At the beginning of this article, I would like to ask you a question: what do you imagine Japan to look like?
I think 10,000 people will have 10,000 answers.
For this reason, before going to Japan, I read a lot of sample essays on the Internet, and I also did enough strategies, what to watch movies, TV series, articles, documentaries, and a few novels about Japan.
So I thought I knew a lot about Japan, and I thought I could walk sideways in Japan, except that I wasn't very proficient in Japanese, but when I actually came to Japan, I realized that what I knew about Japan before might not match the real Japan, or it was a bit one-sided.
I can't say that this is the tip of the iceberg, but I can guarantee that what I am talking about below may be the real Japan in the eyes of ordinary people.
This is also the culture and life of ordinary Japanese people.
One: Stale Japanese cities
In the impression of many Chinese people, Japan is a developed country, so Japan should be full of flowers, high-rise buildings on the streets, and colorful cities at night, where people live a leisure and comfortable life.
But when you actually come to Japan, you will find that the real Japan may not be as perfect as you think, as long as you are not highly myopia, you will find that the high-rise buildings in Japan are not as tall as you imagined, and the appearance is not so flashy and shiny, but a little old.
Except for a few places, there is no difference between them and our second- and third-tier cities, even the so-called urban bustling areas, which are not as clean and tidy as you think, and do not eat fireworks, but are intertwined by various billboards and urban infrastructure.
But to tell the truth, although this environment may make many people dissatisfied, it will make some people feel that there may be a little bit of fireworks in the world.
Two: Backward Japan
In today's China, except in the more remote rural areas, young people may not be able to spend without their mobile phones, and many people have not used cash for several years, but in Japan the opposite is true.
In Japan, the use of cash is much higher than digital payment, and some people will say: That's because there are few counterfeit banknotes in Japan, but in my opinion, there is no company or financial system in Japan that is trustworthy enough for all the people.
Today's Japan also has payment methods similar to our WeChat and Alipay, but they are not popular, and the Japanese people, especially the older people, are still keen on cash consumption or credit cards.
Maybe that's safer for them.
Three: Clean Japanese Streets?
Before I went to Japan, I saw more on the Internet that the streets of Japan are very clean, the water in the toilet is drinkable, and even if you want to pick up a cigarette butt or a piece of waste paper on the road, it is very difficult, and the strange thing is that you can't see cleaners on the streets of Japan, but the streets of Japan are very clean, and all this stems from the self-discipline and quality of the Japanese.
But is that really the case?
To put it mildly, the streets in Japan do look relatively clean on the surface, but then again, the streets of our first- and second-tier cities are not dirty and messy, are they?
As for not even a cigarette butt and a piece of waste paper on the street, it is really an exaggeration.
Just as I said above, "the surface is clean", the main streets of Japan are indeed relatively clean, but the alleys behind the main roads are really no different from the alleys of any country in the world.
I really didn't see it.
Four: Japan under etiquette
I think that even for people who have never been to Japan, they are curious about the 90-degree bow in Japan, and I was prepared to be superior to the Japanese in the face of the 90-degree bow before I left.
But when I actually came to Japan, saw the legendary bowing ceremony, and learned about the Japanese bowing ceremony, I completely turned over my previous thoughts about superiority. Because you'll find that when you actually accept the so-called 90-degree bow in Japan, you won't feel flattered by such a ceremony.
How so?
In China, even when two people with different intentions shake hands, you can at least see each other's pretended smiling faces, but under the 90-degree bow in Japan, you will never feel any respect.
Because what you see is always the standard poker face with your head down, and the smile when you look up.
But you can't guess the vanity hidden behind this poker face.
It varies from person to person, and some people may think that the 90-degree bow is a kind of respect, a high-level etiquette, but at least I don't feel that way.
I know that if anyone can insist on seeing this, they will definitely contradict me
"Don't you know that words like thank you, sorry excuse me, and sorry are everywhere in Japan?"
I admit that such a statement is true, but I would like to ask the person who said such a thing a question
"Have you ever carefully observed the expressions on the faces of Japanese people when they say these words, and the indifference behind not making eye contact with you"?
To tell you the truth, I have observed, and I have carefully observed, all I can say is that these words are just words after their words, and not a single one of the ten thousand sentences is from the heart.
And that's what the Japanese are all about.
Five: Developed Japan
Just as I mentioned at the beginning of my article that Japan is a developed country, to tell the truth, Japan is really not exaggerated in terms of per capita income.
Taking this year as an example, although Japan's economic benefits are not good this year, the average annual salary in Japan still reaches 4.58 million yen, equivalent to 227,000 yuan.
