How Japanese people actually talk to each other: what goes unsaid, what's polite, and what foreigners keep misreading.
11 stories
A practical guide to Japanese business manners for introductions, exchanging business cards, seating, and the polite phrases that keep meetings smooth.
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A practical guide to Japanese greetings, from ohayou and konnichiwa to hajimemashite and yoroshiku onegaishimasu, with the social nuance textbooks skip.
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What to do at a Japanese shrine, from the torii gate and temizuya to praying, omikuji, and leaving respectfully.
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The Japanese table manners visitors actually need: chopsticks, itadakimasu, sharing dishes, noodles, and what to do when you make a mistake.
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Understand omiyage, seasonal gifts, wrapping, and the small Japanese phrases that make giving and receiving gifts feel natural.
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Yoroshiku onegaishimasu changes with context. Learn how it works in introductions, requests, shared projects, and ongoing relationships, with natural Japanese examples and close English equivalents.
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Sumimasen means sorry, excuse me, and thank you at the same time. Japanese people often use it instead of arigatō — and that choice isn't politeness inflation. Here's what it actually does.
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Hikikomori is reported abroad as teenage gamers who never leave their rooms. Japan's own government survey says 1.46 million working-age people, most pushed out by jobs and illness. Here's the honne.
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Gaman — enduring hardship with dignity — is praised as Japanese resilience. From the inside it's double-edged, and its dark side is a real mental-health cost.
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Japan is famous for hospitality, but omotenashi isn't "the customer is always right." A Japanese writer explains what it actually is — and why there's no tipping.
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Westerners often call honne and tatemae "two-faced." A Japanese writer explains what they actually mean, why they're not dishonesty, and how to read them.
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