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When you are in japan or like japan or whatever reasons, make sure you know some background knowledge about their awful history. Remember, japan was a cruel imperialist country, just like germany, in the first half of 20th centur.all the inhuman things germany was doing in europe, japan was doing it in asia. The worst part is that japan does not admit their guilt, unlike germany.
When you think japan is cool and great and all that, be aware of where that coolness and greatness came from.
Oh man...you could substitute the word 'japan' for 'usa', and sadly get a pretty accurate picture of how people view us from outside the usa in the current era.
My daughter is studying Japanese in hopes of moving to Japan to become an English teacher. Is that something a lot of Americans do for work in Japan? She is getting her degree in English and plains to be as fluent as possible in Japanese by the time she goes to Japan. Any advise for her? Is this a decent job in Japan?
Yes, a lot of Americans teach English in Japan. Yes, there is a lot of work here for that.
If I were to recommend something, tell her to go get a MA in Education or TESOL or Linguistics after her studies...she could try to land a job teaching English at a college/university...and have a really nice career/life here in Japan.
Yes, a lot of Americans teach English in Japan. Yes, there is a lot of work here for that.
If I were to recommend something, tell her to go get a MA in Education or TESOL or Linguistics after her studies...she could try to land a job teaching English at a college/university...and have a really nice career/life here in Japan.
Thank you so much for the advice! Very useful and encouraging.
Oh man...you could substitute the word 'japan' for 'usa', and sadly get a pretty accurate picture of how people view us from outside the usa in the current era.
I am browsing through this thread to learn more about Japan. I have lived throughout the USA, England and Germany, but never made it to Japan. Just curious to anyone that has lived or visited Japan, what are your thoughts about Japan???? What did you like or dislike the most about living or visiting Japan??? What is Japan's healthcare like???? Is it better than the USA???? I tell one thing that Japan seems to have the USA beat is their transportation system. It seems like if you are living in the "major" cities, than you don't need a car.
I am browsing through this thread to learn more about Japan. I have lived throughout the USA, England and Germany, but never made it to Japan. Just curious to anyone that has lived or visited Japan, what are your thoughts about Japan???? What did you like or dislike the most about living or visiting Japan??? What is Japan's healthcare like???? Is it better than the USA???? I tell one thing that Japan seems to have the USA beat is their transportation system. It seems like if you are living in the "major" cities, than you don't need a car.
I'm an American living in Japan.
LIKE: Healthcare, public transportation, people, convenience, safe, friendly, modern, interesting, ocean/mountains/scenery - kind of like California, in many ways, just completely blessed with mountains, ocean, and beauty.
DISLIKES: Japanese writing system (speaking is easy, reading/writing is COMPLICATED - 3 alphabets, and the KANJI - chinese-based one is very common and necessary for basic reading).
HEALTHCARE - awesome. My wife and I (neither of us are Japanese) had our son here. For my wife to deliver the baby and have 24-7 care and 3 meals for FIVE DAYS...her own private room as well...only cost U$2,000..!! (That is without insurance - my employer has insurance, so it didn't cost me anything. But it is so low, I actually thought if I had another kid, I would consider flying back to Japan if I were somehow back in the States). In the States, they probably would have charged me $50,000 MINIMUM for 5 days of 24/7 care in a private room after a child delivery. They have way too many middlemen there profiting off of everything you can imagine when it comes to healthcare in the States.
No comparison in any shape or form whatsoever. Actually the US healthcare is the very worst in the developed world, so pretty unfair comparison. I hate even visiting the States with my family, as if anything happens, I would be in debt for life in my home country, as I am not 'insured' there. That would never happen in any other country in the world, as their medical is 'at cost' rather than 'many middlemen involved who profit immensily' system that we have back in the States.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Yeah, also awesome here. Actually, sadly enough, the US is one of the worst in the world in that regard as well. Even most third world countries have a substantially larger and more efficient public transporation than the mass majority of US cities - which most of them have nothing more than a bus.
I am browsing through this thread to learn more about Japan. I have lived throughout the USA, England and Germany, but never made it to Japan. Just curious to anyone that has lived or visited Japan, what are your thoughts about Japan???? What did you like or dislike the most about living or visiting Japan??? What is Japan's healthcare like???? Is it better than the USA???? I tell one thing that Japan seems to have the USA beat is their transportation system. It seems like if you are living in the "major" cities, than you don't need a car.
