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I studied in Tokyo from 2010 to 2014 and noticed a lot of cultural differences between Japan and my country so to deal with my culture shock, I started creating comic strips about them. I hope my comics will help more foreigners like myself understand Japan and the Japanese people better, as well as increase awareness about some changes in behavior we might have to make when we visit. These comic strips were selected from a collection of over 300 that I created between 2012 and 2015 and posted on my Facebook page. I also compiled these illustrations into two books: "Eva, Kopi and Matcha" and "Eva, Kopi and Matcha 2.0" which are available on Amazon and other eBook platforms (Kindle, iBooks, Google Books, Kobo).

More info: amazon.com | Instagram | Facebook

#3

Eating Noodles

Eating Noodles

Slurping noodles to eat in Japan is perfectly fine and it is said that they will taste better too.

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#5

Picking Up Your Own (And Others) Trash

Picking Up Your Own (And Others) Trash

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#6

Baths

Baths

Japanese enjoy taking hot baths too, especially hot spring baths. (monkeys are there for humor, you won't get to dip with any, sorry!)

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#8

Toilets

Toilets

The toilets are always wet in Malaysia and there's always no toilet papers.

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#9

Fruits

Fruits

Anybody bought the expensive Japanese fruits before? Like the melon or the insanely priced grapes...

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kristynlnu avatar
K. LNU
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was stationed in Japan, it was explained to me that Japan is an island with limited resources. Much of the produce and meats are brought from other countries; or grown specially for the market (like the square watermelons) ... thus the high cost of some foods!

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kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to think that to until I saw that most of the fruits here are from the northern regions of Japan. Cheap fruits are usually from South America.

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nanashi
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

don't forget the ridiculous single packaging of a fruit. Japan is great in many aspects, but they do tend to generate unnecessary waste a lot too.

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KATHERINE LEEBRICK
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They were peppers though, if they were a smaller type of produce 10 for $5 would be expensive.

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kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I bought many expensive fruits and compared to cheaper ones. I always preferred the cheaper ones. The worst was grape, the expensive one having no taste. I even went to a cherry harvest bus tour and the host was explaining how a group of tree are of the expensive species and how another group was for cheaper. Groups of people were all crowded to gather and eat the expensive cherries so I went to the cheap version after tasting a few expensive cherries. I enjoyed the cheaper better and 10 min before going back to our bus, people came to try the cheap cherries to compare and they regretted spending so much time on the other trees. All that to say the price is not always a good indicator.

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Mimon Nelson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes the prices are ridiculous, but in japan i've never ever had a sour strawberry; they're all perfectly sweet!

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Lala_nene
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Japan has huge food waste every year. Many farm products are thrown away. It is so stupid. The food self-sufficiency ratio in Japan is very low.

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Firman Pane
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Before you commented about price. Try search about fruit in japan. In japan, they preferred quality than quantity. Red mango itself it so expensive... because when in tree having little fruit about 1-5 cm, they cut it out all fruit and they choose only 1 &2 fruit just for 1 tree. That's why the taste is so good. For cubic watermelon is art, and it doesn't taste good at all. They not made to consume. Normal watermelon is cheap in japan. Seriously guys...try research first before commented or if you in japan try buying it. I try one of expensive melon, it taste ten times better than cheap melon. Its all about quality.

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Peter the Finn
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those expensive fruits are meant to be given for gifts during the gift-giving season (summer and new year), not for own consumption. Only an idiot would buy a 150 dollar melon and eat it.

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Ueda
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The huge difference is that in Japan, fruits are usually very tasty and of very good quality. Not the case in many other countries...

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O.M.Miki
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Japan the grapes are expensive because they really take the time to watch over them. same for the melon, peaches, cherries and cantaloupe . they groom each cantaloupe and watermelon one by one - so they come out perfect and are usually meant to be gifted as presents. The square watermelon is not for eating.

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Daphne
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But $5 bucks for 10 fruits seems a bit pricey, though.... Not gonna think about it!

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Shiba Inu
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The watermelon in Japan is square because they farm them by keeping them in a container of any shape they want the watermelon to be of

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Mavis Garland
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You should check the prices in Nunavit, or Iqualivit....where food is flown in...

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Philip Gregory
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those fruits are not any better than any average fruit. It's been proven. The only difference is the price tag. An example of Japanese people being stupid and obsessed with expensive things.

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Fong Fong
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

one thing I was shocked was how much packaging they use over there

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Fong Fong
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One thing I was shocked about was how much packaging the Japanese people use

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Kiyomi Calwell
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you go to agricultural area, fruits can be much cheaper. My parents place often has a box of strawberry (A3 size and 10cm depths) for 1000-1500yen which $10-15. Not all in same size but still taste good.

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Linda Isacsson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There is a reason why they are so expensive, watch Simon and Martina on youtube formerly known as eat your kimchi on youtube xD They try them and compare with regular fruit.

