My child is almost 2 and I still haven’t been able to make friends with a fellow mom here in Tokyo.
He isn’t going to hoikuen so the only chance to meet other parents is pretty much the playground/jidokan, however I’ve never been able to strike up a conversation and nobody ever tries to talk to me. Not enough anyway for it to lead to friendship
For the japan based moms out there who have a good group of friends, how did you do it?
2 comments
Try talking to the other parents at the playground or jidokan. Try to get your kids to play together. I know it’s intimidating and the little ones aren’t super into others at that age but that’s one of the best ways. Apart from that, check your local city government office to see if they have any clubs or events for moms with young kids.
If you’re considering pre-school in the future I think that is overall the best way. It’s easy to befriend the other parents in your child’s class when they have events or if you tend to see the same set of parents during drop-off/pick-up time.
Whatever you try, the most important thing is to be the initiator. Don’t wait for other people.
I wouldn’t say I have a “good group” yet, but I’m working on it. Honestly yochien is the biggest help, as you chat with the other moms a lot.
My other main resource is our mansion! Lots of families in the building with kids of the same age— I will literally chase someone down to exchange Line info with them if I see they have a kid the same age in our building.
I also see a lot of expat/foreign moms arranging play dates through Facebook, but I work and most of the times are during the week so I can’t really go. Some have regular meetups!
But yeah, you just gotta be bold and ask to exchange Line info with random moms that you get a chance to chat with, which is awkward and whatever, but I figure if I don’t ask, it will never happen.