.... work very hard!!!

CLEAN

That's a big thing for both

And that's something we have in common.

Green man!!!

The "taking off street shoes"

That's common.

With a beer

Hi guys it's me Cathy Cat if you don't speak German...

be sure to click on the subtitles so you can see the English subtitles

of this video.

For everyone else let's start in German and....

Off we go!

This time we will talk about 8 things that Germany and Japan have in common.

Similarities that Japan and Germany both share.

Well let's find out what that is....

Germany and Japan are famous for.....

their car brands.

In Germany we drive Japanese cars and some Japanese cars are (obviously)

driven in Japan.

The thought is that those cars use less gasoline or that they are a status symbol.

Another thought that Germany and Japan share is the thought that...

the cars from Germany and Japan are said to be safe cars.

That might be a big industrial thing that we have in common...

Which also includes the cars as big part of the export industry.

That's a big thing for us and we share that.

Germany and Japan have the reputation that they are...

very hard working. Meaning their industry and their workers,

are working very hard and quite a lot.

And we are thought to be "effective" workers.

I think we Germans love the "effectively working"

working culture. We will sometimes work extra time

In order to finish a project and such.

In Japan that's done to a whole new level though.

Here people stay at work VERY LATE sometimes.

And some overtime here isn't even paid.

But concerning Germany and Japan

we share the image that we are hard workers.

Germany and Japan has the reputation for being cleanly countries.

Clean streets or clean stores and especially the German housewifes ....

are said to be great cleaners....

And the Japanese housewives are super cleaners too.

Seems to be some kind of cleansy fad.

Maybe that is something.....

we both value?

I think that's more a cliche

But it seems that's one of the reasons

for putting us in the same box at times.

CLEANSY!

What INCREDIBLY surprised me, when I went to the UK....

Was that one of my professors at my university said....

"You are all coming too late anyways so we will start class 15 minutes later"

That is not heard of in Germany.

And also in Japan, coming late for class is a big NO

Of course it can happen sometimes to anyone.

But generally Germans and Japanese are very punctual people.

To be honest we are OVER-punctual

Being a few minutes EARLY means you are on time.

Arriving on just the right time...

like when you said you are meeting at 12:00 and you're there at 12:00....

is sometimes LATE in the eyes of others.

Same in Japan.

So Germans and Japanese really value it if other people are punctual.

Especially here in Japan, when you.....

should arrive slightly late for a date....

it could RUIN you whole day.

In Japan you have to take an extra step to make up for it....

and the other person had to wait some time...

It's a sign of good manners that you will treat the other person to something

In order to make it up to them.

Invite them for a coffee or icecream.

Because they waited for you so long.

Are you doing the same?

Let us know in the comments.

Really, being punctual is a BIG ISSUE in both countries.

The formal language when communicating with others!

That's something Japanese and Germans share.

In the UK everyone can be referred to as "you"

Even though it was different in the old days.

In Japan and Germany we have two different types of language. One for normal

casual conversation and one more formal language that we use for

our friend's parents or our professors at the university

Formal language to express respect.

Having that as part of you language might make a big difference.

ESPECIALLY in the Japanese language.

There are actually 2 ways of polite language. Polite Language and then

SUPER polite language for special people.

It's really important to remember which type of formal language is used for whom.

That connects everything back to

cultural aspects too. So if you don't have that in your native language

It could be hard to understand at first.

It makes learning Japanese language a little bit harder.

I found it good to know that there is a formal language in Japanese.

We have that in Germany too.

Whoever I would refer to in the polite German "Sie" I would refer to in the polite Japanese lingo too.

So another thing we share.

We are waiting for the little green man!!!

That's something we have in common!!!

The pedestrians will not cross when there is a red traffic light.

Generally speaking.

I was super surprised to see people in the UK J-Walk and cross the traffic lights still.

In Germany in Japan, even when there is no cars around....

We are obeying the little green man.

We wait until our traffic light is green. Crossing the pedestrian lights when it's red is a nono.

And that does not seem to be a common thing.

And that's probably a reason why other countries tell us that we have....

A stick up our butts.... what's the word for that....

We are too "Majime", following too many rules.

We might follow the rules a little bit too much at times.

Oh I said "stick in the butt"... ???

Oh no we got to cut that out of the video..... nevermind... so next...

We follow the rules, sometimes above and beyond...

Because that's what we are supposed to do, so we do it.

And that's why the green man is in charge.

Street shoes off, house slippers on!

In many German households you don't wear street shoes inside.

You take them off in the hallway.

And then swap them for slippers or warm socks

Same in Japan, a lot more strict though.

I generally prefer not to walk with my dirty outdoor shoes in my bedroom.

We share that but in Japan it's practiced more strictly.

There we have designated shoes for designated purposes.

Normal slippers, guest only slippers,

then the toilet only slippers, and the balcony slippers.

You should never confuse them.

Many Japanese visitors confuse them at times.

Especially accidentally wearing the toilet slippers in the house.

That's always a little embarassing.

Happened to me MANY times.

Generally the "taking outdoor shoes off" thing is a common trait.

The end of the work day is often celebrated with a beer!

And surprisingly that's the same in Japan!

I was super surprised. When Japanese people...

go to a restaurant or bar in the evening.

The first thing that gets ordered is a beer.

All the other drinks like rice wine and shochu....

Are coming later.

But the very first thing Japanese people drink is generally a beer.

Guys that's a thing we got in common ey.

Great stuff.

Of course non-alcoholic beers included. They also exist in Japan.

Great stuff.

Those are some things we got in common.

I know Germany has a reputation as being beer-country

Surprisingly Japanese people really like Beers too.

What is also interesting is that beer is the very first drink.

But beer glasses in Japan are often a lot smaller.

So you can keep refilling someone else's glass easier.

Filling someone else's glass is important in Japan.

Contrary in Germany there are HUGE beer jugs we keep drinking from.

There are some differences but those will be...

discussed in a future video with you.

So you can hear more about the vital differences between those countries.

I have made more videos where I compare Germany and Japan

If you are interested in that, there is more!

There is a playlist for that. Find your way there.

If you haven't been together with our channel that long yet.

Well if you don't know this channel much yet.

Would be nice if you could subscribe to this channel or my personal channel

Subscribe! Wait that's "aboniert" in German.

My name is Cathy Cat. If my speaking in German sounds strange to you...

Then that is because I generally do interviews with Japanese people

and international people here in Japan.

So I generally only speak Japanese and English and my German....has gone a little....

rusty... I think.....

I hope you liked the video anyways.

Would be nice to see more of you on the Ask Japanese channel or my personal channel

The "Cathy Cat" channel.

I hope you will subscribe and I will see you guys again soon!

See you for other videos. Bye!