I know some people will say that your algorithm is unscientific, just like adding the height of basketball Yao and Xiao Pin Pan and averaging it, then Xiao Pin Pan will also become a big tall person.
So let's take the example of the sanitation workers we often see sweeping the streets.
According to Japan's statistics in the second half of the year, the annual salary of sanitation workers and cleaners in Japan in 2023 will be between 2.2 million ~ 3.4 million yen, which is equivalent to about 110,000 ~ 160,000 yuan.
In addition, Japan's labor system is relatively perfect, and there is a bonus system and many vacations, so from this point of view, Japan is indeed a developed country, and on the other hand, our domestic sanitation workers, a month of two or three thousand, three or four thousand, we still need to work hard in this regard!
This is probably why some Chinese proudly said some time ago why she chose to be a nurse in Japan, but was unwilling to return to China to become a nurse, right?
Six: Japan's high consumption and low consumption
Of course, there are two sides to everything, and although Japan's per capita income is relatively high, Japan's prices are indeed not low.
During my time in Japan, I went to five cities namely Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Sapporo, and the average price of my hotel was between 2~30,000 yen per night, which is equivalent to 1000~1500 yuan.
The price of a meal is between 3,000~5,000 yen, which is equivalent to 150~250 yuan, but this varies depending on the person's consumption.
If you think I'm a "high consumer", then I'm really wrong, I'll take the grilled fish that can be seen everywhere in Japan as an example, the price of a ubiquitous grilled fish in Japan is between 2000~5000 yen, that is, between 100~250 yuan, and then simply add a little sake and other auxiliary ingredients, this price can not be stopped.
You must know that this is still the price on the streets, if you go to some high-end restaurants, the variety of fish is different, then the price will increase by four or five times, it is not a new thing.
Of course, compared with the high consumption of prices, Japan's housing prices seem to be more conscientious, so let me tell you, more than 90% of young people in China, if they want to buy a house of their own in a first- or second-tier city, then they have to spend all the savings of their grandparents and grandchildren to barely be able to do it, of course, except for the aborigines, even if they buy a house in a fourth- or fifth-tier city, if they do not have the full support of their parents, they can buy a house with their own income alone.
However, in Japan, except for a few first-tier cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, as long as young people have a job, it is not too difficult to buy a house.
According to the statistics of housing prices in Japan in 2023, the price of houses in Japan's third- and fourth-tier cities is about 18~250,000 yen per square meter, which is equivalent to 9,000~12,000 yuan.
Comparing the income of Japanese people with our income, do you still think that such housing prices are high? In addition, Japanese houses are generally relatively small, so even if you rely on your personal income, you will not be able to have a house of your own in a few years.
And you should know that in Japan, the mortgage interest rate for buying your first home is very low, only between 0.5~1.5. Some people may have no idea about this number, so let me take another example to illustrate
If you buy a house in Japan and you take out a loan of 1 million yuan and the loan term is 30 years, then you will probably have to repay the interest of 250,000 yuan, but in our country, if you buy a house for the same area and take out a loan of 1 million yuan for the same loan term of 30 years, then you will probably have to repay more than 700,000 yuan of interest.
But what makes me wonder is that except for the first and second-tier cities, as long as the Japanese work hard, they can buy a house of their own, but the Japanese are not willing to buy a house, but they like to rent a house, and they prefer to buy a house to save money to eat, drink, entertainment, travel, in short, do anything, just don't want to buy a house, so although Japan is a developed country, but today more than one-third of the people in Japan are still renting a house, and a large number of them even live in a rented house all their lives.
Seven: Japanese cuisine
Some people may see this subtitle, either they have directly declined, or they have already laughed and fallen on the table, because in many people's impressions, Japan is a food desert compared to our country, in addition to grilled fish, sushi, and sashimi, they are embarrassed to talk about food?
In fact, to be fair and just: Japan is also delicious, although it cannot be compared with our eight major cuisines Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Hui, Suzhou, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Hunan, but there are also many Japanese cuisines, such as Japan's more famous and representative: tempura, Japanese omelet rice, eel rice, Japanese confectionery, Okonomiyaki and sushi are still good, especially all kinds of barbecue I still like, but Japanese sake is a little bland and tasteless, if it is paired with our country's two-pot head is still very good.
For a country like Japan, which is surrounded by the sea and not rich in resources, it would be nice to be able to make these delicacies, but what more bicycles do you need?
As for Japanese seafood, I don't recommend it, and I didn't dare to eat it, so I think everyone understands why, right?
Eight: The spirit of Japanese craftsmanship
Personally, I have a say in the spirit of craftsmanship in Japan, because the purpose of my trip is precisely this, and after the inspection, two questions arose in my mind
1: I don't know where the Japanese craftsmanship originated.
