If you travel south from Japan’s main island of Honshu (ほんしゅう, 本州), past Kyushu (きゅしゅう, 九州), along the chain of numerous small islands making up Okinawa Prefecture (おきなわけん, 沖縄県), eventually you will reach what can fairly be described as the end of Japan, Yaeyama Shotou (やえやましょとう, 八重山諸島). Here, 2,000 km away from Tokyo, 400 km from the relative hustle and bustle of Naha, Okinawa’s main city, lie a group of islands where I was fortunate enough to spend a three-month stint in the spring of last year. Think empty beaches, abundant coral and underwater scenery, laidback towns and villages, and a fusion of Japanese and Chinese cuisine and architecture, as well as the unique Ryukyu culture, traditions, and approach to life.

The Islands of Yaeyama

The main island is Ishigakijima (いしがきじま, 石垣島), home to a population of around 50,000, most of them resident in the town at the south of the island. Of similar size, but sparsely populated and covered with thick forest, mangrove swamps, and spectacular coastline, is Iriomote (いりおもて, 西表). Other islands worth visiting if you take a trip to Yaeyama are Taketomi (たけとみ, 武富), with its stone walls and traditional Ryukyuan village, Hateruma (はてるま, 波照間), the most southerly inhabited Japanese island, and Yonaguni (よなぐに, 与那国), with its mysterious underwater ruins.

New Words Learned

My time living on Ishigakijima and traveling to the other islands of the archipelago provided me with a lot of exposure to new words that I would definitely not otherwise have come across. Indeed, what opportunities might a Tokyo resident have to learn of onihitode (invasive crown-of-thorns starfish that is destroying the reefs of Okinawa; おにひとで, 鬼海星), habu (Okinawan pit viper; はぶ, 波布), habukurage (a poisonous jellyfish; はぶくらげ), same (shark; さめ, 鮫), or yamaneko (species of wildcat endemic to Iriomote; やまねこ, 山猫), or terms for delicacies like umibudou (grape-like seaweed; うみぶどう, 海葡萄), soki-soba (an Okinawan noodle dish; ソーキそば), or awanami (rice-based alcohol exclusive to Hateruma; あわなみ, 泡波). Without question, any time spent in Japan outside of one’s big-city comfort zone will require new behaviors to be adopted and new vocabulary to be learned, especially as the number of English speakers is reduced as you get into the countryside.

The Japanese are renowned for their humility. From the present Japanese prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, declaring himself to be a fairly unremarkable fish (specifically, a loach rather than a goldfish) upon assuming his current position, to various phrases by which one can humble oneself or exalt one’s conversational partner in the Japanese language, modesty (false or not) is a key virtue in Japan. As such, an understanding of how this emphasis on acting modestly plays out in Japanese social relations is valuable for any foreigners in the country, especially for those trying to use Japanese on a regular basis.

Japanese Humility

Many a fresh-faced gaijin, recently off the plane at Narita, will note the level to which they seem to be appreciated by the natives. Whether it is one’s proficiency with chopsticks, one’s ability to pronounce “Konnichiwa” almost correctly, one’s height, or one’s blond hair that is being lauded, it can seem as though one can do no wrong in those first few months. However, inherent in these interactions is a basic misunderstanding by the gaijin of the dynamics of conversations with Japanese people upon meeting for the first time. [Of course, this does not apply to conversations in which there is a clear and accepted difference in status from the outset, such as between a new recruit and his/her mentor within a company, namely, the senpai-kouhai (せんぱい, 先輩; こうはい, 後輩) relationship.]

In the West, a conversation between two people, newly acquainted, will often involve some jostling for status, wherein one tries to emphasize one’s own good points or achievements. However, in Japan, showing humility is so important that this conversational structure is inverted. Instead, it is the other’s talents or graces that should be highlighted, that is, self-effacement or obsequiousness is the key to the game. Although those unfamiliar with this kind of approach might consider that one person is simply denigrating themselves to the advantage of the other, after a few such encounters, one starts to understand how completely disempowering it can be, especially when, for example, the chief executive of one’s own company, a former professor, 40 years one’s senior, fluent in both English and Japanese, starts to use it.

Proverbs about Humility

In fact, the Japanese have some well-known proverbs (kotowaza, ことわざ, 諺) that, if not actively encouraging people to belittle themselves, certainly suggest the benefits of knowing one’s place. These include “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” (でるくぎはうたれる, 出る釘は打たれる) and “The more an ear of rice grows, the deeper it should bow” (みのるほどこうべをたれるいなほかな, 実るほど頭を垂れる稲穂かな).

