Your reaction when you first land(ed) in Japan?

[BobbyCooper]

Originally Posted by tokusatsufan

Well I didn't really like the food lol It was just harder,being a vegetarian on holiday and all. I liked everything else though.

It's mostly the food and perhaps the long plane ride^^

[samokan]

my a$$ frozed

it was december 2000 when I first landed in Japan , my first winter. It was just a 4 hour flight and I think I was so excited to see everything. No kissing on the airport floor or crying though.

I was not there for vacation though, it was a business trip so I did not do much traveling around except on weekends.

The train ride was amazing. I think from that moment on, I feel in love with trains

The first time I saw girls in skimpy skirt on winter ( high school girls ). I thought it was ridiculous when I watched it in the anime, but it was actually true.

I stayed in a company dorm, so I did not experience sleeping on a futon.

My first trip to Akibahara was unforgettable. I had so much fun.

Though I liked it very much, I have never hoped to actually live and work here

[Lonthego]

My first thoughts?? Can hardly remember, but something along the lines of:

"WHY IS IT SO DAMN HUMID. And what is that chirping/cricket noise!! And why does everyone ignore me? This is starting to suck."

Those would be my initial thoughts.

I'm in the US at the moment, but after a few years of living in Japan, there is little doubt in my mind I'd like to be there in Japan for the long-term. Quite the 180 right?? but I think it's the same for a lot of people. They go through a phase where they love the country, then hate it, then accept it, and some of us like me end up preferring it over our country of origin. It's about pros and cons and trade-offs I suppose, and whether the pros and cons of one country fit you better than another country.

[Umihito]

Originally Posted by samokan

my a$$ frozed

it was december 2000 when I first landed in Japan , my first winter. It was just a 4 hour flight and I think I was so excited to see everything. No kissing on the airport floor or crying though.

I was not there for vacation though, it was a business trip so I did not do much traveling around except on weekends.

The train ride was amazing. I think from that moment on, I feel in love with trains

The first time I saw girls in skimpy skirt on winter ( high school girls ). I thought it was ridiculous when I watched it in the anime, but it was actually true.

I stayed in a company dorm, so I did not experience sleeping on a futon.

My first trip to Akibahara was unforgettable. I had so much fun.

Though I liked it very much, I have never hoped to actually live and work here

It was really cold there in summer too surprisingly! Maybe I just got there on a bad week, but it was like UK temperatures! lol

Oh? Trains in general or Japanese trains? I must say I have an interest in all things transport. Mostly airlines and aircraft, but trains come in a close second. If I had the money I'd love to have one of those huge detailed train sets in my attic.

Hehe, me too. Only this time round I couldn't shake off how perverted and porn-filled it was lol

That's exactly my thoughts! It's hard to explain why, but it's just confirmed that I simply wouldn't want to live in at least Tokyo if I had the chance... It'd drive me mad. It also makes me think people who want to without knowing what it's like are madder! :L

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

Now that I live in Japan, things are a bit different. When I arrived here to live and work, the experience was not so different from my first visit, but in time I have adjusted, and Japan seems to be more just a place, and is no longer as "special" as it once was. Japan has its bad points just as any any other country has, ans these become rather obvious after the "honeymoon" phase ends. Still, am happy to be here, and I have no regrets about moving.

Yeah, that exact mentality about it just being another place and not as special seems to actually be the one I always hear from people who've lived in Japan for a while. I understand that there's not regrets about moving though. :P
One thing I'm curious about. I noticed that after quite a short time, things to do in at least Tokyo run dry, and things become a little boring. When you work there, does this change? I expect it does when you make new work friends and such. :L

[Umihito]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

Ah, sorry it's taken me so long to read your reply, my main computer is shot to hell

It's interesting to compare the initial experience to the latter experience; in a way it's kind of what I'd expected people to feel, because as you said it's kind of hard to feel pure excitement each and every day. I imagine it's kind of like visiting any other country, where at the end of the trip there's a longing to be both home and to stay longer, like pros and cons? I guess the futon trouble would count as a con, lol. Out of curiosity, what were some of your perceptions of the country that changed? I guess your experience was a good one, else you wouldn't have returned, but was there any negative sides that you discovered in your time there?

