[GoNative]

Bobby I agree with you that in the end there is no right or wrong reason to want to live in Japan. Whatever someones reasons are if it's their dream to move here I wholeheartedly support them in trying to realise it. The thing is if you really are serious about wanting to live here then it helps to be aware of the real Japan, not just some fantasy world that many on this forum seem to believe this country to be.

For me personally I couldn't be much happier with my life here. Unfortunately after nearly 8 years I will be moving back to Australia next month. I'm not overly looking forward to it but my wife made it clear she is moving back with or without me so back we are going.

I decided to move to Japan not because I loved the culture or people or language. I've never read any manga and have seen only a few anime. I moved here because it snows a hell of a lot and skiing is my greatest passion in life. Not the most common of reasons to want to move to another country I know but Australia is not the best place to live if you really love snow sports!! I live in one of the snowiest towns on the planet in an incredibly beautiful region and that's just about all it takes for me to be happy. And happy I have definitely been. There is a fantastic mixed Japanese/foreign community here of people similar to myself who just love snow sports and the outdoors. It's been a great community to live in. I have grown to love many aspects of the culture and way of life (at least the life in this part of Japan) and have also grown to dislike many aspects but that is no different to my life back in Australia.

Japan is not a perfect culture. Life here isn't all great. This is something some on this forum don't want to hear or discuss. They have deluded fantasies about the country which have no basis in reality and don't like those fantasies to be challenged. I think it's important though for those of us who have lived here for quite some time to try and make people aware of what it's really like (at least from our own perspectives). It is the best way to help people realise their dream of living here as we have done.