What is the Big Difference Between You and Me Japan?

Howdy yall! You know, after going though the honeymoon, the frustration, the rage, the quake, and breakdown and the fuck it phase of living in Japan, what comes next? It hard to give Japan pure hell or totally love this island I call home. It is an odd situation to live in Japan on a long term basis.

 I have not returned to America in years. I often ask myself why. I have been unable to come up with an answer. I just keep staying here year after year hacking out a life for myself. I do not see, or consider, the end goal of living in Japan. I came here several years ago and I have just stayed. It appears more and more clear to me that Japan is becoming home. I have said it before but recently it has hit me harder than usual. I really have no plans to transplant to another country; not even the one I was born in.

Yet, no matter how long I live here it appears I will be viewed as odd or not totally fit to fit in Japanese society. I am viewed as something different which is not be to melted into society. It is fucked up and I often wonder what the hell is Japan`s big problem with the non-native born.

I often look at modern history(A.K.A post empire Japan) to explain this very unusual habit of many people in Japan to view me as forever the outsider. The people are Japan are really proud of their island nation. They have been though a lot to reach the point they are now. After the war, Japanese became a hardcore exploited people. Everyone lined up to ram their dick right in Japan`s asshole as deep as possible. The people of Japan had little choice but to bend over and take it. While I can understand that some of it has been well justified considering that Japan was once hell bent on taking over Asia and the world if they could have pulled it off, a lot of it was just good old capitalist opportunism. It takes one hell of a greedy vile bastard to strong arm a nation, which had two nuke bombs dropped it, to accept the building of nuclear power plants on it`s soil. America set up a very enlightened government structure and a constitution and handed it over to pretty much the same vile piles of shit who were in control of the country before. The US plants it military on Japanese soil in the form of military bases by bribing the political leaders and ever asking the actual people of Japan if they are okay with it. Then there is the massive amount of foreigners who come to this nation and act like total jackasses displaying a complete disregard for the entire culture and the people. With such realization of just some of the things the common person in Japan has put up with over the years, no wonder many of them keep foreigners at kicking distance.

But after dealing with this daily year after year, it gets to the point in which you want to scream at people saying `What is fuck is yalls god damn problem?! Do I have to start from square one with everyone of you every fucking time?! Get over the fact that I don`t look like you and I was not born here! Fuck!`

Trust me...I have had some epic rants on this issue before here on this blog.

My point here that there is a difference of culture between the native land I was born in and the place I now seemingly call home. Yet, there comes a point in which there needs to be an understanding that not every foreigner is someone to be mistrusted and assumed to be at high risk to exploit everyone and everything around them. It is time for this default setting to be changed in Japan.

Yes, it is true that there are a lot of fat ass, loud mouth, self-righteous fucks in the western world. Although, that does not mean people from the west should be put into a box and assumed to be that way until proven otherwise.

Westerners and Japanese are very different on several keys points but we all are human. It is time to realize the fact of our shared humanity and celebrate the differences while promoting the similarities.    

`You Will Never Be One of Us` A Japanese Native Finally Admits It. The Merger of Nationalism and Race in Japan.

Howdy! I have not touched on this topic in a while because there are bigger things going on here on the island. Yet I`ll be damned if someone does not say something which forces it back on topic. If you have lived in Japan long enough, you will notice something about native Japanese. Many, but not all, feel they are special simply because they are Japanese. They do not feel they are special because they have a unique personality, are highly educated, have gain a certain level of success in life or anything like that at all. They feel they are special because they were born Japanese and the rest of the world was not. This type of mindset can also be found in the United States; yet it is a little different. In the states this type of nationalism is not so connected to race and ethnic background as it is in Japan. You will find many Americans who feel that simply because they were born in the United States of America they are special and just a little better than people from other nations. 

Let me make it very clear that nationalism is not a bad thing. Nationalism, when it comes organically(often referred to as patriotism) from the people, is an attempt by the people to protect their own nation is ensure their own collective survival. Although, when nationalism is promoted by `the state` it often produces hatred and elitism among the population toward those who are not a citizen of said nation. As we all know, a nation fully ran and controlled by the people is hard to create and even harder to maintain. While Americans have gone to great lengths to smash racism from their nation and now struggle to take back their own government, many people in Japan refuse to deal with racism and have never really had full control over their government. Such differences is exactly why the opinion which the person in the video below expresses is common in Japan.







