Japanese women list their foreign husbands’ odd behavior

**“My husband and I were on the train when another foreigner got on. ‘Oh gross! A foreigner!’ says my husband, who seemed to have forgotten he’s one too.” This woman's husband seems to be a "Charisma Man" foreigner. He wants to be the center of attention, because he is a foreigner. If another shows up, he worries they will steal his power and he will become an average joe again! Most of the other foreigners don't sound so strange, other than the guy picking up the rocks, and liking cockroaches.

They call that odd? Heh he. I call the guys odd, total fruitcakes i'll tell you what.

“My British husband loves cockroaches (they don’t have them in Britain, apparently). ‘What a beauty!’ he says, when he sees one. ‘How can such a wonderful creature be so hated?’”

ok, now that's absolutely strange!! haha, but still very curious :) and a bit of adorable

“Whenever my husband finds a particularly round rock, he picks it up and screams ‘Japanese!’ at the top of his lungs. When we get home he adds it to his collection, pours water over the whole pile and calls it a zen garden.”

I'm going to start doing this.

I cringed when I read the title, expecting things like he showers instead of bathes, uses a fork instead of chopsticks, sniffs his socks before throwing them in the wash - but the article was good fun.

Whenever I eat Niku-Jaga, I can't help making a joke about the Rolling Stones.... but that's just me.

I say "Gaijin da!" ironically, when I spot one. I wonder if I, too, am being taken seriously.

My wife (Japanese) and I (not) have been together for twelve years and married four. The fact that she we are from different countries and cultures is the least interesting thing about being together. The things we have in common, as people, as like-minded individuals, is what makes life wonderful.

On a lazy evening when we happen to see a television show about "international marriage" we watch it for a moment, have a laugh, and then change the channel and forget about it.

The so-called oddities and differences have never been an issue, nor particularly interesting.

The stories sound as if these women married some nutcases, who would be odd in their homecountries too. Nothing gaijin-specific here, imho.

Five of the 13 are about food.

Honestly, people, get over it. It's food. You can eat what you want how you want whenever you bloody well want! Just be glad you have enough of it

...

Some of these reflect a lack of basic communication. What doesn't #12 know how ordinary nikujaga is as a food item? Why doesn't #10 get on board with her man's interest in Japanese history, and thus help his pronunciation, instead of silently mocking it?

But maybe the women polled had to struggle to find something worth mentioning, and this is all they could come up with.

And yet another addition of those gaijin are sooooooooooo weird....

What a bunch of dorks!

Nikujaga was reputedly based on British beef stew, so it's not exactly unfamiliar to foreign men.

One of my Japanese students married to a Dutch man told me that whenever her husband steps in the front door, he calls out "where is my little wife?" I think that's sweet.

When making love my wife always had her eyes closed and mouth wide open-it wasn't until we had a frank talk that I understood the reason why.

Although, she said after that she didn't find my behaviour quirky at all.................

Food, food, food...yawn.

“My husband and I were on the train when another foreigner got on. ‘Oh gross! A foreigner!’ says my husband, who seemed to have forgotten he’s one too.”

your typical douchebag foreigner. Want to be the only gaijin in Japan.

The fellow-foreigner on the train is a bit odd.

My "haafu" son once told his sister not to wear a yukata to a fireworks display because she looked like a "stupid gaijin".

“Whenever my husband finds a particularly round rock, he picks it up and screams ‘Japanese!’ at the top of his lungs. When we get home he adds it to his collection, pours water over the whole pile and calls it a zen garden.”

Sounds like he has Rocks in his head.

Another likes cockroaches, one secretly buys natto and the Japanese wife who doesn't mind the dirty country, and I thought I had issues.

Cockroaches are pretty fascinating. Cut off their heads? No worries! Nuke them? No worries! Spray them with most bug sprays? No worries! Other bug predators? No worries!

Now let`s hear about some of the odd wives behaviour.

"Oh gross! A foreigner!"

I suspect he is being ironic, a quality often lost on the Japanese. I've said similar things in the past to my girlfriends as a jibe, but never as a straight statement.

the "gross, another foreigner" kinda makes sense to me (except not on the train, though), and it has nothing to do with "wanting to be the center of attention." usually it's the foreigners who are loud, brash and don't show any manners.

i'm sure there are just as many japanese men with similar quirky behavior...

ricky:

usually it's the foreigners who are loud, brash and don't show any manners.

