Japan is simply an awesome blend of high-tech and weird looking stuff. Although some parts of Japan and Tokyo might seem like a bit too much, after a few days everyone gets comfortable with Japanese culture. In fact, many expats may even have trouble getting back to normal life in the West after spending a few months in Japan. Some of the most bizarre things in Japan include the high tech toilets, capsule hotels, bizarre festivals and weird foods.
Japanese people are really into cute, furry animals - so it is no wonder they were one of the first to invent the now trendy, and internationally popular "cat cafes." These coffee shops are meant for people who like cats but are too busy to keep one at home.
"Capsule hotels," kind of look like they were made for some dystopian sci-fi movie. A capsule hotel is basically just dozens if not hundreds of little square boxes in the walls where people can rent a tight bed in order to sleep a few hours.
Japan has one major problem = a lot of people identify as single, or live isolated lifestyles. This means many of them don't have company with whom to drink a cup of coffee. Moomin cafes help with this problem, by setting you up for coffee with a cute Moomin toy.
For some people visiting Japan, the high-tech toilets found throughout airports and shopping malls may be the first sign of just how different Japan is in comparison to other countries. It is weird how these high-tech toilets haven't yet made it to the rest of the world.
Takotamago may just be one of the weirdest and tastiest food on Earth. This kind of street food is made from a small octopus found in the seas near Japan - but check this out - for added taste, the octopus has a cooked egg in its head.
Love hotels are also called "boutique hotels' in other countries. In comparison to a normal hotel, in here you can book a room for three hours, meaning you don't have to pay for the full night - an excellent choice for couples looking for a place to be together.
April may be one of the best times to visit Japan - because April is the month where many cities throughout Japan celebrate the annual "penis festival." What's even weirder is that even parents with their children visit the festival in Kanamara Matsuri.
You may have thought that cat cafes may sound weird, but there are far more unique things happening in Japan. One of those things are the "cuddle cafes" - a place where men can pay to sleep next to beautiful girls. No touching allowed.
Apart from Cat and Cuddle cafes, there is another, 3rd weird coffee option in Japan. That option is the "Maid Café" - a place where the waitresses are dressed in cute Lolita outfits. Sometimes the girls stay on the street near the café, trying to lure single men.
In the West, vending machines sell only the usual items - coke, cigarettes, coffee, and perhaps condoms if you are in a shady nightclub. In Japan, vending machines are everywhere and you can buy hot and cold beverages, bananas, milk, noodles, and all sorts of other things.
You probably didn't know that most of the tuna in the world actually comes from Japan. Even more weirdly, most of the tune is sold on a single market - called the Tsukiji Market Tuna Auction. Entrée is free of charge, but you have to reserve a spot, sometimes months in advance.
Pachinko is a type of low-level arcade game. The parlors are places where people can go in groups or join other people to play the games. The places look like a weird combination of a Las Vegas casino and a Tokyo Cat Café.
"Kawaii" is the Japanese word for "cute." If you are after cute, unique items, there is no better place for you than to visit the Harajuku area of Tokyo. The area offers a ton of colorful, unique shops, selling some of the best handmade items in the world.
Akihabara is an area of Tokyo that specialized in many different stuff. One of the things it specializes are the sex shops and the 18+ anime rental shops, but you can only enter the area if you are of legal age - there are strict controls regarding this in Japan.
Everyone loves doughnuts, but only the Japanese would go as far as making animal doughnuts. These would probably be best sellers in the cat cafes, although apart from cats, some of the shapes also include frogs, dogs, and bears.