As you watched in the video, he clearly says `You will never be Japanese.` His reasoning for this is not shocking for me due to the strong sense of tribalism in Japan which can be a pure bitch to deal with at times. Now, to give this person credit, he is trying to be polite. He does try to hide his own racism by mixing it with nationalism. He takes the position that because he was born in Japan(nationalism) and has Japanese blood(racism) that he is Japanese and someone who was not born in Japan and does not have Japanese blood can never be Japanese. Even if you master the language, pay taxes, maintain a job be a part of society and gain citizenship you can never be Japanese according to this person`s mindset. Of course, such a mindset is very silly when you consider the nature of human society. Human society has no choice but to change and evolve over time. For any human society to survive it must become more diverse and have fresh ideas injected into it. Japan is a society which is thousands of years old. It has been evolving for a long time into what we see today. Does anyone really think that Japan has survived this long without immigration? Koreans and Chinese have been immigrating to Japan for almost as long as there has been a Japan.  I know from my own experience that the average person in Japan feels a hard sting when ever you mention Korean or Chinese immigration. They hate to admit that Koreans and Chinese people have been influencing Japanese society for a very long time.  Bring up how they have treated Koreans and Chinese over the years and they feel the sting even deeper.

It seems to be that many people in Japan want to feel special simply because they have so-called Japanese blood and are born in Japan. Well, if they are so special then why has Japanese society depended on immigration so much over the years to inject fresh ideas into the society, increase the overall population, create a larger labor force and even provide for a larger military? It seems to be that this idea that native born Japanese are somehow special and unique started during the empire days of Japanese history. It was during the days of empire that Japanese society started to regard themselves as being better than other Asians and felt that it was their right to have dominance over them. Even today Japanese history refers to WW2 as `The War of Asian Liberation` as to somehow suggest that it was Japan which was protecting the `lower` Asians from the evil westerners. When in fact it was the Japanese empire which was exploiting other Asian cultures and using force to gain the advantages of mingling with other cultures.

In my opinion, post WW2 Japan only made the situation worse. For the first time, being exploited was on the other shoe for Japan; and it keeps going on even to this day. After being exploited by westerners powers for about 64 years the idea that Japanese are special are unique seems to be a way native born Japanese blind themselves to their own exploitation.  You know, `We are special so we get special treatment from America. We are not being exploited.` Many westerners come to Japan and exploit the hell out of this island. In order to deal with that it seens to me many Japanese say that, `We are special and unique which is why so many gaijin want to come and live here.` In reality, many westerners come to Japan because they can make a decent amount of money, behave with total disregard for what is happening around them, not have to get involved in any aspect of Japanese society and cherry pick the parts of Japan they like and create their own image of Japan to brag to their friends about. So, you can see how a lot of Japanese would create an elitist attitude about being native born in Japan even if it carries no real weight in the big picture. Their racism does them no favors but to give them piece of mind that they are `special.`

It would make far better sense, at least to me, to give up on nationalist racism and focus more on trying to find allies who understand their situation and frustration over what Japan has become. Maybe then they could start to break the chains which the post-war era and modern globalism agenda has placed on their society. Yet, to simply think that `We are Japanese and we are special` without the ass to cash the checks their mouths are writing, will put them in an even deeper hole than they already are.

We All Live in A Gaijin Bubble...And We All Hate Each Other For It!

Howdy Yall! I got your attention with the title of this post; didn't I? So recently, I mentioned the Gaijin Bubble in a post and it got some unexpected reactions. It seems few people like to be referred to as living in a Gaijin bubble in Japan. Apparently, the term 'gaijin bubble' is viewed as a negative term among my fellow gaijin. Yet, the truth of the matter is that almost all of us are living in a gaijin bubble. 

I am damn sure what caused the knee jerk reaction was the simple fact that I did not include myself as living in a gaijin bubble. I can understand that; really I can. Gaijin can have just as much of a tight net community as the Japanese can. If someone implies, 'I am not one of you,' of course a strong reaction might be coming. Well, I can assure you that was not my intention at all. In fact, if it is not clear enough by now, I am a fucking gaijin. I am most likely a classic example of a white bread trailer trash gaijin you will ever come across. Despite my best efforts, I still fail to be accepted as being a part of Japanese society. Yet, I still give it my best shot anyway. And this brings me to why I am writing this post. To my mind, all of us are living in a gaijin bubble due to two very key reasons. First, we are silently excluded from Japanese society. Secondly, due to the silent exclusion, we look to find kinship with other gaijin who are also excluded from Japanese society. And one of the things none of us will ever admit is that, deep down inside, we have a sort of hatred and love for each other. I know what some of you may be thinking, 'What the fuck is this hill billy from the mountains of West Virginia talking about?' Well, please allow me to explain in more detail.

