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Would you rather live in America or Japan?

United States of America or Greater Nippon?

  • Total voters
    323
Income inequality

(Sorry to interrupt - I don't know much about Australia, but I've met some great Aussies )

Getting back to the OP's question - I chose Japan because

In the U.S., the top 1% of the population controls 25% of the country's wealth.
The country ranks no. 3 in income inequality (among developed countries) according to the Gini Coefficient. (Story at this Bsns Wk link: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/0...+index+page_top+stories&technology+slideshows)

(Click this link for another interesting article regarding this issue: Subscribe to read | Financial Times)

OTOH, Japan ranks as one of the lowest in income inequality beaten only by Denmark.
This is one of the biggest factors contributing to the difference in quality of life between the 2 countries.

So, while I sometimes miss the wild diversity and excitement that the U.S. is famed for, I enjoy living in a more eqalitarian society (despite being an outsider - since being a total insider has its price, too) .
 
I would love to live in Japan, as I currently live in the US.
1. The food
2. The Culture
3. The girls
4. The food
 
I'm from the UK and have never lived in the USA or Japan. I have visited the good 'ol USA and found the people to be nothing but polite, kind and friendly.

However i hope to visit Japan soon - im extremely interested in the technology-driven and bustling Tokyo, but also the quieter areas steeped in history. It's definately top of my travel list by a mile.

I picked the USA though - its sounds more similar to the UK than the UK to Japan. My dream (i think) would be to live in the US with frequent Japan trips!
 
I've worked in Japan, and my wife is a translator who's language skills are focused upon Japanese. We are both caucasian so will always have the visitor treatment in Japan. So I'd have to pick the land of my birth and stick with the States as my preferred place to live. But as for Japan, I'll always go back to visit and work.
 
I would enjoy living in a different country for awhile. The United States of America for me right now is in flux. It's slightly disheartening to see my government prefer raising taxes and creating short term fixes to our economic woes. As a matter of fact, as much as I would prefer a younger president with the willingness to change our country for the better, Obama is doing a horrible job at it, and his inexperience is showing. Seriously, uh, I think I can make a comparison between how Obama got into office and how he's portraying himself now. Watch the below video, and then look at the pictures below it.


2008:


2010:


ugu, so depressing..

So, where would I rather live? Japan or the USA? Opportunity right now in Japan seems laughable, and the same applies to the USA. In fact, I think I would prefer to move up to Canada these days and start a life there. I could see myself moving to Japan and working there as long as the opportunity and stability permitted me to do so.
 
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I have lived my entire life in the united states so I can not be sure, but from what i have seen and heard of Japanese life and culture I would prefer it over the united states.
 
It really depends. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Frankly, my dating life was better in the States. But that also depended which part of the States I was living in at the time. There's a lot I miss. I miss my family and the freedom of having my own car and being able to speak to just about anybody I wanted and go just about anywhere I wanted without attracting a whole lot of attention. Clothes shopping was easier, too. I wouldn't consider myself to be a really fat person, but I've got a curvy hourglass figure, which is something for which they don't design a lot of women's clothes here in Japan.

But I also absolutely love living in Japan. It's convenient, the people are more civil, the clothes (despite their difficulties) are cute, the weather (any time aside from the dead of summer) is lovely, the language is 難しい but fun, and the food is the best in the world. So I can't pick which one I would rather live in, but the fact is I'm living in Japan now and will be for an indefinite amount of time. So I guess I've already decided where I would rather live.
 
While I still have never been to Japan, I have a feeling when I do go that I will like it about the same as living in the states. but I will love how unusual everything is to me, and that will keep me there.
 
It's amazing how so many people have never even come to Japan, yet they automatically figure living here is better than where they are now...and give no concrete reasons why.

Been living in Japan for 12 years. There ARE differences, and not all of them are in Japan's favor.

1. bank interest rate is less than 1% (more like 0.1-0.2%)
2. you constantly need a visa status to remain here
3. the language. need I say more?
4. how some of us are treated by locals.
5. business is conducted differently. aggressive U.S. attitudes do NOT prevail.
 

Agreed. Daydreaming and reality hardly ever overlap. People if you choose Japan and yet have never even been here, you should at least give a concrete reason, otherwise you just seem aloof. And "because I like manga and anime" does NOT count.

Lived in Japan going on 7 years, great place, but in the end I prefer to be and will be back home in America.
 
Please don't necropost. Especially for something as asinine as a one word reply that essentially contributes nothing. If you need some way to kill idle time and engage in your Japan infatuation go watch a cartoon or read a comic book or something.
 
I don't remember if I posted in here or not.
If so, that was then, a number of years ago.
People and opinions change. "...change is the only constant" - eh?

I think I would like to try and live in Japan, maybe for like a year or so.
I've been to Japan 2 times before.

-Once for a little over a month, part of the
time staying with a host family.
- the 2nd time for 2 weeks, travel/tourism stuff,
with another US friend I met during the other trip.
Visiting people we knew along the way.

