this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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I think that some foreigners can be happy living in Japan long-term, but most won't.
I was there for 7 years, and probably should have left a few years earlier. There is a lot to love about the country and its people, but the relentless pressures really do wear you down.
Stereotypical pressures or something you didn't expect?
Most that I discovered while living there. I only had two weeks notice about my job, so I didn't even have a chance to learn any language before flying to Japan.
There were simple pressures like being stared at all the time, because I lived in a smaller city that didn't have many foreigners.
Being required to submit my passport to buy travelers checks, even though it was a joint account with my Japanese wife, who didn't have to provide hers.
And ones that were not unique to being foreign, but were still difficult for me to deal with, like 3 hours of commuting every day on one of those packed trains you sometimes see.
At the time, telephoning from Japan to Canada cost about $1.30 per minute, and the internet had not really arrived, so I was somewhat cut off from my family and other personal supports.
There were also difficulties in my marriage and my work situation that certainly didn't help.
Just want to say thanks for elaborating, you did not have to so I appreciate it. Hope you are in a good place now, dude!