1. 2-ply Toilet Paper
Turns out, you can get toilet paper that smells like matcha, or Hello Kitty paper but try finding TP that is more than 1-ply. I can’t. I think it must be because most of the toilets here have washlets to wash your butt so thick toilet paper is unnecessary. My butt may be clean and smell like green tea, but it’s still sad and misses the fluffy stuff.
2. Paper Towels
In the words of ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, a towel is about the most useful thing you can have. Despite Japan making you feel like an interstellar traveller, that isn’t the reason. I figure it’s something like the toilet paper thing; you have toilets that wash you so you don’t really have to get your hands all that dirty, I guess. A lot of bathrooms lack soap, and even more are without anything to dry your hands with.
The hand towel also comes in handy when it’s hot af outside (which it is in the Summer) and you need to constantly wipe your sweat. Or worst case, you have to sneeze or blow your nose and can’t find any dang tissues anywhere.
3. Public Garbage Bins
It’s hard to understand how Japan stays so clean when there are hardly any public garbage cans. If it were North America, people would likely just litter all over the place, but not here. It goes with the culture where most people don’t walk and eat or drink at the same time (despite street food being readily available). People tend to buy things, and consume them on the spot, even at vending machines or convenience stores (konbinis). Both of those are actually everywhere and so that’s the secret: when you have garbage, head over to the vending machine or konbini and voila, garbage!
I actually blew my dad’s mind with this tidbit when he was here recently. He was always trying to find a place to stick his garbage and I actually watched his face light up when I told him, “just find a vending machine.”
4. Patios
Canadians in particular have a very loyal and strong patio obsession. As soon as the temperature gets above 0c, we FLOCK to patios to eat and imbibe. It’s practically tradition. But in Japan, patios are very few and far in between. There are exceptions, some restaurants with more space might have a small outdoor seating area or the occasional rooftop bar but like I said, they are few and far between. Which means if you manage to find one, it’s likely going to be very busy.
5. All Night Public Transportation
For a country that can serve and sell alcohol 24 hours a day, and where many bars stay open until the morning, you’d be surprised that all public transit halts by 12:30am. This means that even concerts, DJ parties etc. all start really early (around 6 or 7pm) and typically end by midnight so people can catch the last train.
This isn’t such a problem in a city like Osaka where taxis are reasonably priced (on par with Toronto, Canada) but Tokyo is a different story. Taking a taxi even for 15 minutes in Tokyo could set you back $60USD or more, easily. The disadvantage to this is while like I said, many bars stay open all night, the nightlife is not as wild as people tend to think it is. The big cities actually get pretty quiet after midnight. It feels very, Cinderella-like.
There are so many more things I can’t seem to find here, although most things come with pretty excellent alternatives. There may not be certain snacks and foods that I’m used to, but there are so many more incredible things to eat that I haven’t had to miss anything yet (except poutine). And the things I can’t find otherwise, really aren’t a big deal. It does make for small surprising little culture shocks every day though.
Have you been to Japan and been unable to find something? Please let me know in the comments!
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