Okay. First we need to get this whole silent exclusion thing explained. I know that a lot of us try damn hard to speak the language, learn the basic mannerisms, grow to love the food and all that jazz. Yet, you and I both know that we will always be viewed as gaijin. This is a cultural fact about Japan. It is something almost everyone knows about but few people will admit. So, maybe I am the first one to say this fact openly. Though, most Japanese don't want to be rude about it so they practice a silent exclusion as to avoid making gaijin feeling more awkward then we already do. In my experience, when you get too close to being a 'insider' as opposed to being an 'outsider,' Japan will back away from you and simply shut you out. This is the truth and most people know it.

Alright, we got the whole silent exclusion out of the way. Now, let's mention the kinship thing a bit.

It is only natural for someone to seek out kinship when they are being marginalized. You want to buddy up with people who are going though the same struggle as you. This is natural and healthy. In fact, it is very important part of living in Japan as a gaijin. You must have at least a few buddies who will not drive you insane. I have my little gang of gaijin buddies I run with and I am sure most of us do as well. I also have a little gang of Japanese buddies I run with, but of course it is not the same(we call ourselves the dirty Adachi gang just for kicks). Rolling with each group is a very different experience. When I am with my gaijin buddies the kinship is so clear that it seems as if we have known each other from birth. Yet, at the same time there is an unspoken level of aggression which could turn ugly at any moment. Some of you may have seen me interacting with one or two of my gaijin buddies and the aggression must be funny and scary at the same time. That is were the hate factor comes into play.

Oh yeah! Gaijin do in fact hate each other to a certain extent. It is very rarely talked about but it is there all the same. There is a feeling among many gaijin, myself included, that we must never take a shot at each other for any given reason. Even when we fuck each other over, it seems that if we air that shit out in the open it is considered the ultimate of sins.  Everyone's ego and pride must be protected like a 16 year old's masturbation habit.  Don't believe me, try it for yourself. Call someone out on their shit and you will witness a fire breathing dragon of hate which will rival the likes of even this guy. So yeah, there is always an unspoken level of hate and aggression just under the surface of most gaijin kinship.All that said, I do have a few buddies who I don't feel any aggression toward. I can only think of one or two.

Alright, now that I have explained what I mean by a 'gaijin bubble' in great detail, I hope you found this post very interesting. I am a very social person so maybe I notice these more than other people. I have been guilty of everything in this post at least once. At the same time, I don't like most of the things I mentioned in this post; this post is simply what I have experienced. I am sure the comments section of this post might get a little hot, but that is alright by me because somethings need to be talked about openly. Let's make the most of this opportunity to discuss a few things we don't normally get the chance to talk about. Maybe you see things a bit differently, so please express yourself. And remember, I love you all very deeply.

The Walking Dead

So, I was pulling down some bread recently and I got into this `discussion` with this guy who has got to be old enough to have seen the bomb drop. I have `taught` this man many times before. He is okay usually but he has this habit of saying really depressing things and never following the flow of the lesson. Well, I must have gotten the luck of the draw because I had to `teach` this guy for two hours straight(two lessons back to back). What this throw back to Imperial Japan said to me was enough to really make me question the soul of the nation.

During the first lesson, which was an advanced discussion lesson, he had another old bag in the class with him. As usual he derailed the flow of the lesson as every given opportunity. It did not matter which section of the lesson we were doing, he was intent on doing his own thing. This of course pissed off the old chick and frustrated me to no ends. Yet, he did not give a fuck.. Fair enough, it`s his money and if he wants to rant on and on so be it. Although, when he had me all to himself things twisted in a very unexpected way.

After stepping out for a quick smoke, I return to the class to find that this guardian of the old faith had booked a lesson which had just been canceled. Being a keen old bastard he of course booked a group lesson knowing full well that no other student would want to have a lesson with his ass. I decided to use some material I had made myself. Usually, I would not waste something I made myself on this bitter stubborn old man. Although, it was a light day and I needed to try out some material. What material was on tap? Well, learning about extended metaphors though the works of Shakespeare of course! This had `old man will reject this and go on a cold blooded rant about society` written all over it. Despite this fact, I threw caution to the wind and used the material anyway.

