What keeps you in Japan?

I can call home anywhere and I hate moving so that's a big reason why I'm still here........for now anyways.

It's the food here. I feel as though someone knew exactly what I love and put it all in one country.

I've been coming to Japan since 1997. Have lived here now for 4 years and will never go back. Maybe visit but... I love the history, culture, people, food, sex, places, sex, friends, family... I have several jobs that keep my busy but that is nothing new. I am easily bored so I like wearing many hats. I always encourage people to get out of the gaijin ghettos and explore the real Japan. Learn Japanese, be friendly and polite. Being polite and cleanliness goes a long way here.

Japanese women. And the food. And more Japanese women.

daneyboy said:

Japanese women. And the food. And more Japanese women.

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And more food.

If you can get used to living in Japan, its pretty nice, extremely safe, you get a good wage, and costs of living are not too bad (unless you live within the yamanote line). If you live in Tokyo, maybe rent and housing is a bit high, but if you live in saitama, chiba, kanagawa, etc, then its better. I think the racism is pretty irritating (there is an in-group and an out-group clear cut) but the poor here are much better off than they are in America or poorer countries.

Food is really good and high quality for cheap too. The public transport is so convenient (I can vouch only for Tokyo) and the people are nice. There are pros and cons comparing Japan to other first world countries, but it comes out ahead of quite a few countries, I think

AngelicBlight said:

If you can get used to living in Japan, its pretty nice, extremely safe, you get a good wage, and costs of living are not too bad (unless you live within the yamanote line). If you live in Tokyo, maybe rent and housing is a bit high, but if you live in saitama, chiba, kanagawa, etc, then its better. I think the racism is pretty irritating (there is an in-group and an out-group clear cut) but the poor here are much better off than they are in America or poorer countries.

Food is really good and high quality for cheap too. The public transport is so convenient (I can vouch only for Tokyo) and the people are nice. There are pros and cons comparing Japan to other first world countries, but it comes out ahead of quite a few countries, I think

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I've always wondered about the general racism in Japan. Can you elaborate further? Do you just get left out of social circles or is there just a general unsaid disdain for people who aren't from Japan by certain people?

I think theres a bit of unsaid disdain. If you speak Japanese fluently and join a nice company, I don't think you'll have much trouble (since most of the trouble with racism comes from working). That being said, I think a lot of foreigners don't speak Japanese at a proper level and this really means that you bring a lot of stuff onto yourself. Quite a few foreigners tell me how they're great at Japanese and they're like N3 or so and they wonder why its hard to make friends or acclimate to Japan. (N3 is like speaking like a 3rd or 4th grader). Donald Trump uses an english lexicon befitting a 5th grader and the first thing that pops up into my mind is that he's immature, so of course if you flip it, Japanese people will get the impression that you're not particularly interesting or worth their time to talk to.

Mwktm said:

I am curious - I hear a lot of stories about how people on this forum work multiple jobs etc. So what is it that keeps you in Japan? Would you not be better in your home countries amongst family and friends?

Why do many women who marry non-Japanese want to settle down in Japan? As a man do any of you feel insecure given visa issues? And how about your careers?

I am curious and very interested to understand different cultural perspectives

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I'm having the opposite situation. My wife prefers to live in my home country and she's the reason we left Japan. An I go there more often than her. She spend 3 weeks by her family only once in 2 or 3 years while I spend 2 months in Japan every year.

I love it there, of course there are some low points but there are so many good points there and important ones :

security : safest country I've been to. you can walk anywhere at any time without being worried.

cleanness : cleanest country I've been to. you'll never walk on a dog shit in Japan.

services quality : best service in the world and you don't even have to pay tip for that.

people's education : every one is so polite

e-smile said:

I'm having the opposite situation. My wife prefers to live in my home country and she's the reason we left Japan. An I go there more often than her. She spend 3 weeks by her family only once in 2 or 3 years while I spend 2 months in Japan every year.

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Now I understand, you do not live here in Japan.

AngelicBlight said:

I think theres a bit of unsaid disdain. If you speak Japanese fluently and join a nice company, I don't think you'll have much trouble (since most of the trouble with racism comes from working). That being said, I think a lot of foreigners don't speak Japanese at a proper level and this really means that you bring a lot of stuff onto yourself. Quite a few foreigners tell me how they're great at Japanese and they're like N3 or so and they wonder why its hard to make friends or acclimate to Japan. (N3 is like speaking like a 3rd or 4th grader). Donald Trump uses an english lexicon befitting a 5th grader and the first thing that pops up into my mind is that he's immature, so of course if you flip it, Japanese people will get the impression that you're not particularly interesting or worth their time to talk to.

