hi all. i need your suggestions/opinions/advices for the following situation. i am basically what you'd call a nerd, i like manga and anime, and i have been teased and made fun of being of that too. people can be cruel.
but i have been planning to go to japan as soon as i graduate since i started high school, and i will graduate next year, so i am really excited.
i have about $4000 in my savings account, and i plan to get a job when i get there, so i won't run out of money. then for once i will not be teased and made fun of just because i like what i like.
i am thinking about staying in the tokyo area, because it is the capital and i should find jobs easily. it's going to be hard, but i believe that i can do it.
i can't wait till i'm out of this hell hole. have any of you had similar situations? also, are there cheap apartments for rent for people like me? thanks
I'm planning to travel to Japan too. I bet a lot of us are. In the Tokyo area, rent won't be cheap. It's best if you don't stay with a host family either although they might give you free food and take you to places, they're very very strict. From all the stories I heard, people don't last long in host families and they often get kicked out. It's just the culture differences that makes in intolerable.
The best option for someone like you and if you're planning to stay for a few months is a Gaijin house or guest houses. These are just like bought out buildings and you can rent a room privately or shared with other gaijins. It should be about 50 000 yen a month, which is a fair deal (compared to hotels) cause it only takes a 10 minute walk to the nearest station in the Tokyo area.
You also need to budget for your meals as well. You will have to cook for yourself and that's a fair bit of money. Realistically you can't eat out everyday.
If you're going to work there, you will need to be able to read and speak Japanese fluently. Getting a job isn't easy. Otherwise it's better that you stay back after graduation and work for another year or so to save up money.
i've travelled through Japan for about a month. These are some impressions i've gotten from a combination of study and travel experience:
-Do not expect to blend in, fit in or be accepted into the culture in any way. Quieter, more restrained people and those without body mods (piercings, tattoos, etc.) have an easier time of it, but one way or another, you will always be gaijin. Because you are gaijin, you will always be an outsider, always. The only people who will not treat you as such will be other gaijin. That is not to say you can't make friends, but you'll always be "that gaijin" and the friendship will be heavily strained through that lense.
-Along those lines, expect discrimination - even more if you are black, Russian or Chinese (among other races that are looked down upon). You will see Japanese Only signs on some establishments - unfortunately, these are not against the law (last i checked).
-If you are religious and wish to engage in group worship while you're there, keep that in mind when you decide where to go. About one percent of Japanese are Christian, so all major cities should have a church, and i imagine most churches will have plenty of gaijin attending them. If you're Jewish, you may be able to find a shul if you're lucky. Other religions, i don't know, but don't get your hopes up. Buddhist? Great! Lucky you. If you're a liberal religious type, and simply wish to participate in enjoyable group worship, the Shinto and Buddhist temples shouldn't raise a hairy eyeball at your unobtrusive participation - religion-blending is a standard part of Japanese culture. You'd have to be crazy not to turn out for major festival days - Japanese new year festivities were the most fun (and the best ethnic junk food) i've had in years. The temples and shrines are also great places to collect your thoughts and meditate (no, really? Buddhist temples are good for meditation? i didn't know!).
-MANNERS!!!!111111!!!!111111111!!!!! i mean it. The Japanese percieve unvailed, blunt communication as inherently offensive. The level of reservedness expected varies depending on the person and community: a chick at the mall will probably have somewhat less of a politeness expectation than a salaryman. Nonetheless, it is VERY important to study and use manners and custom. There are some tricky ettiquette traps you can fall into if you don't - when a gift is given, for example, the recipient is traditionally expected to give something back, sometimes resulting in very long gift exchanges.
-That being said, manners are often modified when dealing with gaijin to fit gaijin manners, and nihonjin rarely expect gaijin to use spot-on Japanese manners. In fact, they may find spot-on Japanese manners a tad unnerving (just speculating here). A Japanese businessman may shake a Westerner's hand where they would normally bow.
-If you are female, expect to be accorded less rights and priveleges than you are used to. If you are female and white, expect a lot of interest from men.
-Food-wise, be careful to look at the prices of groceries. Some things will be cheaper than you're used to. Other things, such as fruit, will be shockingly expensive. You'll have to adjust your diet to prices.
