Quote Originally Posted by Ocean Dude View Post
>Eating peanuts will make your nose bleed.
>Drinking soda (especially dark ones) will melt your bones.
If they really believed this, it would be hard to explain all the bags of peanuts and cans of soda that are sold in convenience stores as snacks; why Coke is one of the best selling beverages in Japan, and; why peanuts are sold in a such variety as shelled, unshelled, and mixed with those rice cracker things.
>Leaving a window open while you sleep will give you a stomach ache.
>Leaving a fan on while you sleep will make you sick and may kill you.
Maybe your gf was just trying to test your mettle. I've heard that in some karate classes you are forced to train Tokyo in the middle of summer in a room with the windows and doors closed and no a/c. And in Hokkaido during the winter in a room without heating.
Did you pass the test?
Well, I don't think they believe that simply eating peanuts will make your nose bleed or drinking dark cola will make your bones melt, but rather that eating or drinking in excess can lead to such things. It's more like, if somebody's nose bleeds, they'll try to trace back the last time they ate peanuts and attribute it to that if possible. Kind of like how many people around the world try to blame junk food on acne when (as any dermatologist can tell you) there's not really a connection. But anyway, people still love junk food.
The fan thing isn't really exclusive to Japan. I've heard from friends that people in Korea also believe it, so it's probably East Asia in general. I know that a lot of people really believe this because I've been warned about it by several Japanese friends during the summer months.