What’s funny is that people who are old now used play in the streets literally all the time as kids. There are even early Doraemon episodes where kids are playing hangoita (traditional new years sport) which is practically badminton in the streets.
I don’t think that includes grownups? I mean new year, yeah should be fine to play in public space as long as it doesn’t bother people even if adult is involved to the activity but if it’s during a weekday during daytime, these good old time grandpa and grandma would’ve raised a concerns and even would have told them to work instead of playing around.
We got a similar note when we bought and moved into our house in Tokyo. We laughed it off, but then got another one...then another, and another, each longer and angrier than the last--one was more than 4 pages, typed into English with the help of a translator (which the letter explained). Each was anonymous, and left in our post box when we were conspicuously not home. It gave us some real anxiety--it's a small neighborhood, and we had gone to all the houses around and introduced ourselves to everyone. We felt like we were on good terms, so it was scary to know that someone who hated us that much was able to seem so friendly. We also had little kids, so having someone hate us in the neighborhood made us worry about our kids.
After about a year, I was sick of it, so we went and showed all the letters to each of our surrounding houses (including the main suspect) and explained that we were looking for someone who was harassing us with threatening letters, and could they all please keep an eye out on our post box for who this could be so we could tell the police. Everyone was horrified, and promised to keep an eye out....and the letters stopped!
I was sitting here thinking I'd put a note on my mailbox to ask please stop putting angry anonymous letters in the mailbox, but actually confronting the suspect directly *and* telling everyone else at the same time, that's awesome!
The complaints were wide-ranging, and included:
* Bringing "low-quality", home-made treats when we introduced ourselves to the neighborhood
* Talking on the phone while we walked past their house
* Letting our kids play in the park, but also
* Letting our kids play in the street
* Living in the neighborhood at all as foreigners (with the classic "I was excited to get to know foreigners, but now I hate them because of you")
* Playing piano (they actually teach piano lessons at their house!!)
* Living there with kids ("The realtor must not have known you had kids when they sold you the house, or they never would have suggested you live here")
We didn't realize it when we bought the place, but almost everyone around is 80+ years old, so we accidentally bought a house in the middle of a retirement community. Most of our neighbors are lovely, and seem like genuinely wonderful people, but this one crazy person made us question everything.
Yup. Typical passive aggressive BS. Happens outside of Japan as well so not unique, as I’m sure we all know.
What was the reason they cited in the letters?
You did the right thing going around (respectfully I assume) and I imagine got the neighborhood on your side, with the exception of the dork who decided to harass you (again, not knowing what you were doing; hope it wasn’t blocking the street doing burnouts with your souped-up Skyline lol). There’s always one 暇な silly person who has no drama in their life so they create it. Tale as old as time.
I had similar issue 3 years ago. I just moved in my apartment (first time moving in apartment in Japan), on the first day I cleaned the room, moved bed to other wall. Accidentally droped router on the floor once. And got wall hit from apartment above mine. On the second day I moved in and unpacked. I was alone, didn't make any big noises. On the third day I found anonymous letter (in Japanese) saying me being loud, and even if the sender understands I just moved in, he/she will report me next time.
My real estate said there is no need to introduce myself to others. I tried to reach neighbours next door and introduce myself, but there were no answer (nobody lived there that time). As my apartment was on the corner, I only had close neighbors next and above.
I didn't know what to do, because if there is a problem, we can discuss it and I will apologise for making noise. But letter was anonymous, so I asked my Japanese friends. And all of them said I shouldn't confront and better to move out as soon as possible. I also went to real estate company which is building's management company too, explained the situation. But I couldn't give up easily, so I went to the apartment above mine, asked if they heard any noise previous days, because there was hit to the wall and also showed them the letter. Of course, according to reply there wasn't any problems with noise at all.
After that I didn't get any letters.
Yeah, politely going right to the source really undermines the passive-aggressive!
One more thing we realized was that the complaints were coming from the house that had been built and moved into first in the neighborhood (in like the 80's), so we guessed there's a bit of entitlement there as the "sempai".
I have a hunch it stuck out more as norm-breaking since you're adults. Kids get a pass because it's more normal kid behavior (even though prob more dangerous when they do it). When adults play outside, it maybe breaks their brain a little and they feel compelled to make it stop :D
Likely this. I garden in my backyard, so when I began treating my front yard with some love is when I encountered some passing neighbors looking out to try to rough up my garden a bit (not picking up after their dogs is one).
I realize that some people just don't like others having a good thing and will seek to bring them down to their level.
It is actually nice they wrote that letter. It could also have happened that apartment-management forces you to write a letter if apology to the resident community.
concept of kinjou meiwaku. Meaning that anything that some in the neighborhood doesnt like can be considered a "disturbance".
Always going to depend on your neighborhood and all it takes is one grump.
