Have you lived in a small town in Japan?
- Thread starter Sparky
- Start date
+
+old folks are more polite and friendly(they are often less affraid of foreigners than your generation)
+even in countryside train network is great and its easy to travel
+many shops are open 24/7 even at countryside
+spend less money
+service is better at shops( though they ignore you still pretty often)
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-younger people are generally more unfriendly
-people are usually more narrow
-people stare
( I cant believe they tend to say finish people stare too much, what are they whining about ?)
-friends are harder to come by
-people avoid communicating with you
-you scare other people
+old folks are more polite and friendly(they are often less affraid of foreigners than your generation)
+even in countryside train network is great and its easy to travel
+many shops are open 24/7 even at countryside
+spend less money
+service is better at shops( though they ignore you still pretty often)
-
-younger people are generally more unfriendly
-people are usually more narrow
-people stare
( I cant believe they tend to say finish people stare too much, what are they whining about ?)
-friends are harder to come by
-people avoid communicating with you
-you scare other people
MajideSaiaku
tsuyaku o tsukete kudasai
- 19 Jan 2005
- 1,381
- 59
+
Room to breath?, city life Japan from my experience is pretty crowded, in the country you can get plenty of trees and nature, quieter, who knows, maybe even a garden.
The one time I went into the Japanese countryside it was covered in tree's and very verticle.
Of course you may like a vibrant city enviroment, I know i was awed by Tokyo, I'm a country lad really, I live in a small city with plenty of greenery so, I've personally always felt more relaxed and at home in more rural locations.
Room to breath?, city life Japan from my experience is pretty crowded, in the country you can get plenty of trees and nature, quieter, who knows, maybe even a garden.
The one time I went into the Japanese countryside it was covered in tree's and very verticle.
Of course you may like a vibrant city enviroment, I know i was awed by Tokyo, I'm a country lad really, I live in a small city with plenty of greenery so, I've personally always felt more relaxed and at home in more rural locations.
Though in amount of trees you are indeed right, I have hard time to see the point of neibourghs. I have 8 of those... what would take off from me if there would be one more 100 on my top ? This is same I think density is pretty much smilar...though it might be little bit better in rural areas. In rural arreas buildings are not so high....actually if they would, it would be it would be bette if therte would be more higher buildings...more nature to grow. Personally I think people of Japan dont like nature before its home grown park ;P
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geishaboy
後輩
- 15 Jan 2007
- 8
- 0
I lived in Nagawa for a few months, it's located up in the mountains of Nagano, it's very isolated. I was working there as a lumberjack.
I didn't really find it to be all that different from the rest of Japan, except that most people were even more laid back than usual and there was never a rush to do anything, I liked that a lot. But there was also a lot of physical work to do, I had to shovel three feet of snow from out side my house every morning, and then get to work chopping down trees and chopping up fire wood.
It was very community based, and there were parties all the time where people of the village would get together for a catch up and get drunk, of course drink driving was not an issue as most people could simply walk home
I didn't really find it to be all that different from the rest of Japan, except that most people were even more laid back than usual and there was never a rush to do anything, I liked that a lot. But there was also a lot of physical work to do, I had to shovel three feet of snow from out side my house every morning, and then get to work chopping down trees and chopping up fire wood.
It was very community based, and there were parties all the time where people of the village would get together for a catch up and get drunk, of course drink driving was not an issue as most people could simply walk home
- 8 Mar 2005
- 2,139
- 89
I lived in Usui, which is situated between Chiba & Sakura, and much much smaller than both... We had lending agents, a Jusco, some Pachinko parlors, and maybe a love hotel... oh yes, and lots of yankii kids driving their souped up cars around at night.
Generally speaking the young adult people in the neighborhood were nice to me, and seemed to find it interesting I was from the States and always wanted to 'customarily' shake my hand...
A few snickers from the middle-school aged kids, you know, "look at the gaijin..." but whatever... Some suspicious looks from older people, but this waxed and waned depending on the news report of whatever foreigners committed what crime.
It wasn't the sticks, just a small town... I don't recall seeing any other gaijin in my town, at times this made me feel isolated, other times special.
In any case, you shouldn't let it bother you... everyone's experience will vary, and it's better not to have some preconceived notion about how you might be treated.
Generally speaking the young adult people in the neighborhood were nice to me, and seemed to find it interesting I was from the States and always wanted to 'customarily' shake my hand...
A few snickers from the middle-school aged kids, you know, "look at the gaijin..." but whatever... Some suspicious looks from older people, but this waxed and waned depending on the news report of whatever foreigners committed what crime.
It wasn't the sticks, just a small town... I don't recall seeing any other gaijin in my town, at times this made me feel isolated, other times special.
In any case, you shouldn't let it bother you... everyone's experience will vary, and it's better not to have some preconceived notion about how you might be treated.
craftsman
************
- 24 Sep 2006
- 280
- 19
Sparky, you live in a small town I believe. What are your thoughts?
Nall-ohki
先輩
- 1 Nov 2006
- 345
- 10
Lived in Akita for about a year - somewhere on the border between small town and the middle of the abyss.
I have my old, incomplete exchange journal from the first time I went to Japan here:
The Lost Library of Florestica
It may or may not be of interest.
- People are generally friendly, and most are more curious
However, the actual follow through on this varies.
MrJones' posts in other threads are instructive of this, but be sure to read everyone's responses.
- People are HARDER TO UNDERSTAND
Local dialects tend to be stronger in isolated areas.
When I met the person who picked me up at Narita, I spent nearly 10 hours with him and barely understood a word.
Upon arriving, I was terrified of what I got myself into, but then others there spoke more closely to 窶｢Wﾂ鞘ぎﾅ津ｪ (standard Japanese) and I was somewhat relieved.
Still, there's an upside to this: after 12 months of being able to understand such a hard-to-understand Japanese dialect, my listening skill was VERY advanced for my experience level.
- There is less to do (than a city)
This makes finding friends and intimate activities much harder to find. On the other hand, the fact that people are more curious can help compensate some (no guarantees, though).
- You get the "Rockstar effect"
You will be known as "the local foreigner".
When I was in Japan the first time, I was a competitive Tekken player (fighting game played in the arcade). I once traveled to a tournament that was happening 40 or so miles (64 kilometers) away, and the person running the tournament (the person running the arcade), knew both my name, and that I was coming. It was downright freaky.
- You will be more lonely at some point
As you have less support, you are prone to becoming isolated and depressed. If you have a problem with depression, keep this in mind.
- You will learn Japanese faster
Because you will HAVE TO. Nobody knows English. You either speak and thrive or isolate and die. This is the number one thing I credit my current Japanese ability to.
I have my old, incomplete exchange journal from the first time I went to Japan here:
The Lost Library of Florestica
It may or may not be of interest.
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Anchan
先輩
- 28 Feb 2007
- 27
- 0
I spent almost one year in Hekinan in Aichi prefecture (four 3 months periods) and I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn't the only gaijin around (there's quite a big Brazilian population over there) so I didn;t get too many strange looks. Well, I was observed with slight curiousity when I bought Japanese books and magazines
I became a regular guest of two very nice bars. At first I felt like a Japanese speaking pet, but after a while they accepted me as a "part of the community"
And since I'm in Japan again, I'm going to visit my fave places tomorrow:kanpai:
I became a regular guest of two very nice bars. At first I felt like a Japanese speaking pet, but after a while they accepted me as a "part of the community"
And since I'm in Japan again, I'm going to visit my fave places tomorrow
:kanpai:
