Are Japanese People Really Nice?

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 08:04:42 GMT

Are Japanese People Really Nice?

I'm Jamaican, and I've been living in Japan for 10 years now. My wife is Japanese, and we have two young sons.

A Warm Encounter at the Park

It was a sunny Saturday evening. We had just finished playing football with my 2-year-old and set up a picnic mat on the lawn to enjoy some sweet egg

sandwiches. A couple of people passed by, smiling at the sight. Then an old man stopped his bicycle and spoke to my son in Japanese, asking if his sandwich tasted good and commenting on the weather. I took the moment in and reflected on how pleasant it is to have warm interactions with strangers. Young kids often bring out gentle emotions in others, especially those who don't have to take care of them.

A Colder Glance

A few minutes later, an old lady walked past in a mask. She looked at me and my family with what seemed like disdain, then quickly trotted away. I almost remarked to my wife that Japanese people can be cold, but then I remembered the warm interaction just moments before. Two distinct encounters had just taken place, yet I was ready to draw a conclusion based on only one and one that was pure speculation. I could have misinterpreted her expression, and I had no idea what was going on in her mind.

The Lesson

It reminded me that we are likely to find what we are looking for. If you come to Japan expecting insincere people who dislike foreigners, you will surely find them. If you come looking for kindness and love, you will find that too. Japan, like everywhere else, is filled with all kinds of people going through all kinds of situations. Yes, cultural norms differ from other societies, but that doesn't change the fact that individuals vary widely.

Different Perspectives

I've spoken to tourists who swear Japanese people are all helpful and welcoming. I've also spoken to tourists who felt isolated or discriminated against, with no one willing to sit beside them on trains. I myself have experienced both extremes. My conclusion: Japanese people are just people. Some are really nice, others not so nice. Some are hardworking and helpful, others entitled and grumpy. And if we're honest, at times we've all been each of

these things.

Choosing What to Focus On

It's up to us what we choose to fixate on. As my park encounter taught me, we often find what we're searching for. I don't suggest pretending the world is perfect, but I do think it's wise to give more energy to the positive. Naturally, the negative will slowly fade. Have you had any similar reflections? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Mata ne!

Tattoos & Hot Springs in Japan

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:16:19 GMT

Why do Hot Springs in Japan ban tattoos?

Many people have heard that Hot Springs, public pools, and even some restaurants and hotels in Japan don't allow guests to enter if they have tattoos. What's the real reason behind this?

Origins

While it's believed that Japanese people have been getting tattoos for over 2000 years now, the more recent history may help explain this curious rule. During the Nara Period (700s) people were subjected to tattoos as a form of punishment if they were caught committing a crime. Fast forward to the Edo period (1600s to 1800s), they even went as far as tattooing words like 'BIG DOG' on the foreheads of criminals. Eventually, they stopped all this and made tattoos illegal, both for punishment and style up until 1948. So we can see that there was quite a negative stigma towards tattoo in Japan up to this point.

Yakuza

Even before tattooing was decriminalized, the Japanese mafia, Yakuza , started getting full-sleeved elaborate tattoos as a part of their initialization. This fact, compounded with the already negative image of tattoos in Japan, caused the average Japanese person to feel somewhat fearful whenever they saw someone with tatts.

Public Bathing

Back in the day, many homes in Japan didn't have a bath, and so public bathhouses were an essential part of daily life. People would go to public bathhouses, and if they saw someone there who had a tattoo, they would apparently quiver in fear, and run to complain to the bathhouse owner. From then until now, Japanese people hate receiving complaints, and try to go above and beyond to avoid it, and this led to the eventual ban of tattoos in public bathhouses and Hot Springs.

Modern Attitudes towards tattoos

I've been living in Japan for over 10 years now, and I've seen many Japanese people with tattoos - about half of my friends here. It's probably still not as popular as it is in the west, however it has definitely lost the strong association with criminality. Yes, the Yakuza still do have their elaborate tattoos, but most people who have tattoos these days are not Yakuza, and heck, Yakuza are allowed everywhere else anyways. The rule is simply outdated, but Japan can be quite slow to change old rules, especially if they don't have a very pressing reason to. To my tattooed readers, fear not, I have found a hidden gem, a fully natural mountain hot spring facility in the west side of Tokyo that allows all kinds of tattoos. If you want to escape the city rush downtown, spend a day in the beautiful mountains of West Tokyo, and cap it off with a refreshing soak in the Hot Springs, click here .

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Are Japanese People Really Nice?