So I've finally decided to ask this question on this subreddit because I'm genuinely curious. Will I actually enjoy living in Japan? I realize a lot of people want to move to Japan because of rose colored kawaii glasses that think everything is anime and onsens. I am not one of those people. Little background about myself, I'm from the US and almost 30. I've lived in multiple states and traveled all over the world. I lived a super crap life growing up and dealt with a lot of hardships. For all that people say about how much it sucks to live in Japan as a foreigner, honestly, being a native born American kinda blows too when you're dealt a bad hand. I have grown to hate a lot cultural aspects of the US. The politeness masking the passive aggressive "Bless your heart" attitudes, the fast paced everything, the weird obsession with religion influencing everything, the obsession with money and materialism, and so many more things. I was in the military and worked both blue and white collar jobs before getting my degree, and work can be just as crap here despite the complaints work in Japan "sucks the soul out of you". The US also has just as many soul crushing societal expectations, rules, etc that Japan has. Sometimes people are just people, and some people suck.
So why Japan? I just like the place, the culture, and the people (I've maybe met like 2 people who I didn't get along with). I am simply looking for somewhere I find interesting that offers stability and quiet (so not in downtown Tokyo). I passively make about the equivalent of ¥4-5 million yen not working, so money isn't a great concern for me. I understand I'll never "be Japanese" and I don't want to be, but I plan on integrating the best a little ol' white Westerner can. I'm still learning the language and am about N4 at the moment. I don't plan on moving until about a year or two from now and by then I'm hoping I'll be at least N2.
Ultimately, I want to move to Japan because I like the place and find so many aspects of the land fascinating. I know it's just another country with it's own problems and hurdles, and that's totally fine. I'm a big kid, I'll manage. But the US has never really felt like a place I want to stay. So I figure I might as well try my hand somewhere else. I don't really know what I'm aiming to accomplish with this post other than getting others' feedback so have at it. Thanks for coming to my rant.
by hoonanagans