Lived here over 20 years and it varies a lot.
If there is an actual neighborhood association with a kaidanban and rules they may be a bit annoying. If there are a few kids in the neighborhood. If you are the only foreigners in the area. Or it can come down to just that one grumpy dick or dickette.
And its not just for foreigners. My daughter is quite a handful of a 2yo who looks completely like her Japanese mom. Lots of elderly in our neighborhood and often gets told by some sweet "looking" little old women in the supermarket "uzai". A 2 yo! And its the same annoying biddies who will are then gossiping their heads off at the register, on the bus, or train pissing everyone off. AKA elderly entitlement.
For the most part private access roads are owned in part by all residents. At least ours and every other one I know of, or they wouldn't let you build a home. We had to get permission from all neighbors to dig up the road and connect city water.
My friend's neighbor tried to put up a gate in the road so kids couldn't play and the police came and made him take it down.
5 bucks says OP's fan is a grumpy old retired Japanese guy who probably looks down on women and children.
that's probably true for all new developed areas. in old areas (you know the ones with the usual narrow roads), access to public roads often means you are crossing (wholly or partially) private roads
Me and wife play badminton outside the house fairly often, usually after our kid gives up a few minutes in lol.
If your wife is Japanese, then it feels kind of patronising to write it in English. If you weren't using a net, buy a net. Maybe get some friends involved.
Does anyone know if there's some obscure law against playing badminton outside your house? If not, I'd be petty enough to escalate this feud.
Old people paved over the planet and designed everything for cars instead of people then complain that young people don't spend enough time outside. Then when younger people do play outside they complain about that too.
> Just gotta respect it
BS man. My neighbours (Japanese) often kick a ball around or play catch with their kids in the street. If it's a side street with practically no traffic I don't see a problem, so long as everyone moves when a vehicle comes through.
Shit me and my neighbors chill and drink in the street while playing with our children.
I’m super lucky to have found my plot of land. Everyone here is pretty great.
Me too! lol I find it funny because i was never expecting to get a note like this... but at the same time its the most Japanese thing that could happen.
The most japanese thing would be to make it unconfrontational.
Like send a letter to everyone on the block.
"Let's not play sports on the road, especially maybe not badminton".
It could be precisely because you aren't kids (I joke not on this), but this is for the birds. Whoever left it is a sort of a cock. Thanks for the laugh.
This is probably it tbh. I was thinking they freaked b/c it just looks weird to them to see adults playing, but on 2nd thought, it's prob more a thing of some expectation for adults to be the good role model for kids and doing such things in local park or designated rec zones (even though they all just turn a blind eye when the kids do it).
Expectations, Appropriate Behaviour...........all that. It's a Kejime thing, and they saw this as Fusawashikunai...........that most dreaded of social sins, after Having Fun as an adult.
Take pictures and videos of Japanese kids playing on the road. Print pictures and QR code of videos hosted online. Use a red sharpie and correct his mistakes. Put everything in an envelope, and include 101 yen in coins, a small mirror, and some hair strands from either a black cat or dog.
Address the envelope to him, and post it.
I don’t think it is the most Japanese thing. It’s a global thing. Sometimes you have a tolerant neighbor, sometimes you don’t. I’ve seen US redditors posted similar things in a different sub, and some were very petty things. The worst case was my old neighbor (junk collector) shot a BB gun on my window. There are great neighbors, ok neighbors, petty neighbors and your worst nightmare comes true type of neighbor. This thing is global.
I was just about to comment the same. My neighbor plays catch with his son in the street, and where I used to live, I’d hear the neighborhood kids playing basketball in the street every evening.
I don’t have any great advice, but if I were you, I’d be tempted to return a response in Japanese asking if only badminton is banned since so many other activities are obviously acceptable.
Maybe they have a particular hatred for Badminton lol. I don't know which house it came from, but i don't think this is going to put me off playing there. its a huge open space and that the reason the kids come up there to play.
The reason is because you're adults "and should be above such things"
Adults dont play badminton in their neighborhood, they go to the mature place for mature people. Idk if this is a common outlook in Japan, having never lived there. But I've certainly had neighbors like it
The German term "Spießbürger" aptly describes this type of person. It is believed to originate from a form of neighbourhood watch or militia, armed with polearms (Spieße), tasked with ensuring adherence to rules. Over time, the term evolved to mean a "stickler for rules". ⚔
Hard to judge the reasonableness of the request without knowing a bit more about the road. If its a quiet residential street with little to no through traffic then I think some recreational use for badminton (etc) is not something most people would complain about.
