If I had it to do over again (born/raised in the US, living in Japan), I might pick Norway or Finland over Japan, but overall I’m fairly happy where I am.
Just curious, why do you prefer those countries over Japan? Anything lacking there?
Japan’s economic policy always has been weird, but lately things just keep appearing to get worse with like 30 years worth of shrinkflation happening all at once and wages not raising with inflation at all. The yen has slid against the dollar to pretty terrible rates. While it sucks for me personally wanting to do things like visit family overseas, it also plays a role in imports. Especially post 3-11 when they started turning off nuclear, a lot of fuel for everything, including keeping the lights on, must be imported. The low JPY basically just benefits the export markets.
More progressive, basically. The person who came second for PM wants to continued forced unified surnames (at least when both people getting married are Japanese) and has a bunch of positions on things like LGBTQI that drag progress backward. It also reads like she would revoke broadcasting licenses for news channels whose politics she doesn’t like. We already legally have to pay a yearly fee (kinda like a UK license fee, I think) for owning anything capable of receiving a TV signal. This was initially done (at least in part) to fund NHK (Japan’s BBC or PBS or whatever) outside of the government. They still have self-censored and at times aired wildly bullshit, racist things (particularly around corona). The position is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanae_Takaichi and, if another PM election which is not unlikely soon, I suspect she might win.
Thanks for sharing. I can definitely see how life can be better in a richer and more progressive place. I guess a major factor for choosing where to live should be whether people there are hopeful for the future.
Eh… Unless you are actually Japanese, you’re probably going to be hanging out with other ex-pats, or just very lonely.
Japan is an extremely conservative and insular country. They don’t really mind people visiting for the most part, but they don’t really think highly of people actually immigrating there.
There are ethnic Koreans who have lived in communities in Japan for hundreds of years who are still considered outsiders and are treated like second class citizens.
Eh… Unless you are actually Japanese, you’re probably going to be hanging out with other ex-pats, or just very lonely.
I disagree here. Learn the language and hang out where Japanese hang out.
Japan is an extremely conservative and insular country. They don’t really mind people visiting for the most part, but they don’t really think highly of people actually immigrating there.
The “they” here is doing a lot of work. Certainly, a number of people are anti-immigration as they see an erosion of their tradition and some, the I suspect it an ever-shrinking minority, Others are mostly fine with immigration if it’s “the right kind/race of immigrants”. I have a loving family here in my in-laws with whom I am often involved (grandpa loves writing letters). As for immigration itself, in the ~10 years I’ve been here, they’ve added new visas with quicker paths to permanent resident status. One can apply for citizenship after 5 years (though it requires renouncing all others which is why I don’t do it – I do wish they’d change that).
There are ethnic Koreans who have lived in communities in Japan for hundreds of years who are still considered outsiders and are treated like second class citizens.
I don’t know exactly what you’re referencing here. There are zainichi Koreans who are in a weird spot. There is more racism to people from the neighboring countries than perhaps others, but that’s also not universal. A lot of Koreans that are here because their homes/families were in the north don’t take Japanese citizenship and, often, don’t really feel Japanese either; they feel their identity is north korean, but don’t move their either for obvious reasons. As such, they don’t take Japanese citizenship and are basically waiting to “go home”. I used to hang out with one and my wife knew a couple and they are in an interesting spot. They often also go schools run by nork-friendly institutions and some (many? all?) do at least visit pyongyang once, but they’re well aware of how much they are taught and shown is carefully curated and not typical. Anyway, the not taking citizenship and not going home does rub some (especially the far right) the wrong way and they’d rather they GTFO. Edit: a lot of the families were brought over, often involuntarily, during Japan’s colonization of Korea and WWII.
Racism is definitely something that I think is shrinking over time, but definitely still too high and a problem to be addressed.
disagree here. Learn the language and hang out where Japanese hang out.
I have friends who have learned the language and studied at the university of Tokyo and still have a rough time. Loneliness and isolation is a very common complaint of foreigners staying in Japan for prolonged stays.
You may have a different experience, as you married into the culture, and thus have a family there to help break the ice.
Certainly, a number of people are anti-immigration as they see an erosion of their tradition and some, the I suspect it an ever-shrinking minority, Others are mostly fine with immigration if it’s “the right kind/race of immigrants”.
How is this not conservative and insular?
I have a loving family here in my in-laws with whom I am often involved (grandpa loves writing letters). As for immigration itself, in the ~10 years I’ve been here, they’ve added new visas with quicker paths to permanent resident status. One can apply for citizenship after 5 years (though it requires renouncing all others which is why I don’t do it – I do wish they’d change that).
Again… This doesn’t really seem to be helping your assertion.
don’t know exactly what you’re referencing here. There are zainichi Koreans who are in a weird spot.
Zainichi Koreans make up the vast majority of Koreans living in Japan, with a current population of a little over a million people. And by “weird spot” you mean decades of intense discrimination, including denying them access to basic healthcare.
lot of Koreans that are here because their homes/families were in the north don’t take Japanese citizenship and, often, don’t really feel Japanese either; they feel their identity is north korean, but don’t move their either for obvious reasons. As such, they don’t take Japanese citizenship and are basically waiting to “go home”.
