Canadian here, been living over in Meguro for about 5 years now.
I was just reading through an old thread from a few months back where people were talking about the classic "Japan has four distinct seasons!" cliché. I actually went to leave a comment, but realized the thread was completely dead. I've been lurking on Reddit forever, so I figured I'd finally make an account and start a new discussion for my first post.
Back home, our seasons basically consisted of "Winter" and "Construction." When I first moved to Tokyo, I used to secretly roll my eyes when my coworkers would make a massive deal out of the micro-seasons—like getting hyped for a specific type of plum blossom or a seasonal Starbucks drink.
But I realized the other day that I’ve completely converted. I'm sitting here genuinely sad that the sakura are falling off the trees in my neighborhood, and I'm already mentally preparing my AC unit for the impending doom of summer humidity. I actually appreciate the passing of time a lot more now than I ever did back home.
It got me thinking about other subtle ways living here rewires your brain. For the other long-termers here: what is a subtle mindset shift you’ve noticed in yourself? Did you start doing something naturally that you used to think was weird when you first arrived?
by StillStudyingTokyo