Difference between Japan and France
I went to Japan in August 2012, and in this article I will give you some differences between French culture and Japanese culture. I will not list everything, but I will describe what I noticed most strikingly. These things are the same everywhere in Japan whether in Kyoto, Kobe, Tokyo, etc.
France and Japan
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Service, kindness and hospitality in Japan
When you are a tourist, one of the things you quickly notice is the behavior of people, the thank yous, hellos, can I help you, etc. The Japanese are super helpful and when you do something wrong, you find the Japanese person who says sorry to you.
Service in restaurants is not at all the same in France and Japan yet, there is not really a tipping culture. They do this because it is really natural for them and not because they are paid for it! It is very different from France.
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Work and studies in Japan.
There is something very different about vacations. Let’s take a concrete example: when you go to McDonald’s in the evening in Japan, there are dozens of people there because they want to work on their courses, projects, studies. McDonald’s are open 24 hours a day. Whereas in France late at night, you are more likely to see people coming back from parties or drunk people going to McDonald’s.
The culture of success is very important in Japan, you have to study to succeed and satisfy your parents.
I met several Japanese people who told me, whom I met in a nightclub, that they come here to unwind because they just finished work; it was almost midnight so I imagine they finished work at 10-11 pm! It is very common in Japan to finish late and also to work on Saturdays. It is almost unthinkable to work so late and six days a week in France!!
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Drinking in Japan
At this level, we are really much better than the Japanese, because it is really crazy over there! Some get completely drunk and end up sleeping in the street or in a park because they drank too much. There is something very well known, Japanese men or women do not handle alcohol very well so after the second or third drink, they are already tipsy! Fortunately for them, alcohol is very expensive! 
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The notion of group in Japan
In Japan, there is something quite particular, you go out with colleagues, you have fun with colleagues, in fact the company is the family, it is your life. At least if you are not married, you are obliged to go out with colleagues because it is frowned upon to refuse several times as it is part of the local culture! Rest assured, not everyone or every company is like that.
When I was there, I did not really feel the crisis for several reasons, the Japanese consume Japanese, they do everything themselves and live there; it is moreover for this reason that prices are quite high, whether it is their salary or prices in general. It is a bit like the Scandinavian countries.
And you, what did you notice in Japan?
If you want to know more, here is an interesting book.
