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Public drinking? 2010/10/4 18:02
Is it inappropriate to drink for example beer in public?
by Tomi (guest)  

. 2010/10/4 18:40
Tomi,

By "public" do you mean "street"? If so, not really. There is no law forbidding drinking beer on the streets, but there is no need for such a law since most people don't drink on the streets. But it's quite common to drink beer at a picnic on a big grassy park, if that's what you mean.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

alcohol 2010/10/7 08:27
I was walking past Takashimaya yesterday and there was a group of guys drinking beer at about 11 am and it's definitely not the first time I've seen something like that- actually I would say it's more common to see people drinking alcohol in the streets (on trains etc) here than in any other country I have ever been to- possibly because it's actually illegal in many countries.

It's not at all illegal here and quite common to drink in parks on the weekend or sitting on benches near the station in the evening for example, but people who drink outside at 11 am are likely to be thought of as alcoholics by the people who see them!
by Sira (guest) rate this post as useful

Yet... 2010/10/7 08:44
Yet, if the guys drinking work a night shift and have just come off of work, a beer with your frineds may just be a beer after work.

Generally speaking you will occasionally see someone drinking a beer but since many people see it as bad form most will reserve the drinking for restaurants, bars, picnics etc.
by tenshinyc rate this post as useful

beer o' clock 2010/10/7 09:04
This is true, tenshinyc. I'm probably thinking more of the solo guys you see outside convenience stores with a couple of empty One-Cup Ozekis next to them and well into their third.

Either way, it's not an unusual sight here, but certainly not everyone does it.
by Sira (guest) rate this post as useful

rewording 2010/10/7 11:06
Sira is right. Instead of writing, "most people don't drink on the streets" I should've written "most RESPECTFUL people don't drink on the streets."

By the way, I have to say that drinking on the streets at 11:00am is very inappropriate even if you just got out of a night shift. I know too many people who work during the night and sleep during the day, but even they know good enough not to drink in public until say it's past 5:00pm. It's simple manners, and it's very different from having wine during lunch just because it's your day off.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

acceptable/ignored 2010/10/7 17:54
I would agree with the earlier post, drinking in the street and on trains etc much more common to see in Japan compared with other countries and everyone just ignores it, it is more acceptable here compared with Europe.
If an old man was drinking in the street alone in UK he would most likely be ashamed and so hide the bottle or can in a brown paper bag.
I cant count how many times I have seen a drunken ojiisan slumped in a train seat clutching a can or sake proudly resting on top of his knee and stinking of alcohol.
In UK there are crowds of teenagers drinking in the street but very rarely would you see anyone above the age of 35 drinking in the street alone unless they were an alcoholic or homeless but never a businessman in a suit whereas "respectable" salary men often drink alone in the street in Japan.
They often get so drunk they sleep in the road with their suit on. I have honestly never seen that in UK.
by gilesdesign (guest) rate this post as useful

brewskies on the subway 2010/10/7 18:05
Public drinking and drunkenness in Japan is not a crime (though smoking is becoming more 'offensible'), and culturally, it's quite accepted and virtually unstoppable during certain times of the year, or even times of the day. Some people have an open can of beer and chug it on the train ride home. But if you were to sit on the curb and drink a sixer in front of a day care center - someone might ask you to relocate, thats all.
I have been told because there are plenty of places to grab a drink in Japan, that there really isn't a good reason for doing it outside unless it's festival season or it's been "one of those days", which is why I can imagine that even though there's no law against it, there are so few people who actually do it.
by jmarkley rate this post as useful

. 2010/10/7 18:24
jmarkley wrote;
"I have been told because there are plenty of places to grab a drink in Japan, that there really isn't a good reason for doing it outside"

Actually, when me and my friends were poor college students in Tokyo, drinking at bars in daily basis was out of the question. But still there were plenty of accessable parks and friend's homes where drinking the cheapest whiskey from the stores (at the time it was Suntory White 1980 yen) was acceptable.

So unless you don't have a home or unless you can't hold your appetite until you get to the park, there was no reason to drink on the streets.

On the other hand, the people who drink on commuter trains and other inappropriate places in Japan KNOW they don't look good. I would simply stare at them deliberately every so often, and they would know why I am staring at them, and they would just grumble back. Even the most young and handsome ones. Others who don't stare or frown at them are simply too scared to do it.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

one kind of sake 2010/10/13 15:48
I saw one small serving size sake in grocery store which stated as advertisement-"enjoy on train or anywhere". I would not do it but have encountered people (all men I have observed) who drink on a train.
by hirosumi (guest) rate this post as useful

"enjoy on train or anywhere" 2010/10/13 16:55
That obviously means "on long distance trains or anywhere fit for picnics."
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

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