What turn you off in Japan

I want to ask foreigner who lives in or travel japan,
what kind of things make you feel uncomfortable in japan?

Power lines and ugly signs that mar a nice landscape or city district.

Excessive passport checks inside the departure lobby and station area of Narita Airport.

Travel agencies reserving vacant hotel rooms and overnight train compartments without using all of them.

That smoking is allowed indoors. We still go to places regardless and don't let it ruin our time at all, but it would be brilliant if smoking wasn't so prevalent :)

These are not major deal breakers for travel to Japan, because I love it there. But these can be annoying.

Hot and Humid Summers with no A/C.

No napkins given out in restaurants (or tiny tissues in place of napkins). However, this is balanced by the omnipresent oshibori.

No trash cans when you need one (yet everything is clean!).

People bowing respectfully to you when you leave a store or hotel, and you have to just walk away. Makes me feel uncomfortable or rude to just walk away while they are bowing!

Ditto on smoking (especially when they ask you if you want a non smoking seat, which happens to be right next to a smoking seat). Oh well.

Dale

Have to agree with the smoking issue, ESP in restaurants and hotels.
I have found the lack of SMS usage an issue, but not a turn off: just hard managing emails on international roaming rather than SMS. BUT that seems to be sorted now, since June this year, so hopefully our next trip will be easier in that aspect.
I really hope I do not cause any offense with this one, and please don't condemn me!! I find loud excessive sniffing a turn off, just as I know that blowing noses is also a turn off for those in whose country I am a visitor, so I try to manage my own nasal issues appropriately: it is purely a difference in culture, so I respect that.
Sorry!!

Banks not open at weekends.

racial discrimination at estate agents (especially for chinese, koreans, latinos, blacks and any other non-white ethnic minorities)

disregard for sustainable building (knock down and build again attitude) / chaotic town planning.

Lack of respect for preserving countryside and nature.

Lack of police accountability... forced confessions, death penalty etc.

There are also lots of things I love about Japan too...but since you didn't ask for them I wont bother to list them.

i'm very interested in reading all of your opinion,especially bowing of japanese.That's just what i was thinking though i am japanese.

when i've been to u.s they never bow and so i really didn't need to care about them.



continuously, please tell me more about your opinion.

I thought of another one. When people bump into you or need to get past they can be quite pushy and not apologise. That frustrated me a little bit the first time we were in Japan, but I didn't mind the 2nd time because I recognise it's not considered rude there. There's so many people rushing around, and it's not intentional. I love getting caught up in the rush now :)

Smoking-as a non-smoker I find the prevelence of Smiking in Japan to be my biggest turn-off, especially in restuarants there have been many occasions where my Brother and I have wanted to try out a beef bowl place but the clouds of cigarette smoke have quickly disauded us.

I mainly love Japan and feel comfortable there, but as you asked:
+ The smoking
+ Turning nature into a sea of concrete
+ Motorways to nowhere build with public money
+ People pushing to get onto a train or lift when I am about to alight
+ Drunken salarymen in the street (although they can be quite funny)
+ The strong links between politicians and companies and the fact that everybody seems to accept this conflict of interest as normal (See TEPCO) :-)

First off, i love Japan. Go there almost every year (from Europe).
Here are some things i think Japan could improve (for the tourist):
-Agee with Uji about the power lines. It spoils a lot of nice scenery and I hope that in the rebuilding of the tsunami damaged area�fs all the utilities go underground.
-More than years ago the (tourist related) signs and pamphlets are only in Japanese. So you do not have a clue what the details are of a tourist spot. Also when you move around you miss a lot of interesting places as you cannot read the signs pointing to those areas. It would be nice if more signs (also in museums) are in English.
-Get rid of the blue building material that covers a lot of (temporary) buildings etc. Pick green or brown so it blends better in the surroundings.
-Turn of the background sound and remove a lot of the screaming advertising signs in big shops like Big. It is really irritant. I forgot the name of the store but they do not play sound or aural advertising so it is really nice to shop there.
-The prices of the toll roads are a little bit on the high side.
-Means of communication (cell phones/ mobil internet etc) is complicated/expensive. Here I can buy a simple prepaid phone for 20 Euro with 10 Euro prepaid. In Japan the minimum is 60 Euro. And remember Japan is the country of the gadgets!
This comes to mind. Maybe there should also be a list of the nice things about visiting Japan. I am pretty sure it will be much longer.
B. Slager

People who are on their cell phones or texting and standing/stopping in the middle of the pathway.

Jo, it's been happening everywhere recently.
In US, I have been finding people standing in the middle of street talking, texing that I almost run them over a few times.
In Japan I saw a guy on moped & another time on bicycle falling & rolling on the ground & still talking on their cell phones after stopping (or trying) for the red traffic signal. lol.
What annoys me most is the perceived efficiency when it is not. Everybody looks busy but so much time is wasted. Another thing is the perceived quality, i.e. over-packaging that is better looking than the product quality inside.