10 Things You (probably) Didn't Know About Japan & the Japanese

1. Japanese people touch their earlobe when they burn their fingers.
2. Japan's streets are littered with vending machines, many of which sell beer and cigarettes. The only restriction to buying them is that you have to be tall enough to reach the coin slot!
3. One of the most popular soft drinks in Japan is called Pocari Sweat and looks like cloudy water.
4. Many Japanese homes have toilets that are remote-controlled with a heated seat and built-in bidet-style washing facilities. Diagrams on the buttons indicate which parts of the body can be washed!
5. In Japanese primary schools, all pupils clean the classrooms and corridors after lunch.
6. In service since 1964, there are now several types of Shinkansen (bullet train), the fastest of which can reach speeds of almost 200 mph. Renowned for their reliability, a delay would make the national news.
7. The concept of belonging to one religion is alien in Japan and the Japanese tend to choose an appropriate religion depending on a particular event, e.g. Shintoism for the birth of a child, Buddhism for a funeral.
8. Japanese familes tend to share the same bath water (but not at the same time) which is for relaxation rather than cleaning. Each person would wash outside the bath first to avoid the water getting dirty.
9. Japanese people eat rice with every meal including breakfast and will generally eat every grain in the bowl in memory of the food shortages they endured after the Second World War.
10. The Japanese really do say "ah, so".