What do you like about living in Japan?

I really miss Mister Cash's thoughts on this subject.

I, myself, haven't been to Japan yet so I can't judge.

ludoNL said:

I, myself, haven't been to Japan yet so I can't judge.

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same here T.T
is since my age 7years I want to desert my country to Japan because Japan for me Anime world.*SIGH*

One or should I say a couple of options that I didn't see on this poll I would like to make a comment (s)about.....oh btw I think the poll was pretty good for pointing out many of the things that people might like about this country.

Anyway, I like the ability to walk down the streets here, day or night and not have to fear for my life. Of course there is crime here but nothing in comparison to the US. No drive by shootings, drugs are not being pushed on the street corners to kids not even old enough to drive.

I also like the ability to, within reason of course, trust people for whom they say they are. To me I rarely hear of "gaijin" getting ripped off by some con-man looking to make a buck. Not saying that it doesn't happen but nothing like the door to door rip off artists in the states.

While petty crime exists, and murders are increasing, it is still one of the safest countries in the world.

I like how food is not so loaded with sugar like it is in the U.S. I like how we recycle here. I like the fact that I have never seen a "self-checkout" lane here. I like having streets that are not a mile wide for each lane, and intersections that are divided four ways or more by concrete barriers.

I like

1. The safety. Nowhere near as many Scallies as in England
2. The reliable public transport
3. The convenience stores everywhere
4. Being able to shop at reasonable times
5. The customer service you get which improves the more you say please/thank you
6. The obsession with music
7. Everything is so cheap (well most stuff)
8. All signs are so cute
9. The lack of religious freaks (note I like religious people but the die hard freaks I don't like too much)
10. If you want to get rid of someone pestering you just say "I don't understand"
11. The range of food available even in the suburbs.
12. The girls are very pretty.
13. I am better looking here
14. Engrish
15. Tabe Houdai
16. Nomi Houdai
17. All night Karaoke
18. Summer music festivals
19. Beach bars
20. The fact that living in Kanto gives you almost limitless things to do, really close to your house.
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etc

I love the season and Matsuri *_*

I liked how many holidays the Japanese get, if I was working there as something other than an English teacher I probably would have had something close to a month paid vacation rather than just 2 weeks. Golden week plus the other assorted holidays is alot of holidays. In Canada we don't get nearly as many.


The lack of crime, the trust-based culture of Japanese society, these are all very attractive also. I'm from Toronto which is another safe city but we have about as much crime as NY relatively speaking, its a big Western city its unavoidable. Tokyo was really safe by contrast, cleaner too, I could 'let my guard down' in Tokyo.

Just to note that even though i marked also the Japanese nature and seasons, I absolutely love them, but we also have them both here in Finland.
Seasons are maybe even more clear here.
What we are lacking here, are the gorgeous mountains and streams.

What do I like about Japan?

Hmmm............ The beer and the beer, actually I am drinking it right now. What else do I like? The beer!

women and the hairstyle i think everything!! everything about japan is good except ofcourse there are no samurais and they hunt whale's

FrustratedDave said:

What do I like about Japan?
Hmmm............ The beer and the beer, actually I am drinking it right now. What else do I like? The beer!

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Amen..

And everyone around here treats me like a rock star.

My value as a freak.

How children stare open mouthed at me then forget to turn their bodies as I walk past and almost snap their necks.
How people avoid sitting next to me on public transport, leaving me with more space.
How officials are not confident to interact with me about a problem, due to their lack of English skills and non-belief that I can speak Japanese, so they ignore me, and therefore with that done the problem of what I am doing does not exist.

Yes, I live in a very rural area.

Thuglife said:

And everyone around here treats me like a rock star.

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I get the looks once in a while, until I went to school on Thursday, some clubs were practicing, more looks, then, today, wow!! I felt like David Beckham, no joke. I got like, all the looks, people started talking to me in English, shaking hands, and got many girls: attention. I really didnt think it was gonna be so good.

Mauricio

At the moment: my job, the climate/sun and the transport. Mainly my job - which is great.

