hi everyone!! i’ve been heavily considering moving to tokyo in about a year’s time after i graduate college. i’ve been doing lots of research about life there, lots of language study, etc. and understand that there will be pretty significant challenges. it seems pretty difficult to find opinions online about life in japan as an expat that are grounded and not just saying “japan is the most perfect place on the planet and all japanese people are perfect!!!” or “japan is the worst place in the world and you will be absolutely miserable!!” so i think that’s what im reaching out about here: i’d like some real but grounded perspective.
my biggest worry as of right now is xenophobia and racism, since it definitely seems to be on the rise there. when i visited, i felt pretty welcome. most people seemed open to my friends & i’s company and were kind to us, didn’t even experience the foreigner seat on the train. but i realize that that is likely not a consistent reality especially with the current political climate. i want to be able to make community (with both foreigners and japanese people). i want to be able to have an enjoyable, fun life there even if im there for only a short time (2-5 years). i just wander i guess like… if you are someone who is a foreigner, preferably a poc, how do you feel there/how do you feel about your decision to move there? do you feel you’ve been able to make an okay life for yourself there? any advice about these things?
i’m open to shifting my plans and giving up on tokyo, but obviously really wouldn’t prefer that. but i just want to make sure i get a lot of insight from others before making a decision like this. any thoughts, advice, etc are greatly appreciated 🙂
by cinnamorot