When friends visited from Thailand Ms. L often showed them around. They came for the purpose of sightseeing and these are some of the things they felt.

“There are many good places to go in Japanese cities. Shop clerks and people on the street are kind to travelers. There are many shops and stations, which makes it easy to do whatever you like. They enjoyed everywhere they visited, be it large cities or tourist areas enjoying the special features of each. However, the biggest difficulty when sightseeing was trying to shop at small souvenir shops. Not being able to use credit cards was a bit inconvenient.”

Being able to experience large cities and Japan’s natural scenery are big attractions for Thai visitors. As Ms. L pointed out, not many mom & pop stores accept credit cards, which is a major drawback.

“Japanese dishes I like are sashimi and yakiniku. They are different than Thai cooking, but very delicious. But most of all the sweets are fantastic! They are sweet and there are so many different kinds.”

Ms. L was very enthusiastic about the quality of Japanese sweets. In Japan even the convenience stores have Japanese, Western, and Chinese sweets, and in large international cities there are many patisserie and chocolatier. Sweets make great gifts and it seems that foreign visitors really like them.

Ms. L previously worked in Japan and even now in Thailand she does business with Japanese. She felt something incompatible about the way Japanese worked.

“I don’t think there is anywhere else in the world where business is as cutthroat as it is in Japan. Business is much more laid back in Thailand. I was shocked to see that in spite of all the strong competition among people, most of them could not speak English. That was true not only for older people but young people, too. In order to work overseas or in a foreign company many Thais actively study English, so seeing the low English level in Japan was a shock.”

While on the one hand many Japanese are extremely diligent and hardworking by nature, in order to survive in a global society, having low English ability pointed out is painful.... Knowing the drive young Thais have to succeed it is easy to understand why their English ability is high.

Ms. L was also shocked by this.

“Middle age men dress as sharply as women in public, but at home they dress and look like slobs. Even more amazing is that their families seem to think it natural to dress one way when going out and another when at home.”

This is probably something that Japan’s fathers would not like to have pointed out. Looking sharp in a stylish suit when doing business but wearing an old sweat suit at home while lounging about is not an unusual scene in many Japanese homes. Japanese men are careful about their appearance, I believe, but it seems the sharp extremes in dress come as a shock.

“Japanese couples seemed to be different than Thai couples. Their fashion, body language, and relationships seem to be just the opposite from those of Thais. Are Japanese women stronger?”

You don't hear the expression much anymore, but "herbivorous boys" was used to describe Japanese men who appear more delicate and naive, having been raised that way; a style that is popular and in fact becoming more prevalent. As for women being stronger than men...I’d have to agree and say that she is probably right.

Last of all Ms. L mentioned the sex industry in Japan.

“The pornographic video industry in Japan. I think that is quite an industry. I was surprised that female and male actors appearing in them recognize it as an industry.”

In Thailand where there are many devoted Buddhists, most women reject deep relationships with men before marriage and as such there are people who do not look at sex in a positive way. Considering that, I can understand how someone from that region would be shocked by how these actors make their living.

Ms. L who has worked more than 10 years in jobs related to Japan provided us with many comments about her perceptions of the nature of Japanese. Even though a fellow Asian, many of the different culture and values found in Japan came as a shock.

It might be a bit surprising to learn, but Ms. L hopes to be able to continue doing business with Japan!