Hell yeah. I can hear a group of American or Chinese tourists from 50 meters away, and can usually tell from what region of their own countries do they come...

My husband wants to do it every month. What's wrong with him?

My husband and I were on the train when another foreigner got on. ‘Oh gross! A foreigner!’ says my husband, who seemed to have forgotten he’s one too.

This is sarcasim! See how they cannot get it! I do the same with my friends only to show them that we could be so close to them and still feel the strong reaction they show to a person with a non-Asian face. This is sarcasim meant towards common form of racism in Japan.

My Japanese wife finds it baffling when I suggest doing anything other than watching garbage on TV every night. I suggested we go out for dinner and she looked at me like I'd asked her if she wanted to take up dogging.

usually it's the foreigners who are loud, brash and don't show any manners.

It must be wonderful being so superior

While interesting, I'm not sure these qualify as "sit com hilarity," unless of course you're talking about Japanese sit coms, in which case making a funny noise qualifies as humor.

@pointofview

Now let`s hear about some of the odd wives behaviour.

I'd volunteer some anecdotes but don't want to live with scarring anyone :-)

Seriously, all harmless stuff. Why do people get so worked up over stuff like this?

@kimuzukashiiii

Stereotypes are not good things.

Could not agree more.

I was expecting both barrels, but these wives have chosen some of the cuter stuff for the public display.

"Oh gross! A foreigner!"

irony isn't understood in Japan. I would take it as a joke as it was no doubt intended

These are not odd behaviors of "foreign" husbands....these are just odd behaviors of some men! You don't have to be "foreign" to be weird.

"One day my husband suddenly blurted out, ‘I think I’m going to try going gay!" After my initial shock, it dawned on me he was trying to say he wanted to try going geino (get into show business).

This one did make me LOL ! What a shock if she hadn't "understood" !

As for mentioning "foreigner" over here, I used to do that with my Japanese fiancé who always laughed when I said : "Ara ! Gaijin da !"

My girlfriend is very strict about her shampooing routine, and when we shower together she does the same routine for me. I call her the Shampoo Nazi. It's possible she thinks it odd when I want her to do my hair and I shout "Mein Fuhrer!"

Occasionally when going out with my wife I was greeted by another gaijin. I greeted back friendly. My wife, next to me, usually protested (half-ironically) to me "racism da!".

So where is the "list?" This is just random quotes from people. I are confused.

Most of these people are just weird people. "My husband breaks crackers into his miso soup. Hey buddy, that’s no minestrone!”" so what? I put pickles on my grill cheese. butter on rice. I bring ketchup with my when I go out to eat becuase its so mendoksai to ask for 10 tiny tiny tiny packs of katsoup. I break up crackers or chips on just about anything I eat becvuase I like crunchy stuff. OMG, I am an individual! I have individual things that I like. OMG I do things that not everyone does. I MUST BE A WEIRD FOREIGNER... or just like 98% of the worlds population with individual quirks.

It's a fun article, but I was moved to wonder what evidence, if any, is there that these quotes were not simply made up by the writer?

Now let`s hear about some of the odd wives behaviour.

Whenever I hang out the laundry, there always seems to be some invisible code I've violated, and when I see it later, I find that she's completely rehung everything. She'll never be shy about commenting on my shortcomings.

Yet when I hear her talking about me with her friends, I sound like the nicest guy in the world. I know that is how she really thinks of me, so I forgive the former.

"One day my husband suddenly blurted out, ‘I think I’m going to try going gay!" After my initial shock, it dawned on me he was trying to say he wanted to try going geino (get into show business).

He must've said 'Gei ni nattemitai' instead of 'Geino ni nattemitai' and got misunderstood. Unless, of course, she discovers him to be frequenting 2-chome in Shinjuku for some odd reason.

My Japanese wife finds it baffling when I suggest doing anything other than watching garbage on TV every night. I suggested we go out for dinner and she looked at me like I'd asked her if she wanted to take up dogging.

God I can only imagine her reaction when you suggest having sex instead of watching TV for the night.

Like I mentioned above, I think some of you are reading too much into this.

A gaijin wrote it. (At least, as far as I can tell)

Despite the husband's "odd" behaviour, all of the couples, at least at the time of writing, were still married. In fact, if you look at the photos, they're smiling! Shock and horror, it's like cats and dogs living together.

