Redpill me as an American about living in Japan.

Living in Japan is great and the “you will le never be Japanese” is a meme

>safe, clean (inb4 pics of Kabukicho at 3am)
>convenient public transport
>great nature if you drive
>cheap rent and food
>can have a higher standard of living than a comparable salary in the West
>good-looking people
>pretty good nightlife in most major cities
>exempt from their awful work culture as a first-world non-Japanese person

Only contrarians who’ve only taken a trip here (or not) say Japan is hell. Or the bitter expat who throws a tantrum any time someone says 日本語上手 because it’s a “microaggresion”

And no, you will never be Japanese, nor does it matter. Don’t understand why it matters to people, as no Westerner will ever be fluent enough in Japanese to be held to the same standard as Asians, who have a better chance of *truly* integrating, but also face a much higher bar to overcome

>>2790461
agree with most of your points and yes
>the “you will le never be Japanese” is a meme
is absolutely true

what is not though
>exempt from their awful work culture as a first-world non-Japanese person
even if you come there as an expat (depends on the company)

for a couple of years, I worked in Japan for a Japanese company after finishing my PhD (as European)
and mind you, chemical engineering, so a really competitive, high paying profession
it was unbearable
management was completely retarded, leadership style from 100y ago and no focus on merit whatsoever
if this were anywhere else, I'd say bad luck, but in Japan it's not, that was the normal

the final straw was childcare / family policies (though I was there before the sangyou papa ikukyuu policy)
absolutely impossible to get a hoikuen spot
so left after my son was born

and guess what, first job back in Germany and suddenly good work-life balance, decent management and decision are made by (somewhat) competent people
an instant Kindergarten spot was just the cherry on top

also not true is
>can have a higher standard of living than a comparable salary in the West
maybe USA, but for Germany, Denmark, Austria etc. that is not true, standard of living is pretty comparable

>>2790471
Fair re: working a real job in a real Japanese company. Working for a nikkei is horrible but in practice most foreigners would never be hired in one, hence my thought that most people will be in gaishikei

>>2790472
>hence my thought that most people will be in gaishikei
unless they're deeply integrated into their foreign parent, the experience won't be that different
most are relatively independent subsidiaries with very small differences (unless you're in upper management)
though for specialist jobs the ratio is probably better

and what I wanted to highlight
even with really good CV and (relative) leverage you are still subjected to shitty Japanese work culture
and as you can easily work in almost any country in the world, why go to Japan where you have to question your life 8-12h/day?

and I think you underestimate salaries in Europe and overestimate the ones in Japan

>>2790475
I do, I’m speaking as an American and imagining the standard salary of a salaryman of 4M being comparable to maybe 60k USD, and the lifestyle those salaries afford in their respective countries

>>2790428 (OP)
If you're an introvert, You'll like it
If you're an extrovert, You'll kill yourself

>>2790698
that's a funny way of saying you'll be lonely kek

>>2790751
more like get cirrhosis and die
extrovert fags almost have to drink to socialize in Japan

>>2790461
>can have a higher standard of living than a comparable salary in the West
>cheap rent
and this is just a straight up lie - unless you're coming from a plywood dogshit new construction american suburb, and even then those are better in terms of space/value.
expect to pay at least $2k for a decent sized place in any bigger japanese city. if you can't cut that enjoy your poorly insulated shoebox.

housing sucks here, public amenities suck here, private amenities are fussy and annoying to deal with, good urban amenities and infrastructure are overcrowded to all hell and the rural versions are often old and sometimes neglected outside the also crowded tourist spots. probably still feels like utopia if all you've known in life is american suburbs and nig-infested cities though.

>pretty good nightlife in most major cities
the nightlife is literally just gooning, concerts where the vibe sucks, bars/izakaya which are admittedly fun to go to sometimes, and clubs full of socially-stunted normalfags

>>2790537
4M, despite being just over median salary is dogshit and the reality is you need to be making 10M after taxes to not live like a complete slave here.

>>2790428 (OP)
I am very American and hate traveling to any place that isn't similar to me. I am overweight. How do white overweight people (who are not multicultural ) get treated at Disneyland and DisneySea? I want to take advantage of the weak currency right now.

>>2790698
I'm an introvert but I want to bring my extroverted family

>>2790698
Travelling in Japan is nice for introverts. Living? FUCK NO. You do not want to spend all your life surrounded by people who are as (or even more) autistic as you are. You want people that can help you get out and do stuff, people that you can talk to and make friends with.

If I apply to a remote job for a Japanese employer, does this make me eligible for permanent residency? Via the points system.

>>2790471
>for Germany, Denmark, Austria etc. that is not true, standard of living is pretty comparable
at the cost of living in socialist libshit dystopias

>>2790857
Aren't there expat groups and such for people to go to izakayas and shit?

>>2791280
>at the cost of living in socialist libshit dystopias
>t. retarded mutt who never traveled outside the US
also in which world is Austria (ex Vienna) liberal

also wasn't the question
and if you start to criticize political systems, Japan falls off pretty quickly, especially if you're a foreigner

>>2791280
you know japan is one of the most socialist countries around? it's on par with scandi countries in terms of high taxes, anti-wealth laws, definancialization of property, and dogshit "here's a tylenol faggot" healthcare.

