Kazuki Kawamura (河村一樹), a Japanese who has been in Taiwan for more than three years, chose to settle in Taiwan because he has a keen interest in Chinese. He wanted to be an actor in Taiwan to develop his acting career. Kazuki wanted to raise awareness and created the YouTube channel “Yi Ke Shu De Yi Shu” (一棵樹的一樹), sharing the daily life experience in Taiwan and the cultural differences between Taiwan and Japan. His channel has shown daily life in Taiwan, and this enables more Japanese to understand Taiwan more.
This episode of【New immigrants in Taiwan】shares 100 things Kazuki observed in Taiwan that surprised him. The next episode will share the cultural differences between Taiwan and Japan in terms of lifestyle and cost of living.
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The price of steaks in Taiwan is very affordable compared to Japan’s. (Photo / Authorized and Provided by 一棵樹的一樹)
In terms of cost of living, Taiwan is known as the Kingdom of Fruits and many foreigners who come to Taiwan will definitely taste them. Not only are the prices affordable and delicious, Kazuki also shares prices of pineapples. Some customers bring pineapples home to peel and cut them by themselves and it has a “self-kill”
(自殺) price whereas the peeled pineapple has a “kill by others” (他殺) price. These two different prices make Kazuki surprised.
In addition, Kazuki also found that there are many steakhouses in Taiwan, even in the night market. The price of steaks also makes him astonished because it is very affordable. In comparison, the price of steak in Japan is mostly expensive.
Two different prices of pineapples make Kazuki surprised. (Photo / Authorized and Provided by 一棵樹的一樹)
Kazuki thinks that Taiwan’s contact lenses are much cheaper than Japan’s. Taiwan is the place with the largest number of contact lens manufacturers in the world. Due to fierce competition, the price of contact lenses in Taiwan is lower and even foreign tourists will come to Taiwan to purchase them and bring them home.
In terms of worship, Kazuki observed that Taiwanese people would place offerings in front of their doors at home to worship. For example, during Ghost Month, it is common to see families worship at doorways. However, in Japan, they would worship inside their homes.
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Although Taiwan and Japan are both Asian countries and not far apart, there are still many cultural differences. In the video, Kazuki also introduces the differences in lifestyle. There is no such thing as one culture is more superior to the others and each one possesses its own uniqueness. At the beginning of living in a foreign country, it is understandable that people cannot adapt well. However, they will integrate into local society gradually after some adjustments.
For more related videos and life sharing, please follow Kazuki Kawamura on YouTube、FB、IG
