Aside from the odd weather, spending prolonged time here has been very pleasant. Genuinely could see moving here longer term should the opportunity arise. I know of people who respond bitterly, that there’s a honeymoon phase, leave after two years or whatever. From what I gather, some of it is career related, and some of it is the outsiderness turning sour, partially self inflicted because they don’t bother learning the language or etiquette. Neither is of particular concern for me.
If there’s anything, maybe a space issue? Definitely wouldn’t want to be in Tokyo, but any of the cities, hear houses are compact compared to western cities. Always fantasized about having a modest home gym. When I look at the types of home gyms people built here, they shove the equipment in what looks like a walk in closet. It’s the low ceilings more than anything.
If you're enjoying it, stick with it if you can visa-wise.
I balanced the pros & cons and didn't stick around long-term and idk, maybe that was the wrong decision. I wonder where my life would've gone if I stayed in Japan.
I'd totally buy a cheap rural house and move to Japan to retire except...visa. I run my own business so I can't just get a job at a Japanese company to sponser me.
From my limited experience having lived in the boonies (Aomori) and suburbs (Nagoya) and a lot of tourist trips to Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/Nagana and tourist sites, the main
cons of living in Japan are:
-Lack of friends/family who are out of the country
-Lack of good worldly food variety
-Summer mushiatsui humidity is miserable if you're in certain parts; winter is killer if you're in other parts (Aomori had perfect summers, but winter was being snowed in for 4-6 months)
-Politics suck and are very conserative right-wing and always getting worse and more anti-foreigner (if you're white this doesn't effect you as much, but if you're non-white foreigner, it definitely can).
Pros are:
-very clean safe country
-amazing transportation
-people are pretty friendly
-food types that do exist are amazing and much higher quality food than you get in the states for example
-incredibly scenic nature always within reach
-cost of living isn't too extreme coming from the USA (can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the lifestyle you're coming from in the USA)
Neutral:
-Dating-pool wise you are very limited to dating Japanese people. This can be a pro or con depending on how you feel about the Japanese dating culture. This is less of a thing if you're already married by the time you move over.
-If you have tattoos, at least when I lived there it was still a lot of stigma, though I hear this is getting better and more accepted all the time
-Driving is super expensive because of road tolls, but it's also really relaxing because there's a lot fewer people on the road. Also completely optional due to the great public transportation.
