I have now been at Waseda University for roughly two weeks and noted a couple of things that seem different from home. So here is what struck me as surprising:

In Germany, I would expect every student to speak English. Here, well, some speak excellent English and are nearly accent-free, while others have such a heavy accent that they are hard to understand. And some - I'd estimate roughly half - do not speak any English at all. Or they are too embarrassed to try.

In Japan, studies are organised in years. 4 years of bachelor, 2 years of master and 3 years of Ph.D. The lab is mainly filled with students and very few PhD students, as it counts as studies. I guess a Ph.D., especially with tuition fees, is very hard to finance. In the last bachelor year, students choose a lab. They are expected to stay associated with the lab until the end of their master's studies. Thus, after three years of general studies, they focus on one area for another three years.

All students are expected to help with lab organisations. There is one team for organising spring and summer camp and advertising, one for technical things, and one for the lab itself. It is basically what the PhDs would do in Germany.

As far as I have encountered them, introductions in Japan follow a distinct protocol. Which goes like this :

Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is [surname, firstname]. I am a [n-th year] student. My hobbies are ... My research interests are ...

Of course, there are several formulations to be used, and it might be true that all introductions go like this, independent of language or culture.

However, sitting through 27 introductions, I felt all followed the same, very strict protocol.

The other thing is that eating is an adequate hobby. One student likes eating ramen, and another claimed that eating curry is their hobby. And several mentioned eating (without further specifications). One professor claimed sci-fi manga and anime to be their hobby. It seems there is less judgment, and you are free to choose whatever you like.

Maybe I should add this to my own introduction next time: Hi. Nice to meet you. My name is Katja. My hobby is eating ice cream.

The cafeteria has the same menu every day, sometimes enhanced with a daily or seasonal special. The basics are curry and fried chicken. Obviously, there is also rice, miso soup, and a variety of small side dishes, such as broccoli with egg. Due to most dishes being something and rice, the rice can be prepared in advance when crowded, and you just take the one. This makes it extremely efficient. When you order, for most dishes, you can also choose the size: small, medium or large, which I find incredibly smart. In Japanese culture, there must be no leftovers. So, more sustainable.

On the other side, all the cutlery and the cups where one-time use only, creating vast amounts of garbage. Actually, the system was changed to a reusable one this week.

Maybe it was the setting or my biases, but during the meetings, no one was doing something else; everyone seemed to listen. This observation might tell me more about German culture than about Japanese culture.

By now - roughly two weeks of being there - what struck me as most surprising is that people brush their teeth in the office. I have seen several colleagues and students brush their teeth in the office. They will walk out to the restroom when they are done, but the actual brushing is done in the office, sometimes even during conversation.