Interested in your experiences. Do you ever think that you could find what you’re looking for back in your home country after spending some time living in Japan?
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Did Japan turn into just another country for you, or does it continue to meet your expectations?**
Interested in your experiences. Do you ever think that you could find what you’re looking for back in your home country after spending some time living in Japan?
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Spent about 4 years total in Japan and I love it more than the US in just about every aspect. That being said, I am also not blind to how bad it can be as a permanent resident and how hard most people find it to integrate and build a complete life there.
My expectation for anywhere is that it’s just another place.
The most difficult thing to listen to when it comes to expats is the pedestals they put countries and the deep abyss that they spartan kick other places. It could be their home country or their host country.
Every country should imho be just a place. There is good and bad and you can’t have one without also accepting that the other exists.
I am an asian American who have been living in japan for 3 years now(Okinawa) and also visited mainland japan many times. I really enjoy the food, culture, safety, and cleanliness. I will be here for at least another 3 years and honestly prefer it over any states in the US. I feel really welcomed here even though I don’t speak Japanese.
note: I work for an American company and my wife is Japanese
This year is my 11th year in Japan, and Japan continues to meet and exceed my expectations. I now have a life I could only dream of back home, and barring an exceptional change, I’ll stay here for good. As for moving back, as I mentioned in a different thread, I’ll only consider that if my country someday figures out how to build a functional metro, and someone can offer me at least half what I’m making in Japan.
Japan is a place, just like any other. For my needs, living here matches up for my goals than my home country. I’m not delusional that the country, in and of itself, is better than my own; it just meets my own personal wants and needs. The exact opposite could be said for others or that they prefer a completely different country.
If I didn’t have a family and was single, my needs would probably be very different. My needs will most likely change over time as well. So who knows if I’ll be here forever, but for now, it’s home.
I’ve lived in Japan for over a year. Returning to the USA for 3 weeks today and already feel homesick for Japan.
So I lived in Japan for 3.5 years before moving back to the US. I can confidently say after having been back here for nearly 6 years Japan is better. I live in Idaho and this state is total trash. I know Japan is conservative by nature, the people can also be racist, but frankly, I will take Japan’s conservativism and racism over Idaho’s any fucking day of the week.
At most in Japan I experienced subtle racism and it wasn’t even that bad. The cost of living is cheaper than Boise. Right now studios are going for $1700 a month. It’s fucking absurd. Only reason I can survive is because I started renting 5 years ago and my landlord isn’t an asshole. I luckily pay $645/mo for rent. But I am an outlier.
Japan’s healthcare system is also better. I had to have hernia surgery in Japan and it cost me less than a grand. A CAT scan was $45 with insurance. Without it’s not even $100. With insurance stateside a CAT scan cost me over $1k. It’s fucking bullshit.
So yeah, I will always vote Japan hands down.
This is a good question.
I think after being in Japan for a while, it has turned into another country for me. In the sense where, if another country provides something better, I will more than likely go to them.
Japan has a lot of fantastic things, but it feels relatively repetitve? Because Japan is an island nation, you start to see a lot of the same patterns repeat themselves and it is still good, but I’m like “I ate this literally last week”. And then finally, someone tries to do something wildly different, which feels like a fresh experience, but they are like “instead of putting the cream inside the bun, I put the cream… on top of the bun.” *mind gets blown*.
For the most part, it meets my most basic expectations and allows me to live a much different life, so no complaints there. But there are some things about Japan that I would really like to change but feel like it would fall on deaf ears, so you kinda just have to write it off.
Have essentially spent my entire adult life here, retired in my 30s specifically thanks to being here, peace of mind for health, family, finances. And yet, still plenty of uncertainties in terms of a variety topics such as education, local/geopolitics, and whether Japan can ever be a sufficient launching point for my children or will they need to do as I did and head somewhere else first. The US still trumps it in that respect.
