わかりました(past tense) VS わかります(present tense)

 A lot of foreign people might think it's strange, but  Japanese often say "わかりました（I understood.）", even though we are talking about present.  


"わかりました" is past tense, so it is natural you think it should be present tense,"わかります（I understand）" when you are being instructed by someone now. However, in Japanese discourse like when you express your understanding to someone's instruction or indication, it is common that you response with past tense. Then, when should you say "わかります(I understand.)"? There are about 2 ways of  the situation you have better use present tense.


1.
A:Do you tell the meaning of this Russian word?
B:Yes, I understand.
Like this case, when you can understand the meaning of stuff or contents, especially in the midst of the indication, you better say "わかります". 


2.
A:My husband never tries to listen to me! Disgusting! 
B:I understand. Same here.
Like above, when you want to show that you can understand someone's feelings or situations, or when you want to sympathize with someone, you should use "わかります".


In short, when you express your full comprehension about something, especially after someone has finished his explaining, you have to use past tense. On the other hand, when you want to show your understanding each time or temporarily, particularly amid instruction, you should response with present tense.

Certificate Of Lateness Iissued By Railroad Companies

It is very famous that trains in Japan run very punctually.  Japanese rail road companies, However, have another wonderful service, which is issuing certificates of lateness.

 

Please look at this picture of paper. It says "This paper proves that the train was delayed." When the train you always get on is delayed for some reasons, you can get this paper at ticket gates. It means, even though you are late for offices due to trains, you can prove it to your bosses with the certificates　to. Actually these days, it seems that you can receive the certificates even through website.  

I think this service was developed because almost all of Japanese companies are really strict to their employees. 

Station Building

This might be one of  the Japanese cultures. Especially in urban areas in Japan, it is normal that big stations have shopping malls inside themselves or in their adjoining places. For example, around Osaka station, there are 3 department stores, so station users can reach the shops directly from ticket gates.


We call this kind of station with shopping malls "Ekibiru", "Eki" means station and "biru" means building, and which  expresses "the combination of station and shopping mall". According to certain information, this concept started before World War 2. At that time, some private railroad companies in urban area tried to make department stores near terminal stations in order to make people living in the suburbs use the trains and the stores often. I think this concept was made by Japanese. 

Free Pocket Tissues

Though the chances are getting fewer and fewer nowadays, because of the recession, but in Japan, you can get pocket tissues for free.


Seen in this picture, many companies like cellular carriers, banks, and sports clubs, are distributing pocket tissues for their advertisement on streets. Although they are free, but their quality is good. So if you come to Japan, you don't need to buy them.


Except free pocket tissues, you may be able to get paper fans, candies, or little amount of bathing powders etc. 

Onomatopoeic Device For Toilet

I don't know whether other countries have this kind of devices or not, but here in Japan, more than half of public woman's restroom, except ones located in public parks, have onomatopoeic devices, which can kill the sound of pee.

I think the device appeared around 1985. Generally, Japanese women feel embarrassed about their pee sound being heard by other people. Henceforth, until that time, a lot of women including children had flushed the toilet during pee to kill its sound with sound of flushing water. In short, they flushed toilet at least 2 times in bathrooms. Of course it was not friendly to the environment in the light of overuse of water. Hence, household appliance companies developed the device.


How to use the device is very easy. Shortly before you pee, push the button, then false sound of water starts, and it lasts for 1 or 2 minutes. In case that the false sound's time length is shorter than yours, you can extend it by pushing the button again. By the way, maybe you can rarely encounter the device in men's restroom.

Heian Bijin-Beauty In The Heian Era-

Sometimes we Japanese use this words 
"Heian Bijin" to describe girls' faces. Actually, this words are kind of confusing.


"Heian" means "the Heian era", "Bijin" means beautiful women, in short, it is mentioning "beautiful women like noblewomen in the Heian era." Though the word "Bijin" has definitely a good meaning, if you put the words "Heian" in the front of it, it varies totally.　

Heian bijin's traits are stated below.


■chubby, round face 
■pasty white completions with very fine texture
■thin eyes


 Actually, the figure you can imagine from these is alien from what beauties should be nowadays.


As a matter of fact, in the Heian era, women who have these traits were really considered "beautiful women" and if you see this picture, you would think these women must have been beautiful and elegant. However, the truth is different. Rather, they must have been like monsters!


In this era, noblewomen weren't supposed to go out and the food was undernourished, so they were unhealthy, that's why their faces were swollen. Then they completely removed their eyebrows, wrote them on upper forehead with eyebrow-paints, and these written eyebrows were supposed to be apart from each other as much as they could. Besides, they put a lot of powder on their faces to make them look pasty white, fragile for the sake of guys visiting them at their houses under cover of night. Moreover, they dyed their teeth black, and the length of their hair was approximately 7 m, because they didn't cut their hair ever since they were born.

