Explore everyday life in Japan

Hourensou

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Hourensou is the Japanese word for spinach. It is also a commonly used acronym that helps to govern social interactions and daily life in Japan.

Hou

Hou stands for houkoku, which essentially means ‘Report’.

Report your intentions, your plans, your movements, your whereabouts, etc. to the people in your life who either need to, or ought to know about them.

Do you have sports practice over the weekend and need a ride to where the practice will be held? Tell your parents about it.

Will you be late to work or school because of something unexpected that happened or came up? Tell your boss or your homeroom teacher about it as soon as you can.

Did you get offered a new job? Were you given money? Did your most recent investment take off or tank? Are you going to be working late tonight, or getting home early? Tell your husband or wife about it.

In other words, keep others informed about what is happening in your life. If you are troubled, somebody in your circle of trust can probably help you in some way, shape, or form. By not keeping the people in your life well-informed, not only will you make it harder for them to help you, most likely, you will also end up inconveniencing them at some point because your unannounced needs will suddenly need to be met. And meeting those needs will interfere with the plans that those in your circle of trust have already made.

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Ren

Ren represents the Japanese word renraku, which is a word for correspondence (usually by e-mail, text message, or phone).

Did you just get finished hanging out with friends? Was it fun? Don’t wait. Send them a message thanking them for their time and tell them that you can’t wait to hang out again.

Did you just meet somebody and get his/her phone number? Don’t wait. Send him/her a message saying that it was nice to meet him/her and that you are looking forward to getting together in the future.

Are you running behind? Make a phone call.

Did you just leave the house? Send a message.

Are you moving from one bar to the next with your friends? Somebody probably needs to know. Send that person a message.

In other words, all of us are connected in some way and each of our actions, whether good, bad, or indifferent, have an impact on other people. To keep the wheels moving as smoothly as possible, it’s best to keep everyone who is directly involved in your life (and sometimes not so directly) very well informed about where and what you are doing and feeling.

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Sou

Sou stands for soudan, which is the Japanese word for ‘Consult’ and ‘Discuss’.

Before making a decision, whether major or minor, talk about it with the people who will most likely be affected by its outcome. Generally this means the people in your family, but not always.

Do you want to buy a new car? Talk about it first. Can you really afford it? Is it really necessary? Will it cause some unforeseen problem that you couldn’t have predicted?

Do you want to give your neighbor a piece of your mind? Talk about it first and get permission to talk to him/her. While doing so, you can also get some advice on how best to approach him/her.

Do you want to start taking yoga classes? Don’t just bite the bullet and sign up. Talk it over with your family first and see if you can find a time that works for everybody.

In other words, you don’t live in your own universe. The things that you do and the decisions you make affect other people. So, before you act, think about the people your actions will (or may) involve and talk with them first.

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This is Hou-Ren-Sou. While a lot of the practices it encompasses may seem simple to execute and like common sense, in actuality, they can be quite complicated and difficult to do well. After all, we’re talking about communication here.

How about you? Do you have any communication practices or techniques that are unique to your family, country, or culture?

Image Credits: All images in this post are original.

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This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.

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