To make matters worse, soon after arriving in Japan I found that several of my former classmates were surging ahead in leaps and bounds where kanji were concerned (and letting us all know it!). At the same time, the Japanese teacher and textbook kindly provided by my new employers seemed to rather dogmatically take for granted that I’d be fascinated above all by the writing system, which I wasn’t. The pressure was mounting, then, and I took what I probably rationalized as an “adult” course of action at the time: saying a definitive “sayonara” to formal Japanese study and the written language (linked by the feelings of inadequacy they both induced in me), I decided to drop out of the kanji race altogether, politely thanking my teacher for his trouble and saying I was unfortunately too busy to continue, and turning a “blind ear” when conversation among friends turned to the number of Chinese characters they’d memorized that particular week.

I was in a good position to “pick up” the spoken language, being surrounded by kind, helpful and largely non-English-speaking colleagues in the teachers’ staffroom, and I became quite adept at avoiding the necessity to read and write in daily life. But just how have I managed to remain illiterate for so long?

All over the country people are constantly cooking up new healthy delicious dishes.  Hundreds of gourmet treats come and go, some starting out as a local favorite and then take hold in the larger cities . Occasionally a food fad will last, or maybe the nation grows to love a local delicacy over a period of years.

When you live in Japan long term you discover that most of the food is tastey, healthy and not at all unusual.    You don’t even need to be a fan of mainstream Japanese cuisine to eat well in Japan. There are many delicacies that may strike you as extreme cuisine, and require the adventures type to try them.  If you remain open taste budded and eat them at every opportunity eventually  your palate will  attune to the full range of tastes and textures found in these food. Only then can you enjoy and experience  surely the world’s most diverse culinary culture.

In my ten years in Japan I would occassionally find myself staring at some bowl of cold muck  thinking, “I’m not sure I can eat this,”. I would remind myself that each dish is a survivor of a merciless process of food selection. If it is good enough for Japanese, then it is good enough for me. Some of the more unusually foods I have eaten include raw horse meat, baby wasps, whale, fish eyes and sea urchin.

Understanding Japanese takes a lot of time, patience and understanding. After several months of living in Japan I began to notice how reserved and introverted Japanese could be. I first thought I was just dealing with  a large number shy people, but I soon understood it was cultural  conditioning

Japanese rearly voice opinion and will often not offer one when asked. They don’t like to cause conflict and worry, even fear, the opinion of others. They live in fear of causing trouble to others.  This is because emphasis is less on individuality or individual rights, and more on society and the smooth functioning of the group.   In fact individuality puts people in danger in Japan. An example of this is bulling from school to the work place. The individual is defined in terms of the group and his or her position in it.

As most Westerns never can never be included fully into Japanese society we are not expected to understand this cultural phenomena. We are also fortunate that we don’t have live it. I often feel that Japanese cannot be their own person as they are not free to express their thoughts and feelings.  Also, there is so much social etiquette and protocol, that living in or for the moment is something rarely enjoyed.

Then there is the frustrating Japanese trait of modesty. Japanese use humble expressions when referring to themselves and never speak highly of their own abilities, achievements, credentials or possessions. If praised, it is considered impolite to accept the compliment. Etiquette requires that Japanese rebuff praise and downplay strengths, abilities and achievements. As a result Japanese come off sounding very negative and unhappy people to Westerns. The sad fact is…. most Japanese are unhappy.