I'd like to know what it would be like moving to Japan from America.
Thing is, I don't know at all what would be required of me, or what the pros and cons would be.
Could anyone who's moved to Japan from America or anyone who lives in Japan at all please tell me about your experience, and what I might expect if I do?
Be realistic, and pull out all the stops, though. I want good and bad.
>Side note: I'm not a weeb, just to put that out there so it doesn't come up later
SO MANY UNKNOWNS. Goddamn nigger.
Do you know the language?
Are you going there for work? Do you have the job? Are you going to be looking for the job?
Are you going for vacation?
What's your age?
Which city are you moving?
How long are you staying?
Every single answer to those questions will affect your expectations.
1/10 for making me respond. Fucking weeb
You will end up hating what you love, weeaboo.
Japan is not like your animes. People have to work their asses off. Foreigners are generally disliked, especially weebs. The big cities are soul crushing.
Travel there before you decide to live there you dongus. There is a reason that japan has an unnaturally high suicide rate.
Foreign or not if you have money girls would be attracted to you like a jew with access to 4 kids college funds.
I live in Fukuoka
ama
Once again, not a weeb?
I'm expecting to be disliked by foreigners, it's like that p much everywhere.
And of course I'll travel there first, and I'm aware of the high suicide issue.
This is just a shitty idea I had two seconds ago, that I wanted to elaborate on more, y'know?
Did you move there?
Where do you work?
How fluent are you in Japanese?
How much money did/do you make?
Favorite part of living in Japan?
Something you miss? (Assuming you lived somewhere before)
Least favorite part of living in Japan?
Any information you would give to somebody considering this?
Really any information would be good.
i typed a lengthly message and my mobile app crashed as i sent it, so long story short. Fuck no OP you cant go there unless u got a job or in the military.
>unless you got a job
That's a given.
I'm curious, not dumb.
Dude nobody here will give you a serious answer. A quick google search and you'll have more blogs than you can stomach. Go somewhere else and do the research.
>Did you move there?
Yes, about a year ago
>Where do you work?
I work for the automotive industry. Salary man basically
>How fluent are you in Japanese?
By chance i had taken it for two years in university so that was a good start but it took me a few months before i could properly communicate. its more of a cultural thing tbh
>How much money did/do you make?
Just started at a new company so 250,000 Yen per month. will increase every year.
>Favorite part of living in Japan?
Never short of fun things to do
>Something you miss?
Food from my country
>Least favorite part of living in Japan?
Indirectness from Japanese co-workers. It makes my job 10x harder if i can't get a straight answer.
what else you wanna know? what job are you thinking of taking?
bump
...
Pros:
Minimal crime
Betas, betas everywhere
Lots of diverse sights and things to do in such a small country.
Food, alcohol and smokes are cheap.
Everything you could ever need in vending machines.
Interesting underground music scene.
Country folk are friendly and fascinated with foreigners.
Open bathhouses to show off your impressive gaijin lovepole.
Cons:
Extremely expensive accomodation for tiny rooms and therefore people dont really visit each others houses.
Dislike and even discrimination against foreigners in many areas.
Complicated social customs that make the language difficult to become fluent in.
Gotta work your ass off to keep your job.
You best like crowds because it can get pretty fucking intense in the big cities and on trains.
I think japan would have been amazing in the 80s, but there are better countries out there.
Your turn OP.
Why japan? Whats the draw if you aint a weeb? I love the history and culture but i wouldnt move there for it.
Hm.
Where did you move there from?
I don't know what job I'd take. I guess it'd be culinary, I've mostly worked in restaurants (note: not like, fast food, but actual restaurants) all of my life.
Can you elaborate more on the indirectness from japanese co-workers?
Do you find you are singled-out and treated radically differently?
What are the biggest differences between where you used to live and Fukuoka?
Fuckin weeb
Thank you for the list!
The interesting underground music scene piqued the childish part of my interests.
>Why Japan?
Convenience, mostly.
I've taken Japanese, like the guy above, by chance, so I'm at least barely acquainted with the language, and as far as my local area goes, the culture and businesses aren't too similar or too different.
Beside that, I just want a change of pace.
My cousin went to Japan to work and hated it the funny thing is she is a complete weeb she even speaks the language now.
She said it was lonely, she felt very out of place being taller than most people. A generally stressful place to live, but is good for vacations because there are some beautiful landscapes and whatnot.
Her goal and dream was to move there, she is pretty shy but gets shit done and couldn't cut it working/living there. It's probably good if you are not a weeb because anytime a place or culture you don't really know is put on a pedestal it probably won't work out.
Not OP but am interested in visiting Japan sometime before I'm 30. 25 now.
Starting to learn Japanese.
How hard is it just to get around/function even for just a visit?
