Don’t you know it’s normal?

What an annoying set of words. I mean people don't say it, they more insinuate it with their actions and expressions. Either way, once you hear or sense it, you know you've fucked up in some way or another. As a resident in Japan, this happens quite often, even after nearly a decade. Now though, I don't really care. I'm pretty blasé about it all. But at the same time, I think we shouldn't expect people to just assimilate to other cultures.

Especially in Japan. The culture is so context-based it's very easy for Japanese people to expect non-Japanese to know things. And when you're trying to bridge the two cultures, sometimes it's frankly annoying. Not to explain to the non-Japanese the ins and outs of Japanese culture, no, that part's understandable. The hard part is to explain to the Japanese that they truly are unique, and that some facets of their culture are completely taken for granted that need to be explained. In other words, I think the Japanese need to be more understandable, although I can't blame them for trying.

ENJOYED THIS? HAVE MORE.

MOUNTAINS OF WISDOM

Subscribe to my yamabushi newsletter

RECENT BLOG POSTS

A Constant State of Uketamo
Well-liked, or well-respected?
Better Losses

YAMABUSHI BLOG POSTS

Tim Bunting AKA Kiwi Yamabushi on Zao-san
More Baby Steps
person running near street between tall trees
It’s not their race
Abundance of abundance

RANDOM POSTS

Practice runs: I did it again. Twice.
A surprising thing about music
Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Get In Touch

Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan 

tim@timbunting.com

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading...
Scroll to Top