Living in Japan

Living in Japan 

By: Wander Jose Sanchez Santos

         Japan is a great place to learn to be more considered and hospitality toward people. Unlike other countries, in Japan, the art of kindness, the gratitude, and respect to the others is more often. Japan is one of the best countries to visit, take vacations and know about general culture; however, living there is not so easy as it seems and more if you are a foreigner. Therefore, there are many reasons why living in Japan can be challenging, but three stand out.  

         The first reason why living in Japan can be challenging for foreigners is the strong language barrier. Unlike other languages, Japanese is not an easy language to learn, because both speaking and grammar are complicated to understand. For instance, it requires time to learn it, hard work and immersion in the local culture. Although some people want to live in Japan, the language is one of the problems to adapt to this country.

        The second reason why living in Japan can be challenging for people from other countries is that the traditional Japanese work is inflexible. The work schedule is more extensive than other nations. A clear example is it work in excess. The extra hours are lunch and drinks at the end of the work with coworkers. Everything in their lives revolves around work; shops, trains, bar, and restaurants. Therefore, for the people who want to work in Japan, should know very well that it will not be easy, and it is going to be stressing. 

        The third reason that makes it difficult for non-citizens to live in Japan is the difficulty to integrate into Japanese society. For Japanese people, it is difficult to accept a foreigner as a part of them, because they think that a foreign does not adapt to their lives, such as in culture, customs and the language. Also, they understand that people from other countries cannot comprehend and appreciate completely their country, no matter how long a person lives there. They always will see people from other countries as a second class citizen or as a foreign else.

        To summarize, the strong language barrier, the inflexible and traditional Japanese work culture, and the difficulty to integrate into Japanese society make it challenging for foreigners to live in Japan. If for a Japanese, life is tedious and stressing, imagine for foreigners. For that reason, to the people who are considering living in another country, especially in Japan, they must love Japanese and their culture.

List references 

Pros y contras de vivir en Japón  

https://www.lavoronelmondo.com/es/japon/vivir-en-japon-pros-y-contras/#:~:text=Vivir%20en%20Jap%C3%B3n%2C%20contras%3A&text=Dif%C3%ADcil%20integraci%C3%B3n,Vida%20estresante