I sat down with the hopes that this Emperor loving geezer would attempt to learn what I choose to attempt to teach him. At first he seemed to be gun-ho. I presented the topic to him and he was game at first. It was only when we started to modify one of Shakespeare`s  metaphors that this old geezer laid some cold blooded shit on me.
*Remember he never follows any lesson flow.

Old Geezer:
`It is a fact that there is no god. This is why some people have a very good life and others suffer deeply. Those who suffer will die and be gone from our society. They must suffer and they must die. We should never care  about other people. They cannot be helped. If we have any pity on other people, such an act only makes society weak. This is why no American can ever hope to understand we Japanese.`

How in the fuck do you even begin to respond to such a statement? For that matter, how to you maintain your professionalism when a student lays something like that on you?That old fucker smacked me in the face with the weight of the defunct Japanese Empire for seemly no good reason other than for his own sick jollies. He had this smug grin on his face as I struggled to press on with the lesson. With such cold blooded shit as an undercurrent in Japanese society no wonder things are so fucked at times. I have heard of such ideas being one part of modern Japanese society. I have also seen evidence of it in the manner in which the homeless and unemployed are generally treated. That was the first time someone from Japan had ever bluntly laid out the wolf pack mentally to me concerning Japanese society.

I need some feedback on this one. Was this old fart just lashing out at me because he has some old axe to grind with non-Japanese or was he simply stating an often unspoken fact about Japanese society?

Why it is hard to do Business with the Japanese

To say it is difficult to do business with the Japanese is putting the situation very lightly. Despite what you may think, doing business with the Japanese is like trying to get a lion and a rabbit to have turkey dinner together. The Japanese are the hardest people to work with by far. Some of you may be thinking, `But they are so nice and understanding all the time. They must be real easy to work with.` Truth be told, they are not so nice and rarely understanding. They are nice on the surface and only say they understand the situation. Before you so off on a tangent, please allow me to explain.

There is a common believed myth floating around that the Japanese work together for the greater good of all employees and the company. This is the biggest lie I have ever heard about Japanese society. In a Japanese run company everyone is out to get each other. There is almost no trust, while at the same time, lies and rumors fly around like flies at a slaughter house. It is a cold cut-throat environment which causes many people to develop some serious mental illness; just ask any former Geos J-staff about developing a serious mental illness.

The Japanese tend to micro-manage everything to the point of killing off any room for on the fly decision making and flexibility. They follow `policy` and `procedural` regardless of what the situation may demand. In many cases, I have witnessed Japanese follow protocol even when it is clearly obvious a little outside the box thinking is necessary. More surprising is when someone does bend the rules a little to get something done, their fellow co-workers attack them like sharks. They will try to get each other fired over the smallest misstep. They will go after their boss and anyone else who shows any crack in the armor.

On the corporate level the Japanese are real stone cold bastards. They attempt to make everything personal. In house fighting is common and often resulting in business wars which are the thing of legend. If you get caught in the crossfire there is a good change you are going down. If you get in the way of a power struggle the Japanese will send you to the gallows real quick. They do not care who you are or how much experience you have; if they want what you got they will go to extreme ends to get it. When they realize you have power from within the company it burns them up inside. There will be those in a Japanese company who will always seek to take out the person above them. So sadly, in order to maintain your power and influence you have to play politics with them very carefully.

Overall, I must say the Japanese do keep things interesting. Yet, at the end of the day, all the cold blooded business wars they get caught up in usually results in lost profits and constant pressure and stress. I think if they would just get laid more they might chill out a little.

Need to Learn to Speak Better...Among other things

I have finally realized that I really need to learn to speak Japanese better. As of now, I can only say very basic things. This is not going to cut it if I plan on staying on Japan on a long term basis. I want to be able to communicate with people better. There are two things holding me back: motivation and time. When I try to speak Japanese I tend to get frustrated rather quickly. When Japanese people do not understand me I feel like a total idiot and give up. It is not a good habit to have when living in a nation in which my native language is not spoken by most people. I feel like I am being judged when speaking Japanese. I am the kind of person who get a little nervous when I know I am being judged. I must get over this fear if I am do speak Japanese better.