Time for an introduction to the kanji used to write the names of Japanese cities. These kanji range from the common to the obscure, but knowing them can be vital both to making your way around the country and for understanding even rudimentary Japanese texts. They can also provide some insight into the history of the country and the characteristics of the various cities.

Tokyo

The obvious place to start is Tokyo (東京). These two kanji mean “eastern” and “capital”, which suggests that Japan’s (and the world’s?) ultimate metropolis hasn’t always been the seat of power in the country. This is true, and before becoming the capital in 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo (江戸). The kanji that form the word Edo mean “bay” and “entrance”, which reflects the city’s location at the far northern end of Tokyo Bay (とうきょうわん; 東京湾), providing protection against both whatever the sea might throw at the city and access to a trading route that was vital for the city’s growth.

Kyoto

Prior to the move in 1868, the old capital was of course Kyoto (京都), the kanji for which indicate that it was the “capital city”. Although the history behind this move is best left for another article, the kanji deserve a closer look. The ‘to’ (都) kanji is actually also used alongside “Tokyo” to refer to the prefecture of Greater Tokyo (東京都). This ‘to’ kanji (都) is only used in this way for Greater Tokyo, though; a kanji read as ‘fu’ is instead used for Greater Osaka (大阪府) and Greater Kyoto (京都府). The other reading of ‘to’ (都) is ‘miyako’, also individually meaning metropolis or capital. In addition, the ‘kyou’ kanji (京) in these capitals of Japan can also be found elsewhere in Asia, such as in the Chinese and Japanese words for Beijing (北京; northern capital).

Osaka

Other important kanji to learn include those for the second city of Japan, Osaka (大阪), which is written using characters representing “large” and “slope/hill”, Nagoya (名古屋), written with the kanji for “name”, “old”, and “house”, Sapporo (札幌), written with the kanji for “note” and “covering”, but derived from the indigenous Ainu language of Hokkaido, and Yokohama (横浜), the kanji for which refer to its location further around the coast of Tokyo Bay from Tokyo.　

With the exception of any self-sufficient gaijin farmers out there, your continuing survival in Japan will probably depend on your ability to navigate the Japanese high street.

What might you expect to find there?

The most relevant readings for the two main kanji referring to types of shop are “ya” (屋) and “ten” (店). So, for example, on the Japanese high street, there are grocers (yaoya, やおや, 八百屋), bike shops (jitenshaya, じてんしゃや, 自転車屋), and chemists (kusuriya, くすりや, 薬屋), as well as bookshops (shoten, しょてん, 書店), coffee shops (kissaten, きっさてん, 喫茶店), and booze shops (saketen, さけてん, 酒店).

Of course, the exact composition of your local high street will depend a lot on exactly where you are. If you are close to a station, you can expect lots of estate agents (fudosama, ふどうさま, 不動様) and probably a major department store (depaato, デパート), with uniformed elevator girls, extremely polite and low-bowing clerks (tenin, てんいん, 店員), and extremely high prices. Alternatively, if you are in an old-town (shitamachi, したまち, 下町) part of Tokyo or Osaka, for example, you may encounter an old-style shoutengai (しょうてんがい, 商店街), that is, a Japanese shopping street, often under cover, with a predominance of pub-like izakaya (いざかや, 居酒屋) or noodle shops, as well as pachinko parlors (Japanese pinball; パチンコ) or small family-run stores. Good examples of shoutengai include the 2.6-km-long Tenjinbashisuji ((天神橋筋商店街) in Osaka and the main street in Shibamata, Tokyo.

Another particularly Japanese feature of shopping areas is the extreme concentration of a certain type of shop within one small area. The most well known are electronic/video game districts like Akihabara (秋葉原) in Tokyo and DenDen Town (でんでんタウン) in Osaka, although there are similar areas for, among others, musical instruments (Ochanomizu Gakki-Tengai in Tokyo, 御茶ノ水楽器店街), kitchen equipment (Sennichimae Doguyasuji in Osaka, 千日前道具屋筋), and even dolls and fireworks (Matsuyamachi-suji in Osaka, 松屋町筋).

Any shopping experience in Japan is likely to differ markedly from its equivalent in the West, involving products and etiquette with which you may be completely unfamiliar. The only approach is to dive in, keep your eyes and ears open, and learn by trial and error.

