What are some things that, no matter how long you have lived in Japan, you still haven't gotten used to?

Food slurping being acceptable. Noodles are bad enough, but I've had the 'pleasure' of listening to people hoovering up stuff like rice, beef bowls, natto, too.

The appallingly awful TV.

Slurping noodles I can handle because it's part of "the culture" I suppose, but slurping everything else like DiscoJ said is too much. The worst is when you go to a fancy Italian restaurant and there are people slurping the spaghetti...

Above I meant slurping Japanese noodle dishes I can handle, because pasta is of course also noodles but should never be slurped.

The waiting for the most senior (in age if not wisdom) person to say "Let's do X!" and everyone else agreeing. When, in fact, everyone wants to do X but waits for the most senior person to say it out loud. If a non-senior person says it, everyone else scoffs and sucks on their teeth. Entrepreneurship? In Japan?

Also, the "I can't be responsible for Y" or "My company can't be responsible for Y." Even if their company sells the product, they can't be responsible for its performance. This results in an office of four people not being able to answer a simple question because the person in charge of that area is out of the office (not in his seat).

My favorite: asking a clerk at a store about a product they are selling and they have to read the advertising blurb attached to the product. (Yamada Denki, I'm looking at you.) Related: asking a wait person about the food they are serving and they have to run off to find someone who knows about the food.

But I suppose is worse.

But I suppose is worse.

Should read

But I suppose -insert home country here- is worse.

And yet they have the third-largest economy.

Amazing what your Asians can do....

constantly being under surveillance

people not holding a door open and casually letting it slam in my face

open farting on trains during rush hour

getting paid to do nothing

Japanese people, in general. A good chunk of the people have to always react, usually negatively, to your presence no matter how often they see you.

people not holding a door open and casually letting it slam in my face

Why do I have to worry about you? Watch out for your self. If the door to your dreams is closing do you expect me to hold it open for you. I ain't your savior.

Its not casual to let a door slam in your face. Its NATURAL. Blame the door manufacturer. Not the person you want to exert more effort for someone whose a stranger. You really want to be spoon fed? That's super childish. People don't hold it open because it's none of their business. You getting through the door doesn't matter to everyone else.

People don't hold it open because it's none of their business. You getting through the door doesn't matter to everyone else.

-~O-MO-TE-NA-SHI~-, lol

The topic of this thread is 'things you can't get used to in Japan'. In many other countries, showing that little bit of consideration for people around you is 'natural' (not saying my country is perfect in other areas), so it makes sense as something hard to get used to here. Especially as Japanese people (except you apparently) often consider themselves well-mannered and considerate to others. Not holding doors open for people is not a particularly bad aspect of Japan, but it doesn't quite jive with the impression most like to give.

@Disco

Been here over twenty-seven years, and never noticed anyone letting a door slam in my face....

The incredibly hot and humid summers which seem to be getting hotter and lasting longer.

I am with dmacleod on the summers, though they weren't so awful when I was younger. Starting to find winter preferable these days.

Right wing gaijin who constantly complain about Japan and other gaijin.

I could, of course, ignore it or filter it out but it's good to know what the enemy is "thinking" ;-)

The seemingly endless song of the cicadas. It's like a looped ELP drum solo at 78rpm...

When discussing tourism, talking first about food specialties.

Also, the unholy spongy abomination sold in supermarkets they call "bread".

morning stretching to silly music, teeth weezing, horrible TV shows

4am sunrise during the summer. Japan would really benefit from at least 1 hour of daylight saving time.

Japanese people saying that a summer time change would be "confusing" and "difficult" to understand.

Japanese people saying how great they are, often belittling "overseas" at the same time. I will never be able to just ignore it and is one reason I do not want to stay here too long.

Also the very apparent awkwardness in many interactions.

And the summer.