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Nicole Antoku
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fruit and veggies are definitely pricier in Japan than they are in my home country (Sweden), HOWEVER, the quality in Japan is so much higher. I always eat more fruits and veggies in Japan than in Sweden because the taste is so much more delicious there. It’s worth the price, in my opinion.

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Peter the Finn
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those expensive fruits are meant to be given as gifts during the gift-giving season (summer and new year), not for own consumption. Only an idiot would buy a 150 dollar melon and eat it too.

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Glynis Lailann
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember being warned of the horrendous prices of fresh produce before my trip to Japan which I took with a pinch of salt. It made me ever so grateful when i got home to South Africa.

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Glynis Lailann
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i remember being warned of the horrendous prices of fresh produce before my trip to Japan which I took with a pinch of salt. The realisation made me ever so grateful when I got home.

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Sunzilla
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Do watermelons really need to be square? Isn't that the fruit equivalent of veal?

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JessG
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um, shaping a melon to grow a square shape in order to make them easier to transport and package is in no way the equivalent of slaughtering a baby animal in order to have more tender meat.

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#10

The Last Stop

The Last Stop

If you fall deep asleep on the bus in the US, it may be your last stop...

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#11

Vending Machines

Vending Machines

There are vending machines almost everywhere, even at places where life-forms doesn't seem to exist.

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kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's what I noticed the first time I came to Japan. I was walking on a street between empty field and there you had a vending machine in the middle of nowhere, nothing else.

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#12

Celebrating Christmas

Celebrating Christmas

Strangely Japanese celebrates Christmas not with turkey and ham, but with KFC...

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D. Pitbull
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh. OH!!!! Maybe this explains my mother-in-law!! We kept insisting "Do you not want something... more? We will get you any---" - "No. KFC." .. okaaay...

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#14

Clean And State-Of-The-Art Japanese Toilets

Clean And State-Of-The-Art Japanese Toilets

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#15

Smartphones

Smartphones

You can't turn off camera shutter sound on Japanese smartphones due to privacy and upskirt photo taking.

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Twenty øne doggos
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, that sounds like a good feature, they should do this with other phones.

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#16

Tattoos

Tattoos

If the tattoo is small, it can be covered with plaster to enter into the public bath houses or swimming pool.

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christopheferreira avatar
kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The reason is not that the person is thought to be a Yakuza. The reason is that you can't forbid only Yakuzas or they would get mad. In order to work around that, since they all have tattoos, this excuse was used. So if a Yakuza gets mad, they can say it's the rule, nothing against them.

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#17

Getting Off The Train

Getting Off The Train

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OreOs
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel that Singaporeans generally let passengers get off first, those who dont are usually the older people who may be ignorant or impatient with a sense of entitlement or tourists/foreigners.

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#19

Active Elderly

Active Elderly

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kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's so true! In see old people here and they're more active than me!

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#20

Seven Wonders Of Japanese

Seven Wonders Of Japanese

The 7th wonder can be found on my FB or blog.

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kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think you took the train in the summer ... I can assure you they are and look sweaty in the work suits.

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#21

Train Etiquette

Train Etiquette

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Carol Emory
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now this happens in the USA and it's very annoying. I've been at restaurants and had people at the table next to me with their smartphones cranked up loud so the kid who's hardly touched his food can be entertained.

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#22

Sayonara

Sayonara

"Sayonara" means goodbye but has a sense of finality to it, so don't use it to your clients!

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#23

Stairs

Stairs

There is a great number of staircases and very few escalators and lifts at smaller train stations.

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#24

Impressive Customer Service

Impressive Customer Service

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tuzdayschild
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe it depends on where you are in the US. I'm from southeastern Virginia and people definitely greet me with a smile and politeness. No bow though.

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#25

Office Toilet

Office Toilet

I went to a Japanese company for an interview before I decided to leave Japan. When I went to the ladies toilet, I saw a nice wooden locker cabinet mounted on the wall with small compartments. I know Japanese are very particular about hygiene but to see a locker for toothbrushes and sanitary stuff is a whole new world for me...

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#27

Sushi Rice

Sushi Rice

Somehow sushi rice will fall off when you eat outside of Japan...

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DemPugs
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I heard sushi chefs spend like 7 years just working on rice so it kinda makes sense.

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#28

Japanese Speak English

Japanese Speak English

Based on the real story at a sushi restaurant...

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Lala_nene
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most of Japanese have an inferiority complex about English pronunciation. We (I am a Japanese) think that it is impolite to speak in poor pronunciation.

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#29

Kids In Trains

Kids In Trains

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Carol Emory
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's in the USA too...people letting the kids run wild on public transportation.

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#30

Hairdresser

Hairdresser

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Hans
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anyone else who always says "all right" independent of boiling hot or ice cold water?

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Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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