I'm curious as to what people's impressions were.. Specifically people who watch anime and may have varying expectations from the average American (or other foreigner) of what Japan is actually like.

Admittedly, most of what I knew about Japan for a long time was cherry picked from a multitude of anime etc., but as I've gotten older I've come to realize that it was foolish to try to surmise an entire country's culture based on the cartoons they produce.. I wouldn't want any other country to base American life on Bugs Bunny after all... But even knowing this I'm still afraid I have much higher expectations of Japan than what I suspect may actually be the reality..

As I do plan on visiting and perhaps potentially living there one day, I'm trying to gain a lot of different perspectives on this. Can anyone else relate?

inb4 I get flamed for comparing anime to cartoons...

And do what? Teach engrish? Lol i always hear about ppl regretting these type of decisions.

This post was edited by ButOniiChanILoveYou on Apr 5 2017 09:48pm

Japan is expensive. Don't even think about going there unless you have a good job lined up. Like the guy above said, everyone I know who's done the teaching thing, and I have friends or acquaintances who have gone to France, Japan, China, Vietnam, and India and they've all fucking hated it and they were dickef when they got back to the states because it doesn't do any fucking good on a resume. One of em who taught for 2 years in France is currently making minimum wage at sportsman warehouse.

Well damn.. That's pretty disconcerting. I was actually planning on the whole teaching thing being a way to justify a work visa until I could get settled and learn the language a bit so I could land a real job.

But as far as the expensiveness thing.. I've actually heard many accounts from people claiming that it isn't actually as expensive as one might think. They even provided a list of their expenses and general living costs and it actually seemed quite reasonable. This may not be the common experience but I can't imagine I wouldn't be able to make end's meet if I had a steady employment... Guess it's hard to say..

This post was edited by N0se_Powder on Apr 5 2017 10:04pm

maybe if that's your sole purpose, just teaching english isn't going to get you anywhere.
i think most people just use teaching English as the gateway to get into Japan since it seems there's always a need for it.
then at that point they would go to school for what they really want to do, make contacts/connections to get a real job.

Join the navy lived there for a year and i loved it and wished i never stationed somewhere else

I'd like to go visit but I just love going to new places and I really like anime

You'd make "ends meat", but is that worth it? Maybe to you, but if I'm going to live somewhere, I'd like to have a job that allows me to do fun shit on a regular basis. Surviving and taking in the culture is great and all, but odds are that It'll be a wasted couple years and you'll set yourself back in the real job market for those experiences. Your call of course. Just speaking from how it's gone for people I know.

I've visited Japan as a tourist for 2 months and i've worked/lived there for 3 months.
And yeah it is ridiculous to base a country's culture by their anime/cartoon lol. Sure you might be able to grasp some knowledge out of it, but yeah that shouldn't be your only source of information.
As for expenses, no Japan is not crazy expensive like people say. I lived in Tokyo for 3 month so i know.
Yes rent is very expensive per feet/sq, but that's the case of many big cities around the world. You should just accept that you will live in something very small, or will have to share a flat with some people. People there are used to live in small spaces, especially in Tokyo. Appartments are designed to be small but efficient.
Other then that, cost of life is reasonable. Food can actually be really cheaper then North America, if you accept to eat what locals eat, and eat according to season/price.
Anyway most people i know who went to live in Japan did it for the experience, not to get rich or something.
If you have more questions feel free to ask

This post was edited by hofx2 on Apr 6 2017 05:07pm

I want to go really bad