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74 Example Questions (3 closed)

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up vote 22 down vote

added by Nicolas Raoul Aug 9 '11 at 7:07

Interesting:) Does he? – Herr K Dec 5 '11 at 14:54

@HerrK Not often. Almost never for lunch. Sometimes for dinner, especially with clients after a project has ended. – Nicolas Raoul Oct 13 '12 at 10:00

Please note that upvotes should be given to questions with less than 10 upvotes since we need 14 more questions with 10 upvotes. Also, please comment to discuss the validity question, not to answer it. – uncovery Mar 12 at 4:08

@uncovery no, they should not. It's cheating the system and its counterproductive, because it would rob the community of great example questions, leaving only the average ones. – volkerjaan May 26 at 21:52

@volkerjaan what you say does not sound like a logical cause/effect argument to me. – uncovery May 27 at 0:02

up vote 16 down vote

added by Nathan Ellenfield Aug 15 '11 at 15:20

up vote 14 down vote

added by Lukman Aug 9 '11 at 10:13

My feeling on this is like 50-50 between culture and language, so I'll leave it to you guys to decide. – Lukman Aug 9 '11 at 10:18

it is definitely a good topic on culture. – Benoit Aug 13 '11 at 6:31

Saying it and knowing its meaning is language; knowing when to use it is culture. In my opinion at least. Also, an interesting addition to this question could be "What if you are eating alone?" – atlantiza Feb 24 '12 at 20:43

@atlantiza: I totally agree with you. Knowing when it's appropriate to use certain language is definitely culture. – Leif Jul 29 '12 at 17:33

up vote 13 down vote

added by Flaw Aug 9 '11 at 8:35

Does the web need one more "onsen for dummies" page? – Andrew Grimm Apr 21 '12 at 23:12

Your comment is tantamount to saying that Stack Overflow is just another "Programming for dummies" page – K.L. Apr 15 at 7:12

You mean how to use that strange overgadgy toilets? – volkerjaan May 26 at 21:52

up vote 11 down vote

added by Flaw Aug 9 '11 at 14:07

up vote 10 down vote

added by Nicolas Raoul Aug 9 '11 at 7:02

I would say this is on-topic... it is about a Japanese form of art / popular culture. – Nicolas Raoul Aug 11 '11 at 4:46

My understanding is that this is a historical based question, which in my opinion is related to culture. So, I agree with this example question :) – scicalculator Aug 11 '11 at 16:48

this is a question on the history of manga. manga is recognized as subculture in Japan. if we don't focus on manga, it will be good. because there are so many things to talk about and we need to build another site – Benoit Aug 13 '11 at 21:39

Actually I saw there is already a site about manga/anime so this question is off-topic – Nicolas Raoul Aug 14 '11 at 1:20

If there is a manga site this would be off-topic here, if there is only a manga proposal then it is on-topic here too until such time that one or both sites exits beta. – hippietrail Nov 7 '11 at 22:07

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up vote 10 down vote

added by Nicolas Raoul Aug 9 '11 at 7:02

	i think it's about the definition of a word – Benoit Aug 13 '11 at 21:30
	Depends if the definition is "Traditional art of Japanese flower arrangement" or something much larger. – hippietrail Apr 30 '12 at 6:31

up vote 10 down vote

added by Nicolas Raoul Aug 9 '11 at 7:13

up vote 10 down vote

added by Troyen Aug 9 '11 at 8:03

up vote 10 down vote

added by Knu Aug 10 '11 at 11:56

up vote 10 down vote

added by Knu Aug 10 '11 at 12:03

up vote 10 down vote

added by Lukman Aug 13 '11 at 14:54

Even though it's about history of Japan, I think this is on-topic because it's asking about westernization, which is a cultural topic. But I'll leave it to you guys to vote whether it's on or off-topic :) – Lukman Aug 13 '11 at 14:57

I think that questions about history of Japan should also be allowed since they're topic-related and very often interesting enough. – Ikzer Oct 26 '12 at 0:02

up vote 10 down vote

added by Troyen Aug 13 '11 at 22:52

up vote 10 down vote

added by Troyen Aug 13 '11 at 23:04

This seems like something that a lot of people not specifically interested in Japanese culture could benefit from. Even businessmen/businesswomen with no interest in Japanese culture might want to know this. So +1 for a question that can easily bring in visitors. – atlantiza Feb 24 '12 at 20:41

up vote 10 down vote

added by Ken Li Aug 18 '11 at 23:50

up vote 10 down vote

added by hippietrail Aug 25 '11 at 21:31

Don't know if it's related, but for what I know, usually in kendo related occasions, sensei usually drink with one hand, and the rest drinks with two hands. I think it's related to always keeping an hand free for the sword in medieval japan. Should be related to the same tradition that makes a woman pouring drink for guests (so they can always keep an hand free). – Duralumin Nov 23 '12 at 11:30