I’m a Vietnamese American that’s living in Tokyo. The quality of life and convenience in the city is something that I definitely don’t think can be replicated back where I live. That being said, America has a lot of good things about it that I miss, like the food, a nice mixture of ethnicities under one nationality (I’m from Atlanta), and high salaries.
Although I like Japan a lot, I’d be happy going back to America or living in a different country like France, especially for work-life balance.
Edit: I’ve been here almost 5 years.
I’ve done myself a disservice when it comes to living here (been here waaay longer than I anticipated) so I can’t speak so much on meeting expectations.
But I’ve always had wanderlust so staying in one place never really interested me.
For a start, Japan has no guns, remarkable and affordable healthcare, incredible transportation systems, cohesive social order, fantastically varied and healthy cuisine, high levels of efficiency…
Won’t find any of that back in the U.S.
Japan went through phases for me. Moved here just out of college and loved it. If you asked me at that time I would say it met and exceeded expectations. Time didn’t stand still though. I’ve moved back to UK, the US, and now back to Japan. I spent nearly equal time in the 3 at under a decade each. Living here I can now see it no longer meets my or my family needs. I can have a very significantly increased quality of life with my family and my career level elsewhere. Japan will always have a special place in my heart; however, I have perspective with reference points. Had I never left I imagine my perspective would be totally different.
It is what my husband wanted it to be so it is meeting our needs. It’s the country we were able to start a family, start the home buying journey, putting down real roots and settling.
I really enjoy being here, especially at first but I view Japan as just another country now. I think that a lot of things are convenient and find but I haven’t really been that interested in Japanese culture besides the food because I sort of feel like everything is so orderly it tends to make me not inspired as much as other places, but I definitely still appreciate it but it doesn’t really feel like magical to me except for certain special moments. I have definitely went through some ups and downs but I like to just think of it as another country and I’m just living my life here because I don’t feel like it is always that special and it just seems really touristy sometimes. That being said it’s amazing to visit and the quality of life is really good here it’s just sometimes it is quite underwhelming in my opinion at least
16 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**Did Japan turn into just another country for you, or does it continue to meet your expectations?**
Interested in your experiences. Do you ever think that you could find what you’re looking for back in your home country after spending some time living in Japan?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Spent about 4 years total in Japan and I love it more than the US in just about every aspect. That being said, I am also not blind to how bad it can be as a permanent resident and how hard most people find it to integrate and build a complete life there.
My expectation for anywhere is that it’s just another place.
The most difficult thing to listen to when it comes to expats is the pedestals they put countries and the deep abyss that they spartan kick other places. It could be their home country or their host country.
Every country should imho be just a place. There is good and bad and you can’t have one without also accepting that the other exists.
I am an asian American who have been living in japan for 3 years now(Okinawa) and also visited mainland japan many times. I really enjoy the food, culture, safety, and cleanliness. I will be here for at least another 3 years and honestly prefer it over any states in the US. I feel really welcomed here even though I don’t speak Japanese.
note: I work for an American company and my wife is Japanese
This year is my 11th year in Japan, and Japan continues to meet and exceed my expectations. I now have a life I could only dream of back home, and barring an exceptional change, I’ll stay here for good. As for moving back, as I mentioned in a different thread, I’ll only consider that if my country someday figures out how to build a functional metro, and someone can offer me at least half what I’m making in Japan.
Japan is a place, just like any other. For my needs, living here matches up for my goals than my home country. I’m not delusional that the country, in and of itself, is better than my own; it just meets my own personal wants and needs. The exact opposite could be said for others or that they prefer a completely different country.
If I didn’t have a family and was single, my needs would probably be very different. My needs will most likely change over time as well. So who knows if I’ll be here forever, but for now, it’s home.
I’ve lived in Japan for over a year. Returning to the USA for 3 weeks today and already feel homesick for Japan.