-You'll also have to get used to eating a lot of Japanese food, including some Japanese foods not generally served in Western Japanese restaurants. You can try to continue eating a lot of Western food, but it may be tough. Most Japanese Western restaurants really suck, as the recipes are significantly altered to fit Japanese taste buds. Pasta sauce, for example, is generally thin as soup broth. Many standard Western ingredients may be difficult to get, though some will be cheap and easy to get.
-Keep in mind that Japanese convenience stores, unlike American ones, actually carry healthy foods (as well as unhealthy ones). However, Japanese candy is REALLY good, which sucks for anyone trying to stay healthy.
-If you want to live in a city with a lot of international influence, and where you may not be looked down on quite so much for being gaijin, Kobe is nice. It's small (pop1.5 million), hilly and pleasant (and the home of Japan's best baseball team, the Tigers). It's got some gorgeous modern architecture, though there's not much in the way of historical landmarks. The great thing about Kobe is that it's part of the same metropolitan sprawl with Osaka - a sleek, hypermodern, industrial city with a VERY cool art museum and lots to do - and Kyoto, a very traditional, quiet and pleasant city absolutely filled with historical buildings and temples, but with very little nightlife or excitement. Kyoto is a bicyclist's paradise, and the bike is the transport of choice there. The three cities balance each other out. Near Kyoto is Nara, the first capital of Japan and home of one of the country's most beautiful and oldest temples.
-If you do want to live in Tokyo - and it's understandable why you might - be prepared for sensory overload and confusion like nothing you have ever felt in your entire life. It's a routine experience to see 50 or more people cross the same crosswalk at once on a major street, at 1 AM no less. Signs for shops, bars and other establishments ascend the sides of buildings, and a nice cafe or shop may be on the 10th story of a building. If you are averse to crowds, noise or overwhelm, DO NOT live there. Of course, Tokyo is, well, Tokyo - there's no place like it.
-Research the district in which you plan to live. The districts can be very different from each other, and while one area may be pleasant and bustling, another could be an abandoned industrial wasteland.
-Of course, given the train system, your neighborhood may not matter much as long as you're decently close to a train station - which is a very easy objective. A neighborhood may not be pleasant, but given the country we're talking about, you don't need to be concerned about getting mugged.
-Don't bring very much, and expect to be cramped. ALL affordable urban Japanese living spaces are cramped. Period.
-The traditional way to have an inexpensive, fast meal out is to get a bowl of noodles. Noodle bowls - ramen especially - are the meat and potatoes of Japan. Keep this in mind when you're eating on a budget.
-Do your best to go somewhere with a decent Gaijin community, unless you're okay with being isolated.
-Japan is not all fuzzy lumpkins and happy yay. Actually, it's chock full of societal problems. It's not a place i'd want to live for more than a year or two.
There's plenty more where that came from, but your eyes are probably falling out from reading. :D
I recommend visiting Akihabara. The sanctuary for otaku and the world's biggest shopping metropolis for electronic, computers, anime novelties and other gadgets. Cosplay/maid cafes.
For fan girls --> Otome Road in Ikebukuro, although nothing like Akihabara it is said to be the female equivalent. Girls pull suitcases around loaded with doujinshi and you can visit butler cafes. This is most likely where the idea of Ouran Host Club came from.
Harajuku --> for your cosplay and fashion shit.
Shibuya and Shinjuku --> trendy shopping areas, nightlife, blah.
i am chinese. are there really a lot of discrimination against chinese?
>>9 i don't know how much there is, but yeah, it's certainly there. i've heard that folks in China aren't too fond of the Japanese, either - i guess you'll have to find out how bad the anti-Chinese feeling is for yourself.
There's definitely discrimination. Probably more discrimination than white gaijin, since the japs like western culture, etc.
Japs don't like other asian countries mainly cause they think they're better than the rest. I don't think being chinese is too bad. There's a greater resentment for koreans.
Even if they have this sort of thinking, by default every jap is overly polite upon first impression. Even if they're fake, I don't think you would receive any direct discrimination.
I wonder what will be the reaction to a middle eastern person. I guess I would know sometime.
Well, at least i know manners! we aren't polite as Japanese all the time, you westerners are plain rude, lol.
>>11 i actually walked into a couple places in weird clothing and had them tell me that they're "closed, sorry," when i could see with my own two eyes that the place was quite open and filled with customers.