up vote 10 down vote

added by hippietrail Aug 25 '11 at 21:32

	Oh, did he? Hmm could you post a link, it would be interesting to see? – volkerjaan May 26 at 21:53
	I don't have a link unfortunately, this is something I remember on JAL flights between Australia and Japan or Canada and Japan at least six years ago. – hippietrail May 27 at 2:16

up vote 10 down vote

added by hippietrail Aug 25 '11 at 21:35

Interesting question, it would cause debate even between Japanese people, some stating the temperature reason and some pointing that cold soba must be slurped too. – Nicolas Raoul Jan 1 at 21:21

up vote 10 down vote

added by Louis, edited by hippietrail Apr 30 '12 at 6:33

"Last name" is ambiguous in Japanese where the surname comes first and the given name comes last. I changed it to "surname" for clarity. – hippietrail Apr 30 '12 at 6:33

Good point =).. – Louis Apr 30 '12 at 8:15

up vote 10 down vote

added by atlantiza Feb 24 '12 at 20:39

It seems to be important for some computer written input systems too. – hippietrail Apr 30 '12 at 6:32

Are you asking in terms of legibility? Or in terms of not looking like you're ignorant of the Japanese language? – Andrew Grimm Aug 17 '12 at 7:35

@AndrewGrimm Mostly the latter, but I suppose the former could also play into it – atlantiza Aug 18 '12 at 1:32

up vote 10 down vote

added by atlantiza Feb 24 '12 at 20:48

up vote 10 down vote

added by atlantiza May 5 '12 at 3:24

I realize that this could be a very sensitive question, but someone told me that the attitude is not always so pleasant... So I'd like to see if this is true or not. – atlantiza May 5 '12 at 3:25

It depends, gaijin or native? – Knu Jun 19 '12 at 15:20

gaijin means full foreigner as in no one of Japanese background half or otherwise. Hafu means half Japanese. – Shanethefilmmaker Feb 22 at 2:58

up vote 10 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 7 '12 at 21:17

up vote 10 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 7 '12 at 21:27

Give him 3 days to mourn. – Shanethefilmmaker Feb 22 at 3:00

up vote 10 down vote

added by atlantiza May 15 '12 at 0:54

up vote 10 down vote

added by volkerjaan Jun 6 '12 at 19:21

Yes, it is customary to give your seat to elderly people, although some people might get slightly offended if they "don't feel old enough." Usually, there are reserved seats for elderly people, which other people do not use (even when everything else is occupied). Also, as opposed to many other countries, it is not common in Japan for a man to offer his seat to a lady (unless it's a pregnant lady). – Leif Jul 29 '12 at 17:11

Whops! Think I might have misunderstood the idea of commends on proposal questions, and answered the question instead. My bad! Was a good question, though ^^ – Leif Jul 29 '12 at 17:29

up vote 10 down vote

added by Chris Harris Jun 27 '12 at 17:38

very good question. I've always wondered about that, especially when my Japanese is about the same level as their English – Zetta Suro Oct 4 '12 at 17:30

up vote 10 down vote

added by Chris Harris Jun 27 '12 at 20:14

up vote 10 down vote

added by Kotsu Aug 1 '12 at 14:02

	In which country/culture is it considered rude? Comparing might make this a better question. – Nicolas Raoul Jan 1 at 21:31
	As far as I know, one specific country where this is frowned upon is France (although perhaps you would have a better idea of that Nicolas, being a native?) – Kotsu Jan 2 at 4:13

up vote 10 down vote

added by Andrew Grimm Aug 17 '12 at 7:49

up vote 10 down vote

added by Thomas Moulard Sep 5 '12 at 13:25

up vote 10 down vote

added by Karin Nov 23 '12 at 13:01

During our trip to japan we were given gifts by japanese people ranking from small plastic toys (< 1$) to two yukatas (for us girls) and two complete tea sets (for the boys). Most of the times we only had brought along german chocholate or sparkling wine as gifts. – Karin Nov 23 '12 at 13:09

up vote 8 down vote

added by Zetta Suro Oct 4 '12 at 17:36

Be polite and honest. – Shanethefilmmaker Feb 22 at 3:03

up vote 8 down vote

added by Andrew Grimm Jan 22 at 12:13

up vote 7 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 10 '12 at 14:48

up vote 7 down vote

added by Chris Harris Jun 27 '12 at 17:59

	This seems more relevant to Japanese Language and Usage imo – atlantiza Mar 20 at 4:28
	@atlantiza: While it involves language, I think it is more of a cultural question. Actually, it might be seen as off-topic on JLU. – Nicolas Raoul May 17 at 6:45