So I lived in Japan for 3.5 years before moving back to the US. I can confidently say after having been back here for nearly 6 years Japan is better. I live in Idaho and this state is total trash. I know Japan is conservative by nature, the people can also be racist, but frankly, I will take Japan’s conservativism and racism over Idaho’s any fucking day of the week.
At most in Japan I experienced subtle racism and it wasn’t even that bad. The cost of living is cheaper than Boise. Right now studios are going for $1700 a month. It’s fucking absurd. Only reason I can survive is because I started renting 5 years ago and my landlord isn’t an asshole. I luckily pay $645/mo for rent. But I am an outlier.
Japan’s healthcare system is also better. I had to have hernia surgery in Japan and it cost me less than a grand. A CAT scan was $45 with insurance. Without it’s not even $100. With insurance stateside a CAT scan cost me over $1k. It’s fucking bullshit.
So yeah, I will always vote Japan hands down.
This is a good question.
I think after being in Japan for a while, it has turned into another country for me. In the sense where, if another country provides something better, I will more than likely go to them.
Japan has a lot of fantastic things, but it feels relatively repetitve? Because Japan is an island nation, you start to see a lot of the same patterns repeat themselves and it is still good, but I’m like “I ate this literally last week”. And then finally, someone tries to do something wildly different, which feels like a fresh experience, but they are like “instead of putting the cream inside the bun, I put the cream… on top of the bun.” *mind gets blown*.
For the most part, it meets my most basic expectations and allows me to live a much different life, so no complaints there. But there are some things about Japan that I would really like to change but feel like it would fall on deaf ears, so you kinda just have to write it off.
Have essentially spent my entire adult life here, retired in my 30s specifically thanks to being here, peace of mind for health, family, finances. And yet, still plenty of uncertainties in terms of a variety topics such as education, local/geopolitics, and whether Japan can ever be a sufficient launching point for my children or will they need to do as I did and head somewhere else first. The US still trumps it in that respect.
I’m a Vietnamese American that’s living in Tokyo. The quality of life and convenience in the city is something that I definitely don’t think can be replicated back where I live. That being said, America has a lot of good things about it that I miss, like the food, a nice mixture of ethnicities under one nationality (I’m from Atlanta), and high salaries.
Although I like Japan a lot, I’d be happy going back to America or living in a different country like France, especially for work-life balance.
Edit: I’ve been here almost 5 years.
I’ve done myself a disservice when it comes to living here (been here waaay longer than I anticipated) so I can’t speak so much on meeting expectations.
But I’ve always had wanderlust so staying in one place never really interested me.
For a start, Japan has no guns, remarkable and affordable healthcare, incredible transportation systems, cohesive social order, fantastically varied and healthy cuisine, high levels of efficiency…
Won’t find any of that back in the U.S.
Japan went through phases for me. Moved here just out of college and loved it. If you asked me at that time I would say it met and exceeded expectations. Time didn’t stand still though. I’ve moved back to UK, the US, and now back to Japan. I spent nearly equal time in the 3 at under a decade each. Living here I can now see it no longer meets my or my family needs. I can have a very significantly increased quality of life with my family and my career level elsewhere. Japan will always have a special place in my heart; however, I have perspective with reference points. Had I never left I imagine my perspective would be totally different.
It is what my husband wanted it to be so it is meeting our needs. It’s the country we were able to start a family, start the home buying journey, putting down real roots and settling.
I really enjoy being here, especially at first but I view Japan as just another country now. I think that a lot of things are convenient and find but I haven’t really been that interested in Japanese culture besides the food because I sort of feel like everything is so orderly it tends to make me not inspired as much as other places, but I definitely still appreciate it but it doesn’t really feel like magical to me except for certain special moments. I have definitely went through some ups and downs but I like to just think of it as another country and I’m just living my life here because I don’t feel like it is always that special and it just seems really touristy sometimes. That being said it’s amazing to visit and the quality of life is really good here it’s just sometimes it is quite underwhelming in my opinion at least