Avoid the spread of germs and bacterial/viral contamination by wearing masks when sick and also by using hand sanitizer in public areas. Most Japanese restaurants provide wet paper or cotton towels to be used before meals. Some of the cotton towels are even heated prior to be handed in. Almost all public restrooms are properly equipped with toilet seat sanitizer. Also, Japanese people make sure to change their shoes for slippers when they get home. In this way, they avoid bringing in whatever it is that they have encountered while being on the street.
2. Eat fish, seafood and seaweed
Unless one totally rejects the Japanese cuisine, fish, seafood and seaweed are eaten on a daily basis. This can happen without one even noticing it, as many soups and dishes contain at least one of these three ingredients.
3. Eat plenty of vegetables
The importance of vegetables in Japan can be noticed from the spread of vegan cafes and restaurants, vegetable and fruit juice bars and also form the sheer amount of 100% vegetable juices that can be found in regular supermarkets.
4. Drink green tea
Green tea is drunk everywhere in Japan. Hot or cold, in a cafe or a tea house, as a welcome drink in a sushi bar, in the metro, on the street, you name it. There is a wide range of iced green teas that can be bought in supermarkets or convenience stores. Almost all of them are unsweetened.
5. Reduce your sugar intake
There are no dessert menus in traditional Japanese restaurants. Most of the sweets that can be found here are either made from a bean paste (which is not excessively sweet) or can be acquired in French confectioneries (which are famously small).
6. Take care of yourself and find your vocation
Japanese people are usually mindful of their choice in clothes and of the way in which they look, paying a lot of attention to the details of a perfect hair, appropriate make-up and manicure. This attitude probably leads to self-content and to being at ease with oneself. It is not only the physical looks that matter, but also the mind. While sipping a tea or a coffee, many Japanese, both young and old, take a couple of minutes off to read a book or just indulge into a power nap. Work is not forgotten, nonetheless. I have seen a lot of passion and devotion in many people performing different sorts of jobs: from gardening to teaching, from driving to complicated financial analyses that I couldn't really figure out.
8. Be nice to others
The Japanese politeness is already notorious. Many read in it a lack of honesty and openness. However, I would like to focus not on interpretations of it, but rather on how it is felt at the individual level. I, for one, love it when no smile of mine remains unanswered, when people help me without me even asking for their help or when I see nice deeds done without expecting any personal benefit in return. Whether they're heartfelt or not (and who could really tell?), smiles eventually become contagious.
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