2026 Kenn’s Blog

Living in Thailand has made me notice how different social culture can be in Japan. In Thailand, inviting friends or relatives to your home is quite common and often seen as a warm way to build relationships. People enjoy sharing meals, spending time together, and creating a friendly atmosphere at home. In Japan, however, inviting guests to one’s house is much less common, even among younger generations. Most social gatherings usually happen at restaurants, cafés, or isakayas instead of private homes. One reason is that many Japanese homes, especially in large cities, are relatively small, making hosting difficult. There is also a strong cultural emphasis on privacy and cleanliness, so some people may feel pressure to prepare their homes perfectly before inviting others over. For someone from Thailand, this difference can feel unusual at first. However, it also shows how Japanese society values personal space and formality in social relationships. Interestingly, when a Japanese person ...

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Cultural “other” awareness is the ability to understand and respect people whose cultural backgrounds, behaviors, and social norms are different from our own. It encourages people to look beyond their usual perspective and recognize that habits considered “normal” in one culture may be very different in another. Developing this awareness helps reduce misunderstandings and allows people to adapt more easily when interacting with others from different societies. Living in Japan has made me more aware of how culture shapes everyday behavior in ways I never noticed before. Coming from Bangkok, I am used to a fast and social environment where people talk loudly, joke often, and interact casually with strangers. In Japan, especially in Osaka, I noticed that people are much quieter in public spaces. On trains, almost everyone stays silent, and even in elevators people rarely speak to each other. At first, the atmosphere felt distant to me, but over time I realized it is also a way of respecti...