Will I feel too Tall?

Jenny, occasionally eating American beef is not going to result in drastic height increases in a population. It's a combination of increased consumption of dairy, chicken, pork, beef and even more fish being eaten these days than before, along with other factors. American beef has been largely banned for a number of years anyway due to BSE fears.

my height, 5'5", would be really tall there.
I don't know why.
I guess I'm just silly.
But I am turning 18 soon and I'm going to japan when I do!
I'm sooo excited.
I was a little curious about this question, but now I see I have nothing to worry about.
^w^

Paige, you are not taller than average for a girl in Japan. I am short at 5'3". Many girls are so much taller than I am. I think westerners believe Japanese people are so short when they are not very short anymore. Also Japanese guys are not short. My first boyfriend was so tall, almost 6 feet! My husband (born in west) is shorter, only 5'10".

Actually 5'5" isn't really tall for a girl your age here. It's only slightly taller than average. At 5'9" I am really tall here, but there are Japanese girls taller than me around. There are benefits to being tall here anyway- every time I take a rush hour train I give thanks that I'm this height- being a short person on a crowded train must be horrible.

Japanese people on average certainly are still short compared to people from many European countries or North America though. I feel my height all the time in Japan, whereas when I go back to my home country I realise I'm not much past average, so there is a difference. My husband is 5'9" (same as me!) and he's taller than a lot of his friends.

People sure grow larger and larger these days.. after just read few posts, i feel small somehow.. -_-"

I am 5�f9�h and when I went to Japan I never thought much about height until reading your post. There are many people taller than me there. Being tall has some advantage there also. One Japanese classical singer made the statement she liked singing with a German classical singer because he was 6�f4�h. She is 6�h and did not have to look down to sing with him. At 5�f9�h you will have no trouble.

To anyone who can't imagine people being over 1.80m in Japan, see for yourself next time you drop by Tokyo. In rural Japan people are very short, when I went to Fukushima a lot of people were like 5'2, some even shorter.
But in Tokyo people were much taller, average height there was maybe 5'9 and some people were even 6' or taller.
Very few people over 6'3 though, not like in America where over 6'3 is quite common.
Even in taller parts they are still behind us in the West but seem to be catching up.

I'm basing this on my own experiences as a 1.78m man from the US who travelled to Tokyo and Fukushima recently.

It depends who you socialise with. I didn't feel tall just walking around Tokyo (apart from when I kept bumping my head on the dangly handles on the trains), but I did feel like a giant when I went clothes shopping and was looking down at most of the shop assisstants, and when I went to see some bands and was a head taller than almost everyone else in the crowd (but most of the people there were girls in their mid teens to 20). I'm also taller than all my female Japanese friends and a couple of my male friends, but I never really felt like a freak over there. If anything it's useful, I've never had a better view at a concert than I had in Japan XD

I'm 188cm and female. When i was in Tokyo i felt HUGE and was taller than a lot of people. THe only people i ever encountered who were taller were a few basketball players.

I'll be going over again though instead of being 16 and 188cm i'm now 21 and i also love wearing heels! That will add another 10-12 cm to my height when going out... ^_^

At 5'7'' a head taller than almost everyone? Somehow that sounds like a nightmare to me O_O I'm 5'6'' and where I live thats on the shorter side... I would't mind being tall I think its alright but not so much more than others.

5'7" does not make you a head taller than almost everyone. Someone who is 5'9" like myself is a head taller than a lot of women, but that does not equal "almost everyone"! Most men under 50 here are around my height or taller, so you would not be as tall as you are thinking here.

I browsed through some posts but not all, on this question. It was interesting lol I thought it was funny some people think there is only short people running around in Japan.
I think no matter how tall, people should just stand up tall. If you have long legs, make them think "omg nice legs," instead of making it seem negative. Just make sure to dress nicely and people will look at you for being pretty, not because you are just tall.

Hello again!
I already posted two years ago.
just wanted to share that I've finally been in Japan. It was such a great experience, I could not be happier.
well, but thats not what this thread is about right ;)

But being there I think I realized that the "nightmare" of being too tall with 5'6"" really only existed in my head. Once I arrived it was quickly out of the way.
*shock* I wasn't so much out of place at all! In general maybe older people would be short, but from younger people there were quite many my height actually, so it felt normal.
nobody mentioned my height either.
I don't know about rural places, only can speak for Tokyo, but I didn't feel out of place after all
even at concerts :)

I would really advice everyone not to think about it too much before going there. You might not even notice a difference :)) wish you a nice time!

I sometimes feel out of place, given that I'm about 5'9 (about 177cm when getting measured at the doctor), but I'm also in the inaka. Most guys I come across are like 175 or 177, sometimes taller, but rarely. So as far as that goes, it's a bit of an annoyance (but even back home, I'm considered tall for a woman). I also sometimes get asked about my height here. Glad no one's asked my weight. lol I'd never share that. Age, sure, height, okay, weight..."too much" will always be my answer. lol

That small thing aside, Japan is still a pretty interesting place to visit/live.

ok alot of these answers really dont help
i am about 6foot 5 inches and even in north america i have troubles looking for cloths

mainly becuase my arm and legs have longer lengths then my torso i also have a size 34 waist

now im not afraid of people staring at me it happens where i live to, its just that alot of people dont live in the UK so saying oh i didnt have any difficulties. is an understatement

when i went to the uk i barely fit in trains and buses, i was able to look over almost everyone and buying cloths ( even shoes) were difficult.

a good pro is the that my torso only needs a medium or large shirt so i can find t shirts easy

I don't think it'll be a problem...if you're a guy. Girls might feel awkward over a certain height....maybe for clothes, like pants (might be too short since women here are short). Like, I'm 177cm. I'm taller than pretty much every woman I've come across (as in Japanese). I can only recall two women I've come across who's been about my height, without heels or taller.

Now, as for men, I've come across Japanese my height and taller.

I don't think they'll look at ya much, though, unless you're like conspicuously tall by even Western standards.

Yes you'll be tall at 6ft 5ins but then you'd be pretty tall at 6ft 5ins anywhere in the world (as you admitted in your post). I did meet/see a few (male) Japanese 6ft and over in Tokyo but it's not as common as in the West generally.

If it's clothing you're worried about, I suggest you try specifically researching what tall Japanese dudes do (there must BE shops that cater to it since the guys I saw all looked well dressed).

In general though, I don't think you'll be any worse of than anywhere else in terms of having to mind your head (especially at historical sites) and check that hotels have long enough beds. Tall people have these trouble everywhere, it seems. Good luck!

I find Japanese men tend to be pretty normal sizes. Most hover around the 6 foot mark. They are less wide than western men though on average.

Japanese girls... I would say they do still tend to be below the western average.There are tall ones out there but most are pretty small.

Oh, and incidentally the build thing makes getting clothes hard in Japan.
Though Japanese guys are around the same height as me they aren't as 'wide' as me and most white people (not fat, I mean like arm to arm, not outwards). Getting loose fitting clothes is generally possible but anything with a slightly tight fit is impossible, you either get something which is so long it is like a dress or something too tight.

Takeda's ghost is spot on - build is more, if not as much of an issue as height when it comes to buying clothes. Japanese people in general are not as broad across the shoulders or through the hips as Westerners - and that goes for both men and women. So even if you're slender, you may still find it tough to get things to fit.

It's the same with shoes - I am not especially tall, but I certainly did not see any women's shoes in my size while I was there (I am sure they exist somewhere, but I didn't see any). I did see men's shoes that would fit me, though.