Changes to your lifestyle since living in Japan

**Silverpoint** · Aug 16, 2005, 23:07

I'm curious to know if anyone has observed any changes to their behaviour or lifestyle since relocating to Japan. The dumber and more trivial the better!

Personally, for example, I've discovered I have become completely dependent on tissues. When I first arrived here, I used to actively avoid the various youths hanging around street corners giving out those small tissue packs advertising pachinko parlors, hairdressers and (god forbid) NOVA. I used to think giving a pack of tissues was a rather worthless exercise. Then when I went through my first hayfever season I found myself collecting them through necessity for obvious reasons. Now several years later I actually feel slightly ill-equipped, almost naked if I'm not carrying at least one little pack when I leave the house. They literally get used for everything imaginable in our house and outside. When I run out, I suddenly find myself serverely compromised.

(Warning: any smart remarks about my tissue use and certain types of "adult entertainment" will not be tolerated

)

**lexico** · Aug 16, 2005, 23:20

Originally Posted by Silverpoint

(Warning: any smart remarks about my tissue use and certain types of "adult entertainment" will not be tolerated

)

Hahahaha~~

I like that last line the most. *swipes tears with one o' them tissues*

When I run into the bathroom only to discover the roll has hit the bones, I feel terribly compromised without one. O, well, necessity is the mother-of-all inventions; I just make some tissues.

**Mike Cash** · Aug 17, 2005, 06:52

Keeping it tissue-related for the moment.....

I finally gave up on having the toilet paper unroll from the back/bottom of the roll, which had always been my personal preference. Hang it that way here and most Japanese will think you at least eccentric.

**Silverpoint** · Aug 17, 2005, 08:36

Oh God - they've probably been laughing at me behind my back for ages! I've never given it a second thought before...

**duff_o_josh** · Aug 17, 2005, 13:32

the biggest change that i am sure most of us dont even realize is that we sleep on the floor :P

**nice gaijin** · Aug 17, 2005, 15:32

i slept on a futon for most of my life, even now I sleep on one, this one is just raised from the floor. Some of the things I got used to in my short time there was the inescapable humidity during July, saying "sumimasen" when I bump into people, and using the button to hold the elevator door instead of thrusting my hand into the doorjam.

**Mike Cash** · Aug 17, 2005, 16:17

I've never understood the futon-on-a-frame thing. Maybe it's because it gained popularity after I left the U.S. So somebody tell me, how is a futon on a frame different from a bed with a flop house mattress?

**duff_o_josh** · Aug 17, 2005, 16:52

futon in north america is also a cheap couch that folds down to a bed...

**Mike Cash** · Aug 17, 2005, 17:04

So it's basically just a co-opting of the vocabulary and adding a looser definition to it?

**nice gaijin** · Aug 17, 2005, 18:04

"futon" around these parts refers to a variety of thick mattresses stuffed with all kinds of materials from types of cotton to foam, etc. the kind on frames are usually folded into a couch, and the mattress is roughly 6-8". Not really sure what a flophouse mattress is, but I don't really want to find out.

the futon I slept on as a kid was more similar to the ones I used in Japan, which would barely qualify for mattress toppers in North America. I don't mind them on Tatami mats, but it's not very comfortable on a hard-wood floor.

**Silverpoint** · Aug 17, 2005, 18:36

There's a chain in the UK (I believe it's imaginatively called "The Futon Shop"). I went there once and it appears they sell something which isn't really that much different to a bed except for the mattress is a little thinner. Basically nothing like the original.

When I go back home, or stay in hotels with western beds I find I don't sleep so well now, because they feel too soft. It's just what you get used to I guess.

There's only one thing I think futons are slightly less good for, but I might be overstepping the mark if I go into too much detail. I'm sure you guys can work it out though.

**nice gaijin** · Aug 17, 2005, 20:11

the western style futons don't have the same problem, but then again they're more like mattresses without the springs

**Silverpoint** · Aug 17, 2005, 22:20

Quote from the Futon Shop website after describing their deluxe wooden framed futons:

"If you're really short of space you can use a futon mattress on the floor"

No kidding! I'd never have thought of it!

**duff_o_josh** · Aug 17, 2005, 22:41

another change in my lifestyle and im sure most of you also, drinking cold tea. i drink it so much now but in canada i rarely did and it was hard to find.

**Silverpoint** · Aug 17, 2005, 22:55

Another change:

Walking into any bar and just asking for "a beer". In England you'd nearly always ask for a particular brand.

**Mike Cash** · Aug 18, 2005, 00:07

Originally Posted by duff_o_josh

another change in my lifestyle and im sure most of you also, drinking cold tea. i drink it so much now but in canada i rarely did and it was hard to find.

Being from the South, I didn't know there was any other way to drink tea except iced tea until I was fourteen years old. I still find the idea of hot tea somewhat odd.

**duff_o_josh** · Aug 18, 2005, 02:40

how about the small bath tubs?

**kirei_na_me** · Aug 18, 2005, 03:09

Originally Posted by mikecash

Being from the South, I didn't know there was any other way to drink tea except iced tea until I was fourteen years old. I still find the idea of hot tea somewhat odd.

You and me both.

Make my tea Lipton and sweet with a lot of ice and a big slice of lemon!

Ok, just had to comment. Fellow Southerner. Back to your regularly scheduled program...

**GaijinPunch** · Aug 18, 2005, 08:48

In college, I had a couch->fold out futon thing. I mainly had it for convenience in the living room.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the "no shoes in the house" thing yet.

**Mike Cash** · Aug 18, 2005, 11:26

Speaking of feet...how about the socks made like gloves? The ones with the separate spaces for your toes. I've been wearing them so long it never occurｒed to me to mention them here. I even took a big supply of them with me the last time I tried living in the U.S.

I remember standing at the fuel counter in a truck stop in Kentucky, wearing my slippers (also brought from Japan) with my 5-toe socks. A lady standing next to me said, "Your socks have toes in them!"

I replied, "Everybody's socks have toes in them."

**duff_o_josh** · Aug 18, 2005, 11:46

Originally Posted by GaijinPunch

In college, I had a couch->fold out futon thing. I mainly had it for convenience in the living room.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the "no shoes in the house" thing yet.

in canada we dont wear shoes in the house, i think its just an american thing.

**Numark** · Aug 18, 2005, 13:05

Yeah, most people i know in the US take thier shoes off too. What a way to ruin your carpets!

**Silverpoint** · Aug 18, 2005, 13:10

Scrubbing 10 layers of skin off before getting into the bath and then sharing the water.

**mad pierrot** · Aug 18, 2005, 14:18

I remember standing at the fuel counter in a truck stop in Kentucky, wearing my slippers (also brought from Japan) with my 5-toe socks. A lady standing next to me said, "Your socks have toes in them!"

I replied, "Everybody's socks have toes in them."

Changes in my lifestyle:

1. Always, come hell or high water, take my shoes off at the door when home in Chicago.

2. I go to conbinis 8 times a day. I pay my bills and do my banking, and buy my toilet paper, food, personal care products, and movie tickets there.

**Rich303** · Aug 19, 2005, 00:27

I was only in Japan a very short time,but I noticed these changes...

1) I wanted to spend more money.

2) I had a strong urge to vandalise public phones (don't worry, I didn't)
Next time I'm going to hire a mobile

3) Everything felt like an adventure - I'm looking foward to going back!