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Thread: What are your motivations to live in Japan ?

  1. #1
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Question What are your motivations to live in Japan ?

    Some of you already live in Japan. Some have been there, but most haven't. I am addressing people who either live in Japan or want to go and live there.

    What are the pros and cons of living in Japan ?

    What makes you want to live there ?

    Would you stay just a few months or years, or for a very long time (even for ever) ?

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  2. #2
    Regular Member Ninja Rock Star's Avatar
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    Briefly:

    Cons: summer (too hot) & winter (too cold), racism, too expensive, smog, crowded trains (can't stand the trains!!), T.V., Morning Musume....

    Pros: oden, people generally nice, festivals!!!!, language-practice, women (I can't lie about that one), rock music, good salary..........

    I've stayed about 10 years, on and off.
    Kishimu beddo no ue de yasashisa wo mochiyori
    Kitsuku karada dakishime aeba
    -Ozaki Yutaka "I love you"
    Hora ne
    sokkuri na saru ga boku wo yubisa shiteru
    Kitto dokoka sumi no hoo de
    boku mo ikiterun da
    ai wo kudasai

    - Echoes "Zoo"

  3. #3
    Kongming jeisan's Avatar
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    because i think it would be fun to experience living there for awhile. how long i stay would depend on how much i like it, prolly a year at least though.
    Last edited by jeisan; Aug 24, 2003 at 16:11.
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  4. #4
    basketballman Dream Time's Avatar
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    cons : racism,too expensive,idol pop songs (and the girl groups,boy groups),life is too tense there


    pro : food,technology,music,girls

    as I know,there are lots of good musicians in Japan
    and there are lots of bars for live music,
    rock,jazz,blues,metal...
    and in Japan,especially Tokyo,they have many rare CDs,some even are only availabe in Japan,such as the Japanese musicians because many of them don't sell their music overseas.
    music instruments,such as the guitars,Japanese are making very high quaility guitars now,like the Fender Japan,PGM..ect...and it is hard to get Japanese-made guitars overseas.

    how long I want to stay there:
    I live in Vancouver,but I want to go back to Hong Kong,so it would be nice if I could just go to Japan for a while when I want and then come back to Vancouver or Hong Kong.

  5. #5
    Devils Trill X-Japan-FanGrl's Avatar
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    I would like to live in japan but like I said in that other thread I want to go mainly for game design or/and animation I know we have that here but I'd much rather do it there for some reason or another..better companies? better chances in success? I don't know but I will find out none the less and have fun while doing so


    I am seeing alot of racism..in japan..are people really THAT racist I mean like texas redneck. kkk?....or talk about you when you look away?

  6. #6
    Regular Member neko_girl22's Avatar
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    I don't get why people are saying that Japan is racist!!! If there is any form of racism, it's that they treat you too well.(talking about towards western gaijin) If you guys feel you are the victims of racism, try being an asian who visits one of our countries Although the attention gets a bit much, at least it's better than negative attention that many foreigners experience in western countries.

    and why do you say Japan is expensive? I've found it a lot more cheaper than I thought. perhaps it seems that way if you go 100Y = $1.30NZ (aprox), but that's not fair. Salaries are higher and some things are cheaper. and you should check out the 100Y shop LOL they actually have some good stuff

    PROS: culture, food, people, weather, shopping, language.
    CONS: city life (but I live in the country),

    Why do I live in Japan? -BecauseI have always loved Japanese culture, and also it's my husbands' home country.

    How long will I live here? -Depends on lots of things. Plan is, stay a few years, go back to NZ......... but we really like it here so may stay indefinately.

  7. #7
    Regular Member Ninja Rock Star's Avatar
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    Originally posted by nzueda
    I don't get why people are saying that Japan is racist!!!
    Hi Oamaru-san.

    I said there's racism simply because I've experienced it so often.

    Quick examples:

    -an old (70 y.o.?) Japanese man coming up to me on a street in Tokyo and going off his head at me in full-on Japanese blaming me for this and that, telling me to get the hell out of his country (I was just standing at a traffic light!).

    -turned away from, oh, a good 8~10 hotels ("Gaijin dame!").

    -turned away from night-clubs ("Gaijin dame!").

    -stopped by police for no reason whatsoever.

    There are too many...............

    But, yes, I agree with you completely- gaikokugins also get preferential treatment a lot of the time simply for just being foreigners.