Sorry for the questions, I guess I'm just rather curious. There's so many people whose initial reactions are of intense excitment, but like with any country there's so much good and bad, so it's just interesting to see how these experiences change. I wonder what people's perceptions are of the 'real' Japan. I suppose at the end of the trip one might feel either jaded or optimistic, so it's just interesting really . . . anyways, thanks for replying

Yes, you're right in your first paragraph. Definitely pros and cons about staying and going like anywhere else. And for me with Japan at least, it doesn't hit me that I'll actually miss it until I'm at the airport going home. Not that I didn't like the experience, but it's one of those things that you don't realize until you're almost gone.

No problem about the questions, I love answering them on this kind of topic Just as long as my list doesn't get boring :L

1. Initial: Tokyo looks great!
Changed: Tokyo isn't THAT special...

Okay so this is something lots of people say but I didn't think about it until I was there. I thought Tokyo would be an amazing, special city. But it's quite simply.... not. Don't get me wrong, it's VERY unique, but at the end of the day it's just another city. Even unique places like Akihabara lose their charm after a few visits. I much prefer out of city places.

2. Initial: The people will be perfect!
Changed: Uhh... why are you all acting as if you'd all rather jump off a cliff than talk to me?

I made a thread about this one somewhere. Basically, the people in the city are not as warm, friendly and welcoming as they're portrayed to be. For example, going up to someone in the street and asking the time (in full Japanese too) would result in the almost walking off ignoring me... but only JUST deciding that they may as well. Even when they did, they had very evasive body language. I was also blatantly ignored once.

3. Initial: There'll be hardly any English anywhere!
Changed: Oh my... there's WAY too much English everywhere...

So some people may disagree with me here, but this is truly my opinion. There was English everywhere. Just... everywhere. Signs in English, Trains in English, information in English, menus in English, doors in English, billboards in English, companies in English... you get my drift. :L
What was weirder was that outside of Tokyo, down in Kamakura, there seemed to be even more English! I honestly don't know how that happened, but I was quite surprised with all the English everywhere. And not in a good way... I was kinda hoping to get away from it and practice my Japanese. The only good point is that no one seemed to speak it, and whenever shopkeepers etc spoke to me or asked me things, it would always be in Japanese first and foremost.

And of course, I thought futons = good, but futons = no no no good >.<

Those are a few I remember off the top of my head that stick out most... I'm sure there's more than enough reading to be done in this post for now anyway!

[BobbyCooper]

Originally Posted by Umihito

Yes, you're right in your first paragraph. Definitely pros and cons about staying and going like anywhere else. And for me with Japan at least, it doesn't hit me that I'll actually miss it until I'm at the airport going home. Not that I didn't like the experience, but it's one of those things that you don't realize until you're almost gone.

No problem about the questions, I love answering them on this kind of topic Just as long as my list doesn't get boring :L

1. Initial: Tokyo looks great!
Changed: Tokyo isn't THAT special...

Okay so this is something lots of people say but I didn't think about it until I was there. I thought Tokyo would be an amazing, special city. But it's quite simply.... not. Don't get me wrong, it's VERY unique, but at the end of the day it's just another city. Even unique places like Akihabara lose their charm after a few visits. I much prefer out of city places.

2. Initial: The people will be perfect!
Changed: Uhh... why are you all acting as if you'd all rather jump off a cliff than talk to me?

I made a thread about this one somewhere. Basically, the people in the city are not as warm, friendly and welcoming as they're portrayed to be. For example, going up to someone in the street and asking the time (in full Japanese too) would result in the almost walking off ignoring me... but only JUST deciding that they may as well. Even when they did, they had very evasive body language. I was also blatantly ignored once.

