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.
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.
How is this not conservative and insular?
Again… This doesn’t really seem to be helping your assertion.
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.
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.