[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by swiftwind

Wow. What a great thread. I really enjoyed reading it.

I agree that many people want to move to Japan for the wrong reasons. For Example: (cut)

While I agree with what you have to say about the mistaken reasons people are citing for wanting to move to Japan, I am going to have to disagree with a lot of the negative issues you have with Japan... A lot of it is simply recycling the same stereotypical misconceptions and the like.

1. Discrimination - Its EVERYWHERE. You will always be considered an outsider. I remember people avoiding me everywhere. At the grocery stores its usually crowded but people always moved away from me. People walking their dogs would take alternate routes. When you cross the street, people will keep their distance from you (in non-tourist areas anyway). If people want/have to talk to you about something, they will always approach you in english. They always assume you're a tourist, even if you've lived there all your life. I heard in some communities children of mixed couples get bullied or picked on a lot. If you're lucky and the school is a little more modern, people will accept your child. It DOESNT matter if you're not white. If you're not Japanese, you WILL be discriminated against and you will have to live with it as long as you live there.

I don`t know what you were doing to receive such reactions, but I`ve lived here over 10 years now and have never encountered any serious discrimination. People unsure whether I could speak Japanese? Yes. But crossing the street to avoid me? Running away in the grocery store? Taking their dogs on different routes to avoid me? I think not. My son is mixed race and the worst that happens is constant praise of being "cute".

2. Food - If you're not open minded to new or strange (and boy do I mean strange) types of food, you can forget about living here. If you think you can live on subway and Mcdonalds while you're here, then you're out of your mind. If you can't eat local food, why bother living in Japan?

90% of Japanese food is not strange at all. Home style meals are downright boring.

3. Physical stamina (cut)

No complaints with this one. If you get tired walking up the stairs in your house, you`re going to die rushing up 3 stories worth to get out of the subway.

4. Mental Stress - You will be working very very very late, and you may not always be able to speak up in your company. you must follow everyone else, and you might have to take the fall/blame for things that may not be your fault. This means you must do your job, do it well, and never complain. Unemployment looks VERY bad on your resume. a lot of places won't hire you if you had any history of unemployment. So whatever you do, do not risk your job.

This all depends on your company. Not everyone works 18 hours a day, nor is every company some horrific prison of pressure and conformity.
As for sometimes taking the blame even if it`s not your fault - that is a feature of any job the world over.

5. Language

I don`t think the issue is so much that Japanese is hard to learn, but more that you do need to learn it. There are very few locations where you can get by with English.