I have a few options for improving my speaking ability. There is this student of mine who teachers Japanese to gaijin. I think she does it at a very low or no cost. She loves my lessons and I think it would be no problem for her to teach me. I actually really like her as a person. She is kind and cares about other people. She is a rare person in this post-modern age. I think she may be a damn good teacher. I have considered asking her to teach me Japanese. My shyness about asking such a request has prevented me from asking her to teach me. I may very well ask her the next time she shows up for a lesson.

My other options are varied. I have tried getting the gal to teach me but that usually ends in total ruin. We simply do not click on teacher/student level. She has no skill what so ever at teaching. It is better just to use her as practice for words I learn. If she understands what I try to say then I consider it a good thing indeed. I did tried to take lessons from a private school but that did not work out so well either. My teacher was good but I could not learn from her. She did not give a shit if I learned anything or not. I think it was a part time job for her anyway. My other option is try and get in on those lessons that the Nerima ward is offering. I do not think I will go for that because I what I really need is a teacher I can make a connection with. I am one of those people who needs to make a connection with someone before I can trust and learn from them. So, it appears that my student is my best option. I trust her and she seems like a person who cares about gaijin learning to speak the Japanese language.

On some other notes of interest in my life; there are some things I may need to improve about myself. You see everyone, I got a problem with dealing with people. I have this chip on my shoulder that I will never be able to lose. I was raised pretty rough and that really shaped me as an adult. I tend to worry a lot about things that I know I should not give two shits about. This makes it hard to some people to get along with me very well. I would like to be a little more smooth but my roughness comes shining though every damn time. When people are polite to me and appreciate what I do for them, it is easy for me to show them my inner self. Sadly, most people are just real assholes. I do not take well to assholes. I have seen a lot of people who are able to charm even the biggest dickhead on the face of the planet. I just cannot do that so well. I also have a hard time dealing with cold people. You know the type, no matter how nice you are to them they just will not warm up to you. I must learn how to charm even the toughest cookie.

The other thing I would like to get better at is showing people that I care about them. Recently, I have been practicing this with the office lady at my base school. I really do care about her but I have been pretty bad at showing it. So, I have started doing little things. When I arrive at work I try to bring a little food for her. I bring a little something for her everyday. You know, a rice ball or something like that. Her English is not so good but she is able to get out a few thank yous. Wednesday she was able to explain to me that the rice ball I gave her was her favorite kind. It almost brings a tear to my eyes that she puts forth the effort to speak English to me. I know it is very hard for her to speak in English. I also have started telling her that she did a good job before I leave for the day. I think it will make her work a little more harder. There is something about her that troubles my brain. I guess that her life is a little more complex than she lets on. In another life she might be a greaser gal. Sometimes she smiles and laughs a lot. Although, there are other times when she does not smile at all and seems to be rather sad. I will take the time to get to know her a little better.

Anyway, maybe I am just a messed up person. I allowed myself to become too rough. It might be too late for me to chance so much; but I am gonna try anyway. My hard noise greaser ways have made me into a complex person. Yeah, a greaser is trying to care about other people. This should be funny for sure. I will always be just a fucking greaser. Hell, one day I should write a book about my life.

Gaijin Not Welcomed here...Sorry

I have always felt that Japan is one of the most accepting places in the world. For the most part this is very true. In Tokyo for example, I see just about every color of the rainbow. People usually get along very well in Tokyo despite the mix of cultural and racial backgrounds.

Although, in the end Japan belongs to the Japanese. I have always been mindful that Japan is not my birth place. My `right` to be here is very different from the natives. I have been given permission to live in Japan. I have been given permission to call Tokyo my home. While I am grateful to live in Tokyo, a recent experience left me feeling shocked and slightly hurt.

I must say now that I do not live in the downtown area of Tokyo. I live in Adachi-ku in the Aoi area. Aoi is a little neighborhood which is almost completely residential. Oddly enough, Aoi rest in between Kita-Senju and Ayase which are hot beds of gang activity. Usually, these areas are actually pretty safe to hang out in as long as you do not get in the way of `business.` Recently, I was board and really had nothing better to do than wonder around late at night. I took the 20 minute walk to Ayase station just to see what was happening. Well, it was just the usual all night bars,internet cafes, and pink action. The only thing I was really interested in that night was a cold beer. First, I went to a bar that offered a gaijin staff. It was run by a couple of black guys. Almost no body was there but it was Wednesday after all. I did kind find it a little strange that a gaijin bar was located in a building full of pink businesses. They must have a `special` deal with a local gangs or something.