With spring finally emerging in Japan, it seems like a reasonable time for a brief article on the seasons (kisetsu, きせつ, 季節) in this country. The four seasons of Japan are a source of pride for the Japanese people, who consider themselves finely attuned to the different times of the year and their effects on the Japanese landscape. [As an aside, the term shunkashuutou (しゅんかしゅうとう, 春夏秋冬) can be used to refer collectively to the four seasons in Japanese, and remembering this term will give you access to the four onyomi readings of the kanji characters for the seasons.]

This sensitivity to the seasons is of course exemplified by the cherry blossom viewing (hanami, はなみ, 花見) period, occurring at around this time of year depending on your latitude, and accompanied by breathless reports as part of the TV weather forecasts of how far north the front of blooming cherry trees (sakurazensen, さくらぜんせん, 桜前線) has reached. It is also reflected in kisetsuryouri (きせつりょうり, 季節料理), that is, Japanese dishes specific to certain times of the year, and the seasonality of fruit and vegetables available in Japanese stores, which far surpasses the fairly monotone selection typically available in the West.

Viewing of the kouyou (こうよう, 紅葉), brightly colored autumn leaves, is another seasonal event, where the effects of the progression of the year on the natural world are appreciated and, of course, captured forever in numerous photographs. Other specific ceremonies and traditions are also linked with the passing of the seasons, such as the spring (shunbun no hi, しゅんぶんのひ, 春分の日) and autumn equinoxes (shuubun no hi, しゅうぶんのひ, 秋分の日), at which times it is customary to visit the graves of one’s ancestors, as well as setsubun (せつぶん, 節分), to celebrate the start of spring.

In fact, the four seasons, in chronological order, of haru (はる, 春), natsu (なつ, 夏), aki (あき, 秋), and fuyu (ふゆ, 冬), could be considered to be joined by at least a fifth, tsuyu (つゆ, 梅雨), the rainy season that hits in early summer. Overall, Japan certainly isn’t lacking in climatic variation, even though many other places do have four seasons, too.

One feature of Japanese life that may be immediately noticeable to visitors or residents from the West is the premium on space. In the home, while commuting, at work, and in one’s free time, spatial constraints are readily apparent, and the Japanese ways of overcoming or reconciling themselves with these constraints are interesting and provide some insight into the Japanese psyche.

In the home

The high population density in Japan’s major cities has led to some of the highest office rental costs in the world. This is also reflected in rent for living spaces, with few homes being particularly expansive. To cope with this, certain Japanese traditional approaches are employed to good effect. For example, the use of a futon (ふとん, 布団), which can be rolled up at the start of each day, enables the living space to be utilized efficiently. Furthermore, Japanese rooms (washitsu, わしつ, 和室) often have sliding doors or windows (shouji, しょうじ, 障子, or fusuma, ふすま, 襖), rather than ones that require more space to open forwards or backwards.
Other space-saving features include toilets with an in-built sink on top, from which the water subsequently flows into the tank for the next flush, and half-sized bathtubs that can fit in the smallest of bathrooms. Japanese homes are full of features that make the best use of space.

Commute

The lack of space in Japan may be best known overseas by the situation on the trains during rush hour (tsuukin-rasshu, つうきんラッシュ, 通勤ラッシュ). Trains can be overflowing with people, with ‘pushing staff’ (oshiya, おしや, 押し屋) employed to ensure that everyone gets on and that the doors can close on the busiest lines. Commuting by car would also be extremely time-consuming were it not for the elevated highways of the Shuto and Hanshin Expressways in Tokyo and Osaka, which weave through the cities tens of meters above ground level.

On the city or country scale

A lack of space can also be appreciated when considering the layout of cities or the whole country. While Japan’s population density is up to ten times that of the US or Europe, this is compounded by the fact that only 4% of the land is residential, owing to the mountainous nature of much of the terrain. In cities, there is severely limited greenery, with ten times more parkland per inhabitant in major European and American cities than in their Japanese equivalents. This can partly explain the Japanese enthusiasm for small, ornate gardens, as well as weekend trips out of the cities, with the area around Mount Fuji and the Shonan coast, as well as towns like Hakone and Nikko, for example, being besieged by Tokyoites seeking to escape the urban sprawl for much of the year.

The use of word processing software to construct digital texts rather than hand-written ones can help your progress towards Japanese language proficiency. Of course, there is much to be said for writing Japanese by hand; having a good knowledge of the stroke order required to write kanji is not only necessary for writing in many tasks in daily life in Japan, but is also helpful for reading texts quickly and differentiating between similar characters. Indeed, many Japanese lament the deterioration of their ability to write some of the more obscure kanji that has resulted from increased use of computers and mobile phones for text creation. However, for non-native Japanese learners, choosing to write on a computer rather than by hand, at least some of the time, can have some benefits.

