Your female Japanese friend comes to you and tells you that she just broke up with her boyfriend. What do you do? You like her and you’ve been wanting to go out with her, so do you jump at the opportunity? That’s probably a bit too soon, and she may not know how to react to your advances. What would be the most sensible approach in this situation? We asked young Japanese women, ranging in age from late teens to early 30s, what they would like to hear when they’re heartbroken and going through a tough time.
1. You just listen to what she has to say.
Forget your feelings and forget why things happened. Just let her vent to you without passing any judgment. “All I need is someone to listen to me, and I’ll feel better,” says a Japanese woman in her late teens. “I’m not looking for any solutions to my problem, so it’s not necessary to tell me all the ‘should’ve’ and ‘could’ve’,” an adamant Japanese woman states. So, it’s clear that your role is that of a listener. Make sure you’re not daydreaming while listening, or she may catch on quickly—and then, you’ve blown any future chance of going out with her.
