Not so strange after all: Making sense of 'weird Japan'

by Matt Alt

You hear it all the time from tourists and journalists visiting for the first time: ?Japan is so WEIRD! What?s that all about??

Different it may be, but as a wise man once said, ?when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.?

Sure, a lot of Japanese custom seems offbeat when viewed through the lens of a different culture.

Taking potshots is easy. But when you approach things on their own terms, in their own contexts, most of Japan?s supposed ?strangeness? transforms into -- well, everything that?s great about the country.

And in that spirit, here?s our list of supposedly ?weird Japan? things that just might make your next trip even more fun.

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