I lived in Tokyo for 3 years. Originally from NY, I wasn't intimidated by the huge crowds or the skyscrapers. Once you get out of Tokyo and head for a place like Nagoya, Yokohama or Yokosuka, you start getting breath taking views. As for the people, I got tired of the Japanese wanting to speak perfect English and watching them get frustrated. When you think people are avoiding you, it's most likely because people are afraid to use their English skills. As for the older Japanese, be warned. They think we're still at war. They can be very nasty at times. If you visit Tokyo, the best social scene is in Roppongi. You'll see Geishas mixed in the crowed of business suits and wanna be hip-hoppers and in general crazy teens in wild get ups. When I was there ('99-'02), the girls would shame Snooki's (Jersey Shore) tan and the guys were wearing combs in their hair making it hard to tell they were even guys. Crazy stuff on Roppongi but entertaining.
LIKE: Healthcare, public transportation, people, convenience, safe, friendly, modern, interesting, ocean/mountains/scenery - kind of like California, in many ways, just completely blessed with mountains, ocean, and beauty.
Very well said! I enjoy visiting Japan whenever I go to visit the in-laws. I think the area they live in is more like the Pacific NW, but hotter.
The coastal town of Atami is also very beautiful. You think you're on the Riviera when you overlook the town, but then are reminded you're in Japan because of the Japanese writing and stuff.
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DISLIKES: Japanese writing system (speaking is easy, reading/writing is COMPLICATED - 3 alphabets, and the KANJI - chinese-based one is very common and necessary for basic reading).
WORD! I am attempting to learn Japanese now and finding the concept of the three alphabets difficult. I can understand Hiragana and Katakana since it would be sort of like our alphabet and then the cursive form. But then there's Kanji. And oooh man, you need to know at least something like 3,000 symbols to just barely get by.
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HEALTHCARE - awesome. My wife and I (neither of us are Japanese) had our son here. For my wife to deliver the baby and have 24-7 care and 3 meals for FIVE DAYS...her own private room as well...only cost U$2,000..!! (That is without insurance - my employer has insurance, so it didn't cost me anything. But it is so low, I actually thought if I had another kid, I would consider flying back to Japan if I were somehow back in the States). In the States, they probably would have charged me $50,000 MINIMUM for 5 days of 24/7 care in a private room after a child delivery. They have way too many middlemen there profiting off of everything you can imagine when it comes to healthcare in the States.
No comparison in any shape or form whatsoever. Actually the US healthcare is the very worst in the developed world, so pretty unfair comparison. I hate even visiting the States with my family, as if anything happens, I would be in debt for life in my home country, as I am not 'insured' there. That would never happen in any other country in the world, as their medical is 'at cost' rather than 'many middlemen involved who profit immensily' system that we have back in the States.
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I wouldn't say the US healthcare system is the worst in the world. The most atavistic, profiteering, unfair, and expensive? Yes. But the worst? No. So you should say that the US's system is the worst in terms of fairness, but probably one of the best when it comes to the care itself.
You also have to remember that the Japanese aren't as used to using drugs and chemicals in their treatment. They don't flouridate the water, or have it in their toothpaste, for example. They are much more likely to say "take two aspirin and call in the morning." So, for illness and conditions, they're very conservative handing out prescriptions. The US's system is sorta like you need a pill for everything. I nearly cried when I saw a commercial for pills to keep people who work graveyard shift awake, and THEN called being tired and groggy during THE NIGHTTIME a DISEASE! I was simply staggered. I call it "find a different job and sleep during the night like normal people". Don't get me started on ADHD. Wayyyyyyyyy too many kids are being put on Ritalin when they shouldn't be. Not everyone is a good little machine and can learn sitting down!
So the systems are vastly different. Which do I prefer? Probably Japan's.
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PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Yeah, also awesome here. Actually, sadly enough, the US is one of the worst in the world in that regard as well. Even most third world countries have a substantially larger and more efficient public transporation than the mass majority of US cities - which most of them have nothing more than a bus.
Yeah, there is no comparison. I've lived in Chicago, a town in Indiana, Cincinnati, Seattle, and have visited many other places, and have to say, compared to Japan, the US's system isn't nowhere close. Seattle and the town in Indiana have excellent, clean, efficient bus systems, but that's it. However, things are moving up - we're getting a light rail system and there's one active from the airport to downtown, with future extensions being built. It's actually pretty cool! And all very very clean - it's probably the most like Japan's system from my experience.
Chicago and NYC have excellent public transport options, but usually they aren't on time and aren't the cleanest. San Fransisco was also excellent but the BART system is old and dirty and smelly, just like the city.
Sadly, Cincinnati didn't have anything that I noticed and the majority of cities don't either. The most apalling I've seen is Phoenix and LA. 12 lanes of highway, and all clogged with traffic.
You have to remember though, the population density in Japan means that public transport is a necessity, and land there is an order of magnitude more expensive. Americans and Canadians have much cheaper land options and aren't as constrained to building outward. I think once gasoline becomes outrageously expensive and people get tired of driving 40 minutes to work, people will start moving back to the cities. It's already happening, so maybe things will look up (once the US solves its other myriad problems).