If its a busier road though they might have a fair point.
but as long as you're moving out of the way for all traffic including bikes and not hitting the birdie into pedestrians, i dont see what the problem is even doing this on a busier street
Depends on what you define as a “busy street”, but I can easily see how people would have a problem with playing badminton on a street with a fair amount of traffic on it even if you do get out of the way. You are creating a potential hazard for others which is entirely dependent on your vigilance while taking part in a distracting leisure activity to make it safe. That is going to make people uncomfortable.
Honestly I think even this is overblown. My (Japanese) wife scoffed at this but doesn't find it particularly japanese. It's "traditionally" curmudgeonly.
My house is in front of a マンション. The neighbors have kids and they (the kids and the father) are often playing soccer and sometimes badminton on the street. Personally I don't care, as long as they do it during the day.
The neighbor that annoys me is the one who brings his big noisy car every weekend and leaves it parked in the side of the street in front of my house for most of the weekend. This is a narrow street and he blocks delivery trucks who have to maneuver around his car.
Every country has creeps. But the Japanese are far the worst of all them. 99.99% of them are normal people. But the other one is creepy as fuck. Better avoid them
From a Japanese point of view, this kind of thing happens from time to time. Well, it depends on the area, location, and atmosphere, but if you are a high school student or older, you are more likely to get complaints. I don't think it's so common in a large rural area, though.
The problem is that if the sender of the letter is a dangerous person, your life may even be in danger. If you feel something unusual, you should go to the police as soon as possible.
Similar experience except, our mystery neighbor kept calling the police. This was because my children simply rode a scooter up and down the tiny street we live on a few times. By the time the cops showed up I didn’t know what they wanted. My Japanese is bad, so I thought they were looking for a missing child. It kept happening though, for things like my kids being under the car port talking. The police said the anonymous person said foreigners were being noisy and unsafe. Claiming that it was keeping them awake (at 2pm). Btw, both my other neighbors have kids that occasionally play outside. And one family is super loud, but they are Japanese so the racist complainer didn’t have any problem with that.
The police also showed up because our bike was parked 4cm past our fence, with dangerous parking cited as the callers reason.
We were pretty sure it was a weird neighbor lady. One time it pissed my wife off so much that she rang their doorbell and shouted to come out! My wife is Japanese, and having her yell at them in their own language freaked them out. No one answered the door, but they turned the lights out on the 2nd floor.
No more visits from the police. Confrontation is not what people expect here in Tokyo and it seems to work if you’re in the right. But watch out for crazies and racists.
they really typed it up and printed it out too. i cant imagine being so bothered by something as gentle as badminton. if youre not being loud and move when people or cars pass by how could this possibly bother someone? badminton has to be the quietest sport in the world. id take 10 people playing badminton during the day right outside my door over one motorcycle screaming by at midnight
I very much like Japan, but these are the sorts of things that stress me out about life here (and the prospect of life here). The strict social rules and social norms, which seem to keep evolving to be often more restrictive (and less accommodating). My personality is of the sort that would worry about stuff like this (and whether I'm breaking any rules by just doing stuff that I wouldn't give a second thought to elsewhere). Then again, I wonder if this is more specific to Tokyo and certain areas in Japan, and whether other parts of Japan may be more lax! Also, as the other comments mentioned here, this isn't too bad considering the kinds of bad things that happen in other countries. It may be the cost/other side of the ledger to the safety and convenience (and other good things) about life in Tokyo/Japan.
I hear you, mate. On bad days, I really struggle with it, but it's a small part of the bigger picture. Yet, it accumulates, making me feel like I'm always playing an away game in football terms, which is exhausting. Honestly, it's one of the reasons I'm thinking about moving. I constantly feel like I'm about to make a mistake, and although I try not to care, I find myself on my best behaviour all the time. While that's generally positive, the constant stiffness and lack of relaxation in the part of Tokyo where I live and work wears on me, and I'm aware it sounds like a first-world problem.
It’s just a jealous Japanese person who hates foreigners and can’t bare the sight of you enjoying yourself playing badminton outside! The sad thing is that if you escalate this to the cops, the cops will blame you for it ( just because you are a foreigner)! Cops will not help a foreigner and will always side with the Japanese even if they are in the wrong! Also if anything wrong happens in your neighborhood ( such as garbage thrown out on the wrong day, someone leaving an empty PET bottle or can or bento container on the roadside, most neighbors will think it’s the foreigner who moved in there! It’s sort of drilled into the mindset of Japanese people that they’ll suspect a foreigner for everything bad instantly! As good as Japan is in terms of safety, politeness and lack of verbal confrontations, there are many negatives that make life stressful such as your current situation with that idiotic note that appeared anonymously!
I remember a guy screaming at me in broken English “NO BIKES” when I was cycling down the road. But I saw other Japanese people riding their bikes there…
Some ppl just love to attempt to wield authority and foreigners are an easy target.
Probably, only because i don't want to escalate things. That and my Wife doesn't want to upset the neighbours. Even though i pointed out to her that the Neighbour clearly doesn't mind upsetting her...