"Prefer not to think about it"

i like the kind friendly people!
just like this forum!
have much fun in your life and enjoy little things.
>~。~)

I chose a few things...mainly stuff like trains and food. There were a few things on the poll I actually considered negatives (homogeniety, for example).

Other than what's on the poll, one thing that I really like is that there are a lot of good places to meet friends and do things together. I am not a big bar/club type of person at all, but I love meeting my friends at a restaurant that has separate rooms per group and being able to talk amongst just each other, then head out for karaoke afterwards.

Another thing that wasn't on the list that I am starting to depend on and cannot really imagine being without is the coop services in the city. All you have to do is join a coop, click on the meal plan you want on the Internet, and they deliver each day's dinner ingredients and cooking instructions straight to the door--a complete balanced meal, tasty, and very fresh. I use a separate coop for organic breakfast ingredients and fruit. This has saved me sooo much hassle as a housewife!

I flip-flop about life in the city. Sometimes I hate how there's no green, and so much pollution, and so much noise and apathy...but sometimes I like the hustle and bustle and pulse of the city and the fact that there is always something to do nearby. Also I love the view from my veranda and really makes me feel like I'm a city girl. So, that depends on my mood.

Trains are fantastic, and I like the food and the variety of it. "Light" tasting food is my favorite and I have a bit of trouble eating too much sweets, but for the most part I am also a garbage disposal who will eat anything, and any country's food, happily. There isn't really anything I "miss" and feel like I need to get from America or Europe, but I think that would be true no matter where I go. Anyway, even if I did feel that way, there are several import stores nearby where I can get just about anything.

Also, this is not specific to Japan but my in-laws live very close, so I get to visit them often and they treat me like a queen and are very fun to talk with and be around I love my in-laws to death, and we even take trips together sometimes. And I have some very close friends from my old place of work that are a short train ride away. And we used to have sleepovers before I got pregnant...and they crack me up, and even listen to my occasional complaints. And then they crack me up again. Then again, I suppose that's not specific to Japan either, but it sure makes it easier to be here.

So, although I don't like Japan that well as a whole, I've managed to surround myself with wonderful things and am quite happy I also like taking trips out to the mountains. There is not much nature here but if you go out to those little pockets of green it is quite relaxing, and I love onsens. I do not know for the life of me why they don't have them in, say, the U.S.

Another thing that wasn't on the list that I am starting to depend on and cannot really imagine being without is the coop services in the city. All you have to do is join a coop, click on the meal plan you want on the Internet, and they deliver each day's dinner ingredients and cooking instructions straight to the door--a complete balanced meal, tasty, and very fresh. I use a separate coop for organic breakfast ingredients and fruit. This has saved me sooo much hassle as a housewife!

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Now thats a cool idea! Wouldn't mind having something like that here in the states.

I have to take issue with a lot of those items in the poll list. Some are just plain weird.

Tasty and cheap food
Cheap? Have you actually shopped?

Speciality restaurants, which means quicker service
How do you figure quicker?

Order and respect of authority
Often hypocritical.

Cute girls with a real sense of fashion
One does not ensure the other. "Fashion" varies.

Japanese TV
You're joking, right?

Non-argumentative character of the Japanese
To your face, anyway.

Low taxes (by European standards)
You haven't seen the recent increase in city tax, have you?

The ability to integrate aspects of foreign cultures and systems
Not sure what this implies, but there is a lot of integration that gets roadblocked, especially in the language teaching field.

The relative lack of political debates and demonstrations
Actually, it would be nice to see/hear a real debate now and then...
And, the annoyingly loud Red Army or election trucks make up for any peacefulness in between elections.

Good service and attention to customers
Except for the "Japanese Only" places, of course.

How easy it is to move around cities in bicycle
Easy? Convenient, perhaps, but often quite dangerous, I thought!

The homogeneity of society
Not sure why this is a positive.

The fact that Japanese banks don't charge monthly fees on bank accounts
Counterbalanced by the practically non-existent interest rates.

Kitsch decoration (pink, neons, cute characters...)
Make me want to puke, so this is actually a negative.

