Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in Japan, and have for about a decade. You're bang-on when it comes to culture, but it has nothing to do with being optimized for tourism. Japan is a very conservative country. Change happens slowly here, and Japan does a lot to ensure that people raised here share a common culture, with a strong focus on stability and harmony. To provide some examples: - NHK, the national broadcaster, has several series of po…
Few questions, would be glad if anyone can answer these: - Would you know of good companies which have a good work life balance in Japan? - I know among the big tech, Microsoft and Google have offices there. Both seem to pay well as well. Do they have similar WLB as their US offices? - I have heard of racism, like certain apartments being off limits for non Japanese people. Some clubs only allowing white caucasians a…
I'm not sure "work-life balance" is even the right concept in Japan.
Japanese companies are structured around the idea that you devote your life to the organization. Overtime and weekend work are common. In exchange, the company will take care of you: you will never be fired, you will be provided with access to a broad social network, a group of friends, a spouse should you desire, and enough salary for your station in life until you reach retirement.
If you are satisfied with that contract, you will be happy. If not, you won't.
Working for a big US-based tech company here, you get the best-ish of both worlds. Salaries are much higher -- although not on par with the US -- and your working environment will be much more familiar.
The downside is that you are very insulated from Japanese society as a whole. The "Gaijin Bubble" is a thing, and it's incredibly hard to break out of.
One of my buddies -- who "happens to be black" as George Carlin would say -- describes Japanese racism as "racism done right".
I'd say I agree with his assessment. I've been denied apartments, had an ex whose family hated foreigners, and been refused entry to a restaurant once, but that's all fairly uncommon. You are unlikely to experience violence, although the police will -- very politely -- pay more attention to you than they would natives.
Tokyoites are used to foreigners, and outside of that, you're a curiosity?
Also, speaking Japanese opens many doors. I once had a nightmare of a time getting a taxi, but they would stop to pick up Japanese people. Once I finally flagged one down, I asked the driver why.
He was thrilled that I spoke Japanese, and mentioned that, in that area, most foreigners (a) couldn't speak the language; (b) wanted a long taxi ride; and (c) often fought with the drivers and refused to pay (taxis are not cheap here).
Remote work is a thing now, but before that, you lived in Tokyo. You can easily live in a bedroom community and commute -- some people do 4+ hours per day on a shinkansen.
On the off chance that I do stay here, I will likely move to a semi-rural area and telecommute full time.
Your company (nominally) pays your commuting costs.
Japanese is straightforward to learn, but you really have to devote time to it. Plan a few years of total immersion.
Also, it's not a European language, so outside of the grammatical differences, there's just a ton of culture where there is no overlap -- I didn't really appreciate just how deep Christianity's roots were in Europe until moving here -- it's crazy.
As a tiny example, the little grill that you cook "Ghengis Khan" on is called a "shichirin" -- which is a specifically-shaped wheel from Buddhist teachings.