Is Japan a very unhappy country?

26 comments

1. [deleted]

2. I’m resigned to it. I don’t need to be happy to be alive.

3. Silly question, isn’t it? It is insinuating that your living in Japan is a major factor in your happiness in your life. Japan as an environment, culture, and government can affect your life quality, but in many other ways does not. Your job, your marriage, your health, etc may be completely untied to Japan and may contribute more to your (un)happiness. It’s like asking some dude who is going through divorce because he was an asshole to his wife if he is happy. No he is not, but that’s not related to living in Japan or any other country.

4. I feel like I’m surrounded by positive people. I’m also a positive person. Seems pretty happy where I’m at.

   I often find that what gets posted on this sub doesn’t reflect my day to day reality at all. But you know what they say, happy people don’t usually take the time to brag about their lives and unhappy people complain a lot so…

5. 6.5/10.

6. I love this country. Been working hard these past few years in order to get good at the language and obtain a real career here. I do not like the culture though, Tatemae is a real thing and I can see how it can be a real detriment to the mental health of the people living here. I really do miss that part of my home country: being able to have a random conversation with a complete stranger and never having to worry about what they may be thinking or trying to circumnavigate some impossible social cues.

7. Probably happier than America.

8. 4 out of 10. Long hours at work, learning the language is hard, and even though the country pretty awesome its still kinda hurts as a social person. The Japanese are lovely people and as a single fit its been nice on that end. Speaking broken Japanese just pains me even though everyone around me is really supportive. The job is fine and I’m conditioned for the lifestyle. The work is also making me better as a person I think, but I just can’t get over the whole language barrier yet. I miss people able to talk to people outside of being seen as exotic.

9. As an Italian here for 7 years I think that generally Japanese don’t really know how to enjoy life. Joy and happiness is stripped even from simple things and vivisected away by all these rules.

   Said that, if you earn a decent salary, join circles or have a decent group of friends and you have a good predisposition to live in this kind of environment I think you can be happy.

10. So I’d say I’m happy for many reasons. I have friends, a good job, I live comfortably, I have hobbies, I’m generally speaking pretty happy I’d say.

    But I’ve been having health issues for the last couple of years (nothing major apparently, but still painful), I miss my aging parents and it pains me that I can’t spend more time with them, I miss friends, my country, my food. And そろそろ I want a boyfriend, buy that’s been very challenging (I’m gay, but I only ever get attention from women…).

    I’m going to say 7/10, but bound to improve: I’m finally visiting home this year and hopefully my parents can visit me too once borders are open.

11. I’m happy as a 52 year old close to retirement, choosing what work I want to do and getting out of a rapidly deteriorating UK. That said, if I was a young Japanese kid with parental pressure and having to conform I think I would hate it. When I look at Japanese friends those doing something creative and/or owning their own business seem happiest.

12. It’s just how u live ur life, it’s not even about country imo

13. Wherever you go, there you are.

14. When you have to watch everything you say lest it’s used against you later, you tend to be more reserved than you would in your home country. Plus it’s really hard to do the tatamae and fake hospitality thingy. After some years you begin to ask yourself questions like “why should I pretend to be nice to my colleagues when they can’t even acknowledge me when we meet outside the workplace?”

15. 7/10. 8-9 if I could increase my income. 9-10 if I could increase my income and lower my working hours. I’d be happy anywhere—what matters is not the location for me!

16. 8/10, It would be 10/10 but my Japanese language skills are sorely lacking, however I’ve been working on fixing that. So that’s on me, not a problem with Japan.

    Just having affordable healthcare is like a 5 point extra bump on it’s own.

17. This place has drained my joy. I need to go back soon. Everything is a show off and we can’t be different

18. Japan isn’t perfect, but no place is. Every place has its downsides. I’m very happy here despite the downsides, Japan is way better than my home country.

19. Positivity coming out the Ying Yang over here …

20. 3/10

    1 point is for my family, 1 point is for nature, 1 point is for the relatively lower cost of living in comparison to other first world countries

    Everything else is not it for me, and honestly I kinda regret coming here, but i’m half Japanese and it would be very financially damaging to go back to my other country so I stay. I’m pretty much only happy when I’m out in the middle of nowhere in nature away from Japanese society.

21. I’ve been happy here for 23 years now, and much, much happier than I ever was in France where I was born.

22. 9/10 just because of my bad japanese

23. After that ridiculous heat wave, I’m wondering.

    Never mind, I had shaved ice. I’m happy again

24. I think it is reasonably happy. I think one of the reasons Japan is often kind of low on happiness rankings is a language difference and cultural difference.

    Happy and shiawase are kind of different. And in western culture you are expected to be happy. I mean, it is thought of as your responsibility more.

    Sometimes I am happy, sometimes not. Depends.

25. No, usually depressed

26. 2 out of 10. The more I’m here the more indoctrinated to Shoganai I get. I mostly don’t even give a shit about being miserable anymore.