Imagine yourself walking in the middle of a cold night, getting overwhelmed with the lights coming from the LED billboards of Shinjuku. As you are having your dreamy stroll, you stumbled upon a Japanese businessman, sleeping on the sidewalk.
Maybe it's taboo for you, but for the Japanese, it's just a normal setting. Moreover, this businessman is most probably drunk.
So how much do the Japanese drink for them to let themselves sleep on the streets? Or is there another reason for this?
Significance of Group Drinking to Japanese
The Japanese believe that hanging-out with their co-workers after work is a way to strengthen their relationship towards each other, it is because their productivity is too regulated and small talks are considered as a disturbance. They treat after-work drinking or dining as a silent etiquette that everybody should know. This is actually another way to release all the stress from work, and at the same time, to relax.
This activity has actually been etched invisibly in their work code of ethics that it has established its own name – Nominication. The word comes from the combination of the words communication and the Japanese word nomu, which means “drinking.” Simply put, nominication is defined as the “creation of a relationship through the exchange of thoughts and ideas while drinking”.
Japan is known for being a hardworking country so people at the office don’t have much time to mingle with their co-workers. After-work drinking is actually an opportunity to get close to your colleagues and supervisors, letting them know who you really are.
Drink Moderately
But apparently, anything excessive has never been good at all.
Sometimes, these businessmen can’t manage to travel home after booze with their colleagues. As a result of this matter, they just let themselves lay down on the street, without even knowing what had happened.
There was actually a group of people that made a real promotional material to increase the awareness of this matter.
But was it just about drinking too much? Apparently, the answer is no.
When your face turns red
Japanese skin usually turns into bright pink every time they drink.
According to scientific explanation, this kind of condition is called Asian Flush.
Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is an enzyme that converts ethanol, the chemical on your alcoholic drinks, into the harmless acetate, which is the form that can be absorbed by the human body.
Apparently, according to a report from the Japan Times, 40 to 45% of Japanese people have ALDH2, which is the inactive form of ALDH. Due to this, their bodies cannot completely convert alcohol into something that the human body can consume. Hence, they genetically have a low tolerance for alcohol.
Drinking surely is a social phenomenon, but maybe it is also all about knowing how much you can handle. Moderation truly is the key, which can also lead to lower risks of having heart diseases, stroke and diabetes.
So if you will be having a chance to drink with the Japanese, observe how much time it will take their faces to turn red on just one sip of alcohol.
Login with Google