Anyone who spends even a little time in Japan will have a few good stories to tell when they get back home.
But rubbing elbows with the Japanese, on their own turf, is good for more than just a laugh. The experience can give you a lot of insight into yourself. And that's not the kind of thing you can pick up in any old souvenir shop.
This illustrated Japan travel culture guie is for anyone who can read English (and even if you can't, you can always look at the pictures) and especially for those who already know a little something about Japan (I guarantee that it will confuse you even more). But it is dedicated to all those trailblazing expatriates who have been crazy enough to actually try and live alongside the natives in this very (insert favorite stereotype here) country.
I like to think that the mere presence of we foreigners in their Montana-sized enclave is a spur to Japan's own efforts to "internationalize". That's a holy grail of an objective that the Japanese seem hell-bent on realizing. Problem is, they haven't yet defined for themselves what it means. But they'll figure it out someday. And when they do, with luck, they'll realize that they have more in common with the rest of the world, i.e., gaijin, than not.