Kookoo de daigaku de nihongo o benkyoo shimashita.
Demo, For various reasons I have no college degree in anything.

2 shyuukan ikka getsu wa mijikai desu ne.
2 weeks and one month are short times.
Ichi nen kan mo mijikai ka mo shiremasen.
It would give one a longer time to see a different perspective.
But probably most of all it would give me a chance to use Japanese
everyday. Like all those hours studying weren't for naught.
Plus it would make my mom proud.


Nihon ni ite,
chiisai apa-to o mimashita.
Like aparment buildings one sees in the US.
That is where I would've wanted to stay.
Home-staying with a family in their house is nice,
but as for me, I do not want to own a house.
Not in the US, not in Japan.
 
Mike Cash said:
Please don't necropost. Especially for something as asinine as a one word reply that essentially contributes nothing. If you need some way to kill idle time and engage in your Japan infatuation go watch a cartoon or read a comic book or something.
Click to expand...

well im sorry, i tend not to look at dates, usually if i want to post in a thread then i will regardless of how old it is or owt like that
 
Well, I've been living in Japan for quite a few years now.
I have never been to the U.S. before, so I have no clue about life there.
So, I'd say I prefer Japan.
I mean both countries would be foreign countries for me anyways.
I can speak English and Japanese, so the language wouldn't be an issue in either country.

However, when I leave Japan in the future (and I plant to), then it's either gonna be back to Europe or maybe Australia.
The U.S. has never been on my list, sorry!
 
IMO, the only necroforums are locked ones.
But if you wanted to watch a cartoon or read a book with regards to Japan, I'd like to offer a few suggestions.

"Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture" a collection of essays and photos put together by
artist and show curator Takashi Murakami
Some have called the "Super Flat" art "Japanese pop art", but this is incorrect Murakami or another writes.
That's all I'll say on that read for yourself. Get it via interlibrary loan.

As one essay points out the comics form makes up a full 40 percent of all books and magazines sold in Japan.
So, you can't go wrong with comics.
It has been my opinion since I started learning more about Japan, that since even salarymen and housewifes read comics, that the US was ignorant in this respect. It is just another art form. To relegate it to children it seemed to me,
was a "tuff-guy" wankerish thing to do, maybe seen as childish be the same people who would tease you in school
for having a bicycle rather than a car. (And besides, most readership of US comics is adult too).
Manga to your tastes, of course.

Or perhaps,
"Osugi Sakae, anarchist in Taisho Japan : the creativity of the ego" by Thomas A. Stanley
No particular reason other than a local library had this & I read it. There are anarchists in Japan as well.
And, besides, history is always good to read.

Maybe the latest by Haruki Murakami "1Q84"
A distopian novel, I hear. On my reading list, for sure.

There was one other suggestion, but I can't find the author.
Oh, heck.
Children's books in Japanese. Those are always a good way to study.
Easier for beginners than manga, no doubt.

zoomingjapan said:
However, when I leave Japan in the future (and I plant to), then it's either gonna be back to Europe or maybe Australia.
The U.S. has never been on my list, sorry!
Click to expand...

Can't say that I blame you. The US these days, IMO, is going through some strange changes. Some good. Some bad. As David Bowie has said: "I'm afraid of Americans. I'm afraid I can't help it."
 
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Too true. If you ever walk into a comicbook store you're more likely to find men in business suits than children. The first time I stepped into a US comicbook store I was pleasantly surprised to find most people were my age or older xD

I've never been to Japan but i'd love to go one day. I dont think I could live there for long 'cause, i'd miss the US. One of my favorite things about US is meeting people of so many different backgrounds. I like stepping into different neighborhoods and being hit with different ethnicities. I live in Queens, and its a really diverse borough. Its fun to go through different neighborhoods and see how it will suddenly change from chinese to korean... to puerto rican etc depending where you go.

But then again, I dont really have much experience in foreign countries so I might be wrong *shrugs*
 
but us is awesome to live in as well.. at least like 100 times better than germany

---------- Post added at 21:30 ---------- Previous post was at 21:24 ----------

the cool things you meet many awesome japanese in the us, but you also meet awesome americans and chinese.. very interesting... but japan seems just the magic place for my soul. i mean i just saw kyo or whats it called yesterday on dvd and it was so freaking awesome...
 
Eastern countries seem very conservative and closed-minded. On the other hand I would trust a single person in Washington to wash my dishes let alone govern my country. The US is founded on lies and hypocrisy and continues to be that way. I would not personally choose either country. I would choose the US over japan for a permanent residence. I would live in japan for some time as I am fascinated by the country and I hope to find a Japanese wife at some point. I would have to actually live for a period in Japan to make an informed decision (I was born and raised in the US). I've also heard that Japan is not foreigner friendly. Is that true?
 
Just as true as America being founded on lies and hypocrisy.
 
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