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That's quite rude. N3 is not bad at all. Given that most Japanese people have never left their country and that people who speak N3 Japanese often know two or more other languages, who is not interesting? Especially since they don't have much interests, hobbies and passions.

However, i think i get your point. I never had a problem finding Japanese people to hang out with but they may exclude you from some events if they feel you are not close enough to them. I've also felt like not hanging out with some people if the language barrier bothers me too much.
But don't take it lightly, getting to N3 is super super hard work.

AngelicBlight said:

I think theres a bit of unsaid disdain. If you speak Japanese fluently and join a nice company, I don't think you'll have much trouble (since most of the trouble with racism comes from working). That being said, I think a lot of foreigners don't speak Japanese at a proper level and this really means that you bring a lot of stuff onto yourself. Quite a few foreigners tell me how they're great at Japanese and they're like N3 or so and they wonder why its hard to make friends or acclimate to Japan. (N3 is like speaking like a 3rd or 4th grader). Donald Trump uses an english lexicon befitting a 5th grader and the first thing that pops up into my mind is that he's immature, so of course if you flip it, Japanese people will get the impression that you're not particularly interesting or worth their time to talk to.

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N3 is actually considered pretty good. Many schools and companies require you to have at least N3 upwards. And as @User#8628 said it's pretty hard to get there in the first place as a foreigner. You can't just learn Japanese over night and be fluent. Considering that Japanese people have a huge advantage with the language you can't project that into someone coming here for work or studying and expect them to be on a high Japanese level in no time.
Also, people who work as teachers here have not so much of an opportunity to study as someone who works for a Japanese company or going to college/university.

You can have Japanese friends with N3 level as well. I personally never had problems to find friends and I don't think I speak like a 4th grader. You just have to be open and not let making mistakes/your Japanese level get into your way.

Some people also just don't like it here and therefore they don't study the language. Fair enough for them.

I'm not Japanese, I learned it just like everyone else here. When I spoke poorly, I found it hard to get my point across and that made it irritating to communicate without using my english or spanish as a crutch. Since I'm a foreigner, if I want any sort of office job, then I need to have N1 proficiency. I have N2 but I find none of the firms really want N2, they just want N1. My english school has no Japanese requirement, they just talk to you in Japanese and they can tell fairly quickly how good you are at JP.

Maybe its different for you two compared to me, but I found it fairly hard to get my point across on topics like international relations or economics or humor when I was bad at Japanese (I still am, tbh) and if I talked to people at the bar I could see their reaction wasn't so positive to listening to me, as I had to ask for a lot of help on terms, so I just hit the books and worked at it. If you're having trouble, hit the books. All i'm saying.

If you listened to me speak(~N2) and compared it to a native Japanese speaker, you'd see a world of difference. They use such colorful language to get their point across and they always pick the right word which I wouldn't have seen coming. Like when I had to prepare some consultation information for NTT docomo, for my old firm, the presentation of their goals in what they wanted from investing in our startup was such a cut above what I had prepared, so I felt poorly, like I had let down both sides.

I admire the people that come to my country, the US, and can start a successful business and thrive in such an unforgiving business environment while their second language is english. I admire the people that can do that in Japan (I wish I could, one day) but it takes a lot of work to get there. A lot of foreigners look at it like "I have X english skill, why am I not making X amount of money" and it has little to do with that, in my humble opinion. You me and everybody has to work to get good. If you work, there's not much racism, if you don't, then you willingly put yourself on the outside looking in. My two yen.

AngelicBlight said:

If you work, there's not much racism

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My point is, you don't get good overnight. You can work really hard on your Japanese and in other aspects of your life and still not be on a high enough level to get accepted. Plus some people learn easier than others.

I'm not saying that though. I'm not saying I got better overnight, I'm not saying anyone got better overnight. I'm simply saying, if you put the work in and try, you have your shot in Japan. If you don't try much (like the foreigners in my story) then you lose your right to complain. I don't like people who come up with excuses. That's my worldview.