Nobody is being ostracised, let alone persecuted. If you're getting paranoid about racism reading light-hearted articles like this, I'd hate to see you in an environment where the persecution is a lot worse than here.

Nobody. I mean nobody puts ketchup on tamagoyaki! Yes. My wife is the Japanese Dirty Harry.

Yes, niku jaga is similar to beef and potato dishes from other countries except it's made with fish broth and sugar.

Why does the woman put crackers on the table if she doesn't want her husband to eat them in an inappropriate fashion?

And since when did minestrone have crackers in it?

Occasionally when going out with my wife I was greeted by another gaijin. I greeted back friendly. My wife, next to me, usually protested (half-ironically) to me "racism da!".

It's worse than that, according to some folk out there in cyberland. It's MICROAGGRESSION, you fiend! ; )

My mrs might have a harder time trying to list my normal behaviour....

I have done the "look another foreigner on the train!" before, not because I dont want them there but to re-enforce that foreigners are coming in and gonna stay, and their little island is not so special. If its and american I follow up with "see, we are all over the world" if it a brit or aussie I follow up with" they are some of the best drinking buds I have had" If from france i follow up with " they are douchebags if they are from paris but cool from the rest of france"

"He sometimes requests pancakes for dinner"

That's not so strange, but doesn't he ever make them himself?

My ex found it funny when I would thank bus drivers, or hold doors open for women.

I can kind of get the annoyance of seeing another foreigner - sometimes I see them acting like total arseheads as they laugh at statues, take the mick out of posters and generally act like yobs. Makes me want to put a bag over my head to disassociate myself from them.

@MarkX: Where is the connection to say "Gross, a foreigner" and wanting attention?? I just think the same way, because most of foreigners in Japan are just loud, have no manners and are just incredible annoying... Of course not all of them, but 99%!

I thought it was fun. I'm going to ask my wife what her responses would be.

Lol.... Whaaat? These do not sound like adult men.... These sound like handicapped 4 year olds...

There should be a segment about the things japanese wives do....

I thought this was a very fun article. It would be interesting to hear about the other way around, as well.

“I found out my husband was secretly buying natto because he actually likes it.”

There's a marriage killer if I ever saw one, lol.

One of those sounds like me!

Ruri! You got some 'splaining to do!

On asking my wife she thought long and hard, finally concluding 'I guess I've just got used to your strange habits.'

The definition of love and marriage if ever there was one.

But she did say:

The fact that you ate FOUR pieces of toast for breakfast.

You put milk and sugar in to a cup, THEN poured in the coffee.

You always shower in the morning.

You smile and say hello to strangers.

This article says more to me about the Japanese wives than it does about their foreign spouses.

Noliving,

You might want to Google the definition of "dogging." Two nations divided by the same language, etc., etc.

This article is offensive. These are comments presented without the slightest mention of how they were collected, and presented with the sole intention of perpetuating an us versus them mentality. Yeah, foreign equals weird.

Shame on JT. Pathetic.

The so-called oddities and differences have never been an issue, nor particularly interesting.

...as far as you know. She can't upset the wa.

hehe zen garden?

My Japanese wife would like to say something about me here.

Oh how wonderful to be a monkey in the zoo. Utter rubbish.

Surely JT, you can do better than this...

“I found out my husband was secretly buying natto because he actually likes it.”

In all my years in Japan and getting to know a hundred or so foreigners fairly well, I have met one guy from New Zealand who claimed he liked it but I never saw him eat it, and a woman from Australia who I actually saw eat it with apparent relish. She is a health nut though.

I am not married to a Japanese wife ... nothing for/against that.

On my first trip to Japan, I was trying to be very considerate and dropped back to the teachings from Mom on being polite.

Got into a half full elevator of women ... when the door opened at our floor, I moved to let them out first. They knew I needed to get out too, so they waited.

The doors closed - nobody left.

Noliving, You might want to Google the definition of "dogging." Two nations divided by the same language, etc., etc.

Thanks I already know what dogging means, apparently the joke went over your head.

The article's title got my attention but the content was disappointing.

Would have been better to just ask readers what amusing anecdotes those in international marriages have.

Noliving,

Touché!

There is a lot going on here:

Yeah, its the "gaijin zoo" again. Always charming. Notice, too, how 'gaijin' here plays very differently than with the non-Western foreigners.