【Japanese Manners】Binbo Yusuri-Fidgeting-

Here, the behavior "shaking your legs", so called fidgeting, is really hated. If you do this in front of Japanese, we will be absolutely annoyed.

It is called "Binbo Yusuri" in Japanese, "Binbo" means "poor",  "Yusuri" does "shaking". The reason it called like this is that the behavior makes you look like you are poor and your mind is always occupied with financial matters. 

Actually, this phrase seems to have been created in Edo era. Seen in Haiku or Senryu, which are Japanese traditional way of poem, people in that time also detested this behavior with same reason above. Incidentally, another phrase "Binbo Gami", which means god of poverty, was also made in this era. At that time, especially merchants really dreaded poverty, and what's more, there was a superstition that shaking legs conjured the god of poverty, so this behavior started to be called like this.

【Japanese Customs】3.Side Dishes That You Didn't Order

If you go to Izakaya, you must be surprised, because you are often served one or two simple side dishes that you didn't order.

This side dishes are called "Otooshi", which are generally served right after you order. In direct way, the name "Otooshi" can be translated as "passing" in English, and which shows your orders are accepted.

Usually, Otooshi are what go well with the food subsequently served, like young soybeans in the pod or salted fish guts.

In Kanto area, we call it Otooshi, but here in Kansai, it is often called "Tsukidashi".

【Japanese Manners】Inugui-Sloppy Eating-

Table manner wise, personally, "Inugui"  is the likeliest bad manner that we misbehave.


The word "Inugui" means "eating like dogs", which means to eat with your mouth excessively near the table or without holding your dishes or rice bowls. When it comes to Japanese food, it is considered proper way to hold your rice bowls or dishes when conveying the food into your mouths.


Way back, only little children tended to do this. These days, however, even adults often misbehave likewise, because this bad manner makes us feel easy. 

【Japanese Superstition】When You See A Hearse Or Funerals

I think especially children tend to follow this practice, but when seeing hearses or passing houses holding funerals, some Japanese tend to hide their thumbs. Actually,when I was a child, so did I. It is because there is a superstition that if you don't do this, your parents would die young.


In Japanese, we call our thumbs "Oyayubi", "oya" means parents, "yubi" represents fingers or thumbs. Hence, this custom is derive from the concept "protecting our parents". 

【Japanese Taboo】You Shouldn't Visit Peole In Hopital With Potted Flowers

It may be very common all over the world to bring flowers to people who are confined to hospitals. However, here in Japan, bouquets are okay, but you shouldn't visit them with potted flowers. Why?

Potted flowers can give us the image "taking root", which is called "Nezuku" in Japanese. Then the word "Nezuku" has the same meaning as"being sick in bed" in Japanese. 

Hence bringing potted flowers might be considered like saying "Please be ill in bed." or "Please keep being hospitalized for a long time". Therefore if you bring them, people might regard you as foolish.    

【Japanese Taboo】Don't Sleep With Your Head Facing North

We think sleeping with our head facing north is ominous. We call this manner "Kita-Makura", "kita" means "north", "Makura" represents "pillow". So when laying out our futons or deciding how we put our beds on our bedrooms just after moving in, we always try to avoid the north direction for our heads.


Actually this taboo derives from the manner of Buddhism, about 2500 years ago. It is said that when the Buddha died under a sal tree, his head faced north. Since then, in Buddhism, we lay dead people down with their head facing north and that's why Kita-Makura is considered sinister.

【Japanese Customs】2.The Dog Day For Pregnant Women

We have so called "Dog day". It is from "Eto", the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, which allots 12 kinds animals(signs) like the tiger and the mouse etc. to each year and each day. For example, this year 2012 is the year of the dragon and it comes around every 12 years, and today May 23rd is the day of the monkey and it rolls around every 12 days. Generally we aren't attentive to signs allotted to days.


However, the day of the dog has great meaning to pregnant women. It is a kind of ritual that pregnant women who just have reached their 5 months bind obstetrical binders around their belly, go to shrines that are especially famous for its effect on easy childbirth, and let the Shinto priests pray for that on this day. I believe most Japanese women tend to follow this ritual.


However, I didn't do this, because it costs a lot. Normally, obstetrical binders cost around 3,000 yen, and the fee for praying is more than 5,000 yen. What's more, it is said that this ritual is conducted only in Japan and no one is sure whether it is effective or not. Actually, my sister experienced very difficult delivery even though she had followed this. Hence, though my mother and my husband tried to force me to do this, because it was a traditional custom, I assertively refused by saying  why I should pay such amount of money for an uncertain ritual.  