We could have a lengthy discussion about racism, sexism, overwork, sexual harassment in the workplace, and those are all points with merit to discuss, but many of my friends have "made it" in Japan, and there are many people on the boards here who seem to have a comfortable life here, and in my experience, many people have killed the beast with their steely knives.

AngelicBlight said:

I'm not Japanese, I learned it just like everyone else here. When I spoke poorly, I found it hard to get my point across and that made it irritating to communicate without using my english or spanish as a crutch. Since I'm a foreigner, if I want any sort of office job, then I need to have N1 proficiency. I have N2 but I find none of the firms really want N2, they just want N1. My english school has no Japanese requirement, they just talk to you in Japanese and they can tell fairly quickly how good you are at JP.

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I had my suspicions that you were not Japanese, because its not just about language, its also about culture and how you think and your views, as that will make a difference to any experience interacting with the Japanese and the post you made to another thread is a good example.

AngelicBlight said:

Japanese girls are pretty cute as a whole, but I think they overdo the immature kawaii stuff. It's really insufferable after a while. They're also pretty polite. I guess I'd prefer it if they could keep up with a lot of the subjects I like to converse about (politics, philosophy, music, psychology, etc.) and I really like to hear people that are passionate about what they do or like.

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Because your view in the above post to the thread "What type of Japanese girls, you want to ask her out?" does not fit with the average Japanese male.

AngelicBlight said:

I'm not saying that though. I'm not saying I got better overnight, I'm not saying anyone got better overnight. I'm simply saying, if you put the work in and try, you have your shot in Japan. If you don't try much (like the foreigners in my story) then you lose your right to complain. I don't like people who come up with excuses. That's my worldview.

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OK!! Lets add some context to this language issue you appear to have with foreigners being successful in Japan.

When applying for Japanese citizenship there is only a need for your language skills to be at a minimum of elementary grade 3.

i also dont think language or culture are the main problem, though of course it isnt too helpful if you dont understand neither...

from what i hear and what my friends always tell me its:

- education, people without any degree/craftman skill dont get much respect
-working holiday holders and students are also not everybodies favourite, mainly because they dont stay young and they dont work full time
-lack of common interests, the things most foreigners like about japan are often things that japanese people dont think about, or dont know about it, or are just not interested in it
-too much interested in getting a japanese partner (and yes, even though people often say "get a japanese partner", or say they like it that youre married, truth is often different)
-main reason i hear is that apparently all foreigners are the same (not to me of course), same interests, work the same jobs and so on...

i hear that nearly every week and not only from the same people...

for language, what japanese people (even the bosses and work mates i had say that) dont like is if youre trying to speak "unusual, not the common japanese you learn...
my boss and his friends even say that they get the creeps when foreiners use anything but watashi when referring to themselves... exception: people who speak like natives and it fits the character...

dont ask me why, i didnt ask^^

do that! in sure thats only him and his folks, though... and even while sone might find it strange, i dont think oeople really care...

justhavefun said:

Now I understand, you do not live here in Japan.

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we lived there for years before a good job opportunity made us move to my home country.

TAG Manager said:

I probably speak N3 to N2, but writing is another story...

On on average day, I speak a lot of Japanese and it's usually to people that you'd think would look down on someone with such a 'poor' speaking ability. However, that's not my experience at all. Since I am not Asian, I immediately get this 'pass' and people don't expect me to speak, read or write Japanese at all. However, when I do speak Japanese in a business setting and do it in a formal manner, it earns bonus points but they still leave me some allowance to make a jackass out of myself if I flub a few words or grammar.

In another light, Asian friends that look like they could be Japanese, get treated like crap because they are seen as an Asian and in a lot of cases, could be Japanese. But, when they cannot speak a lick of Japanese, they instantly get this dumbfounded look and rude comments about how stupid they must be not to understand such basic Japanese...

I'm not exactly sure how you measure success in Japan, but I'm just as comfortable here as I would be in my hometown. (If you asked me 10 years ago, you'd get a much different answer and I probably would have old you that I was sure that I'd go back to my home country after a couple of years (or less).

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That's pretty much my experience.
Also i think things may be different for women than men.
And the Japanese people i hang out with care more about if i know the latest songs, tv hypes and slang than if i talk like someone in primary school. Also i found many people approach me and want to be friends. Of course language barriers are an annoyance but i never felt like they make people think i am boring, although it can be mutually upsetting.