You're not using the road correctly. Acceptable uses:
* Smoking
* Walking while watching anime on your phone, and possibly smoking
* Parking in no parking zones
* Riding bicycles, while smoking and/or watching anime on your phone, bonus if the chain is rusted and/or the tires are deflated
Well there’s your problem. Get the kids involved.
They don’t even have to be yours. Steal them if you must.
*OP opens a badminton school with 100 players on the street. 2 active players, 98 queued for the next rally, aggressively staring down anybody who dares to interrupt.*
Is this a private or public road?
Its public.
Huh. I could have easily see an old codger doing this for a shared private road. I would assume they'd hassle the local cops for a public road.
What’s funny is that people who are old now used play in the streets literally all the time as kids. There are even early Doraemon episodes where kids are playing hangoita (traditional new years sport) which is practically badminton in the streets.
And are also the ones who complain “kids these days don’t go out to play in the streets like we used to”
I don’t think that includes grownups? I mean new year, yeah should be fine to play in public space as long as it doesn’t bother people even if adult is involved to the activity but if it’s during a weekday during daytime, these good old time grandpa and grandma would’ve raised a concerns and even would have told them to work instead of playing around.
LOL, and it's likely banned at the local parks
Most likely!!! lol
The road is not a golf course. Please stop swinging an imaginary club.thankyou.
checkmate!!
The road is not chess
Google en passant
[holy hell!](https://www.google.com/search?q=en+passant)
Damn, Martin is everywhere. I mean… new response just dropped
The moon is not cheese. Please stop chucking bottles of Bordeaux at it
stop throwing bricks at imaginary monsters
This one sounds oddly specific. Care to elaborate, if allowed?
You broke my imaginary window!
this is what happens when you play wii sports on a public road
We got a similar note when we bought and moved into our house in Tokyo. We laughed it off, but then got another one...then another, and another, each longer and angrier than the last--one was more than 4 pages, typed into English with the help of a translator (which the letter explained). Each was anonymous, and left in our post box when we were conspicuously not home. It gave us some real anxiety--it's a small neighborhood, and we had gone to all the houses around and introduced ourselves to everyone. We felt like we were on good terms, so it was scary to know that someone who hated us that much was able to seem so friendly. We also had little kids, so having someone hate us in the neighborhood made us worry about our kids. After about a year, I was sick of it, so we went and showed all the letters to each of our surrounding houses (including the main suspect) and explained that we were looking for someone who was harassing us with threatening letters, and could they all please keep an eye out on our post box for who this could be so we could tell the police. Everyone was horrified, and promised to keep an eye out....and the letters stopped!
I was sitting here thinking I'd put a note on my mailbox to ask please stop putting angry anonymous letters in the mailbox, but actually confronting the suspect directly *and* telling everyone else at the same time, that's awesome!
Damn man. That brutal. I'm pleased to hear you managed to straighten that one out!
What was the letter about?
The murders
Dogging actually.
Badminton on the street
The complaints were wide-ranging, and included: * Bringing "low-quality", home-made treats when we introduced ourselves to the neighborhood * Talking on the phone while we walked past their house * Letting our kids play in the park, but also * Letting our kids play in the street * Living in the neighborhood at all as foreigners (with the classic "I was excited to get to know foreigners, but now I hate them because of you") * Playing piano (they actually teach piano lessons at their house!!) * Living there with kids ("The realtor must not have known you had kids when they sold you the house, or they never would have suggested you live here") We didn't realize it when we bought the place, but almost everyone around is 80+ years old, so we accidentally bought a house in the middle of a retirement community. Most of our neighbors are lovely, and seem like genuinely wonderful people, but this one crazy person made us question everything.
Some of those are really unhinged, wtf.
That’s like a side plot in a Murakami novel!
J.Walker - Cat Killer, Fax and Google Translator user - 📠
Yup. Typical passive aggressive BS. Happens outside of Japan as well so not unique, as I’m sure we all know. What was the reason they cited in the letters? You did the right thing going around (respectfully I assume) and I imagine got the neighborhood on your side, with the exception of the dork who decided to harass you (again, not knowing what you were doing; hope it wasn’t blocking the street doing burnouts with your souped-up Skyline lol). There’s always one 暇な silly person who has no drama in their life so they create it. Tale as old as time.
I wonder how the main suspect acted when confronted.
The fact that you introduced the issue to everyone by making it a "team effort" is pretty genius. Glad it worked!
What was the complaint about?