Note:The Japanese keyboard has a JIS mechanical input, which is set by the Japanese Industrial Standards.

Benefits

The clearest advantage of word processing in Japanese is the appearance of a small dropdown menu displaying the possible kanji that correspond to the hiragana that you have just written. This means that on occasions where you know the hiragana spelling or pronunciation of a term, but cannot quite remember the kanji, you can quickly be reminded by the dropdown menu. Reinforcing your association between words and kanji characters, it can also be a tool for ironing out your spelling mistakes, particularly in the cases where your knowledge of the pronunciation of a word may still leave some ambiguity in your mind in terms of its actual spelling, such as whether a long or short vowel or a single or double consonant is required.

Take the example of the word “Tokyo”. When writing by hand, you could write the hiragana incorrectly as “ときょ/ときょう/とうきょ” and be none the wiser. Alternatively, you could know and write the kanji by hand while still believing one of the three incorrect options above is correct. In contrast, conversion of these three pieces of hiragana in digital form using the dropdown menu would leave you with something like と居, と今日, or 問う居, which should immediately raise a flag that the inputted spelling was not correct. This becomes increasingly important as your vocabulary grows and the number of words with similar spellings/pronunciations that you use in your writing increases. The dropdown menu can also introduce you to new kanji for words that you already can spell using hiragana, pronounce, and know the meaning of.

December and the start of January are interesting times to be in Japan. Although winter may not be considered a prime time for visitors to come to these shores, there is much to be said for the atmosphere at this time of year, with people slowing down and reflecting on the past year (not to mention the great skiing/snowboarding options!).

One notable feature of this time of year for those employed in Japan is the year-end party (bounenkai, ぼうねんかい, 忘年会; “gathering to forget the year”). Here, colleagues from specific workplaces gather together to reminisce on the year past and often drink quite a lot of alcohol (to aid the forgetting, of course). This usually takes place in the run up to Christmas, a festival that is celebrated somewhat differently from that elsewhere.

I’m dreaming of a howaito kurisumasu…

There are around one million Japanese who follow the Christian religion (kuristo-kyou, ク リストきょう, クリスト教), particularly on the southern island of Kyushu and among the Japan-based community with Korean roots. However, Christmas as an annual event is embraced by the majority here, with an emphasis on commerce and gift-giving similar to that in other countries. Much money is also spent on Christmas lighting and trees in public places, with the displays such as that in Roppongi, Tokyo, on a level with those anywhere in the “Christian world” in terms of breathtaking sparkle. One Christmas-related contrast that foreign residents may note is that this time of year is not so much focused on gathering with one’s family, but instead is about couples getting together to have a romantic meal or evening together.

A Relaxing New Year

New Year (shougatsu, しょうがつ, 正月) is when families really get together and spend a few days enjoying each other’s company without having to worry about work, school, or other pressures. The large cities in Japan become strangely quiet for a few days, owing to both many shops and offices being closed for a few days around the official national holiday (shukujitsu, しゅくじつ, 祝日) of New Year’s Day (ganjitsu, がんじつ, 元日), and many people returning to their hometowns to visit family. However, a lot of work and effort often go into the preparation for this period.

In strong contrast to Japan’s Christmas celebrations, New Year for the Japanese is often very ritualized and traditional. Activities include the first visit of the new year to a temple or shrine (hatsumode, はつもうで, 初詣), especially to hear the bells toll at midnight of New Year’s Eve. Popular shrines, such as Meiji Jinguu (明治神宮) in Tokyo, are especially crowded during this period. In addition, a range of food specific for this time of year is also consumed (osechi-ryouri, おせちりょうり, 御節料理). Another interesting tradition is the sending of New Year’s postcards (nengajou, ねんがじょう, 年賀状) to friends and family, which have a complex set of rules and customs related to the design, content, and who and when to send them. Overall, it is a fascinating time for those in interested in Japan to witness the Japanese at their most introspective (or even spiritual) and relaxed.

You should by now know that Japan is composed of four main islands, Honshu (本州), Shikoku (四国), Kyushu (九州), and Hokkaido (北海道), as well as countless thousands of other smaller ones. The kanji for island (島) can be read as shima/jima (しま/じま) or tou (とう), but care should be taken not to confuse it with the kanji for bird (鳥 – consider the ‘feathers’ beneath this symbol as a useful way to distinguish them). As with any kanji, a good way to establish a solid base for remembering and using it is to remember its uses in combination with other kanji, such as in the words for ‘peninsula’ (hantou, はんとう, 半島; kanji for half and island), ‘archipelago’ (rettou, れっとう, 列島; line and island), ‘islander’ (toumin, とうみん, 島民; island and people), ‘treasure island’ (takarajima, たからじま, 宝島), and ‘island nation’ (i.e. Japan, shimaguni, しまぐに, 島国; island and country).

