What do Japanese people wear?

[lottieandmia]

Dd (aged 9) came home from school with this question to answer. So I told her to write that Japanese people wear what we wear (a quick google to show this confirmed this to her)

However, it seems the teacher was after a different answer involving some elaborate costume. AIBU to think this is not a good approach?

I remember both of those larval!

Natsukashii!!! :) I'm up for a MN trip to Japan!

Another fan of Japanese toilets here, we took dd for the first time this year and she thought they were awesome! Far fewer squats these days though - I only saw a couple in three weeks.

It's very easy to get around ZZZen - though it obviously helps if you speak the language, most people will bend over backwards to help you if needed. I think everyone should go at least once.

On the subject of sumo wrestlers, anyone ever notice how good they smell? They used to get on the bus when they had a basho in my city and I used to love the aroma!!

euphemism, I remember NOVA!

Natsukashii indeed!

I did JET and then stayed on for a few years afterwards. Luckily spent my time on JET learning Japanese, and fluency in the language opened many more doors in terms of work opportunities.

It's ten years since we left. I miss it so much!

I still dream in Japanese occasionally! Bizarre.

I was only there briefly as part of my degree course. I wish I could have stayed longer!

DH still has a permanent residence visa. We like to keep our options open!

what is natsukashii for those of us who can't speak Japanese? FUnny just today dd had me singing along to genkiJapan.net - how old are you? Must be a sign.

Yes, we definitely need a MN tour with you Japan knowledgables to show us what to do. Time MN branched into travel!

I am chuffed that I now know about toilet slippers. My chance to tell dd something about Japan for a change

ZZZen. Hope she is impressed by your toilet slipper knowledge. Does she know about purikura? My dd thought these were the finest thing since sliced bread!!

Natsukashii is one of my favourite Japanese words - it isn't really translatable but describes how you feel when you look back on happy memories. People often translate it as "nostalgic" but it's used in a rather different way.

have to try and keep the upper edge to be credible. Don't think I've heard her mention purikura. She does trips to the Japan shop and comes back with things to eat (a lot of mochi for one thing. ), seems to know a fair bit about Japanese food always wanting me to make a cabbage omelette, miso soup and complicated looking lunchboxes. I am a lazy cook so never get round to any of it.

What is purikura? I shall stun her with my new knowledge from this thread

revelling in fond memories. That's a nice word

Ooh, a Japanese thread - I'm all natsukashii now too (11 years in Tokyo).

For whoever asked, a kimono can be very uncomfortable to wear, as it makes it very hard to bend over, but you get used to it - it kind of makes you move in a fairly formal Japanese-style way, if you get what I mean. Ideal for bowing in. I had to wear one as uniform when I was working in a hotel in Japan - the first few times it took two of the other waitresses to get me into it, and I never got the hang of tying the Obi properly.

The really uncomfortable thing was the shoes, though - I had to wear zori, the flip-flop style shoes, like geta, but not wooden, and narrower. I'm not sure if it was just my huge Western-size feet, but my heels stuck out at the back by an inch or so, and by the end of my shift it was agony.

And Japanese heated toilet seats are one of the things I miss most. Not so bothered about the other high-tech functions.

Yeah, I miss the heated toilet seats too. :)

Purikura are little photo booths where you can take digital pictures with your friends that you can then print off as little stickers. You can write on them and decorate them, add frames and backgrounds etc. The new ones even let you change your features! Then you swap them with friends. Japanese kids and teenage girls seem to love them, and dd is immensely proud of the ones she brought back with her!

yes dd would love that, I'll look them up.

Fascinating reading, off to bed nowxthough, night all

Aargh would you believe it, she already knew about purikuri and toilet slippers from reading detective Conan mangas!

No way! We'll have to think of something a bit more obscure then! How old is she, ZZZen? And where did the interest in Japan spring from?

yes foiled! She is 12.5 now. She has been interested in Japan for a long time, not sure how or when it started. She doesn't remember but says she started reading mangas when she was 6 so probably it came from there

I wonder why we don't have those purikura here. I could see them catching on.

What a great thread. It has made me want to visit japan.

One question- do they not like pets inside the houses? We are a shoes off house but the most if the dust and dirt comes from the dog. I cant imagine that being acceptable in a country with such strict shoe rules

Dogs in Japan don't tend to get very dirty - no running around off the lead for city dogs, as they aren't even allowed in most parks, so they just walk on the pavements, which are generally fairly clean. I think people often clean their pets' paws in the genkan (entry area of the house).

But of course, this being Japan, you can also get lots and lots of shoes for dogs.

But what about the shedding? That is the bain of my life.

I presume that just comes down to frequent vacuuming. One friend of mine in Tokyo has three cats in a tiny apartment - I think the hoover is out every day.

(Of course that is what I should do as I have a border terrier who didn't read the breed manual and sheds all the time, but I can see two different drifts of fur from where I'm sitting...)

I have a golden retriever- 3 times a day doesnt even cut it!