    Exepensive- it's true, things cost a lot more than N.Z. but you get paid a whole lot more too. I agree. Still, I can't help thinking- for example- that the money I spent on the 300 C.D.s I bought in Nippon could have bought me 600(!) C.D.s in N.Z...

    etc etc......

    And movie tickets are daylight robbery.

  8. #8
    Regular Member neko_girl22's Avatar
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    I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences Auckland-san. Perhaps I am spared from such racism because I have a Japanese husband...? (eg, he books the hotels.....)
    Or perhaps Japanese officals are more wary of g-men, because they do have a bad rep in Tokyo.....

    I was nervous to meet his Granma though because her husband died in the war and thought she would be really sad/angry to meet a gaijin - but she was lovely and really down to earth ;)

  9. #9
    You SPAM/We BAN !
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    Return to heaven!

    Over 30 years ago I spent 2 years in Japan while in the Navy. I haven't stopped thinking about Japan and the people I met there since. I'll soon be 54 years old and those 2 years were by far the BEST in my life so far! For many reasons I'm trapped here in Maine and can't return to the country and people I have so many fond memories of. I pray before I die that I will someday return.

  10. #10
    Regular Member Ninja Rock Star's Avatar
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    Originally posted by nzueda
    I was nervous to meet his Granma though because her husband died in the war
    Ouch. That's sad.

    On a (sort of) related note, one of the nicest guys I ever met in Japan was one of my Eikaiwa students- about 75 years old (!) and he'd lived through the war and seen terrible, terrible things but he held no animosity towards foreigners.

    Hellova lot of interesting stories he told me! One time he and his schoolmates climbed Mt. Fuji with a Hitler Youth Group!

    Wow.

  11. #11
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Originally posted by nzueda
    I was nervous to meet his Granma though because her husband died in the war and thought she would be really sad/angry to meet a gaijin - but she was lovely and really down to earth ;)
    If she's really lived during the war, how could she forget that their were 3 main "teams" : the Axis (Japan, Germany/Austria and Italy), the Allies (USA, UK, France, USSR...) and the neutrals (some actually supporting the Axis in Europe : Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, etc.). Which means that a lot of people in Europe where actually on the same side as Japan. Not all Westerners are Americans ! Europe was so to say absent from the Pacific War anyway. That's very sad to see that such elderly people 1) still bear grudge against former enemies 60 years later, 2) can't even distinguish Westerners together, even former allies of Japan are now just seen as the "bad foreigners".

    So, to reply to Ninja Rock Star, if anybody in Japan start talking about WWII and tell you to go back to your country, just tell them (in Japanese, for more effect) that you are German or Italian (depending which you look more like physically) even if it's not true. Remind them you were on the same side to make them lose face. Anyway such people are stupid enough not to know if you are telling the truth or not and don't deserve respect (for they are plain racists).

  12. #12
    Regular Member neko_girl22's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Maciamo
    If she's really lived during the war, how could she forget that their were 3 main "teams" : the Axis (Japan, Germany/Austria and Italy), the Allies (USA, UK, France, USSR...) and the neutrals (some actually supporting the Axis in Europe : Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, etc.).
    If she's REALLY lived during the war you said?? Are you calling my Obaachan a liar? I hope not! Her husband died in the Phillipines. He was young and handsome. Granma had to work while raising 3 young boys and looking after her elderly parents.
    AND, I said she didn't care that I was a gaijin. She is wise enough to not to judge me by what happened so long ago.

  13. #13
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
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    Originally posted by nzueda
    If she's REALLY lived during the war you said?? Are you calling my Obaachan a liar?
    I wasn't even questioning. It meant that because she has experienced this period of history, she should know which country was on Japan's side during the war. That's the most basic thing people should know when they are in a decade long war (as WWII actually started in the 30's in Japan, when it invaded other Asian countries).

  14. #14
    Regular Member Ninja Rock Star's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Maciamo
    So, to reply to Ninja Rock Star, if anybody in Japan start talking about WWII and tell you to go back to your country, just tell them (in Japanese, for more effect) that you are German or Italian (depending which you look more like physically) even if it's not true.
    Well, the ending of that story was that I did say something back to him (not too nice, I'm afraid), and he was so surprised that he quickly walked away. Weird.

    As for pretending to be another race, well, it sure works on the Mormons who come door-knocking at my apartment and I pretend that I can't speak Japanese or English. Heh. (no offence to Mormons reading this.. it's just not my thing)

  15. #15
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    I just happened to read this thread (though it is old ), and what i have read was really i mean about the fact that japanese are racists

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