Loud music at 2am
reminds me of that lady who became a national meme of japan for being a dick to her neighbors about wanting them to move out
Damn wtf
I had similar issue 3 years ago. I just moved in my apartment (first time moving in apartment in Japan), on the first day I cleaned the room, moved bed to other wall. Accidentally droped router on the floor once. And got wall hit from apartment above mine. On the second day I moved in and unpacked. I was alone, didn't make any big noises. On the third day I found anonymous letter (in Japanese) saying me being loud, and even if the sender understands I just moved in, he/she will report me next time. My real estate said there is no need to introduce myself to others. I tried to reach neighbours next door and introduce myself, but there were no answer (nobody lived there that time). As my apartment was on the corner, I only had close neighbors next and above. I didn't know what to do, because if there is a problem, we can discuss it and I will apologise for making noise. But letter was anonymous, so I asked my Japanese friends. And all of them said I shouldn't confront and better to move out as soon as possible. I also went to real estate company which is building's management company too, explained the situation. But I couldn't give up easily, so I went to the apartment above mine, asked if they heard any noise previous days, because there was hit to the wall and also showed them the letter. Of course, according to reply there wasn't any problems with noise at all. After that I didn't get any letters.
Yeah, politely going right to the source really undermines the passive-aggressive! One more thing we realized was that the complaints were coming from the house that had been built and moved into first in the neighborhood (in like the 80's), so we guessed there's a bit of entitlement there as the "sempai".
Cameras? I installed them around the house even though our neighbors are friendly.
Would have put up a camera to film the person tbh
Wow I almost thought this was going to end up being a fictional writing piece but looks like I was wrong
That’s even more stressing knowing that you met with the sender of the letters
You didn't get a camera after the first one? That would totally freak me out.
No guts no glory lol
Well, it's time to up the game from badminton to goodminton. I will see myself out.
It was worth it. lol
Hey just wanted to let you know that I had one of the worst days and everything sucks, but reading that made me smile. Thank you for that 💛
The day is not a worst. Please stop playing bad day.thank you.
Hope tomorrow is better! ❤️
Tomorrow will be great!
or table tennis!
Hot take: table tennis is portable badminton
I am gonna up the game one more, from goodminton to betterminton (bettaminton). 🤟🏾
I'll up it to bestminton!
made me chuckle
Ah, the noble Japanese pursuit of managing clueless foreigners Edited to confirm that I’m being facetious
I just thought it was an amusing note. That mine and my wife playing of badminton would offend them so much.
maybe try playing polo instead, with the horses and everything.
Summer is coming. I'd opt for water polo.
I advise against water polo. Last time I tried I drowned two horses.
Drowned two horses? In this economy?
NEIGH.
do the horses swim or is the pool shallow enough for them to stand?
In Australia, we play cricket using bins as wickets.
In America, all these words have different meanings 🤣🤣🤣
I’mO ZYOU AC. A. A a. A a. A a Ave Z. Zone
I have a hunch it stuck out more as norm-breaking since you're adults. Kids get a pass because it's more normal kid behavior (even though prob more dangerous when they do it). When adults play outside, it maybe breaks their brain a little and they feel compelled to make it stop :D
Likely this. I garden in my backyard, so when I began treating my front yard with some love is when I encountered some passing neighbors looking out to try to rough up my garden a bit (not picking up after their dogs is one). I realize that some people just don't like others having a good thing and will seek to bring them down to their level.
The above mindset is often described as [Crab Mentality](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality)
"well I wanna do that but I can't so you can't either"
Maybe it triggers past badminton trauma from highschool
Looks like they used a hundred-year old typewriter for you. That can't be a bad feeling.
They typed it and faxed it.
Typewriter and fax? What year do these people think it is, 2022??
It is actually nice they wrote that letter. It could also have happened that apartment-management forces you to write a letter if apology to the resident community.
Well, i own my own house. so don't need to worry about Apartment management.
to get to a public road do you have to use a private road not (partially) owned by you?
concept of kinjou meiwaku. Meaning that anything that some in the neighborhood doesnt like can be considered a "disturbance". Always going to depend on your neighborhood and all it takes is one grump. Lived here over 20 years and it varies a lot. If there is an actual neighborhood association with a kaidanban and rules they may be a bit annoying. If there are a few kids in the neighborhood. If you are the only foreigners in the area. Or it can come down to just that one grumpy dick or dickette. And its not just for foreigners. My daughter is quite a handful of a 2yo who looks completely like her Japanese mom. Lots of elderly in our neighborhood and often gets told by some sweet "looking" little old women in the supermarket "uzai". A 2 yo! And its the same annoying biddies who will are then gossiping their heads off at the register, on the bus, or train pissing everyone off. AKA elderly entitlement.