Dogashima Islands, Izu, Japan

Diversity of Islands

Japan’s volcanic history has produced the majority of these islands, although not all of them. Artificial islands form the bases for airports in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, and Nagoya, as well as the popular tourist destinations of Odaiba (お台場) in Tokyo and Rokko Island (六甲アイランド) in Kobe.

In fact, Japanese islands exhibit incredible diversity: They include an island devoted to art (Naoshima 直島), an ex-island whose shima status was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1914 (Sakurajima, 桜島), an island still acting as a leper colony Ooshima, 大島), an ancient-forested island and World Heritage Site with thousand-year-old cedars Yakushima, 屋久島), a subtropical island with a population of less than ten (Aragusukujima, 新城島), and an island used for banishing Japanese from the mainland for a millennium (Sado, 佐渡島).

Even within the jurisdiction of Tokyo, besides the islands in Tokyo Bay linked by road and train links, there are the Izu Islands (伊豆諸島), many of which are great options for a weekend trip, and the subtropical Ogasawara Islands (小笠原群島), a 24-hour ferry ride away. Additionally, some of the islands around Japan are the source of tensions with neighboring countries as disputed territories, such as Takeshima (竹島; with South Korea), the Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島; with China and Taiwan), and the now Russian-controlled Kuril Islands.

Summary

The island mentality (しまぐにこんじょう, 島国根性) is an important part of being Japanese, and any visit to the country, anytime between spring and fall, should include a boat trip away from the mainland. There are many more Japans to be explored beyond the four main islands.

You might think that the topic of convenience stores in Japan (konbini, コンビニ) would not be that interesting to foreigners with some association with the country or its culture. After all, there are convenience stores all over the world, and some of the largest Japanese chains, such Seven-Eleven and Lawson, have their origins in America (albeit now Japanese-owned), although there are wholly Japanese alternatives such as Family Mart, Sunkus, and Ministop. However, after spending any length of time in the country, you may find yourself developing a growing dependence on their services and products, and these convenience stores have a number of differences from those you might be used to back home and offer a uniquely Japanese experience.

Service-oriented

It seems that you cannot walk more than 100 meters in any direction in a Japanese city without coming across a convenience store (although they strangely seem to disappear when you really need one). Statistics show that there is approximately one for every 3,000 people in the country, and given the population density of the larger Japanese cities, the 100-meter figure above may not be far from the truth. They are almost all open 24 hours a day and you can be guaranteed of good service upon a visit.

Besides the typical range of products of drinks, alcohol (no limits in terms of purchase times), and snacks, there are a wide range of Japanese-language publications including manga (まんが, 漫画) comics, which you can stand and read all day without a complaint from a shop assistant (tenin, てにん, 店員). There are also various meals that you can have heated in a microwave, and even items such as socks, shirts, or ties, just in case you do not have time to return home before starting work after an extended nomikai (drinking party; のみかい, 飲み会) or after working overtime (zangyou, ざんぎょう, 残業). There is also often an ATM machine, which is very useful given that those at banks (ginkou, ぎんこう, 銀行) and post offices (yuubinkyoku, ゆうびんきょく, 郵便局) generally close early in the evening. Other useful services include being able to pay your utility bills, being able to order concert tickets or pay for books that you previously ordered on Amazon.co.jp, and being able to send and receive parcels.

Useful phrases

You will be greeted with irrashaimase (welcome; いっらしゃいませ) upon entering a konbini, in the same way as in a bar, but will not be expected to respond to this. Upon buying a boxed meal, a staff member will ask you whether you want it to be heated in a microwave in order to eat it immediately: お弁当を温めますか (obentou wo atatamemasu ka), to which you can reply はい。お願いします (hai, onegai shimasu) or いいえ。結構です (iie, kekkou desu). Other possibilities include ２番目でお待ちのお客様、こちらのレジでお伺い致します (nibanme de omachi no okyakusama, kochira no reji o ukagai itashimasu; will the next customer come to this counter). Finally, in order to facilitate your consumption of whatever products you have purchased, you will be asked if you wish for chopsticks, a straw, or a spoon: おはし/ストロー/スプーンをご利用ですか (ohashi/sutoro/supoon o goryou desu ka).