Quirky Japan Blog recently posted this, a look at “urawaza” from a Japanese perspective. As the blog explains, “urawaza” means helpful hints or secret techniques for getting something done. Uncovered are some useful nuggets of advice which could only ever be for life in Japan.
Sergio / Wikimedia Commons
How to stand steady on the train without a strap
Getting that rare seat on a crowded subway train is the prize of many a commuter – see our guide here for how to get ahead. If you do fail to find pride of place in a train carriage and can’t quite make the strap (or are too cool to do so), then you are advised to spread your feet apart with one forward and one back with the ball of your back foot pointed outwards. If you relax, don’t lock your knees, it will act as a sort of cushion and any vibrations from the train can be handled with ease. Finally, if the train curves to the right, shift your center of gravity to the right, and when it curves to the left, shift your weight to the left.
Eating sushi in the right order to make it taste better.
When eating sushi, the tips in Japanese advise you to start with the light, simple choices, move onto the boiled stuff, then to anything with a strong flavor (wasabi etc), and finally makizushi (sushi wrapped in seaweed). Why this way? Apparently, if you eat fatty foods first, the fat will stay in your mouth, and your tongue will lose its sensitivity to delicacies of sushi.
Saving money at the post office
As Quirky Japan points out, Japan Post offers a number of ways for saving money while still getting stuff done. Tip 1; send an “eco-hagaki” (eco-friendly postcard) for 45 yen. Not a big saving as regular postcards cost 50 yen, but every little helps. Eco-hagaki feature a small add on the address side which makes it slightly cheaper to buy.
Tip 2: Send an aerogram instead of a regular letter as this will save you 20 yen – the letter can be folded and glued to make an envelope saving you 20 yen each time.
Tip 3: Send packages of under 30 kg for a flat rate of 500 yen! If the package you want to send is less than 30 kg, and fits into an envelope no bigger than 248x340mm, then you can send it anywhere in Japan for 500 yen.
Tip 4: This is not exactly done at the post office but if you consider buying stamps cheaply at kinken shops (ticket shops), you can expect to save around 5%.
Finally, get a 50-yen discount on a yuu-pakku if the address on the label is the same. If you send packages to the same person several times a year, you can get a 50-yen discount on yuu-pakku with the same address. Be sure to get address labels in advance!
How to wake your legs up as fast as possible after they have become numb from sitting Japanese style
Standing up after sitting Japanese-style for even a short amount of time can leave you with a dead leg, especially for longer-legged version of the foreign species. The answer is to put your weight on your toes and sit on your heels. Stay in that position for a couple of minutes. As the Quirky blog points out, standing up quickly can lead to injury.
How to tell if someone is still talking on the phone after you get a busy signal.
If you make a call only to find that the line on the other end is busy, you can get a message to let you know that their call has finished. A free service from NTT, simply dial 159 within a minute of your original call and push 1.
When the call is finished, the user will be contacted, and a voice message will let you know that the call is over. There are some limitations (keitai’s are not included, for example), but you do not need to be registered with NTT and it can certainly come in handy when contacting Japanese friends or businesses that seem periodically engaged.
Head over to Quirky Japan Blog for more.
Comments
cool story bro, too.
Right or wrong,helpful or not. Do not forget that u are using the Internet to get more information. Obviously,people use the web for many different reasons. But most importantly, people write HELPFUL hints/blogs base on their experience not yours. Therefore, do not take the time to write negative feed back instead help others to understand your experience. Others might need your help.
If we knew exactly where to go for help we would have been reading this.
“Quirky Japan Blog recently posted this, a look at “urawaza” from a Japanese perspective. As the blog explains, “urawaza” means helpful hints or secret techniques for getting something done. Uncovered are some useful nuggets of advice which could only ever be for life in Japan.”
The worlds “important tips” were never written. If everyone only writes about survival tips then we never learn the nuance. And Japan is all about nuance… I think the sushi idea is great — who would have told me that?
Next time I’m sure they’ll do better job extracting “important” information from the Japanese. Like asking an American how to survive in America… if you’re NOT American. What kind of responses would you get?
Not a waste of time at all…
sigh so much ungrateful gaijin trash here.
Where are the tips that actually HELP you live in Japan? What kind of crud is “eating sushi in the right order to make it taste better?” And if I call a phone number and it’s busy, I just um…I don’t know…call back LATER!
Oh, by the way – are you sure Mr Writer that the weight is 30KG for 500 yen, in an envelope (that is 248x340mm)? That is great advice! What, on this earth, is 30 KG and that small? Just make it easy and put the bloody thing in the post box!
G-man? What a wuss! ‘If you haven’t got anything NICE to say!?’
How old are you? It is rubbish! Pick up a travel guide from 15 years ago (I can send it to you if you want some helpful hints you imbecile! ) and it will tell you all of these things as a matter of course! It is good to hear you are saving some money at the PO though, really heartwarming to hear that Lil Ole G-man is saving his pennies up for his trip to the comic cafe! Flipping? Are you a confused Limey or a nutty Yank?
Shut up all of you.
Show some respect and don’t be so flipping rude.
If you haven’t got anything nice to say to the person(s) who took the time to write what might have been helpful, then don’t comment, accept it and look elsewhere. Other people like myself found saving money at the post office useful, NTT call back notice useful, and will be taking up the advice given. It’s good to know this sort of thing in case you might be asked or need the info in the future. You never know.
Is this really what the Japanese people think are considered imporatant tips? I agree with Bob. I want my minutes back.
cool storry bob
Cool story, bro!
cool story, bro
cool story bro
Absolutely useless-does the author think that Japan is the only country where people have to stand up on trains!? What do normal people do when the phone they are calling is busy? Try again after a few minutes. Order of eating sushi??? What is ginger and green tea there for (refresh and clean palate maybe?)? Although I wasted my time also reading this gumpf, its good to see that the plonker who wrote it wasted a lot more!
This is not helpful at all. I want my minutes I spent reading this back!