Why I left Japan after 10 years

I appreciate your answer.

Thinking about it, I realize this may not the best example to give to why "just leave" doesn't work. You might have an attachment to the culture and few, if any, other countries can tick the same boxes.

For me, there's both push and pull factors so while I could go to another country (e.g. I have family in Australia), and it may help a bit, it wouldn't be what I'm looking for. There's aspects of US culture I struggle to find elsewhere.

> Japan has a country wide stigma against people who wear tattoos due to

Reasons I don't care about. Doesn't matter. Deal with different cultures.

> This is exactly the mentality being discussed in this thread that is so abhorrent. You don't see Japanese people strolling into an American house and telling everyone they should take their shoes off before entering. Why should their society turn a blind eye to foreigners and accept something that is non-trivially a massive taboo in their own country?

Why shouldn't they? Everybody else has to. If a Japanese person owns a house in the U.S. and asks me to take off my shoes, maybe I should ignore that since my culture in my country doesn't do that? No, I'm not an asshole and I respect their culture, even if they want to practice it in my country. Obviously this is a trivial example, but it's not like tattoos representing gang membership/mafia is unique to Japan. Ever been to the U.S. ? Do people get kicked out of gyms here for having tattoos of any kind? People get offended by burqas so should I kick them out of the gym too if I don't like it because I believe it's a symbol of female oppression?

It's a silly double standard you're pulling here and I'll have none of it.

This was a really good piece. I have also lived in Japan for some time and I can relate to many of his experiences. Unlike some of his critics, I don't think anything he wrote is completely wrong. There may be some embellishment or unrepresentative anecdotes, but for the most part I think he paints a fairly accurate picture, at least from a foreign perspective.

I have met a lot of other western foreigners who have lived in Japan for a very long time. One of my coworkers is an eastern European guy who has lived in Japan since 1994. He absolutely adores everything about the country and its people. When I compare his perspective to that of this author's, an important point becomes clear in my mind: Being a happy immigrant requires a very deep level of assimilation.

It isn't about learning the language or copying the mannerisms. It is also about adopting the value system. Many of the author's complaints demonstrate a preference for a western European cultural value system. For example, he complains about the lack of hate speech laws, the more authoritarian police, the lack of tolerance of diversity, the lack of gender equality, and so on.

He uses phrases like "more enlightened 21st century countries," and makes a lot of sweeping statements about the Japanese people. It's almost as if he's annoyed that Japanese people are Japanese and not British. Cultures aren't costumes. It's not just different foods and clothing. It's fundamentally different ways of understanding the world. In racially homogeneous societies, it's also about an implicit in-group out-group orientation. You'll feel that everywhere from Japan to Nigeria.

I am an immigrant in Japan. I have made peace with the fact that I am always going to be an outsider. I have made peace with those aspects of their culture I find unpleasant. On balance I think the lifestyle and culture is superior to most other places, so I am content.

> but this is simply not a topic for foreigners to discuss.

For any "outsiders" lurking here... discuss it! You'll take a social hit from certain types of people but future generations will thank you.

Having lived in various countries that seem to be able to handle critique quiet okay, it'd be a really pitty to just shy away from it in the US. A boastful bully often needs to hear that they are not the most fantastic person in the world. I mean, good self estime is great but so is some humility, even when it comes from the "outside". Actually it's often the person from the outside that is the only one to see the difference starkly enough.

> If a Japanese person owns a house in the U.S. and asks me to take off my shoes, maybe I should ignore that since my culture in my country doesn't do that? No, I'm not an asshole and I respect their culture, even if they want to practice it in my country.

But you won't respect their culture in their own country? Double standards indeed.

Wearing your tattoo proudly in Japan is perfectly fine. Just be prepared to be asked to leave an establishment that doesn't tolerate them. It's closer to "No shirt, No shoes, No service" policies in the West if anything.