Living in Japan certainly has its ups and downs. There are lots of great and cool things about Japan (mostly as a tourist & traveller), and as someone living here... there's just some things I find strange and weird, and I just cannot get used to. There are some obvious ones that are related to the long-winded bureaucracy and the work culture here, but today, I want to just talk about ones that aren't related to those two things.
I know this post is going to sound like a whining rant, but I also hope this might help some newcomers to Japan formulate more realistic views of the new country they will move to.
1. Hot Summer Weather
I come from Toronto, and even lived in Hong Kong for a time - so I am used to varying types of hot summers (yes, Toronto does get quite hot too!). But the humidity in Kansai at least can absolutely be unbearable. If you ever dealt with humidity, then you'd know how it feels like, but if you haven't - it's basically like... walking outside for 5 seconds before it feels like an invisible shower had rained down on you. I absolutely just cannot get used to this.
2. Seasonal Items - Especially Fruits & Vegetables
And usually quite expensive at that...?
I realize the “expensive” part is mostly only true in city life. Countryside folk often have the luxury to buy from local farmers markets, or maybe have neighbors that are willing to spare them some unsold produce that are deemed ”too imperfect“ for public markets. As often fruits in Japan (and Asia) are perfectly accept housewarming gifts. So of course the sweetest and the nicest ones would be packaged up for these gift baskets, and they can be VERY expensive.
Not to say there are no normal fruits, but fruits here operate by season. It would be impossible to find ALL fruits all year round. It's likely that you'll only find cherries and watermelon and pineapples in the summer, mikans in the winter, strawberries in the spring, etc etc. Aside from apples, oranges and bananas - all fruits have their own "season". As they should, but even more so in Japan. Due to them being available for a certain amount of time, they can be rather expensive.
If you can find them fresh out of season, they would be even more expensive and there is no guarantee that it would be as sweet as they would in season.
And this isn't limited to just fruits and veggies. Even just food items in general. Convenience stores often change out dessert items, drinks and even bento. A bit ironic for a convenience store to have this inconvenience of never being able to find your favorite staples ever again... but it does create a sense of urgency and needing to purchase something out of FOMO. So there is that.
But I really do hate getting addicted to say, Grape Tea, but because it's seasonal it will be gone in a month.
3. Sitting Through the Credits in Theatres
...or the entire theatre experience in general.
It starts off normal. I mean, it's people just watching a movie after all. Phones go off, lights out, popcorn is already half finished because those adverts are just so damn long. But let's just say you're watching an English film with Japanese subtitles. An action comedy film. Let's say - Guardians of the Galaxy.
The first comedic scenes rolls by and you're laughing your ass off. But it's awfully quiet... okay, maybe you just have a dumb sense of humour and no one gets it. Cool.
Second scenes rolls by. Again, you're the only person laughing at the joke.
This continues for the rest of the movie where you are literally the only person, along with maybe the other two foreigners in the theatre that are laughing.
I did look at the subtitles at one point during one of these films, and I can kind of understand why no one is laughing sometimes. The translation doesn't capture the actual English joke at all, so watching it would fly over a non-native English speaker's head if they cannot hear and understand what was said in English. So I guess that's a bit unfortunate. But I do wonder if I'm sitting in a room full of robots sometimes......
Now, the movie ends.
Normally, everyone would start filing out of the theatre when the credits are rolling. For Marvel films, I guess most people know there is a bit of a sneak peak of what's to come, but usually after that, people will file out in the dark. Slowly but surely.
Nope. Not in Japan. People will all rush out when the lights turn on after the credits all finish rolling. It's honestly weird. I don't have an answer to why this is, but I can't get used to it.
4. Lack of Insulation / Soundproofing
Houses here are made of cheaper material that is meant to be demolished after a good amount of time, so cheaper and copy & paste models of apartments are often made with little soundproofing and insulation in mind. Walls are paper thin with no cement and windows are often single panes, meaning you can hear your neighbours and the outside very well.
Not to mention during very hot summers and cold winters, the AC you are using will not keep the cold or hot air inside. It's really a pain in the ass. These days, you can pay a premium to have these luxuries, but older and cheaper apartments will still not have these things.
5. Lack of Variety in Foods
Japanese food is great... maybe for the first three months of living here. At least up until you start to miss your country's staple foods. For me, it was Cantonese food. So I went on a mission to look for restaurants and even made a page for it. For the first few years, it was so hard. Japanese people simply don't understand that not all Chinese food is the same. We don't all just eat gyoza and we don't all just eat xiao long bao.
And this isn't just for one culture. It's almost for every culture besides Japan.
Some cultures don't even have a representation of their foods anywhere. Like Greek food. It's almost impossible to find a simple souvlaki plate like you would in just any Canadian food court.
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What do you think? If you live in Japan, what are some things you cannot get used to? Let us know and you can find us on twitter!