Hello, and welcome to the first post! For those who are not aware, my name is Josh, and I am currently both married and residing in Japan. Hence the name of this blog! My intent with this endeavor is to provide myself with an outlet for the many fascinating and insightful, um.., insights that I have about marriage and Japanese life in general. Being fairly new to both of these situations has provided me with a wealth of knowledge and experience about a wide variety of subjects, both social and cultural. The first of these subjects that I would like to discuss is poop.
Poop, or unko in Japanese, is a much more acceptable topic for conversation in Japan than it is in most other countries. This is most clearly demonstrated by Japanese children. For these young, developing leaders of the future, feces is not just something to talk about; it is a way of life. Consider if you will, the following enlightening conversation I had with a student of mine on this very topic:
Me: What is this?
Student: Unko!!
Me: No, this is a giraffe.
Student: This is a unko!!
Me: Can you say giraffe?
Student: UNKO!!!!!!!!
As you can see, it is a topic that this particular student takes very seriously. There are actually a couple of different conclusions that can be drawn from this. Firstly, it could be assumed that Japanese children actually do defecate in shapes of exotic animals. Which would be fantastic. The second, less entertaining conclusion is that somehow Japanese people are made at ease with their own byproduct, even from an early age. I say this because of something I was recently made aware of.
The other night, my wife and I were watching a drama on TV, when the following on-screen situation arose: A young boy of about kindergarten age was on the toilet, trying his utmost to produce some excrement, but to no avail. His mother was outside the restroom giving her best poop-grunts to try and help the process along. It was at this point I thought I would offer some words of wisdom:
Me: You know, he shouldn’t force it, it’s not healthy.
My Wife: But he has to finish before he goes to school.
Me: Why? Japanese schools don’t have toilets?
My Wife: Of course they do! But he has to finish so he can bring it with him.
Me: Oh, I see. Wait… What?
My Wife: He has to bring it to school with him.
Me: His poop?
My Wife: Yeah. Everyone has to do it. It’s for their healthcheck. I think they do it once a year.
Me: So you mean there is a day, every year, that every kid brings his poop to school with him?
My Wife: Yes.
Me: …… How do they bring it?
My Wife: In a poop jar.
Me: Oh, well of course.
So, it seems that even from childhood people in Japan are introduced to fecal matter as a thing you can carry around, bring to school, and show your friends. Like a small pet. This, I believe, is the root cause of the vast disparity in poop culture that exists between America and Japan. Mystery solved. You’re welcome.