【Japanese Customs】1.Returning Half Of A Celebratory Gift

When we receive celebratory gift, like celebrations of a birth or wedding presents, we have to return half of them. For instance, if we get a present worth 20,000yen, we should return a gift worth 10,000yen. Of course mostly, we don't know how much the gift we receive is, so we should assume the price. 


This custom is called "Hangaeshi" in Japanese, "han" represents "half" and "gaeshi" means return. This custom is practiced in the case of mourning as well. In Japan, if you don't go with this custom, especially in the case that you don't return anything to gifts, you might be considered senseless. 

Personality Profiling By Blood Group

Of course it depends on the person, but Japanese, especially girls, are interested in personality profiling by blood group.

Most people tend to classify our personalities like below.

blood type A:punctual/attentive/nervous　

blood type B:self-centered/moody/insensitive

blood type O:friendly/realistic/rough

blood type AB:smart/cool/split personality

As you can tell from the above, type B people tend to be considered they don't have strong points. Actually, we are not likely to like blood type B people. 

I know it sounds very ridiculous to categorize people by their blood types, but I don't know why, we like it. Hence, we want to ask our new friends about their blood types, and almost all Japanese do correctly know our blood types.  

Stupid Pigeons

I hate pigeons. In Japan, there are loads of pigeons. We can see them everywhere, not only in parks but also even in stations. 


When it comes to the problems made by them, a lot of people may come up with only their smell, their dirtiness, and their noise. However, there are some people who are suffering from more serious harm, like allergy caused by their feather.


Before, in my case, I was annoyed by their stopping at my balcony, which left a lot of droppings. They tend to stop everywhere, so there were always a few pigeons at my balcony. So to handle it, I pitched a net over my balcony, which is working well now.

Tamago Kake Gohan--egg source over rice--

Japanese people love raw food. This Tamago Kake Gohan is the good example of it.


Tamago Kake Gohan, which is sometimes called "Neko manma" meaning food for cat, is very popular in Japan and has been eaten by people since the Meiji era.


The recipe for it is very easy. After serving rice on a bowl, pour a beaten egg on it. Then add little soy source and stir them up. That's all.


Since I love it, before I ate it almost every day. However, eggs　occasionally have salmonella, so there are a few people who think it is not good for our health, like my mother. 

Maternity Mark

I'm not sure, but it's been at least five years since pregnant women started to wear luggage tag like charms,  to be called "maternity mark",  while they are outside in Japan. 


When we get pregnant, we have the obligation to inform the city offices of our pregnancy. Then all of us get the maternity mark along with mother and baby notebooks . 


According to the authority, the mark, which says "A baby in my belly" on its surface, was devised in a bid to call people's consideration toward pregnant women, for example, in trains or in the case that we feel sick outside. Actually the mark is useful especially when our bellies are not so big.


To some people, however, the mark is unpopular. Such people feel as if the mark compelled them to give up their seat in trains or because of it, pregnant women got impudent. 


Since I know such negative opinions, I hesitated to hang the mark on my bag before. However, my midwife asked me to do so, now I am always carrying it.

Notebooks Of Lectures For College Students

It is often said that enrolling in colleges is hard, but graduating from them is very easy in Japan. 


Actually it is true. To enroll in colleges or universities, high school students have to study very hard. However, after they pass the entrance examinations and enroll in, their campus lives except science and technological departments would be like a paradise. Sometimes students can graduate from their colleges with almost only 1 year attendance. 

One of causes that plays a part for it might be attribute to the notebooks of lectures. In some colleges, this "cheating" notebooks exist. The notebooks are written by students who attend the classes perfectly and take notebooks properly. 1month or so before the examinations, such students bring their notebooks to a print shops near the colleges. The print shops well examine them, choose one notebook per a subject, and sell them. Although it depends on the subject, generally the notebooks are sold by around 700yen. The students whose notes are recruited can earn around 10,000yen by that.

Of course this business is not good and maybe colleges have warned the shops. However, there are a lot of demands, the shops have been keeping selling them. 

Convenience Stores Are Literally Convenient!

One of the nicest stuff in Japan must be the handiness of its convenience stores.

Needless to say, most of them are open around the clock, so you can buy almost all daily necessities you need. Many of them have not only cash dispensers but also  copying machines, fax machines. Then there are microwave ovens and hot water dispensers, so you can warm your packed lunches and pour hot water into your Cup Noodles that you buy at the store.

Above all, that they serve you their toilets is worthy of special mention. Of course it depends on the store, but basically the toilets are always kept clean, and everyone can use it without any compensating purchases. Maybe the Japan's low crime rate can it possible.

These days, almost all newly built convenience stores tend to exhibit their convenience with their explicit signboards.