North Koreans make up a small minority of Koreans living in Japan. All Korean nationals were stripped of there citizenship in the 50’s, and only regained the option of applying for citizenship in the 90’s. With the predication that they would be assimilated into Japanese nationality of course.
Framing Japanese culture as conservative and insular was the polite way of saying they’re still a fascist country, run by the children of war criminals. The only difference big difference is they got their guns taken away. But, they’re still denying well documented war crimes, and funding temples built to honor people who weaponized rape on a massive scale.
Estonia. Digital privacy is my thing and Estonia is the world’s only e-government. They also have the strongest privacy laws.
Baltics.
as in “any country around the baltic sea”?
Yes. I’m not well researched enough to understand the differences.
there is a lot of difference between e. g. Poland and Finland
There’s a country in Europe called Ireland.
I don’t know much about the politics and policies there, but what I do know is that if I drop the street view guy there, most places are green and pretty. That puts it pretty high up on my list.
Wait until you hear them speak. It’s music. Can’t nearly comprehend it, like you were dropped into St John’s , blind drunk, but they certainly love the language with each syllable.
I’ve been there. It’s really nice.
Irish people generally feel a lot of empathy for Palestinians, as fellow victims of English colonialism.
I’d like to live in Switzerland, beautful nature and they seem to have a very stable political system that is fairly responsive to the citizenry and its welfare. They know they have a good thing and they work to keep it that way, plus might run into Shania Twain so thats cool too!
Also easier to learn French and German since its everywhere around you and I guess the defaults
Rural Japan, just me, my dog, a partner and a handful of neighbours and unrivaled nature.
Can confirm, it beats the fuck out of Tokyo 99% of the time. Edit: no dog yet, though, as we want to do some rather long traveling before we get a pet. We do have neighborhood cats and one will come chill near us (though not let us touch him).
My wife and I were speculating about moving to B.C. Canada today…
I hope you have a lot of money. Housing is brutally expensive on Canada’s West Coast.
We’d be happy to have you though.
Yeesh. Can confirm. c$4/sqft/mo in the V3L.
c$1.6m for a moldy (no res permit) fully detached that’s been there since WW1. Gonna need gutting and remediating for about c$.3m but it looks good in photos.
But verrry little snow to mess up the frail subway.
If we were somewhat interested, what are housing costs looking like up there? Down here in Vancouver, WA a 4 bed 2 bath can easily be $500,000
In the other Vancouver:
Holy shit you weren’t kidding. Of course Vancouver isn’t the only option. We’ll have to do some research to see where affordable housing is (and see what the average salary is for my profession)
Yeah, housing in Canada is stupid right now. Vancouver is one of the worst, but affordability is an issue.
Psst. Go look up beautiful places like ucluelet and shawnigan and Renfrew and angle hard for a 100% remote job. My dear friend got hers and moved to a place with great internet and vastly reduced hassle. I so envy her ;-)
After last night, most certainly I wish I took French in highschool so I could be taking French now in college. Just to move out of the USA and to greener pastures like Switzerland. Haven’t heard any bad news about them going fascist yet.
Probably Japan. I like the culture and how everyone seems decent, or at least know to mind their own business.
I like many things about Japan, but not the work-a-holic culture.
Not a female then.
ultra conservative culture tho
Iceland or Finland. Love both of those places, from the people to the landscape.
New Zealand would be a fun place to relocate. While it does suck they’re part of the 5 eyes as their government loves snuggling up to the US, the life outlook of the citizens is admirable. The money someone has or doesn’t have isn’t a consideration regarding how someone is viewed. A millionaire and a home-free individual are seen similarly when first met thanks to this mindset. Both mountain towns and island towns have a laid back approach to each day, which would be a nice change of pace. New Zealand is also both, as it’s an island with a couple huge mountains. Snowboarding and surfing are a ton of fun, especially when the travel time is minimal. So ya, New Zealand would be a solid choice in my book!!
On the island in western Canada they have a yearly tradition of going into the mountains and snowboarding around and then travelling an hour or so to the coast and kayaking. Little cold for surfing but they do that too.
Almost anywhere in Europe would be nice, but Ireland sticks out to me.
They’re part of the EU, and they primarily speak English, so the language barrier wouldn’t be as bad. (though I’d be happy to study Irish/Gaeilge)
As for politics and/or the economy there, I don’t know much, but I am pretty sure they haven’t elected a fascist who’s quoted Hitler.
Not quoting Hitlerz but the “prime minister” did say about rent for a one bedroom apartment being over €2k that “people need to remember that one man’s rent is another man salary”.
The president is nice though, although he’s just a decorative position, he seems like a very sensible Hobbit.
Norway. At least according to Germany I’m a Norwegian citizen. And I have a lot of relarives there. It’s a stunningly beautiful country. And I think their politics aren’t as braindead as the rest of the world’s.
Austria. I’d love to live in Vienna. It’s so gorgeous and such a great city.
Why choose one country? I’m selling everything and buying a boat.