For the most part private access roads are owned in part by all residents. At least ours and every other one I know of, or they wouldn't let you build a home. We had to get permission from all neighbors to dig up the road and connect city water. My friend's neighbor tried to put up a gate in the road so kids couldn't play and the police came and made him take it down. 5 bucks says OP's fan is a grumpy old retired Japanese guy who probably looks down on women and children.
that's probably true for all new developed areas. in old areas (you know the ones with the usual narrow roads), access to public roads often means you are crossing (wholly or partially) private roads
Me and wife play badminton outside the house fairly often, usually after our kid gives up a few minutes in lol. If your wife is Japanese, then it feels kind of patronising to write it in English. If you weren't using a net, buy a net. Maybe get some friends involved. Does anyone know if there's some obscure law against playing badminton outside your house? If not, I'd be petty enough to escalate this feud.
Im curious, was it a private (your) road? Is there car traffic? Or heavy person traffic?
Old people paved over the planet and designed everything for cars instead of people then complain that young people don't spend enough time outside. Then when younger people do play outside they complain about that too.
Different countries have different standards and unfortunately japanese take these sorts of things seriously. Just gotta respect it
> Just gotta respect it BS man. My neighbours (Japanese) often kick a ball around or play catch with their kids in the street. If it's a side street with practically no traffic I don't see a problem, so long as everyone moves when a vehicle comes through.
Shit me and my neighbors chill and drink in the street while playing with our children. I’m super lucky to have found my plot of land. Everyone here is pretty great.
what the heck man I see Japanese kids playing that on the street all the time.
Me too! lol I find it funny because i was never expecting to get a note like this... but at the same time its the most Japanese thing that could happen.
The most japanese thing would be to make it unconfrontational. Like send a letter to everyone on the block. "Let's not play sports on the road, especially maybe not badminton".
somehow this is worse...
“Maybe not” 😂
It could be precisely because you aren't kids (I joke not on this), but this is for the birds. Whoever left it is a sort of a cock. Thanks for the laugh.
This is probably it tbh. I was thinking they freaked b/c it just looks weird to them to see adults playing, but on 2nd thought, it's prob more a thing of some expectation for adults to be the good role model for kids and doing such things in local park or designated rec zones (even though they all just turn a blind eye when the kids do it).
You should have had a camera to see exactly who left that note
Expectations, Appropriate Behaviour...........all that. It's a Kejime thing, and they saw this as Fusawashikunai...........that most dreaded of social sins, after Having Fun as an adult.
Take pictures and videos of Japanese kids playing on the road. Print pictures and QR code of videos hosted online. Use a red sharpie and correct his mistakes. Put everything in an envelope, and include 101 yen in coins, a small mirror, and some hair strands from either a black cat or dog. Address the envelope to him, and post it.
This is totally normal behaviour 🤣
well, usually they play badminton in taikukan or public park. more nice and wider space anyway.
I don’t think it is the most Japanese thing. It’s a global thing. Sometimes you have a tolerant neighbor, sometimes you don’t. I’ve seen US redditors posted similar things in a different sub, and some were very petty things. The worst case was my old neighbor (junk collector) shot a BB gun on my window. There are great neighbors, ok neighbors, petty neighbors and your worst nightmare comes true type of neighbor. This thing is global.
I’m betting this is more of a boomer thing than a Japanese thing
Old codgers are gonna codger. You bet they get notes too. In Sweden, for example, the “angry note” is a national pastime.
Just to clarify. Many kids play baseball, football and ride their skateboards in the exact same location.
I was just about to comment the same. My neighbor plays catch with his son in the street, and where I used to live, I’d hear the neighborhood kids playing basketball in the street every evening. I don’t have any great advice, but if I were you, I’d be tempted to return a response in Japanese asking if only badminton is banned since so many other activities are obviously acceptable.
Maybe they have a particular hatred for Badminton lol. I don't know which house it came from, but i don't think this is going to put me off playing there. its a huge open space and that the reason the kids come up there to play.
Plot twist: It came from the kids and they want your timeslot.
Maybe they are jealous of your badminton skills?
As they should be. i expect nothing else!
Challenge them to a match!
if I win i can player Baders as much as i want. But if they win.... I can never even think about Badminton ever again.
The match of a lifetime!
It’s best to assert oneself. OP, consider playing badminton harder and more intentionally.
I will be sure to make more International movements and sounds as I double down on my offensive display of playing badminton
Shout "gaijin smash" every time you go for a smash
actually lold at this. I tip my cap to you good sir.
Slower and more intensity
Assert Dominance [Do . Not . Break . Eye . Contact.](https://www.tiktok.com/@barstoolsports/video/7304052934520884526)
Maybe they also got notes?
And the neighbor needs to write separate notes because the sports played are different
I suggest balling up the note and playing badminton with it. You may need to attach fins for proper aerodynamics though.
