I read some guys story that as an American in Japan it is impossible for him to make friends.
Even the Japanese themselves don’t talk to each other..
I wish we would have that custom here. There’s nothing like being sneezed on by someone with a bad cold...
(btw, I think the idea was introduced into Japan after the 1922 earthquake, by US medical aid workers.)
Last year my daughter and granddaughter had an exchange student from Sweden. We all fell in love with her and she with the family. Soooo quiet. So I asked what was the first thing she noticed here. She said the noise and everybody talks. She said on the train in Sweden no one talks to anyone else. Other places too. Very reserved. Boy did we change her before she left! lol She actually came back in April and stayed a week again.