Q. WHY DO JAPANESE OFTEN SLEEP ON TRAINS? Answer: Until recently, people who slept on trains were mostly businessmen, but the younger people now have

Q. Why don’t the Japanese look the other person in the eye when speaking? Answer: Etiquette prescribes that fixing one’s eyes on the chest of

Q. Why are the hands clapped when praying at shrines (Shintoism) and placed together when praying at temples (Buddhism)? Answer: The reading of the kanji

Q. Why aren’t presents opened in front of the giver? Answer: There are scenes in American movies where a person receives a present, quickly rips

Q. Why are the Japanese always so quick to pour sake into another’s sake cup? Answer: There are many terms referring to sake in Japanese.

Q. Why is money always wrapped when given? Answer: Except when purchasing something, many Japanese feel that it is impolite not to have money wrapped

Q. Why is money always wrapped when given? Answer: There are Japanese who are not Christians but who buy a Christmas cake to celebrate Christmas

Q. Why don’t the Japanese invite people over to their homes? Answer: The average size of a Japanese house, as seen by people from other

Q. Why do Japanese husbands call their wives gusai (my foolish wife)? Answer: Gu (foolish) is one of the humble forms used when the Japanese

Q. Why do the Japanese change to a different pair of slippers when using the lavatory? Answer: Some of the elderly, born during the Meiji

Q. Why do the Japanese take off their shoes on the shinkansen and airplanes? Answer: People can occasionally be seen wearing slippers and walking along

Q. Why is a cup of coffee at coffee shops so expensive? Answer: Although the actual cost of producing coffee is negligible, a regular cup

Q. Why are purchases wrapped so nicely at stores in Japan? Answer: The history of wrapping in Japan goes way back to the primitive age

Q. Why do cars keep to the left side of the street and pedestrians to the right? Answer: Japan joined the Convention on Road Traffic

Q. Why don’t people in Japan eat while walking? Answer: Table manners in Japan dictate that one is to sit and eat food served in