21 THINGS ABOUT JAPAN to Know Before Moving 🇯🇵 | The REALITY...and what I wish I knew first 🤧

Hello everyone!! Today I am back telling you things that I wish I knew about before moving to Japan, and things in general about life here that I didn't realize or wish I knew more about before moving here...because at the end of the day, the best way to really get ready for or even consider moving to Japan is to learn a lot beforehand to mitigate that culture shock a bit 🤧

Do you have any other tips you wish you knew about before moving? Or are there any that stood out to you that you didn't know before? Let me know in the comments down below! ❤️

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21 Things To Know Before Moving to Japan | What I Wish I Knew and the REALITY... 🤧

[AllisoninTokyo]

Did any of these surprise you? Let me know in the comments!! 😇

Also, I'm trying out an editor because honestly it's nice to sometimes have a week off from having the video editing looming over my head after work every day (I like it, but I also like having free time 🤧) so let me know your thoughts/feedback!! My first time working with this editor so there's bound to be stuff that doesn't work 😆 (Also, I'm definitely still going to always be editing my vlogs!!! Just these kind of videos it's nice to have help with sometimes hehe)

[JohnSmith-ctwu]

I like how down to earth your videos are, a lot of the bigger japan youtubers are kind of getting unrelatable to me? Like doing mr. beast type things but in japan lol. I still like all those channels but i appreciate you being more real and relatable to normal folks lol.

[lorrane]

Thank you Allison for the video. Living in a different country isn’t for everyone. My son has lived in Japan for almost 4 yrs. He’s visited the country twice before moving there. Once was a 2 month. My sister and I laugh how my son blended well into the culture. Those are his people. Basically, landing on his mother ship. For others that don’t feel that way, it may not be your place to live permanently. He’s teaching English. Many friends come and go. Comments on depression. Don’t try to live there if you are people needy. Although polite, Japanese aren’t that open. You need to be able to eat out alone, hike alone, shop alone, and go on tours alone. I hope everyone gets to visit there.

[done.]

Re 21, while true also remember that a life shake up is exactly what many need to radically disrupt bad patterns. Don’t use travel to “fix” yourself, but also it can open your horizon and teach you that the problems in your life might not be as big as you think. Trying something new can really reset your mindset.

[souravghosh]

Just got accepted by a professor to the International Multidisciplinary Engineering Program at the University of Tokyo... so I'm very likely to be entering Japan around Sep 2024... These are some nice tips I have noted, might help me survive there...

[knx]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for speaking the truth on behalf of us; foreigners/residents 🙏🙌😂 all of these are very very true, and 21 is probably the most important! Especially given the lack of resources/education about mental health in Japan. I know it’s a bit sad to hear for some people, but it’s better to hear this now; that waste loads of money coming here and then ending up hating Japan for no reason.

[vguy]

Thank you for telling it like it is.

My recent trip taught me this exact thing: visiting Japan was an amazing, mind-opening experience. Would I actually WANT to live there? No, I wouldn't.

Mostly due to the quiet discrimination. I certainly felt it in the little things: getting weird looks on the train, having people actively move away from me, just feeling like I was seen as something, well... foreign.

Cheers!

[richardlbn]

Excellent video. Open, honest, intelligent, realistic. Lots of common-sense, a trait that seems to be not so common any more. Absolutely, moving country does not solve one's own mental problems nor bad habits. I speak from experience. The problems between our ears, follow us around the earth-plane.

[Muus]

This was the best, most down-to-earth video that I've seen so far. A lot of people feel very alien and unrelatable when discussing living in Japan but I think you explained it in a way that us *normal humans* can understand. Specifically addressing things like what daily life is like and the idea that moving won't fix all your problems is a good frame shift as myself and many others can get "lost in the sauce, " to put it crudely.

[wannaknit]

Excellent and realistic video, a nice antidote to the many 'Japan is so wonderful' gushing fantasy videos. I didn't know about the middle name issue, interesting.

[markvader]

The emoji's was a nice change of pace. You are always honest & tell it like it is and that's why I like your videos. Life is not all unicorns and cotton candy. If you ever change jobs, maybe you can open your own business to help foreigners transition to living in Japan(?). You could probably write a guidebook on everything people need to know before coming to Japan(1 for tourists, 1 for moving to Japan to work). 👍

[GoGoNihonGo]

God, these are all SO TRUE! Living in Japan can be really tough at times, especially without any Japanese skills. I think we all wish we would have known more Japanese before coming here 😂

[vongolea]

Hands down! An YouTuber that shows the real life living in Japan. No sugar coating. Great video

[talesofmichele]

Coming from someone who has been here 12 years and is on the shy, not a fan of partying, loneliness might not go away.

Allison seems a bit out going and only been here 5 years. Also her social circle is not limited to her job or school.

Coming as a teacher you have training and meet the teachers also in you Mr area. At work you talk with the other ALT during downtime. You become friends but those people leave. Japan wasn’t for them or something. Rinse and repeat with the next year’s ALT. My best friend went back to Australia after 5 years. You just don’t know what will happen in life. Thankfully I met my husband after that.😅

Also when I studied abroad my dear aunt passed away and I couldn’t fly home. And now I’m worrying about money for our roof and no way we can afford to fly to California to see my family I haven’t seen since I arrived in 2011. I really want my husband to meet them.

[ojyochan]

💯fellow American woman who lived in Japan here. Excellent advice, Allison!

[TimToishi]

As a Canadian that lived in Tokyo for 8 years. I can agree with everything you said here. Japan is a decent place to live if you can find like-minded friends or a community that you vibe with. All the city ward or document related stuff was a pain to do 😂

[jackietsuruya]

Absolutely👏🏼 on👏🏼 point👏🏼11:24 Definitely a reality check on visiting vs. living 🥲

[JazDidWhat]

I really appreciate this video. I don't think people realize how it will really be. I was there for almost a month this time solo traveling, trying to get a sense of being there alone, and realized that. However, I still want to move there (because I have a community locally already) but I have my expectations in check.

[zizekso]

I am deaf and very introverted anyway so something tells me Japan is my mothership, I am already going everywhere alone in America anyway

[mrsthe]

I am looking forward to visiting Japan and am learning the language. The cultural indirectness concerns me in face to face communication and is something I've come to appreciate in songs and books. Although I'm reading an English translation and might still be missing the essence.
I think you're doing a great service in this video to people who intend to move, live and work there.