What hobby/hobbies did you begin/pick up in Japan?

I’d never played Football (soccer) outside of school in my 22 years living in the UK, and as soon as I moved here, I discovered how much I love playing ⚽️

Anyone else have anything similar?

27 comments
  1. Astronomy, salsa, 3D printing, baking, driving in a circuit, and having girls pee on me.

    Edit: salsa the dance, not the food.

  2. I like arts and crafts and picked up 切り絵 several months back. It’s really relaxing for me!

  3. Collecting Kamen Rider Figuarts. It costs a lot of money and I still haven’t figured out how I will be able to bring all of it back to my home country, lol.

  4. ブラブラ(wandering around). I’d worry too much about getting mugged or harassed elsewhere.

  5. Bouldering. Turns out Japan has tons of interesting gyms and climbers are really strong here!!

  6. Knitting, sewing, dancing, running, and just through observation I’ve become a pro at passive-aggression, passing the buck and making good use of my gaijin card!

  7. Gardening, coffee and latte art, D&D, miniature painting, wargame terrain making, camping, mushroom growing and foraging (not *those* mushrooms), hot sauce making, shitty DIY projects.. I have way too many hobbies. I want to get into 3D Printing but I don’t really have the space/budget anymore with everything else.

  8. Picked up photography and running/working (because of my 1h& half lunch). Photography worked out nicely as I already enjoyed just walking around and trying new coffee and restaurants

  9. Cooking, started as a need turned into a hobby I guess. Sometimes you just want something you can’t buy ya know?

  10. Hiking and enjoying the outdoors.

    I’d gone backpacking a couple of times a year back home before, but it was always difficult to find transportation out of the dense city and to the hills and trails several hours away.

    Here it’s so easy to catch a train and spend the day in the mountains enjoying the view. When the weather permits I’m usually out hiking every other weekend.

    Got into coffee. Got a nice coffee grinder. Hario coffee-making stuff is cheap.

    Also, salsa (dance not condiment). That was fun pre-covid.

    Thinking I should get back into martial arts. Suggestions welcome.

  11. Skiing. Never skied prior to moving here but now realize this is one of few holy grail skiing areas on the planet. Been to probably 20 or so different resorts across the country. Held a season pass to Appi Kogen in Iwate the last 2 winters. Now I’m basically the best skier on the mountain nbd 🙂

  12. It will probably sounds nuts to most of you, but I got heavy into watch collecting after moving here.

    Before I relocated here I was a car guy, but have no use for that anymore and I think somewhere I was looking for something mechanical as a hobby. It started innocently enough with some Seiko divers and gradually ramped up. I’ve got a good collection now and have eased off the gas as I don’t long for any new pieces.

    I have a good friend who has an astonishing collection, best I’ve ever seen. His is a good reminder of scale and it keeps me in my lane.

    Tokyo is a great place to be a collector. So many great pieces floating around and some spectacular shops to browse.

  13. Walking honestly. I love getting off the train and walking all around Tokyo with the family. It makes for a fun day and lots of exercis

  14. Onsen, DJing in clubs/lounges, Drifting, film photography, konbini loitering, parkour when i was younger, longboarding down shinjuku area streets

  15. I’m Japanese but lived in the UK for a bit. When I moved back to Japan, I started the hobby of looking after rhino beetles 兜虫 it’s cool!

  16. baking sweets and bread, because feeding people around you is a good way to bribe yourself into their good graces

    raising plants of all kinds, but that just might be because I’m a single millennial

  17. I joined a pro wrestling class and then I blinked and suddenly became a full time professional wrestler…

  18. Eating out alone, I had plenty of friends both western and Japanese whilst living there but living fairly remotely (Nishiogi) and just general day to day life happening lead me to realize that if I wanted to explore places to eat etc. I’d often have to do it alone. I still do so now when I’m back in my home country and honestly love it.

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