日本令外國人困惑的十個行爲(上)
Japan has long had a reputation for being somewhat bizarre. Over the top TV programs, a keen interest in technology and a love of the odd has given the impression that Japan is a very different world compared to the West. While that reputation is a little unfair, a number of Japanese customs and practices can completely baffle any foreigners who happen to be traveling through Japan.
日本人長久以來都被冠以“怪異”的名聲，通過著名電視節目展現出來的，擁有對科技的敏銳直覺和對古怪事物的高狂熱度的日本人，較之西方，顯得尤爲不同。雖然這種印象稍顯不公，但很多日本習俗和實例還是讓很多去日本旅遊的外國人感到困惑。shment Rooms
10.“冷宮”Many countries have strong labor laws that prevent companies from sacking employees without good reason. In Japan, this has led to a problem for large companies that want to get rid of certain people but can't fire them without paying out huge benefit packages.
許多國家擁有強有力的勞動法來防止企業毫無正當緣由地辭退員工，而在日本，這就給很多公司帶來了麻煩，想要擺脫一些理應開除的員工，但又不得不付給他們鉅額的福利。
The solution many have come up with, including the likes of Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba, is to use banishment rooms. Employees are sent to do tasks that serve no purpose or are mind numbingly boring. A prime example includes asking staff to stare at a TV monitor for up to 10 hours a companies who employ this tactic hope that people will become so despondent from carrying out such menial work that they'll eventually quit. A voluntary resignation means that they're no longer entitled to benefits, saving the business money.
但問題很快就隨之解決了，包括松下、索尼以及東芝在內的企業都採用了”冷宮“，即打發員工去做一些毫無意義或者枯燥至極的事兒。最好的例子就是讓員工一整天去盯着電視達10小時以上。企業採用這種方式是希望這些員工在此類丟臉的工作中受挫從而爲儘快脫身，最終選擇離開。自願辭職就意味着他們不能再得到福利，從而節省了企業資金。Janitors In School
9.校園無環衛
Children in the West are used to seeing janitors cleaning and carrying out maintenance tasks in their school. It's a necessary job due to the mess that kids have a tendency of leaving behind them.
西方小孩對於在學校裏環衛工人清洗和搬運需保養的各類設備已是見怪不怪，因爲這項工作是必需的，小孩們都有隨手丟東西的習慣而把事情搞得一團糟。That isn't the case in Japan though. Instead of employing someone to clean up other people's trash, the schools teach students to clean up after themselves. Dedicated time is set aside for children to work together to clean classrooms, scrub floors and keep the bathroom spotless. It also extends to eating lunch. Rather than a cafeteria, students eat in their own classroom with their teacher and hand out the food idea is that all of this teaches a sense of responsibility and of working together — learning to be selfless rather than selfish. While these are definitely good morals to be teaching children, it's a practice that appears completely alien outside of Japan.
這並非是日本學校沒有環衛的原因，相反，學校會教育小孩自己來打掃衛生，而不是僱傭環衛來做。學校會專門留出時間讓孩子們共同勞作，打掃教室、樓梯間，並保持盥洗室一塵不染。甚至午餐也是如此，學生和老師會在教室分發食物，而不是去自助餐廳。這些都是爲了培養孩子們的責任感和協作意識——懂得無私，而不是自私。當然這教會了孩子們良好的品德，也讓日本較之其他國家變得與衆不同。ping On The Job
8.工作時間小憩
Getting caught napping at work is something that generally gets you in trouble. Any boss would likely not be pleased to walk in on you sleeping when they're paying you to do a job. However this action, which is known as inemuri, is completely acceptable in Japan.
要是在工作過程中打盹你肯定就麻煩了，任何老闆都不會樂意當要交付你一項工作時，卻看到你在睡覺！然後這個衆所周知的大忌，卻在日本完全能夠被接受。The custom dictates that if you're sleeping at work it means you've been working so hard you haven't been able to get enough sleep at home. This leads employers to believe that the worker is simply exhausted as they're incredibly dedicated to their practice has such positive connotations attached that some people even pretend to be asleep to gain favor. It seems they may be onto something — research from NASA has shown that a nap at work may well help you to work harder.
日本風俗表示，工作期間睡着了，那便意味着你忙過頭了以至於都沒辦法在家好好睡覺，也讓領導認爲員工僅僅是極爲專注自身工作所以這樣筋疲力盡。這一行爲富含如此正面的意義，以至於有些人甚至會裝睡來騙取嘉獎。似乎一些研究已經表明，在NASA工作，小睡是會幫助你更加努力的工作。t Adoption
7.成人收養
Adoption is carried out all over the world, but while the USA and Japan are at the top of the world when it comes to adoption rates, the type of adoption in Japan is completely different.
全世界都有收養規定，而提及收養率，美國和日本在則是名列前位，但日本式收養卻截然不同。An incredible 98% of all adoptions in Japan involve adults aged 20 to 30, the vast majority of these being men. If the owner of a family business doesn't have a son to keep the family name alive, a suitable heir will be found and adopted into the family. The custom is also employed if a father deems his son incapable of running the business. Companies such as Suzuki, Toyota and Canon have practiced what's called 's allowed family businesses to survive and thrive for much longer than would normally be the case. One example is the Zengoro Hoshi hotel, which the Guinness World Records list as the oldest family run business in the world at 1,300 years old. That's 46 generations.
令人難以置信的是，在收養人羣中年齡在20~30歲的成人佔了98%的比例，並且其中大部分爲男性。如果一個家族企業的所有人沒能有個兒子來繼續發展他的企 業，那麼他可以尋找一個適合的繼承人並將其收爲養子，並同樣適用於該所有人不認爲自己的兒子能夠繼續運營公司的情況。像鈴木、豐田和佳能這些企業就是如 此，這些人被稱之爲”婿養子“。正因如此，一般情況下這些家族企業都會繼承並繼續發展壯大。其中就包括粟津溫泉，是被吉尼斯紀錄在冊的現今世界範圍內運營時間最久的家族企業，已運營1300年，歷經46代。komori
6.宅男
Over the past two decades, Japan has developed a unique phenomenon that involves young men locking themselves away and becoming entirely isolated. Agoraphobia manifests all around the world in many different cultures, but the problem in Japan is unique because of how widespread it is.
在過去的二十年裏，日本創造了一種特殊的現象，就是年輕男子會將自己鎖在家中並與世隔絕。不同文化背景下的”社交恐懼症“在全世界普遍存在，但在日本變得特殊是因爲這範圍實在太廣泛。So prevalent is the condition that there exist specialist facilities and counselors to help rehabilitate sufferers, whose number is estimated to be between 700,000 and 1 million. Men lock themselves away in small rooms and have almost no contact with the outside world, relying entirely on their parents to provide food. Cases usually last for several years but some have continued indefinitely, remaining isolated for over a decade.
即便目前普遍存在專業設備以及人員來幫助患者擺脫困境，但宅男人數仍保持在70萬到100萬之間。宅男們將自己關在狹小的空間內，幾乎不與外界接觸，完全依靠父母養活。一般這種情況只會持續幾年，但也有不確定的，有可能會超過十年。醫生和心理學家認爲，由於日本文化與習俗，這個現象或許將變得十分普遍。在孩子未滿30歲之前，父母都樂意照顧他們。並且認爲這種孤立是有價值的傳統。編輯：青卉 來源：前十網