After having an over priced beer I decided I wanted to get away from that building all together. I wondered around a few streets for a while until a spotted a bar with the English name `Come On.` It seemed like an ok place so I went in. I sat down at the bar and I quickly realized that something was not right. Everyone was dressed in black and looking at me like I was the devil. In fact the entire bar, including the tables and chairs, were painted black. I asked for a beer, in Japanese, but was not given one. Instead, a guy came out from the back took me by the arm and booted me out of the place. After tossing me onto the street he simply said to me, `No gaijin sorry.`

A numb feeling took over my entire body. I was in the most extreme state of shock I had ever felt. It was like my brain knew exactly what had just happened but I was unable to feel the correct emotions. I really didn`t know how to react. I remember saying to myself, `did they really just refuse to serve me because I am not Japanese?`

I walked down the street with this numb painful feeling washing over me. I wanted to kick something. I wanted to tell someone what had just happened. I wanted to do something so I could break the unbearable numbing pain. Sadly, there was nothing I could do but just take it.

The experience does not make me hold anything against Japanese people. This is the first time I have ever been toss out of a place just because I am gaijin. I assume this is a very rare thing to happen. I did ask a few of the locals and while they had never heard of the place they did tell me that it was most likely a gangster bar. I still do not know the correct emotions to feel. I have decided to just let it slid off my back. If anyone else has had a similar experience please share it in the comments section.

It is all in the Eyes

Until I actually started living in Japan I always thought that the Japanese use very little body language. I have never seem any other culture of people who can keep a straight face in almost any situation. Sometimes it may be easy to think that Japanese people are way too serious. Even when they are really upset, a lot of Japanese, do not change the expression on their face. I have come to understand that the Japanese do use a lot of body language; just in a very different way.

Japanese body language seems to be much more slight and passive than in America. A lot of Japanese have told me that it is so easy to tell how an American is feeling and what they are thinking. They say we over express ourselves. We wear our emotions on our face. Their comments are more true than I ever realized. I have noticed myself giving away my thoughts and emotions just by the expression on my face. I have never really tried to control my facial expressions until I made Japan my home. Living in Tokyo has taught me the value of being aware of my facial expressions.

From what I have observed the two most common use of body language is the eyes and mouth; the movement of the hips and feet can also be very telling. Eyes say a million words in Tokyo. Making eye contact is a big deal in the land of the raising sun. I has raised that it is just good manners to look someone in the eyes when you are talking to them or get their attention. It appears that eye contact can take on a whole different meaning in Japan. When wondering around the streets of Tokyo never brush off a quick glance or direct eye contact. If you do you might just pass up someone who is `very` interesting in you or might even offer you something that you are really gonna want. The easist way to get someones attention in Japan, I have found, is to make direct eye contact and smile. It also helps to slightly lower my head as to show I mean to danger. I have been able to get a lot of people to open up and talk to me on the street just by looking them in the eyes, smiling, and lower my head just a little bit. Making a quick deep glare and motioning with my head to follow me ro come near me has also worked magic.

The power of a smile in Tokyo is almost endless. A smile is an invite. It says; `Come here I like you` or `I want you to come over here and talk to me.` I have experienced many times in Tokyo that a smile ended up getting me into interesting situations. If someone smiles at you on the streets it is usually a good idea to find out what they want. There is also the universal factor of if you smile at somone they will usually smile back. I have discovered that a smile is a great way to find out what someone is looking to do; what is their agenda for the day. If you are the kind of person that fits into their plans a smile can get you a piece of the action if you know what I mean. So, don`t be afraid to smile at someone who looks interesting to you on the streets of Tokyo. Just remember to stay relaxed or you might mess up the whole deal.

I should also mention the use of feet and hips. It is very aggressive to show the botton of your shoes or foot when setting down. There are a lot of people who will be set off my this action. The body language of the hips are still kind of confusing for me. Although, I have noticed that the movement of their hips to communiate is different from Americans;this is more true for women. The movements of a Japanese gals hips can say a lot about her mood. If a gal in Tokyo is talking to you and she is moving her hips a lot there is a good chance she is enjoying your company. I don`t know if this is true of all Japanese gals from in my experience hip movement is a tell tell sign.

As a spend more time in Japan I will learn more about Japanese body language. Japanese tend to not say what they are thinking or feeling. They show you though body language more often than not. This might very well become a life long study project for me.