One way it differs is here we have white guys with Japanese girls. For people who care about that kind of thing, y'know, racists, don't underestimate the discomfort and displeasure the white guy plowing the Japanese field causes. It goes to the natural order of things in their little bigoted brains. Man over women; victor over vanquished. But it gets complicated, because America beat Japan. And still dominates that relationship.

Its nationalism, tribalism, sexism. The whole lot.

Which leads inevitably to Japan's food nationalism. Oh my how they wonder at a white or black guy, but not Chinese guy, who likes natto, Incledible!!!

I am a Jew, so I grew up understanding food plays a large role in building walls between people like you and all the goyim. The same thing goes on with Japan and their never ceasing amazement and suprise that white people can use,... yeah, wait for it.

chopsticks.

One day my husband suddenly blurted out, ‘I think I’m going to try going gay!’ After my initial shock, it dawned on me he was trying to say he wanted to try going geino....

Once I wanted to find a Nintendo Game Boy to play on the plane flights. So I'm walking around Akihabara asking the clerks if they had a Game Boy. Needless to say the guys in the office had a good, long laugh as I described the shocked reactions I got. "They thought you were asking for "Gay Boy" probably was the answer.

Oh, and those old pocket translators would always say my name was "erotic." Gave up on that and never bought one. I ru ku will have to do....

Japanese women list their foreign husbands’ odd behavior Ummm Makes me wonder if the average Japanese find her behavior being odd marrying a foreigner.

International marriages are becoming more and more commonplace in Japan as well as the world at large,

Japan is JUST starting to catch up with the "world at large". International marriages in "other" countries have been going on for centuries. Just another attempt at trying make Japan SEEM like they are with the rest of the world.

My wife also rehangs/ refolds the laundry after I've done it, and after 8 years has only just stopped complaining about the way I wash the dishes. Also she seems to have to best sense of smell ever, because I always stink-even after I take a shower, plus she can spot ear wax a mile off.

A "veritable cornucopia of hilarious cultural misunderstandings and sitcom-style hilarity" ?!

A cornucopia indeed! (ironic mode on) And aren't sitcoms supposed to be, you know, funny? I'm sorry, but this is just sad and pathetic, showing again how childish and behind the times Japan is.

Sometimes they do stuff like this to pull the wives' chains a bit, a bit of mullarky.

My wife also rehangs/ refolds the laundry after I've done it, and after 8 years has only just stopped complaining about the way I wash the dishes. Also she seems to have to best sense of smell ever, because I always stink-even after I take a shower, plus she can spot ear wax a mile off.

Wait till you hit 25 or 30 years!

My wife finds it odd that I like a clean house and gets angry if I clean up and put hers things in the proper place. And wash, dry and put the dishes away directly after a meal. Now how weird am I?

The foreigner who acts with shock when another foreigner gets on the train is joking. I have made the "gaijin da" joke myself.

There are cockroaches in Britain - see any student house. Fortunately they are rarer than in Japan and tend not to be quite so big.

My French husband loves sweet bread

Sweetbread is a type of offal - from the throat.

WTF did they only interview J women married to gaijin NERDS!?

I like the Hawaiian guy who is worried about Nobita-kun.

the foreign husbands don't like the japanes food , or they have strange eating habits for their japanes woman , ok , but I am living in Belgium , and every time I visit Bruges or Brussels , I never see Japanese people in a restaurant with Belgium of French cuisine , tjey don't try it , so , if the Japanese woman , want to understand the western cuisine , start with your self

“My British husband loves niku jaga. He likes mashed potatoes too, but given the choice, he goes for niku jaga every time.” (Note: this is actually not strange at all, as most Western cultures have something near-equivalent to niku jaga meat and potato stew, but the Japanese don’t seem to realize this.)

Nikujaga is a British dish. My mother's beef stew could have been the model for it.

Actually, Nikujaga was based on the stews eaten by sailors in the Royal Navy:

Nikujaga was invented by chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th century.[1] The story that Tōgō Heihachirō ordered naval cooks to create a version of the beef stews served in the British Royal Navy was devised as part of an ongoing campaign beginning in 1895 to promote the city of Maizuru, Kyoto, which hosted an Imperial Japanese Navy base where Tōgō was stationed, as the birthplace of nikujaga.[2] The municipal government of Kure, Hiroshima, responded in 1998 with a competing claim that Tōgō commissioned the dish while serving as chief of staff of the Kure naval base.[3] (Wikipedia)