/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Sensing yet another cross-cultural disaster in the making, I began the investigation, hitting up all the usual suspects for information, including my friend Tomoko, who was dating a western guy called Andy.

Me: Sorry to bring this up suddenly, but does it weird you out that Andy sometimes initiates sex without showering first?
Tomoko: YES! I'm so glad I finally have someone to talk to about this! Cat, are all westerners like this? It's so dirty and I can't relax! It makes me feel like we are just animals!

After I heard basically the same story from all my Japanese girlfriends, I went back to Seiji.

Me: First of all, westerners don't always shower or have a bath before sex. However, I will try to accommodate you on this because the idea of sex without showering seemed to horrify everyone I talked to right down to their very bones. Secondly, when you suggested that I shower the other day, and I said no, I was not rejecting you. I didn't understand that it was your Japanese signal that you wanted to have sex. If I had understood that, I would definitely have said yes.
Seiji: *spits tea all over the table*
Me: …this is one of those deeply unspoken Japanese things that I'm not supposed to talk about directly, isn't it.
Seiji: Yes.