Last week, a simple hashtag ¡ª #gaijinconfessionfriday ¡ª kicked off an outpouring of guilt and humor on Twitter from Japan¡¯s foreign residents.

Expats admitted to feigning a lack of Japanese ability in certain situations, wearing bathroom slippers beyond the toilet and questioning the sincerity of the old ¡°you can use chopsticks¡± compliment.

In a matter of hours, the hashtag was trending on the nation¡¯s list of popular hashtags and local Twitterati were coming together to post, retweet and just laugh at common struggles and insights.