Anyway, my own perception of Japan is that the people are nice and helpful, but are very very reserved. And there's only one way of doing something right usually, and if you deviate from the social norm or the "right" way of doing things, then you will be looked down upon, especially if you're a foreigner. I would highly highly recommend visiting a YouTube channel of an Australian who lives in Japan, JapanChanneldcom, I think it's called. He gives a very good summary of various things in Japan, and summarizes how to go about doing various things.
On the whole, Japan is very civilized, neat, clean, and safe. They have their social problems though - frequently, if someone is diagnosed with cancer, people have been known to break up or divorce because of it, and there's a lot of stigma against foreigners. The Japanese are very conservative in who they befriend as a whole. A business trip to Japan recently reminded me of how biased they can be - NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED at this one bar where it sounded like people are laughing and having a good time. They also refuse to allow non-ethnic Japanese immigrate to Japan en masse to make up for the extremely low birthrate. "Gotta keep Japan Japanese!" and so forth.
Also, if you do something wrong once, people will likely hold it against you for a long time, if not forever. When I first visited Japan to see my wife's folks, I was invited to take a bath. Mind you, you first shower THEN bath, so you're clean when you enter the tub, more to soak than anything else. Then you keep the water in the tub for others to enjoy too. I didn't know this, and took an English bath, cleansed in the tub, and drained it. They sort of laughed but I knew it was a totally alien concept to them, and from then on they wanted my wife in the bathroom with me.
LIKE: Healthcare, public transportation, people, convenience, safe, friendly, modern, interesting, ocean/mountains/scenery - kind of like California, in many ways, just completely blessed with mountains, ocean, and beauty.
DISLIKES: Japanese writing system (speaking is easy, reading/writing is COMPLICATED - 3 alphabets, and the KANJI - chinese-based one is very common and necessary for basic reading).
HEALTHCARE - awesome. My wife and I (neither of us are Japanese) had our son here. For my wife to deliver the baby and have 24-7 care and 3 meals for FIVE DAYS...her own private room as well...only cost U$2,000..!! (That is without insurance - my employer has insurance, so it didn't cost me anything. But it is so low, I actually thought if I had another kid, I would consider flying back to Japan if I were somehow back in the States). In the States, they probably would have charged me $50,000 MINIMUM for 5 days of 24/7 care in a private room after a child delivery. They have way too many middlemen there profiting off of everything you can imagine when it comes to healthcare in the States.
No comparison in any shape or form whatsoever. Actually the US healthcare is the very worst in the developed world, so pretty unfair comparison. I hate even visiting the States with my family, as if anything happens, I would be in debt for life in my home country, as I am not 'insured' there. That would never happen in any other country in the world, as their medical is 'at cost' rather than 'many middlemen involved who profit immensily' system that we have back in the States.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - Yeah, also awesome here. Actually, sadly enough, the US is one of the worst in the world in that regard as well. Even most third world countries have a substantially larger and more efficient public transporation than the mass majority of US cities - which most of them have nothing more than a bus.
Yeah, Japan is very similar to California, more so than any other U.S. state except maybe Hawaii. Maybe that is why California is the first choice that the Japanese visit when they go to the states. The similarities can be good and bad. The good is having mountains and oceans nearby, lots of big cities, lots of things to do, advanced technology, low crime rates, and a lot of sexy/fit women.
The bad is both are crowded and expensive, and a lot of women can be materialistic and superficial, at least the wealthy ones in the cities (at the same time, there are a lot of loose women in both so that can be listed under the "good"). Both are cultures that are reserved and it can be hard to make friends outside the group you associate with (such as colleagues), and can be hard to find a date unless you go online or out to places like Roppongi. Sometimes I wonder if Japan has "anti-nampa" laws, which prohibit a man to approach a woman that is a stranger, unless in a bar/club setting. I felt the same way when I lived in California. Also, both have a certain type of rudeness, not so much the "in your face" type of rudeness you find in the East Coast of the U.S. or Europe, but more like the not caring about others type. Also the "I'm superior to those not from here" mentality. Another "bad" is that they both have is earthquakes.
How Japan and California are different, the climates. Japan doesn't have deserts. Japan's rainfall allows it to have lush, green vegetation, making it look like the Southeast or Pacific Northwest regions of the U.S. Also, California's public transit system is nothing like Japan's. The Bay Area's system is the closest. Driving in California caused me to have a lot of road rage, in addition to finding parking. At least in Japan I can leave the car at home and hop on a train to just about anywhere, since I don't really enjoy driving in Japan. It can sometimes take like 45 minutes just to drive a few clicks, at least in the Tokyo metro area, because of all the lights and congested single-lane roads.
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Very useful and encouraging.
