Do you ever find you need to be careful not to “overcommit” to a friendship or acquaintanceship?

I realize writing this makes me sound like a bit of a grouch, but I have found multiple times over the years that I have agreed to have a meal, climb a mountain or do something with somebody personally. Then suddenly, that person feels starts inviting me out a lot, wanting to make big commitments together, wants me to meet their family, communicates a A LOT.

In general, I like people, and am always happy to have a friend. But I have a busy job and two kids, so honestly I only have so much personal time. And more than once I feel like I've felt like a few conversations or casual outings has led to a misunderstanding about the amount of time, money and emotion I am able to commit to the friendship.

One issue is that sometimes with Japanese people, this gets wrapped up in them feeling like they have a "foreign friend" or someone to use English with. Then, what feels pretty casual to me, feels like a special opportunity to them. And since I moved to the countryside, this only happens more often.

I dunno, maybe this makes me a hermit or just kind of a jerk. Does anybody else experience this?

EDIT: I think I should point out, as some commenters have below, that I realize this does stand in contrast to some people who have experienced loneliness and difficulty with friendships in japan. My heart goes out to those people, and I hope my post doesn't make them feel bad in any way. Everybody circumstances are different. In fact, I hesitated for a while to make this post for that very reason. But in the end, we all have our difficulties and neither side invalidates the other.