First Seminar 2B Essay Task2

Dating in Japan

Dating in Japan is very different from the U.S. in many aspects. I learned in the class that it is a normal thing for couples to tell their parents they are going on a date and who they will date with. On the other hands, Japanese couples never tell their parents about this kind of thing unless they were strongly asked. Moreover, they don’t even introduce their boyfriend or girlfriend. In Japan, when couples introduce themselves to their parents, that means that they will get married (but not really all ways these days). Therefore, Japanese couples don’t go to the boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s house, instead they often date outside. It can be said that Japanese are little bit shy about to be known that they are dating. Same thing can be said when we focus on the style of dating. In my view, couples don’t always be together in Japan. They meet together, when there are no people around who they know, for example, after school. This is because they don’t want to be known that they are dating, as I mentioned before, because they are shy.
Then, “What are they shy about?” many people might want to ask this question. In my opinion, this is because Japanese people are not so good at expressing their emotions directly. For instance, Japanese couples don’t express their feeling that much like the word “I love you”. However, people try to express their feeling by attitude and behavior. There is a Japanese word “Satoru” which means try to realize how they feel even though they are saying nothing. I think this is the main reason why they are shy. In conclusion, it can be said that the cultural difference between Japan and the U.S. makes the way of dating different.