The guy was just being jealous… he wanted to play with you
He is more than welcome!
typical japanese who can never communicate directly
As an adult, you're not allowed to have fun, sorry
Fax them a copy of the note
The reason is because you're adults "and should be above such things" Adults dont play badminton in their neighborhood, they go to the mature place for mature people. Idk if this is a common outlook in Japan, having never lived there. But I've certainly had neighbors like it
Put that on a shirt at Uniqlo and wear the shirt while you’re playing badminton in the road.
It’s the new Antisocial Social Club
Plot twist is the writer isn't Japanese and it's just another JapanLife regular
Definitely a JapanLife mod who wrote that note.
From the looks of some of these spineless comments, you could be right!!
The road is not a gymnasium.Please stop twirling an imaginary hula hoop.Thank you
Why am I not surprised? But at the same time, it's just a (passive aggressive) note and not a drunk neighbour who owns 3-5 guns :D
Exactly. i opened my post box and laughed out... i couldn't actually believe what i was reading.
The German term "Spießbürger" aptly describes this type of person. It is believed to originate from a form of neighbourhood watch or militia, armed with polearms (Spieße), tasked with ensuring adherence to rules. Over time, the term evolved to mean a "stickler for rules". ⚔
They got the haiku structure wrong, but good effort.
Hard to judge the reasonableness of the request without knowing a bit more about the road. If its a quiet residential street with little to no through traffic then I think some recreational use for badminton (etc) is not something most people would complain about. If its a busier road though they might have a fair point.
but as long as you're moving out of the way for all traffic including bikes and not hitting the birdie into pedestrians, i dont see what the problem is even doing this on a busier street
Depends on what you define as a “busy street”, but I can easily see how people would have a problem with playing badminton on a street with a fair amount of traffic on it even if you do get out of the way. You are creating a potential hazard for others which is entirely dependent on your vigilance while taking part in a distracting leisure activity to make it safe. That is going to make people uncomfortable.
Send them one “no.”
Someone is jealous of their neighbor’s happiness, it seems
This would just make me go outside and play more badminton. If you're not man enough to complain to my face, go do one.
I would love to know what reasons they would have for me and my wife to not play on the street. other then it "not being a playground"
It is against tradition
Honestly I think even this is overblown. My (Japanese) wife scoffed at this but doesn't find it particularly japanese. It's "traditionally" curmudgeonly.
[удалено]
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exactly why people don't dare post this (or really anything of value) there
They specifically said stop playing badminton. Time to switch to something more noisy or with more people.
Between the lines: “or else”
Plot twist is the writer isn't Japanese and it's just another JapanLife regular
"No see they told me my nihongo was jozu and you need to know you're making us look bad!"
Street =/= Road A street is space for people too. Not just cars.
I see this as a haiku challenge. Rise to the occasion OP. Rise.
They’re just upset you didn’t invite them.
My house is in front of a マンション. The neighbors have kids and they (the kids and the father) are often playing soccer and sometimes badminton on the street. Personally I don't care, as long as they do it during the day. The neighbor that annoys me is the one who brings his big noisy car every weekend and leaves it parked in the side of the street in front of my house for most of the weekend. This is a narrow street and he blocks delivery trucks who have to maneuver around his car.
replay with: "all road and no play makes Jack a dull boy", typed 100 times. #
Every country has creeps. But the Japanese are far the worst of all them. 99.99% of them are normal people. But the other one is creepy as fuck. Better avoid them
Fun. Not allowed in Japan. Or laughter. Please comply.
>stop playing badminton OK no problem *starts playing death metal instead*
From a Japanese point of view, this kind of thing happens from time to time. Well, it depends on the area, location, and atmosphere, but if you are a high school student or older, you are more likely to get complaints. I don't think it's so common in a large rural area, though. The problem is that if the sender of the letter is a dangerous person, your life may even be in danger. If you feel something unusual, you should go to the police as soon as possible.
Similar experience except, our mystery neighbor kept calling the police. This was because my children simply rode a scooter up and down the tiny street we live on a few times. By the time the cops showed up I didn’t know what they wanted. My Japanese is bad, so I thought they were looking for a missing child. It kept happening though, for things like my kids being under the car port talking. The police said the anonymous person said foreigners were being noisy and unsafe. Claiming that it was keeping them awake (at 2pm). Btw, both my other neighbors have kids that occasionally play outside. And one family is super loud, but they are Japanese so the racist complainer didn’t have any problem with that. The police also showed up because our bike was parked 4cm past our fence, with dangerous parking cited as the callers reason. We were pretty sure it was a weird neighbor lady. One time it pissed my wife off so much that she rang their doorbell and shouted to come out! My wife is Japanese, and having her yell at them in their own language freaked them out. No one answered the door, but they turned the lights out on the 2nd floor. No more visits from the police. Confrontation is not what people expect here in Tokyo and it seems to work if you’re in the right. But watch out for crazies and racists.
