Hey friends,
I'm planning to move to Osaka to study Japanese for 2 years to attain N1.
I wish for inputs on this scenario. I'll try to make it short and explain in details further down below as I'm afraid to waste your time.
To make it a little clearer about the title, I'm not Chinese nor living in China but I look somewhat Chinese. I'm planning to move to Japan in 2026, and I'm currently 25(M) a Junior Data Scientist, holding N3 at the moment and trying to go for N1 in the future.
What became my fear is that it *seems* Japan's negative view on China and Chinese is growing rapid rapid, at least from what I see in medias including social medias, news, etc. I'm quite afraid to live in a Country that has a negative view on people who I happen to look alike.
I understand that I will face discrimination at the very least, I am aware I'm a foreigner, but it's more about being the fear of generally disliked (I hope I'm wrong).
So why do I care about the negative view against China if I'm not Chinese?
I have been in Japan precisely 4 times on 15 days vacation each, so many times I have gotten things like "あーすみません、英語で説明してもよろしですか？,中国から来ましたか？"
I'm not offended, my point is that I'm seen as Chinese in Japan (which isn't a problem at all, it's just that the current situation kind of strikes fear in me, I understand this might be a me problem)
So how is it there?
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Now to explain a little bit in details, backgrounds, etc.
I am not moving to Japan due to liking Anime or J-pop or anything, it's just that it's a better country than the one I was born in, I'm going to avoid saying the country but it's in South East Asia.
One of my metric on life quality is for an example evaluating what is like to be an average pay worker, it isn't easy but looking at what average pay worker have in Japan vs what average pay worker have here is just too much. We have motorbikes but that's it, don't dream about public transportation(s), and people would have to know a "route" to get home to avoid not seeing tomorrow, average pay worker here lives in literally 1 room that's 3 x 2.5 meters wide with bed on the floor.
Overworking is also an Issue especially in the capital, you clock in at 8 in the morning, clock out at 7, get home by 8-9 due to the traffic. That's not talking about the overtime that kind of forced, either you say yes or you get fired. All that with a life in the "apartments" I've described, and mind you it's not apartments.
I understand the problems in Japan though some only in surface level, such as loneliness and the cause of it, overworking and the cause of it, weakening currency, offing ourself rate being high, and much more. To be fair, here where I live we have the same problem, but we don't have what Japan have, and I think it's enough to just say that, I don't want to be all negative…. The 2 examples here is that if you walk alone at night you're probably going to not see tomorrow, and by night I mean above 8 which isn't late. 1 more is that if you're someone whose legs or vision is impaired, you're done for, can't get anywhere without a taxi or a guide, there's no single braillie on anything, no assistance, a bunch of stairs without the slope for movement impaired people.
I've travelled multiple times to the 3 East Asian Countries and it has always been amazing, but I get how travelling and living is just not even close in experience(s). Mostly to Japan, trying to learn the manners, the cultures, and how people behave overall.
I have heard things such as that it's just the "Online Japanese" who acts very negative while the rest aren't, some are but it's so little in comparison to people who do, but I have also heard that Japanese avoid conflicts therefore they just put on a mask and act accordingly to society's expectation(s).
All and all, I really wish for inputs, I understand that I might be wrong by a long long shot, hence why I wish to ask for inputs, in fact I'm extremely happy to be wrong about this. thank you so much in advance!
by IntenseBrainwork