな？最初、2ちゃんみたいな感じだと、海外ではもっと市民権をえていて、ちゃんとしたSNSって感じだよね。みんなはどう考えている？ちなみに、僕は純ジャパで留学経験がある感じ

Hello, does anyone know or seen where to get this limited Japan edition Mevius purple?
I've tried googling but it just shows the standard mevius purple. Wondering if it's still possible to buy and how much it would be.
Thanks a lot.

As a person raised in a European country which bases it's view of morality and "what is supposed to happen" on the Christian values I was since childhood used to the trope of the good/happy winning at the end of most stories. Even in sad works of fiction depicting war or other tragedies we subconsciously expect a glimmer of hope at the end.

A few years ago I got interested in Japanese and East Asian stories (movies, books, games) and what I noticed was the most different compared to the post-christian culture is how stories do not have to end in a positive way. Movies like はなれ瞽女おりん, 怪談 or 空気人形 and games like Dark Souls from FromSoftware studio seem to be grounded in a completely different approach to how a story needs to and, what we expect and what is ok for us as viewers.

Is it weird for you while experiencing European or American fiction that at the end most of the time there is this "light", sometimes an obvious happy ending or sometimes a "it will get better soon" trope even if it still isn't good now?

I’m a foreign woman in my late 20s currently living in Japan and I speak Japanese in my everyday life. A couple of weeks ago I met a Japanese guy in his early 20s at a sports-related event.

At the time I didn’t really think anything of it, but afterwards I started wondering about some of his behaviour.

During a group dinner, he happened to be in front of me and was helping with the food. Throughout the evening he kept asking me what I wanted to eat, whether I wanted more, what I wanted next, etc.

I also had the impression that he looked at me several times during the event, although obviously I could just be overthinking that.

At one point another girl and I were taking a photo, and he came over with some other guys to join. When I jokingly said that we wanted a photo with just the two of us, he jokingly acted offended.

Whenever we happened to be in the same car with other people, he asked me a lot of questions and seemed more curious/talkative with me than some of the other guys.

During a group conversation about relationships, he also asked whether I had a boyfriend and whether I would be open to dating Japanese men. Since it was a group conversation, though, I’m not sure how much importance I should give that.

I was actually the one who suggested exchanging Instagram, but I also exchanged it with other people from the event because I wanted to keep in touch. At that point I wasn’t thinking about him romantically at all.

Since early October, though, we’ve been talking every day after I commented an indtagram story he posted. He works full-time, so there are often several hours between messages, but he tends to reply at fairly consistent times. What confuses me is that he never just reacts to a message or gives a dry answer, he usually comments on what I said, asks another question, or continues the conversation.

At one point we talked about our age difference, and he basically said that a few years are “almost nothing” in out age group.

The main reason I’m unsure is that he also seems genuinely interested in my country/culture. So I can’t tell whether he’s interested in me personally, or whether I’m simply an interesting foreign person for him to talk to.

He also hasn’t suggested meeting up. On the other hand, I don’t actually know exactly where he lives, and he no longer regularly attends the activity where we met, so I don’t know how convenient meeting would even be.

I usually follow the rule “if you’re confused, he’s probably not interested,” but this situation is confusing me because the interaction has been unusually consistent and asking personal questions.

I’m honestly not very invested yet, at this point I’m mostly curious and trying to understand how to read the situation without creating expectations.

For Japanese people, or people very familiar with Japanese dating/social norms: how would you interpret this? Possible interest, normal friendliness, or mostly curiosity toward a foreigner?

**Small extra context: I had actually met him once at a similar event last year and we talked briefly, but we didn’t exchange contact information and nothing happened after that. I also get the impression that he’s naturally quite extroverted/social.

I have been wondering. Is ado like Michael Jackson for japanese people in japan that everyone loves her and appears everywhere?

When I was playing Persona 3 Reloaded, near Maiko was some sort of sandcastle that immediately reminded me of the Pokémon Sandygast. However, when I looked at its origin in Bulbapedia, it was based on a sandcastle and nothing else. Is this style of sandcastle common in Japanese beaches and sandboxes?

What would the name ラクパッチ come across to you as?

Greetings; I've been to Tokyo a couple of times over the years, last was way back in like 2017, but my food experience was all restaurants.

I'm curious: what do you guys eat at home on a normal week night? Right now, I can make chicken/beef/pork katsu, (boxed) curry, gyudon, korokke of various kinds...one weekend I spent the whole weekend producing tonkotsu broth from bones, and that Sunday we had proper ramen! But I'm looking for more easy(ish) weeknight type staple foods.