Hazukashii (恥ずかしい) is the Japanese word to express embarrassment. Contrary to the western culture, it’s not shameful to admit out loud to be embarrassed.
Yesterday night I went out with some friends (now, that’s something new 8). At one point I teamed with one guy to see if we could get acquainted with some girls. The feat proved harder than expected ! Granted that we were in an environment where most guys were Japanese, even more than usual, I’ve never seen a girl telling me hazukashii straight away and then running off ! This has happened a few times yesterday night. Although only in one instance one I’ve heard the word in question.
The reason for all this is not clear, but I have one theory. Excluding that either me or my friend stank badly 8), the theory is that the club, known for being frequented by foreigners (there is even a special discount for foreigners !), yesterday night was actually populated by a different set of girls. Possibly girls that came to Tokyo from less internationalized Japanese cities to shop and have fun for the Golden Week holiday. Those girls weren’t probably expecting to have to deal with foreigners, and quickly succumbed to the fear of the unknown.
Definitely a learning experience.. 8)

Posted by Davide Pasca in Uncategorized