Kanji is a bitch. How to even read signs and shit?
How long would $2000 last me there?
Lived in Japan 5 years (teach English, chase girls). Murrican with Britbong parents.
This user is right. What's your situation? What are you bringing to the equation?
I moved from Australia. but im bosnian
Can you speak Japanese? If not you're probably gonna be an English teacher (which i have done too incidentally)
Indirectness. Well, people will rarely say "No", even if its an important questions. This is mostly only a problem at work. Some things are also left to implication so you'll be expected to do something but its never explained.
Like if you pay for something and it costs change, the cashier won't count out the coins for you. they'll hand you back the change and ask you to count it. Because they would feel rude counting out your money. Stuff like that.
Yes you will be treated different. There is a saying "you might get used to Japan but Japan will never get used to you".
This doesn't mean outright racism but you'll get people genuinely trying to help but in the most condescending way ever.
I can speak to a person in Japanese perfectly for 20 minutes straight. Then they will try to reply in shitty English which takes longer than if they would just say "Yes the station is this way" in Japanese. It got the the point where i would just say I'm Italian so no-one would attempt to talk to me in my mother tongue.
Outright hostility is rare and actually kind of laughable. I remember seeing an anti-foreigner campaigner on a loud speaker yelling slogans. I literally just looked at him and he packed up his shit and left. so yeah even if you meet a racist, Japs are kind of pussy.
2000 would give you a good week. Two if youre thrifty.
If you stick to major cities like tokyo and osaka you wont need to know much at all. Most signs have english on them and the majority of japanese learn english in school so you can probably get around alright with no japanese.
Of course, the more you know the more youll be able to do and find.
Fuck kanji. Take a chinese person with you and theyll sort that out.
Mind you, if that 2000 includes your plane trip then dont expect much. I did two months travelling throughout japan and it cost me about 8000. Bullet trains are a necessary evil if you wanna see the whole country. Also i stayed at all kinds of inns and hotels so probably could do cheaper if you stick to hostels and cheap places.
You gotta stay at a ryokan at least once though. Its an experience.
My brother went. He was a huge beta weeb who thought he would be accepted in japan. He went only to get the opposite . Its hard out there and the japanese are extremely xebophobic.He landed a job but was fired 2 months later. He ended up having to move out of his little apartment. And became homeless for a week before begging my parents for money to get back home. Today he is still home but less of a weeb. He keeps to himself more often now. Family make fun of his adventure and parents are indifferent. Tbh i feel bad because he didnt have it easy as a kid and to dream of going to a place where you think they will accept you because your own peers don't only to be rejected is sad. Its probably his fault but no man deserves to have his soul crushed.
it would be like being shrunk down to live amongst ants.
Sounds like loserness transcends cultural boundaries
A necessary eye opener. Travelling is important because it makes you realise every country has problems, and it that fantasies rarely come true.
Your brother woulf be the better man for it. But yeah, thats gotta sting.
Honestly, I'm just a dude who wanted some info on a small thought, and was curious about the personal experiences people have had there.
Before I even seriously consider this, it's good to get a feel for it, right?
I just told by a friend via text I could be an English teacher as I only know enough Japanese to get by, but would be happy to learn.
>people will rarely say "No", even if its an important question
Noted.
>Some things are also left to implication so you'll be expected to do something but its never explained.
If it's anything like your example, I should be fine, given that I go out of my way to make nuanced things like that easier on others. That being said, I don't go to outlandish or creepy lengths.
>Outright hostility is rare and actually kind of laughable.
Haha, that's good to hear.
Still, I know what you're saying, and I appreciate the help, my man.
>Or woman, I don't know
He shouldn't give up, should have started with an easier place like thailand. Asla can be hard at first it gets easier though
I don't mind slumming it and skipping meals. I spent 2 weeks dicking around Europe, but I had friends to stay with in Slovakia and Prague.
If I went to Japan I would most likely go alone.
Would I need a group to go with or go through a travel agent?
Whats the likelihood of a 6 foot white male with 2grand in his pocket making it a week in Japan by himself?
It's this sort of thing that makes me ask for cons as well.
Thanks for the antidote, mate.
Not anymore unless youre british oe blonde jair blue eyed
You can always get a job at a military base if you don't want to teach English. Expect to be looked at like a nigger everywhere you go u til your ok with being despised by the older generation, if your in shape, non military and have any game you'll get laid. Find a good woman, lay the pipe at night and clean house during the day. Watch america melt into a Muslim bloodbath resting assured non will ever set foot on your island
Fukuoka guy here again
If you do go there i feel like there is a whole lotta shit i should warn you about.
Not bad things just shit you should know if you're interested
Google maps is amazing in navigating japan, rent a portable hotspot if you can
Dont need a guide or travel agent but youd better do your research and try to plan it out a bit. If you wing it you will probably not see much and find japan much more boring than it is.
