Why Are You Leaving Japan?

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[carolsakaguchi]

The hardest part for me, I lived in Japan for 8 years, was that people are not open…they hide their true feelings and you never really know where you stand. Many things in Japan are wonderful, but since human relationships are the most important part of life I think foreigners struggle.

[oldtincorona]

I just recently visited Japan for the first time, staying in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Every day, westerners gravitated to my wife and I for conversation. Many of them have been living in Japan for 10+ years. The social isolation they feel was obvious.

[Widderic]

You can feel his pain. That's how I felt when I was there. To have dedicated massive amounts of time to learning the language, to love a country SO much and to love it's people too, but without reciprocation. You'll never be in the club, and always kept at a distance. Almost like there's no point in being enthusiastic or hopeful.

[mpessan]

I loved the sincerity and honest answers of the Korean engineer who was interviewed.

[matthewmammothswine]

I have lived here for 8 years, own a house, and have a Japanese wife. There's really two kinds of foreigners who live here: Ones who want to live their life like they did in their home country while still living in Japan, and ones who accept and understand Japanese culture, the do's and don'ts, and find their place within Japanese society. As a gaijin, you will ALWAYS be a gaijin no matter what. So if you can accept this, it honestly becomes very easy to live here. My advice for people who want to move to Japan and want to stay a long time would be one, whatever you do, at all costs, avoid working for a Japanese company as best you can. This is probably one of the hardest things for foreigners to do, as we all need money to survive and getting a job with a company is the easiest way to do that. Starting your own business or working for a close friend/spouses business is the best solution in my opinion. Japanese work culture is probably one of the worst things about Japan, so whatever you do, avoid working at a Japanese company, or if you can't don't stay at one for long and look for a way to support yourself. Second piece of advice would be to live in the countryside. Japanese cities are crowded, busy, and expensive, while the countryside is essentially the opposite. You will also find some of the friendliest and most welcoming people in all of Japan out in the countryside. Again, I've lived here for 8 years, and because I don't work for a Japanese company and I live in the countryside, I could never EVER see myself leaving. I love living here soo much and feel very very lucky to be able to happily live here.

[thefinitemike]

“Why are you leaving?”
“So I can lose this look of impending doom and fear in my eyes”
That girl from Korea will do so much better when she goes back home, good luck to her and her new business.

[pyodesu]

I’ve been living here in Japan for 4 years and 2 months now. My contract is about to end in 5 months and I decided not to extend anymore for the reason that the work is physically tiring and I’m kinda worried about my health in the future. This is my second job since I came here and I kinda realized that jobs for trainee foreigners are physically tough. But when my Shachou finally asked me about my extension, it finally hit me. I’ve been dreaming of living in this country since I was in HS and I’ve been learning Japanese since College. It’s so hard to let go of the comfortable lifestyle here. Japan taught me how to be comfortable going out alone, eating at the restaurant alone, enjoy my own company and discover things about myself that I never knew. But at the same time my mental health got worse. When you got so much time being alone, you think about unnecessary stuff and overthink about the future. But cheers to us foreigners for always finding beauty and positivity even when life gets rough 🎉

[swtm]

Just came back from my Japan trip, and fantasizing about living in Japan. This video is a good reality check that traveling vs living are two very different things.

Thank you for this video!

[bigbakaboon]

I know a lot of younger japanese people don't want to keep sticking with japan's indirect culture, but if nobody speaks up, nothing is going to change. I understand respecting your elders, but japanese culture takes it to like a feudal level.

[yukifuki]

Might be unfitting here, but I am an exactly opposite case, being "ethnically" Japanese, having japanese nationality and being born there, but I lived most of my life in Germany. When I am in Japan I often feel as if the Japanese expect me to be "normal", which I can't be (Different culture, customs and so on) so they get confused/weirded out and distance themselves from me. That is the case even though I speak Japanese fluently and without accent, so it isn't a problem of the language, but of things like my body language. I think Japanese people are very strict to fellow japanese and expect one to be 100% conforming to the norm. They do not realize why I cannot fulfill their expectations, and sadly I feel they are not forgiving whatsoever.
Also, I never got along with the ambiguous, "never talking about what they think" mindset Japanese have. For the reason that you never know what they think (you are not allowed to speak out what you think) and only showing "friendliness" to hide your true opinion, I feel very uncomfortable around Japanese. I tend to avoid them even though I am technically "one of them", but I always felt isolated. I think it is a nice country if you can fit in the society, but for me, that is sadly not the case. I really like Japan as a visitor, but I just can not get along with the way the society is.

[orngpeelr]

I'm a foreigner whose lived in Japan for 8 months now and will be leaving in 4. Let me just echo what many people in this video said: if you are planning to live in Japan, LEARN JAPANESE. I say that as someone that didn't, and my experience here has been incredibly isolating. Personally, i'm introverted and its mostly been fine, but it does get lonely and difficult at times. I know others that knew even just enough japanese to have basic exchanges with people, and their experience living here is vastly different/more fun than mine because of it.

Edit (because there is confusion): Firstly, I DO speak some japanese, it’s elementary but I can get around on a daily basis just fine. Moreover, when I say “learn Japanese” I mean learn to be conversationally fluent, if you plan to live here long term (3+years) I have met foreigners that have been living here for 5+ years and know less Japanese than me, but they’re fine. This is just my opinion on the matter from someone that has first hand experience.

[starskyguitarman]

I have so much respect for the lady, who leaves because his son's education. She was really intelligent, and humble.

[joemoe-ihsv]

You’ve really developed as a interviewer and YouTuber. You seem more comfortable in-front of the camera and seem more confident when your speaking with these people. Good Job

[young]

As a foreigner in Japan who is from another Asian country, I totally agree with the first Korean woman.
I’ve been in Japan for years and speak Japanese.
However, I nearly have given up on being real friends with Japanese, unless they lived abroad or speak foreign languages well.
As some people said in this video, Japanese people always think you are a foreigner, and judge your Japanese level, and they hide their real thoughts to keep their politeness on the surface.
Some of my friends lived in Japan for a decade and they all have left Japan, we have such feelings that most Japanese are too fake to communicate with.
If I get a chance to move to a Western country, I’ll leave Japan. 

Visiting Japan as tourists, it would be great; but working in Japan for a long time as foreigners. NO!

[bobmarlin]

It's hard living in Japan. I'm half japanese living in Japan and it's tremendously hard to live here without getting any of your identity changed based on people's judgement. I'm never fully accepted here despite my Japanese nationality. People seem to care so much about "my other half" and they completely forget my other half is actually japanese

[Parkkh]

Based on my personal experiences residing in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, I encountered the greatest challenges in Japan. Without proficiency in Japanese and an understanding of their cultural intricacies, one easily feels like an outsider. In contrast, both South Korea and Taiwan extended a remarkably warm welcome. The people in these countries were open and enthusiastic about assisting foreigners like myself, and English proficiency was noticeably higher than in Japan. While Japan is undeniably a beautiful and friendly country with exceptional cleanliness, my preference leans toward living in South Korea and Taiwan.

[bumwog]

4:35 when she said she doesn't like Japanese guys Takashii ended the interview instantly 😂😂🤣 👊

[OnTheWorldStage]

“What I would not miss? …being a foreigner 😅 “ I felt that.

[JucktMichNicht]

I really like how you let everybody speak out what’s on there minds. No interruptions, you are just being polite and creating a nice atmosphere 👍🏼

[TherdGunman]

Guy from Sweden seemed like a really cool guy.