Featured

foreigners

New commercial shows people in Japan offending foreigners with their stinky breath【Video】

Survey says one in two foreigners have been bummed out by meeting Japanese people with bad breath.

Read More

Report reveals that more than 40 percent of Tokyo Olympics volunteers are made up of foreigners

Disproportionate amount of foreign volunteers is perhaps the first of its kind in Olympic history.

Read More

Study reveals staff shortage in Japanese firms, suggests a need to accept low-skilled foreigners

60 percent of small and medium-sized companies in Japan are understaffed, and it’s time to take a hard look at the situation.

Read More

Renowned Japanese calligraphy teacher ranks the top 10 kanji that foreigners like

Proves that we have a soft spot for flowers, wind, and little wavy boats.

Read More

Looking for a job in Japan? New “Sugoi Kawaii” maid cafe in Akihabara now hiring foreigners!

As long as you fill certain requirements, you too can be a maid in Japan.

Read More

National Garden employee says he let 160,000 foreigners in for free because he was scared of them

Sometimes it pays to look intimidating.

Read More

“Ordinary” foreigner tries to become famous in Japan in new documentary

A “really ordinary person from Australia” attempts to become famous in Japan and is making a film about it.

Read More

5 things about Japanese customer service that surprise foreign visitors

In Japan, the customer is God, and sometimes that means going above and beyond to please with distinctive styles of service.

Read More

Japanese people react to “weeaboo cringe videos” on YouTube【Video】

Even when they’re at their cringiest, do Japanese people give hardcore Japanophiles a free pass?

Read More

Japanese people react to “But we’re speaking Japanese!” video, and it’s kind of stunning

What do ordinary Japanese people think of a viral video which depicts a situation wherein a Japanese person is unable to process foreigners’ fluent Japanese?

Read More

7 things Japanese people in international marriages wish they’d known before tying the knot

Is your Darling a Foreigner? Then you might want to read this list of seven things to think about before putting a ring on it.

Read More

Japanese Twitter user wakes up to surprise note after sleeping on train

I think we could all benefit from having a note like this dropped on us by a stranger.

Read More

The 5 phases of adjusting to life in Japan (from a Western expat point of view)

Today, we present five phases Western expats go through, from arriving fresh off the boat to thinking about retirement, when living in Japan.

Read More

Five life-altering mistakes foreigners make when living in Japan

Beyond silly mistakes like wearing toilet slippers on tatami or forgetting to add “san” to someone’s name, what other things do foreigners unknowingly do to reduce their chances of living happily in Japan?

Read More

Five types of foreigner you’ll meet in Japan

Japan attracts all kinds of people from all over the world. Some come to work, others come to play, and thanks to its relatively low crime levels, high standard of living and abundance of delicious food, Japan is a very easy place to call home for a while. Plus, isn’t Japan where all those anime, video games and ninjas come from? It’s got to be worth a visit!

But today, instead of talking about the myriad things Japan has to offer visitors, we’re going to have a bit of fun by taking a closer look at some of the visitors themselves. You might not encounter each of these five types of people if you’re staying in Japan for just a couple of weeks, but if you’re here for work or an extended sojourn, then you’re bound to meet at least a couple of them along the way…

Read More

Unique Japanese household items leave foreigners stumped【Video】

Japan has a plethora of products that are weird even by the standards of many Japanese, like these big booty mouse pads Sir Mix-a-Lot would approve of, cosplay outfits for pets, or photo books dedicated to male nipples. But perhaps some of the country’s most unique products to spend your cash on are just everyday items you can find in most Japanese homes.

Our Japanese site was curious to find out if foreigners could identify some of these “strange” household staples, so they sent a reporter to interview people from different countries on the streets of Tokyo to see what they had to say.

Read More

Japan Feelings: Foreigners let us in on their loves and qualms about Japan 【Video】

Visiting Japan is one thing, but living there can be something completely different. When many people first visit the country, they get the oohs and aahs of the bright lights in Tokyo and the cultural experience of Kyoto, with plenty of temples, shrines and good food along the way, and by no means is that a bad way to do it! However, you there are some things about Japan that might not sink in during just a brief visit. Living in the country is a unique experience in both awesome and frustrating ways; there may be times when you never want to leave, yet times you feel far from home.

A recently released video gets into some of these complex feelings of foreigners living in Japan in the aptly titled video: Japan Feelings.

Read More

Polish visitor’s perverted otaku party goes viral on Twitter

“Why did you come to Japan?”

It’s a simple question, and if you spend enough time here, you’re sure to be asked it countless times by Japanese people. In fact, Japan has a whole television show dedicated to asking foreigners this very question, called YOU wa Nani shi ni Nippon e?

For those of us who came for to learn a specific trade or study the language, or who are married to a Japanese spouse and/or have family in Japan, it usually isn’t a hard question to answer honestly. However, for those foreigners that were drawn to Japan’s shores through things like anime or manga, cosplay, robots, or schoolgirls, it can be a question that’s difficult to come up with a socially acceptable answer to.

Still, not all foreigners are ashamed of coming clean about some of the strange hobbies that brought them here, like one Polish Twitter user who is proud to be living out his some of his wildest dreams in good ol’ Nihon. After arriving in Japan, he was presented with the chance to act out one of his many perverted fantasies, leaving otaku on Twitter both amused and green with envy.
Read More

7 more things foreigners do that Japanese people find amusing

As a foreigner in Japan, have you ever experienced a slightly awkward yet somehow humorous interaction with a Japanese person? Perhaps you were curious to know more about some aspect of Japanese culture and asked someone a rather random question, or conversely, a Japanese person was curious to know something about your culture and came to you for all the answers. Or maybe you were just out on the street and happened to witness an amusing exchange between some natives and the local gaijin.

Last year, we brought you 10 such tales of comical intercultural interactions, and today we’d like to introduce seven more fun, quirky, and interesting anecdotes as shared by Japanese Twitter users about their exchanges with foreigners. Have you ever been in a similar situation to one of these yourself?

Read More

China’s ‘Rent-a-Foreigner’ industry is booming

Foreigners are being hired to pose as celebrities by Chinese real estate developers to help agents sell property in “ghost towns” by making them appear more animated and worldly, according to a new mini-documentary released by the New York Times.

Thanks to China’s overzealous property development, the supply of luxury apartment complexes in some of China’s most rural areas has far exceeded demand. But that doesn’t stop the sales pitches.

The Times’ David Borenstein traveled to provincial West China where he found firms that specialized in recruiting groups of expatriates who they would then rent out to attend events, the majority of which are hosted by real estate companies.

Read More

  2. 1
  3. 2