Only-in-America

I’ve lived in Japan for most of my life now, and I have only been back to visit America a few times. In fact, my most recent visit there was over ten years ago ( Click here to read about the reverse-culture-shock I experienced on that trip.)

I was thinking about some things that seem normal to most Americans…but are actually unique to America and kinda odd to people who don’t live there.

1. Flags everywhere / “Pledge of Allegiance” –
Every country flies their national colors. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But the American flag is flown everywhere, everyday in the U.S. Even car dealerships and in school classrooms.
Speaking of school classrooms, American children stand with their hand on their heart, facing the flag in the classroom, and recite and pledge of allegiance to the U.S. flag.
A bit like North Korea.

2. “Sales tax” –
By this I mean, the price shown on the products in stores in America is the pre-sales tax price.
To be honest though, it was the same way in Japan when I first arrived here. At that time, sales tax here was 3% and the after-tax price wasn’t listed on the price-tags. (Just before I came to Japan, there was no sales tax here at all!)
But in 1997, the law was changed that all stores in Japan must show the after-tax price on their products (the sales tax went up to 5% that year too. (Currently, it’s 8%)).

3. “Toilet stalls” –
When people from other countries visit America, the public restrooms are quite a culture shock! The doors are too small! It’s disturbing when you’re using a public toilet but don’t feel like you have privacy.

4. “Tipping” –
There is no tipping in Japan. When I visited America, I was never sure who to tip or how much! I had to check my guidebook. Waitresses, taxi drivers, hotel staff, bartenders, et al. It felt like, no matter how mediocre the service, I had to tip everyone! And after tips were factored in, the cost for many things in America were actually higher than in Japan.

5. “Guns” –
Besides the police and military, there are virtually no gun owners in Japan.
All of the gun-related violence in America that is reported in the news is sad and shocking.

6. “Alcohol rules” –
In America, beer can’t be enjoyed outdoors in public. And there are hours (and even certain days) that stores don’t sell alcohol.
Why?

There are beer vending machines in Japan.

I’m not putting America down.
I’m just pointing out some peculiarities about the culture of the country of my birth. Every country has them…and sometimes it takes stepping outside the country and experiencing a different culture to see them.

What are some unique cultural peculiarities about America, Japan or any other country that you’ve noticed?

Gundam Pepsi

In Japan, Pepsi-Cola offers many different flavors and other campaigns.
Click here to look at all of the different posts I’ve written about the various flavors and other gimmicks Pepsi has offered in Japan.

And Gundam is popular in Japan. There is a life-size Gundam robot, Gundam cafe, Gundam cell-phones and many other Gundam-related campaigns in Japan.
Click here to see the posts I’ve written related to Gundam.

Of course, Gundam and Pepsi have teamed up.
Click here to see a post I’ve written about it.

Well, they’ve teamed up again.

Currently Pepsi-Cola in Japan is selling their cola in cans decorated with Gundam characters.

Here are the cans:

Would you buy any of these?

I wrote a post before about some of the unique “Japan only” flavors of “Kit-Kat” chocolates in Japan (Click here to read it).

Well, as Kit-Kat Japan often does, they have introduced a few new flavors recently:

 

"Big Little Strawberry Kit-Kat"

 

"Maccha Assort" (6pcs of "Green Tea Kit-Kat" and 7pcs of "Milk Green Tea Kit-Kat")

 

"Yubari Melon Kit-Kat" (Yubari is a town in Hokkaido, Japan famous for it's melon)

Kit-Kat Japan isn’t the only company in Japan that offers unique “only-in-Japan” products.
Some others are Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Pepsi-Cola, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King.

Currently, Burger King Japan is offering two new styles of their “Whopper” sandwich in Japan:
the “All Heavy“, which has extras of all of the condiments on the sandwich…at no extra charge (¥420), and the “Meat Monster“, which has an extra hamburger patty, bacon and chicken…this one costs almost double the normal cost of a “Whopper” (¥820).

Burger King Japan's "All Heavy" Whopper and "Meat Monster" Whopper

Do any of these look good to you?

Maid Train

Have you ever heard of Tokyo’s “Maid Cafes“?
These cafes, mostly located in the Otaku (geek) paradise of the 秋葉原 (Akihabara) section of Tokyo, are staffed by young women dressed in “French maid” outfits who greet the customers by saying 「お帰りなさいませご主人様」 (“Welcome home, master”).
They also draw cute pictures on the food with ketchup and play games with the customers.

Some people say that Japan’s bar-hostesses and cafe maids are both a kind of modern-day geisha.
Maybe it’s an “only-in Japan phenomenon”, but hostesses, cafe maids, and geisha all have in common that their purpose is to entertain customers (usually male) in certain eating and drinking establishments…but, contrary to a popular belief in Western countries, they have nothing to do with prostitution.

Well, the financially struggling Seibu Train Line that connects 埼玉県 (Saitama Prefecture) to 東京都 (Tokyo) has decided to try and take advantage of the popularity of maid cafes to attract more passengers to use their trains.

Beginning 2010 December 11, they will have a limited number of  「メイド・トレイン」 (“Maid Trains“).

These trains will be staffed by “maids” similar to the ones in maid cafes who will serve food and drinks and they will also make all of the train’s announcements.
Passengers will also have a chance to pay to have their photo taken with the maids (the same service is available at maid cafes).

Personally I have never been to a maid cafe. And I have no plans to ride the “maid train” either.
How about you? Have you ever visited one of Japan’s maid cafes? Or would you like to?
Would you ride the maid train?