>>2791311
no porn laws
no speech laws, if there are then they're not targeted at you
ads and public transport have pictures of sanrio and hello kitty instead of globohomo shit
less browns, no browns in rural
people there interested in things other than globohomo politics, ''''social issues'''' and orange man bad

>>2791312
>no porn laws
porn is literally censored
> no speech laws
they have online harassment and hate speech laws and hate speech is a big talking point in media recently. expect these laws soon
>less browns
by a thin margin that they're slowly eroding. planning on importing a million indians soon
>people there interested in things other than globohomo politics, ''''social issues'''' and orange man bad
yeah, instead it's "my hobby is eating" and "we should import a billion indians to own the chinese"

>transport have pictures of sanrio and hello kitty instead of globohomo shit
true and based

>>2791314
>porn is literally censored
you can browse 4chan on mobile data, no age verification or whatever. there's also no laws on cartoon porn. if porn is censored it's just so it's not spread out everywhere i.e you have to go looking for it, it's a completely different reason than scandicuck places where feminists are trying to outlaw men entirely
>they have online harassment and hate speech laws
how many people get arrested for those laws? who do they have in mind when they make those laws? the UK arrested 3,300 in one year. it also most likely does not apply to shitposting on taiwanese basket weaving image boards in practice

>>2791315
cartoon porn is also censored and possessing uncensored porn is a crime.

>who do they have in mind when they make those laws?
right wingers and otaku who harass people on twitter and imageboards kek.

the laws were passed because a celebrity was harassed into suicide. they're planning to expand the laws too - the media also doesn't report arrests, but in general it's pretty hard to get arrested here for a nonviolent crime since they want high conviction rates. usually they're informed of an investigation and stop whatever behavior they're doing voluntarily and the case is dropped. that's kinda how shit goes most of the time for nonviolent crime here

they also have very strict defamation laws, but those laws are civil and stats on lawsuits aren't published. but among japanese there's a fear of legal retaliation when using your real name on negative google reviews and the like. i don't think they go after foreigners for this much

>UK
a special kind of hell not indicative of life in the general west.

>>2791315
>UK arrested 3,300 in one year
nta UK (except London) is a shithole by western standards and in any case compared to the originally referenced countries Germany, Denmark and Austria

and those 3 countries basically have a lot less to basically zero arrests for "hate speech" or not even such laws
notably there are defamation speech laws in Germany and Austria, but they "only" carry fines and are civil lawsuits / procedures with only a few dozen cases / year

>>2791312
>less browns, no browns in rural
only relevant for German cities
Denmark and Austria are very homogeneous / European and so is most of Germany countryside

>people there interested in things other than globohomo politics, ''''social issues'''' and orange man bad
that... is not what people are irl (outside of designated political spaces)
always surprising how such takes are on /trv/ of all boards

>>2791281
Yes. Tons of meetups

I literally started a group with no reputation, posted a walking event and had like 20 people show up once.

Did it include a white woman that just had to tell me how awful living in japan was while continuing to live there voluntarily? Yes

I want to live in Fukuoka.

>>2790428 (OP)
Watch Tokyo Vice

>>2791724
>Fukuoka
It's apparently quite memed

Rural Japan is filled with lovely people, I was expecting to be met with hostility as a foreigner however literally everyone was nice. I think they maybe felt bad at my botched attempts at speaking the language though so perhaps it was out of pity rather than kindness.

I'm planning to apply to the new Panasonic plant here for a nice pay bump, thinking real hard about applying to transfer to Japan later(a recruiter came to my Japanese class and told us we could apply after a year). Anyone know if you usually get to keep your salary, or do you take a pay cut to bring you in line with the other Japanese workers?

>>2790461
FYI OP, most developed countries outside the US have these things to varying degrees, but with easier to learn languages, less restrictive work cultures, less socially oppressive expectations, and people who are more open to meeting new people. Japan certainly has safety, cleanliness, etc etc but its a fucking hassle to move to, live in, integrate, and feel at peace.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but be realistic about the reason why you want to live there - are there places you can achieve all of these desires without these huge barriers? If you genuinely love visiting Japan, you may find your view of it will sour when you have actual responsibilities there.

>>2791316
>possessing uncensored porn is a crime
Do you mean distribution? This is the first I've seen this claim.

>>2792052
i've found rural japanese to be awesome and based and urban ones to be neurotic and racist but in a stupid way that just makes them look like sissies.

i think it's just because urban japan is inundated with the worst kind of foreigners, niggers, tourists, dorky newgen weebs, and rural japan only gets chill solo tourists and actual japan-lover weebs.

>>2792224
yeah every so often you hear about it. usually it's people trying to import physical media porn and getting busted by customs. they don't consider streaming it possession and you're unlikely to ever get your phone searched so nobody gets caught downloading it, but it very much is a crime to possess uncensored porn.

>>2791724

Its a nice city desu. People are far more aproachable tan in Tokyo or Osaka. BTW, Osaka is the memed city, its a second-hand Tokyo.

>>2792386
> BTW, Osaka is the memed city, it’s a second-hand Tokyo.
This. Osaka has its (limited) charms, but is basically just a giant Ikebukuro.