3. Initial: There'll be hardly any English anywhere!
Changed: Oh my... there's WAY too much English everywhere...

So some people may disagree with me here, but this is truly my opinion. There was English everywhere. Just... everywhere. Signs in English, Trains in English, information in English, menus in English, doors in English, billboards in English, companies in English... you get my drift. :L
What was weirder was that outside of Tokyo, down in Kamakura, there seemed to be even more English! I honestly don't know how that happened, but I was quite surprised with all the English everywhere. And not in a good way... I was kinda hoping to get away from it and practice my Japanese. The only good point is that no one seemed to speak it, and whenever shopkeepers etc spoke to me or asked me things, it would always be in Japanese first and foremost.

And of course, I thought futons = good, but futons = no no no good >.<

Those are a few I remember off the top of my head that stick out most... I'm sure there's more than enough reading to be done in this post for now anyway!

Oh I'm sure lots of people disagree with you here, but thats normal. It's all depends on your own perspective and no more actually.

[tokusatsufan]

Originally Posted by Umihito

Okay so this is something lots of people say but I didn't think about it until I was there. I thought Tokyo would be an amazing, special city. But it's quite simply.... not. Don't get me wrong, it's VERY unique, but at the end of the day it's just another city. Even unique places like Akihabara lose their charm after a few visits. I much prefer out of city places.

I have only been to London but I thought it was great. I was amazed at how big it was. I mean London is fairly small in comparison to the rest of the world.
I would like to go to out of city places too. Asakusa's different to the rest of Tokyo.

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by tokusatsufan

I have only been to London but I thought it was great. I was amazed at how big it was. I mean London is fairly small in comparison to the rest of the world.

London is absolutely fantastic, I will admit I was madly in love with it from the moment I stepped off the train to the minute I stepped back on. Even the cramped underground was amazing, like 'I can't believe I'm actually in the underground!' . . . that said, it must really suck to live there XD

If I was a resident I don't think I'd believe it to be so great, I mean the residential parts are far from attractive, and the daily subway rides would soon stop being exciting . . . but 'the grass is always greener', I suppose. My worry is that Tokyo will be like that, even though logicaly I know it will be. It just seems a shame to love a place so much and then - after being there for so long - being just another city cynic.

To Umihito, thank you for the reply It was really interesting to read your experiences about Tokyo, and deffinately gave me something to think about. Did you have any reactions/perceptions that changed for the better, though? I am shocked at the amount of written English avaliable too, especially as one of my main reasons to go is to become fluent, it's a reief to hear though that English isn't as widely spoken - although are your experiences of these just confined to Tokyo, or are they widespread perceptions?

[GoNative]

The weirdest thing I found with the use of english words was when they'd have english words in katakana even though there's perfectly good Japanese words. Like around where I lived there were heaps of road signs saying 'speed down' in katakana. Of course there's Japanese words for this so why use english words? It's supposed to have more impact? I found this occurred for many other things as well. Not really sure why they do it.

Having signage in english though I think is a very good thing for tourism. There is only an minutely small portion of international travellers who could read some Japanese. There'd only be a small portion of foreigners who live in Japan who could read anywhere near fluently. If you want to have people come to Japan you have to provide signage they can understand without years and years of study.

[Lonthego]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

I am shocked at the amount of written English avaliable too, especially as one of my main reasons to go is to become fluent, it's a reief to hear though that English isn't as widely spoken - although are your experiences of these just confined to Tokyo, or are they widespread perceptions?

After a few years of Japan I can pretty much count on one hand the number of times people tried speaking to me in English. The majority of Japanese people DON'T want to speak English; they are deadly afraid of standing out, making mistakes, just don't know any in the first place, or are simply apathetic. Those who do know English usually aren't brave enough to walk up and talk to a foreigner without some context or excuse (it's also a cultural thing - you don't chit-chat or randomly talk to strangers).

Anyways this is good news for people learning Japanese. Once you hit an intermediate level then Japanese will never try to switch to English, unless you are with a group of other foreigners at a hotel or something.