Go to a temple, go to a country town, go to a fish market, see a movie or band play, go to akihabara if youre a tech geek and shinjuku if you like fashion and weird people. Go to miyajima. Visit a museum or theme park.
Youll survive fine as long as you have a brain. Japanese are funny with money and noone will try to take it from you or scam you except foreigners and obviously seedy people.
Have fun user, its a pretty amazing experience.
Fucking shoot, man.
Like I said, anything helps.
Sweet. That makes me more confident. I guess just the idea of being in a big city is overwhelming.
I know enough to not treat it like how it is in anime.
I wonder how hard it would be to get girls. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes, muscular build, New York ID.
New York city big American cock for the desperate late-20s something office worker in a hotel?
Mostly financial things that fucked me up. lucky my wife is a Jap (only reason we moved here tbh) so she could help un-fuck things.
So basically, nobody signs their name here. You get a personalized stamp called "Hanko" which will have your name in Japanese letters, and it gets registered with the local government (more on that later). If your company tries to arrange that for you, and anything else to do with your name and official documents, try to get it done yourself as much as possible as your Japanese co-worker assigned to help you will fuck up big time, and you'll end up with 4 different spellings of your name which makes proving who your are extremely difficult.
Worse for me is my name is long. My family name is like 17 letters only 3 are vowels (#slav problems). Try fitting that shit onto a stamp.
Secondly, you'll need to register at a local government. they'll wanna know your address, where you work, what kind of visa you have etc. This is hard to do if your company fucks your name up btw. I had an African coworker that went two months without a phone because he couldn't prove who he was because of it.
So anyway from the local government you'll need to get a certain certificate called a jyuu-min-hyou. Remember that word because you're gonna need it to sign up for a phone/broadband/register for gas and electricity etc etc.
Also fuck the big banks. Open a bank account with the local post office. its so much cheaper.
NO ONE TELLS YOU THESE THINGS!
i guess its because its common sense for them but for a foreigner you're left to guess.
adding to this, there was an indian diplomat that basically nailed japanese society in a few sentences.
>In india, nothing works, but anything can be arranged. In japan, everything works but nothing can be arranged.
Also if you're gonna listen to others about "how to get mad pussy" in Japan, you may have a bad time. Yes, you can pull girls if you look half decent. these won't be good girls though. just dumb sluts. this might be a problem in future if you gain a reputation as a player, as non of the decent women will touch you.
Hey, I really appreciate all of this.
On the positive, being an American, my first, middle, and last name are all underneath five letters.
You can only move there if you are a full fledged memelord
Haha, I have no intention of listening to anything relating to how to pick up chicks while there.
I'm perfectly happy with the one I have here, who was actually the one who hinted we settle down somewhere else, anyway.
Japanese waifu. Go there every year. I know a few words, but everyone is impressed with my skill and native pronunciation. They even readily admit I'm probably better with chopsticks than anyone they've ever met. I don't see the discrimination these guys are talking about. I think they are probably your typical thin skinned millennial faggots. My experience being a white American alpha male there is a bit like being a panda. Everyone is curious about you, but the girls are just nuts about you. Girls just walk up and chat me up. My wife is usually the jealous type, but she thinks they want to practice their English. Works for me. The guys complement my bomber jacket and other American alpha accouterments. Gonna move there next year. I'll keep my six figure American salary and job. Houses in Hokkaido are like $20,000, so we'll just pay cash. Will be living debt free and saving piles of cash. Can't do that here in 'murica. The boomers and Chinese investors have ruined our housing market. 2 bed 1 baths are like $400,000 around here, so pretty much everything is better in Japan. Except pizza. Holy shit, someone needs to tell them potatoes and mayo do not belong on pizza, which is $30. Holy shit. Can I get a ham and pinapplu please?
Have you been convicted of a crime for which you've spent a year or more in jail?
Have you ever been convicted of ANY drug crime no matter how minor (misdemeanors count).
If so it's an automatic denial of entry into Japan even for a visit.
>Houses in Hokkaido are like $20,000, so we'll just pay cash. Will be living debt free and saving piles of cash. Can't do that here in 'murica. The boomers and Chinese investors have ruined our housing market. 2 bed 1 baths are like $400,000 around here
Yes son! this is exactly why we ended up here two. actually being able to afford things is amazing.
I imagine if this ever did become a reality I'll miss smoking the occasional bowl, but at least I was never caught, so that's a plus.
My record is squeaky clean, save that I was ticketed a few months ago for going four miles over the limit on a desolate road.
>Fucking cops with too much time on their hands
I know, right? For the price of one small house here I could buy a city block over there. With Trump or Hillary moving into the white house, moving is a no brainer.