When talking to other people you need to stay polite; how polite you should be would depend of the person you are talking to. At home you would never talk the same way to your boss like you would talk to shop clerk. In Japan you just need to make the politeness higher than you would do at home. Basically being too polite is always better than not being polite enough.

In the public you should behave nicely to the people around you. Most foreigners stand out in Japan easily because they are way louder in public than Japanese people are; do not become like them. Also the only people seen drunk in public are again foreigners.

Never bring shame to a Japanese person by insulting, bad behavior etc. They will forgive a lot; however, if you do a big mistake, they might feel insulted, but their culture will forbid them from telling you; it would be impolite to say anything. This makes it harder on the foreigners, but not impossible. Just look at the other people around before you do anything.

The Culture

Japanese culture is very different from the western culture; because of this some behavior will be inacceptable. The biggest difference s the politeness as explained above. Another one would be the strict rules followed by the Japanese people. They have way more rules than you would think; most of them are unwritten.

It is easy do many things wrong just at the dinner table if eaten with Japanese people at their house. Foreigners tend to misuse the chops sticks to stab the food, which is insulting towards the host. Not asking for rice is also known as impolite. Even if you cannot eat much food, you should always ask for some more rice to make up to it you should eat less other food available.

Walking with outside shoes in Japan is strictly forbidden; walking on tatami with any kind of shoes is totally forbidden. Tatami shall never be daunted by anything else than socks or bare feet.

Children up to the age of five are allowed to do anything they want; no matter what they do they will not get punished. From the age of six their harsh training will start; all the freedom they had until then is gone and they have to start to obey their parents.

Japanese people tend to decline offers, so you might have to force them to obey your offer; for example in a train if you offer a seat to a pregnant lady, she would most likely decline it and say she would be fine without the seat. Nevertheless you should insist, so that she will sit down. For Japanese offering a seat, or anything else is just part of the regular rules; declining it another part of the rules. To accomplish your goal you will have to insist on it; otherwise it will stay the way it was in the beginning.

Life in Japan

The life in Japan can be very different compared to the western world; however, after getting accustomed to the culture and life style it will become very nice and enjoyable. Even when the Japanese people hide their feelings you will start to be able to read them; by reading their feelings you will be able to communicate with them more. Learning the indirect approach that is part of their culture makes everything easier; you know that what they say might be still a no, even when they did not say it out loud.

To enjoy Japan you need to become Japanese; otherwise you will never learn to understand them and will always feel like you will be left out. The feeling will fade, but it will never disappear until you learn to understand them. Without truly understanding them you will always stay foreign to them.

Learning their language will be a big help to aid you in your goal to become Japanese. The language will explain many different cultural facts that you would never obtain.