Leaving Japan

25 comments

1. Sushi.

2. I miss peace the most.

   You go to a restaurant or get on a train, or do anything and the entire experience is peaceful. Never have any conflict or run into some sketchy people. It’s just nice to have your guard down for a change

3. Family mart. That’s it.

4. Could you write a post about the pros and cons. You mention complicated and oppressive, would love to know more. I’m sort of looking at Japanese through an insta filter right now, and I’m aware of some of the bad aspects, but more insight would be helpful

5. Where is ‘home’, where you are returning? More context would be interesting.

   Best of luck.

6. The daily feeling of adventure.

7. How clean it is. Also, vending machines with EVERYTHING.

8. Haven’t left but have had lots of time out of the country. I’d say the ability not to drive and have to deal with everything involving that. Getting to utilize Japanese and learn new things on a regular basis is definitely a great point as well.

9. I miss living in Japan, because moving back was a mistake in retrospect. America sucks ass these days, even the places that used to be decent are now just filled with the trashiest humans possible.

10. I miss the food and beauty of Japan. I don’t miss the hot and humid summers though.

11. Safe walkable streets, public transportation, no guns, food, food, food and nightlife.

    Murrika just isn’t as good in any of those.

12. I miss the peace and safety. I miss not needing a car.

    I don’t miss ten hour days in the office. Seeing my manager wearing a heart monitor on her belt because of stress.

13. The weather

14. I miss the cleanliness, pride in professionalism, and the high trust mentality there. Coming back home, I immediately saw crime, things not working promptly, and people just being loud and rude.

15. Just left a month ago. A few things didn’t go well in the end because of me. So felt relieved and thought that it would be nice coming back to my country for a bit, just you know…Be surrounded with people that share the same culture as me, were raised like me. Turns out that my sublimated image of my country after 8 years not living here (my country is France BTW) was totally different. And that it’s a bit more of a shitshow than I thought. I dearly miss Japan despite the “complicated” or “lost in translation” side.

16. Wandering around and bumping into a random matsuri

17. Cheap and delicious sushi.

18. I miss the peace and the clear passing of time. Every season has its peculiarities, in Spring you go do hanami, in Sunmer you go to festivals and fireworks, on autumn you have the foliage and the moons, and in winter you have the snow and the holidays.

    I’ve lived in many countries and Japan is pretty unique in that way.

19. To be honest I think I miss the excitement of being a 21-year-old student in a foreign country more than a specific thing about Japan. But I had a lot of fun with arcades and karaoke and the food is great. And winter rotenburo.

20. I miss the variety of things to do, both in greater Tokyo area as well as in Japan as a whole. I miss game centers. I miss going to a convenience store in the evening or night to grab some warm food or snacks. I miss the weather, the safety, the cleanliness. I miss the friendly convenience store workers at my local Family Mart for cheering me up with their customer friendliness on some bad days. I miss the chaotic beauty of Kichijoii, Shibuya or Shinjuku.

    But: I don’t miss the congestion of public transport, I don’t miss the unbelievable loneliness one can feel in the most populated metropolitan area in the world. I don’t miss the unhealthy working hours. I don’t miss the facade everybody puts on in order to align with cultural appropriateness. I don’t miss the racism one could feel even as a Western European at times.

    You see, how 1.5 years in Japan makes me miss a lot of things looking back, but all in all I would have never led a happy life there long-term. It was a once in a lifetime experience I don’t want to miss and like to recall occasionally, but I’d never go back again for a longer time. In fact, I have not been in Japan ever since I left 6 years ago and I’m also not sure I’ll ever be there again.

21. I stayed in Japan 5 years too…
    I miss the convenience of Tokyo. All the good restaurants, interesting places to go and see. I miss the cleanliness and the reliable public transport.
    I don’t miss the passive aggressive xenophobia, crazy rent, expensive groceries and long commutes and work days.

22. I miss the atmosphere of the city. The vibrance, the city lights, the intense and exciting experiences, the way how it looks and feels during a rainy night walk is hard to forget.

    However there are a lot if things I don’t miss for sure.

23. I miss a lot of things, but I also was there from 2016 until May 2020. That Feb onward was such a wild and uncertain disaster , so I’m going to not count that as my “lived experience” and say that I’ve only lived in Japan pre-covid.

    It is very hard for me to tell if the things that I miss the most are things that I miss because I really loved Japan or because I miss live pre-covid. It’s probably a little bit of both, but I know that certain things aren’t how they used to be there and I know that if I ever go back I’ll be devastated seeing it in person.

24. I did study abroad in Osaka for 4 months and the biggest thing I miss is the 銭湯. Other things I missed was being able to blend into the environment (I’m EA and have been confused for Japanese 70% of all stranger interactions). Until I start speaking, they would just assume I was Japanese.

    Things I didn’t miss however, was at least in my study abroad program, is kind of related to my previous point. A lot of Japanese people put white gaijin on a higher pedestal than other types of Gaijin including me. Even though my Japanese is more than conversational, it felt like I was “supposed to be better” since I’m east-Asian but a white gaijin (guys especially) would get treated like kings despite not knowing anything past arigatou or sumimasen lol. Guess my main point is that the white (European/AUS/USA/Canada/etc. specifically) worship was a lot higher than I initially expected and is not something that people like to bring up or talk about.

25. For me was riding my bike everywhere, anytime. And the konbinis.

    Other thing that I miss, and I don’t know how to explain it very well, but the colours, don’t know, something about the light of the sun made day brighter and had beautiful contrasts during spring and autumn.