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How many of us have been to/lived in Japan?

Have you ever been to Japan?

  • Yes, I have been to, or currently reside in Japan.

    Votes: 54 79.4%

  • No, I have never been to Japan.

    Votes: 14 20.6%
  • Total voters
    68

Numark

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Since I was just reading another thread and this topic came up, I was wondering, what percentage of people on this forum have been to japan?

There are some people that are annoyed by the ignorance of some posters about Japan, but those who have been to Japan should be enlightening these people about the realities of Japan!

I don't expect everyone to have a realistic view of, or direct experience with Japanese culture, people, or language on a forum for Japan enthusiasts... there are many online forums I have joined in which I knew nothing about, in order to learn from the members!
 
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The last part of your post seems to be completely disconnected from the poll; what's the point of this exercise?
 
The second part of the post is the reason I created the poll, in tandem with my thoughts on users having/not having been to Japan, and how this affects the JREF forums, maybe that deserves its own thread... I was thinking that and while I did I wondered what the real percentage was.
 
Even people who have lived in Japan are affected by the culture at different levels, so I wouldn't say that everyone is a reliable source. Some people make no effort to get out of their foriegn circle of life.
 
FrustratedDave said:
Even people who have lived in Japan are affected by the culture at different levels, so I wouldn't say that everyone is a reliable source. Some people make no effort to get out of their foriegn circle of life.
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an excellent point. Many times, it seems that merely having been to Japan lends a false sense of credibility to what one says. I get the feeling that this question has been asked here before.
 
Numark said:
There are some people that are annoyed by the ignorance of some posters about Japan, but those who have been to Japan should be enlightening these people about the realities of Japan!
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I'm sure some people feel I fall into that category. All I can say is, look at the plethora of posts I've made here and on half a dozen other forums in the past decade.
 
nice gaijin said:
an excellent point. Many times, it seems that merely having been to Japan lends a false sense of credibility to what one says. I get the feeling that this question has been asked here before.
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I have long held the opinion that the amount of time a person has been in Japan is a reliable indicator of only one thing: the amount of time a person has been in Japan. It would be a huge mistake to give credence to anyone's statements based on just the fact (or claim) that they have been here at all or that they have been here xx years.

Adding to the problem is that for all practical purposes, even among those of us who do live here, in a sense no two of us live in the same Japan. To the extent that perception is reality, we each live in our own. Some broad general things apply to everyone, of course. But when it gets down to more specific matters it is a mistake to assume that one can extrapolate generalities from the particulars that may apply to any individual person or locale.
 
Nevertheless, its a good point to sum up, who was there or not, even if one can read about on most posters profile.
I had a similar thought already, btw.;-)

As for the different perceptions, there have been numerous posts about this already, and it makes it very lively to compare them, in general.
 
very good point mike cash, i've been reading this forum for a while now and i've found that, whilst some do give a good insight on a regular basis the only way to truly find out what japan is like is to get off your *** & go there ^_^

yeah i think it's interesting to see how many people actually manage to get to japan as i assume most people here have a fairly large interest in it. would be interesting to see how many people go back after their 1st visit and if japan was what they expected, either in a good way or bad
+ i think the OP makes a good point on the whole not expecting people to have a realistic view idea... each perspective is different etc.

guess i'll have to wait to june to add my vote when i actually get to japan finally ^_^ and yeah Amathev flying to japan aint cheap but it's doable, hell its the reason i eat mostly beans on toast and have to limit my beer amounts guess bein a student helps tho ^_^
 
You'll survive, I did on russian planes 5 times forward and backwards to Japan, also through the Moscou nights in between. . .one gets used to everything, just to go to loved ones.
 
First "visit" was a business trip that lasted 5 months. My American company was setting up a branch office in Tokyo and sent me in the second wave after the execs had chosen a J officer and secretary with contacts to salesmen and distributors and had lined up a few customers. The second wave consisted of technical specialists to interact with the customers, train them, and troubleshoot any and all problems with our product. I was the only one to volunteer to stay over Xmas and New Year and ended up staying longer than anyone except the foreign boss for the specialists.

