So I'm at a goth bar called Idea, in Kobe, having a drink with a friend and talking to mama-san, and this guy comes back from the bathroom with nothing on from the waist down. He sits back down on the bar stool and keeps drinking. No one acted like they noticed, or reacted at all, really. Except for my American friend, who for whatever reason gets pretty freaked out by this and says its time to move on to the next place.
This is one of those weird things about Japan. It sometimes seems like such a homogenous society, requiring strict uniformity, like all the sarariman wearing the same black suits, but then you get some really eccentric behavior like this guy drinking without his pants on, and its OK. Maybe I was just sheltered, but I didn't know any places in New York where you could do something like this (OK, I also didn't know anyone who wanted to...just saying).
Anyone else seen similar strangeness wherever you are? Or is this one of those "only in Japan" experiences, like Kobayashi-san (photo), who has become a minor celebrity in this corner of Japan for this interesting look... (Then again, I remember seeing a guy at Idea, again, who sometimes dressed in something like a Little Bo Peep costume while he enjoyed a few drinks, then he'd change back to a suit and go home).
So I'm at a goth bar called Idea, in Kobe, having a drink with a friend and talking to mama-san, and this guy comes back from the bathroom with nothing on from the waist down. He sits back down on the bar stool and keeps drinking. No one acted like they noticed, or reacted at all, really. Except for my American friend, who for whatever reason gets pretty freaked out by this and says its time to move on to the next place.
This is one of those weird things about Japan. It sometimes seems like such a homogenous society, requiring strict uniformity, like all the sarariman wearing the same black suits, but then you get some really eccentric behavior like this guy drinking without his pants on, and its OK. Maybe I was just sheltered, but I didn't know any places in New York where you could do something like this (OK, I also didn't know anyone who wanted to...just saying).
Anyone else seen similar strangeness wherever you are? Or is this one of those "only in Japan" experiences, like Kobayashi-san (photo), who has become a minor celebrity in this corner of Japan for this interesting look... (Then again, I remember seeing a guy at Idea, again, who sometimes dressed in something like a Little Bo Peep costume while he enjoyed a few drinks, then he'd change back to a suit and go home).
This is one of those weird things about Japan. It sometimes seems like such a homogenous society, requiring strict uniformity, like all the sarariman wearing the same black suits, but then you get some really eccentric behavior like this guy drinking without his pants on, and its OK. Maybe I was just sheltered, but I didn't know any places in New York where you could do something like this (OK, I also didn't know anyone who wanted to...just saying).
Anyone else seen similar strangeness wherever you are? Or is this one of those "only in Japan" experiences, like Kobayashi-san (photo), who has become a minor celebrity in this corner of Japan for this interesting look... (Then again, I remember seeing a guy at Idea, again, who sometimes dressed in something like a Little Bo Peep costume while he enjoyed a few drinks, then he'd change back to a suit and go home).