2: Who touted the spirit of craftsmanship in Japan?
If you want me to say that the so-called craftsmanship spirit in Japan is just the product of high fines for counterfeiting, in the words of the Japanese
"It's not a big deal to have a few rat holes in the 100-meter embankment, what we have to do is to press the embankment strongly, at least it looks strong and beautiful, because as long as the embankment is broken, there will always be a day of breakage."
Nine: The attitude of the Japanese towards China
In fact, when I talked about this topic, I felt very uncomfortable, because the vast majority of Japanese people looked down on Chinese from the bottom of their hearts, and I was not deliberately inciting patriotic feelings, but this is a fact.
Do you know how Japanese school teachers teach their students and tell the history of the two countries?
Their teachers will tell their students that their predecessors came to China more than 100 years ago, not to plunder our supplies, let alone to engage in aggression, but to save the Chinese people who are living in misery.
But to their seniors' sadness, instead of thanking them, the Chinese who were rescued by them betrayed them and wanted to kill them, so their seniors were forced to fight back in self-defense.
Therefore, the Sino-Japanese war that went away was a just war, a war of redemption and betrayal, and China's current development is inseparable from their fearless salvation, and it was they who redeemed China.
The Chinese are synonymous with treachery, so many Japanese people are smiling on the surface when facing Chinese tourists who come to Japan, but they look down on the Chinese in their hearts, because they always feel that they saved us and have today's development, but we once betrayed them and now don't know how to thank them, so they will feel superior to us in their hearts,
10: Japan worth learning Xi
What makes me feel that what is worth Xi learning from during this trip to Japan is not Japan's technology, manufacturing and craftsmanship, but Japan's attitude towards vigorously developing rural areas.
As long as you have been to the rural areas of Japan, you will find that although Japan is a developed country and a country with a shortage of land, Japan has not carried out measures such as merging villages and towns in our country, gathering peasants together, or encouraging peasants to move to cities.
In contrast, Japan encourages farmers to stay in the countryside.
Therefore, when you come to the rural areas of Japan, you will find that the farmers and the elderly living in Japan are generally very comfortable.
In order to make these peasants live without worry, Japan invests a lot in rural infrastructure every year, whether it is roads in and out of the villages, or various water conservancy and power facilities.
In order to keep farmers in the countryside, Japan encourages farmers to start their own businesses at home, and at the same time gives great subsidies to enterprises that come to the countryside to invest and build factories.
In addition, a series of infrastructure such as schools, factories, hospitals, buses, and convenience stores have been built in rural areas, so that farmers can solve all problems at their doorsteps, thereby alleviating farmers' worries, thereby maximizing the use of land and relieving the pressure of personnel concentration.
Although I don't like Japan as a country, I personally think that this operation in Japan is really worth learning Xi.
This may be leaving the roots.
Think about it again, if we don't break the silver for the sake of two or two, and reduce the starting distance with the children in the city as much as possible for the sake of the children, who would want to leave their hometown and bear the pressure that cannot be escaped?
Eleven: The Lesion of Japan
If Japan before World War II thought of itself as a coyote that would never admit defeat, today Japan is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
You don't need to do too much research, as long as you look carefully enough, you will find that today's Japan is really very scary, they like different cultures, they like to go to extremes, they prefer darkness.
According to the statistics of the Japan Broadcasting Association, 2~3 out of every 10 people in Japan have the following psychological problems.
Likes cross-dressing, voyeurism, depression, violence...... Even like to be abused, you must know that there was once a film that abused and killed small animals to decompress, and the cumulative number of views in Japan reached an astonishing 70 million, and you must know that there are only 125 million people in Japan, isn't this comparison terrible?
In Japan, the number of people with such mental health is growing rapidly every year, especially the middle-aged people.
As the old saying goes: a wolf is not terrible, but a diseased wolf is, and Japan is sick, and it is getting faster and faster, so fast that it is out of control.
And the funny thing is that some of our Chinese people still regard this as a trend.
We often say that Japan is a small country, but don't forget, it is such a small country that has invaded us 18 times from ancient times to the present, especially the war half a century ago, which almost destroyed the inheritance of China.
Lao Tzu once said: Whether it is a person or a country, not only to let yourself learn to be prepared for danger in times of peace, but also to learn to be right, the opponent knows oneself and knows the other, only in this way will you always be prosperous and peaceful.
For example, as our country grows stronger and more prosperous, we should keep our eyes open, distinguish between black and white, and not let the enemy take advantage of it, I believe that with the joint efforts of hundreds of millions of Chinese enthusiasts, our country will inevitably become more prosperous.
Are you looking forward to it?
I am under the wind and rain: carry and plagiarize without permission, and be investigated according to law!