Second "visit" was a 1-man 3-week vacation on Honshu and Shikoku ten years later. Twenty-three days, 21 cities. The first experience here gave me so little time to explore the country, that I needed this vacation. Took over 400 pictures, kept scrupulous notes, and ended up using that experience to be a travel columnist back home for a cyberzine (not my own) for over a year.

Third "visit" started almost 10 years ago and has run continuously since then. Job changed to teaching English, I got married here, and I'm entrenched.
 
I only got to stay in Japan for about a week, unfortunately.

So I've ended up learning more about Japan from internet forums and things than I did by actually going there.
 
;-) and I became an addict of every book/Film etc. about and from Japan for years in between. . .
 
FrustratedDave said:
Even people who have lived in Japan are affected by the culture at different levels, so I wouldn't say that everyone is a reliable source. Some people make no effort to get out of their foriegn circle of life.
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Couldn't agree more.
 
I was lucky enough to spend 2 years in Japan.

BUT.....since it was almost 40 years ago, the memories and minor details are a bit faded.

Uncle Frank

 
Uncle Frank it's those hazy memories that are the best sometimes, they're fleeting so when you catch a good one or something triggers a memory the sudden vibrance is amazing. I'm not as advanced in years as you but I still remember things from my childhood when my mother took me to visit my family in Hiroshima, good memories.
 
bakaKanadajin said:
I'm not as advanced in years as you but I still remember things from my childhood when my mother took me to visit my family in Hiroshima, good memories.
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Ohh.... that was a low blow! LOL J/K@bakaKanadajin. Don't worry frank, I still think of you as an uncle, not a grandpa! LOL
 
FrustratedDave said:
Ohh.... that was a low blow! LOL J/K@bakaKanadajin. Don't worry frank, I still think of you as an uncle, not a grandpa! LOL
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Really? I see Frank as a distant ancestor lol

(Gomen Uncle, couldn't resist!! Truthfully you will always be my (somewhat!!) older brother in terms of years! )

Myself? Six years in Japan. Two mainly moving in typical eikaiwa Japan-newbies' circles; two as an 'older hand' with mostly English-speaking Japanese friends; and two moving in Japanese spheres, but still socially mainly speaking English (with a circle made up almost entirely by English-speaking Japanese).

That was a mouthful!
 
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Japan? That rings a bell...let's see. Oh...you mean this place, here? Well, it's a spot on the planet, and I'll be here for a while longer, for sure. . . but it is a slightly different spot, in some ways, from all the other spots (in those ways).

My first contacts with this spot were through photos and items (esp. the clock and 45s) that my father had brought back after the Korean conflict. I guess it made some sort of lasting impression?
 
Mars Man said:
My first contacts with this spot were through photos and items (esp. the clock and 45s) that my father had brought back after the Korean conflict. I guess it made some sort of lasting impression?
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You seem somewhat unsure dear MM, better get have your asa gohan before you try to wind the old grey cells into gear (and 'old' here meaning the British familiar term, rather than days-old based, of course!!)

 
Been there done that, bought the T-shirt. Ok then, I have been to Japan 5 times....ranging from 2 weeks to 6 weeks per visit. Love it, but it's not home. I think Tokyo is amazing, but you couldn't pay me to live there. I would go insane. In the words of the Dixie Chicks I need "Wide Open Spaces". Perhaps the countryside would be ok for home. I am going back over in 4 weeks or so.
 
We got still a house in Yokohama, but because I live more in Belgium I call it more a vacationhouse. After all I used to live in Yokohama.
 
FrustratedDave said:
Ohh.... that was a low blow! LOL J/K@bakaKanadajin. Don't worry frank, I still think of you as an uncle, not a grandpa! LOL
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Hey I tried to use the most neutral phrase I could think of in order to relate.


It's that darned over-polite & politically correct Canadian upbringing I tells ya.
 
bakaKanadajin said:
Hey I tried to use the most neutral phrase I could think of in order to relate.


It's that darned over-polite & politically correct Canadian upbringing I tells ya.
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Took you long enough! Hold on a second, what is a subsrcibed thread that was posted almost 2 weeks ago comming up now???
 
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