The kindness and interets showed toward foreigners
Depends.

The blissful joy and excitement of Japanese women
This one was the most curious to me. What the heck does it mean, anyway?

The dedication to work of the "salarymen"
Never heard any foreigner say this was a positive!

Shopping on Sundays
I do that back home, too. What is so novel about it here?

The ambiance music in train stations and cute voice of the announcers
Too loud for me, and there is nothing "cute" about those voices.

The sense of honour (linked to the concept of "face" and "embarassment")
Often gone against. Have you seen the news lately?

The customs of "omiyage" and "duty presents" (who doesn't like giving and receiving gifts ?)
Me. I don't like having an obligation to buy a gift for people I hardly know, or buy something for the office every time I go on a trip.

Living in Japan made me know JREF
Many posters here don't even live in Japan, nor have they ever!

So, what do I like about Japan?
my wife and her family
onsens and sentos and my large home bathtub, plus the ease of cleaning the bathroom
heated toilet seats (I'll skip the bidet function, thank you)
edamame
some (not all) foods
being able to spend a 10,000 yen bill in 7-Eleven even if all I wanted was a Coke
distance at the crosswalks, and the time interval when lights change, making it safer (for me)
relative soundproofness of newer apartments
chopsticks
tatami floors
being able to get rid of salesmen by telling them I'm not Japanese
Amazon.jp's lack of shipping charges on anything over 1500 yen, and the delivery speed
the chance to meet some really terrific internationally minded foreigners
most of my job and its perks, plus the ease to take on side work like proofreading
bilingual DVD movies that help my kid retain both languages
national health insurance
some of the high technology
did I mention my wife?

Damn, I was reading your rant on Japan and thought it was gonna be all negative, but now I see otherwise.

What I like about Japan. (me, please don't rant on me).
Being a gaijin in Japan.
I find girls beautiful.
How I am seen as a rockstar to these girls.
rental Cd shops.
Reliable public transportation.
￥１００ McShakes.
My high school.
My soccer club.
Being able to go to Nagoya on any free day.

Mm, many more things, I can't put them all.

Mauricio

Japan is uptight yet mellow. Norway is mellow yet uptight.

Food is better there. Its less Xenophic here yet more people are arrogant and racist here. The society as a whole is less judgmental yet at the personal level they are more judgmental in Norway.

What I like about Japan is the people. Its a good place.

arrogant and racist

centrajapan said:

more people are arrogant and racist here.
What I like about Japan is the people. Its a good place.

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I can agree it's a great place, but I cannot agree that Japanese people are arrogant and racist, at least from my experiences.

I have found Japanese to warm right up to me, or maybe that's just me.

Have you experienced racism in Japan? In what form?

Kyoto Returnee. I meant Norwegians are more arrogant than Japanese in general. Norwegians think they are the best and they are full of themselves. Ofcource not everyone etc but in general from my opinion. There are many levels of racism. Ranging from hate crimes to not knowing what you say or do is racist.

I haven't experienced getting kicked out or beaten up any place because of my ethnicity. Its more of an indirect subtle type of racism which you think about.

I am not sure of it. Even though I was a foreigner almost no one ignored me.

My Take...

1) The vending machines offer the greatest variety of goods.
2) The most efficient transportation system in the world.
3) The largest variety of restaurants all at four star level.
4) The most accomidating country in the world in terms of cultural understanding e.g. Japanese are willing to learn about a wider variety of cultures with great enthusiasm.
6) The best agricultural products in the world in terms of agriculture and production and methodology.
7) Drinkable tap water straight from the faucet to the mouth .
8) The most desirable( not beautiful) women in the world.
9) Every season has a theme point !
10) The sexiest obachaans and momachans by far. The aging population are very attractive.
11) The cutest babies.
12) 12 national holidays. In America we only have six and lucky to get paid for one of those holidays.
13) The vending machines offer the widest selection of goods.
14) No religious extremist with the exception of Aum( cult)
15) Very good night scene; clubs, parties , etc.,
16) Love Hotels for every fetish !
17) over 3000 registered hot springs