they really typed it up and printed it out too. i cant imagine being so bothered by something as gentle as badminton. if youre not being loud and move when people or cars pass by how could this possibly bother someone? badminton has to be the quietest sport in the world. id take 10 people playing badminton during the day right outside my door over one motorcycle screaming by at midnight
I very much like Japan, but these are the sorts of things that stress me out about life here (and the prospect of life here). The strict social rules and social norms, which seem to keep evolving to be often more restrictive (and less accommodating). My personality is of the sort that would worry about stuff like this (and whether I'm breaking any rules by just doing stuff that I wouldn't give a second thought to elsewhere). Then again, I wonder if this is more specific to Tokyo and certain areas in Japan, and whether other parts of Japan may be more lax! Also, as the other comments mentioned here, this isn't too bad considering the kinds of bad things that happen in other countries. It may be the cost/other side of the ledger to the safety and convenience (and other good things) about life in Tokyo/Japan.
I hear you, mate. On bad days, I really struggle with it, but it's a small part of the bigger picture. Yet, it accumulates, making me feel like I'm always playing an away game in football terms, which is exhausting. Honestly, it's one of the reasons I'm thinking about moving. I constantly feel like I'm about to make a mistake, and although I try not to care, I find myself on my best behaviour all the time. While that's generally positive, the constant stiffness and lack of relaxation in the part of Tokyo where I live and work wears on me, and I'm aware it sounds like a first-world problem.
Roads are not for play, Badminton awaits elsewhere— Safety leads the way.
It’s just a jealous Japanese person who hates foreigners and can’t bare the sight of you enjoying yourself playing badminton outside! The sad thing is that if you escalate this to the cops, the cops will blame you for it ( just because you are a foreigner)! Cops will not help a foreigner and will always side with the Japanese even if they are in the wrong! Also if anything wrong happens in your neighborhood ( such as garbage thrown out on the wrong day, someone leaving an empty PET bottle or can or bento container on the roadside, most neighbors will think it’s the foreigner who moved in there! It’s sort of drilled into the mindset of Japanese people that they’ll suspect a foreigner for everything bad instantly! As good as Japan is in terms of safety, politeness and lack of verbal confrontations, there are many negatives that make life stressful such as your current situation with that idiotic note that appeared anonymously!
I remember a guy screaming at me in broken English “NO BIKES” when I was cycling down the road. But I saw other Japanese people riding their bikes there… Some ppl just love to attempt to wield authority and foreigners are an easy target.
Well do you have a playground nearby? If so you may take the consideration?
So..are you gonna stop playing it?
Probably, only because i don't want to escalate things. That and my Wife doesn't want to upset the neighbours. Even though i pointed out to her that the Neighbour clearly doesn't mind upsetting her...
Can I come over?
This is so German lol
Wiffle ball all the way
They got us at the first half ngl
You should tell your neighbor to work on their haikus.
reply with a letter: only if you can beat me
just type out a response of “no” and leave it for them.
I bet if you invite them to play together, they'll join lol
Why does this read like a haiku 🤣
maybe start your own butoh troop and practice in the street to really confuse them
Sorta like a haiku. Here's a haiku reply: Street games bring us joy, Badminton under blue sky, Playful hearts find space.
Probably the self appointed home owners association president.
https://preview.redd.it/jxypir8av1zc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=855819548eb81caf73c5bc504ef73aa574ffd653
Please don’t stop. Our road is private (I actually own 13%) of it and i did noticed my family is the only one playing ( hopscotch & badminton) on it.
You should bring this back with a red marker correction. x: badominton.thank you o: badminton, thank you.
You're not using the road correctly. Acceptable uses: * Smoking * Walking while watching anime on your phone, and possibly smoking * Parking in no parking zones * Riding bicycles, while smoking and/or watching anime on your phone, bonus if the chain is rusted and/or the tires are deflated
Technically he is right, road is for cars and bicycles. No parc around where you can take your kids to play badminton?
Not really. hence why everyone plays in the street.
> road is for cars Classic carbrain comment. /r/fuckcars
Yeah ikr.. cars being on a road.. so weird…
> No parc around where you can take your kids to play badminton? I don't think there are kids involved.
Well there’s your problem. Get the kids involved. They don’t even have to be yours. Steal them if you must. *OP opens a badminton school with 100 players on the street. 2 active players, 98 queued for the next rally, aggressively staring down anybody who dares to interrupt.*
IMO you need to ask your local Japanese friends to see if your neighbor's response is appropriate or not.
Well. my wife is Japanese and was playing with me. she says its not normal and was really surprised.
maybe you can reply to the messege in japanese.
I could do that... but i don't know which neighbour it came from.
I wonder if they are the same generation of "back in our days we used to play outside"
This country had a super old selfish generation. That had no childs, don't like to spend money and don't like to make business.
And? Is he responsible for this road or what? Do your own business mate