Getting to know Japan

2009/07/21
433 words
by Fredrik Olsen

Well our time is almost up here in this.. indescribable place. And the bad feeling of having to leave is certainly creeping up on me. It really has been a wonderful time and even though we didn’t get to see as many “new” things as the last trip, we have gotten a fantastic experience.

I feel we have gotten more of a feeling of how it is to be here when you’re a bit more used to it, and it’s still not boring me! Not one bit. The first time around of course it’s going to be awesomely fun, but the second time around could have turned out to be boring just because we’ve already seen it all once. It did not turn out that way!

But I plan my departure from this country with one experience missing – one that I wanted, but didn’t know how to get and haven’t gotten. The experience of how it would actually be to live and study or work here.

I want to know what young people complain about with Japan, I want to know what old people are complaining about with Japan. From knowing the complaints of the people, I can decide if they are complaints that actually matter to me and if I would complain about it too if I lived here.

I want to know how people live here, what all the apartments look like on the inside, how easy it is to get rich and how easy it is to get poor.

I want to know what the health care system is like, what insurance people have and if you get ruined if you get an illness requiring you to be in a hospital for a long time.

I want to know what kind of vacation I can expect and what kind of salary to expect as a Master of Engineering Physics fresh out of school. I want to know what kind of vacation and what kind of salary to expect after 10-15 years into my career.

It seems easy to get lost as a salaryman among the millions of salarymen, it seems almost impossible to “climb the ladder” and to earn a reputation.

I want to know what the political system is like, if people care about politics and how they show their care.

I want to know about issues that matter to me, like personal integrity and welfare.

Until I know these things, Japan will always only be a fantastic place for vacations to me. I can’t logically decide if it’s good or bad to live here without these facts, but of course — my heart tells me it’s good.

View Comments

Emanuel

Cool comment Maho, very interesting :)
Fredrik Olsen

Super thanks Maho, you brought up many interesting thoughts, but I don't think I could ever dislike it here. If I ever were to move here, I would do so a while, and if I really felt more comfortable at home, I would probably just go back. I always think I'm gonna love the country. I also know that one sees more problems with the country you are from yourself, I see a lot of problems with Sweden but I agree with you that our welfare system is one of the worlds best -- but it does come at a price, we pay half our salary to the government. I wonder what Japans income tax is?

I've read some stuff on the Danny Choo site and it explains a lot of things very well actually!

The cubes -- we're looking for Yoshimoto Cubes
Maho

Oh! I forgot to tell you, but Japan is earthquake country!! We have bomb under the ground...(x_x;)

Also, "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" is really good show to know Japan's social problems.
It's like Japanese Shimpsons/Family Guy/South Park.
Try episode1 from YouTube!
Part1
Part2
Part2
Maho

I want to answer your questions actually, but my English is very limited, so it's too difficult to express all of my thought... :( Maybe my answer is far from enough for solve your questions, but I'll try ^^
Also, I'll be more careless about grammar than usual, but please be patient with it ^^;

Well, Japan has many problems. It's not any diffirent from other countries. And, Japanese have had kind of "depressive" atomosphere for long time, and it's reflected in　Japan's a high rate of suicide.
It's not like Japanese spent poor/unhappy/miserable life than other country. Many reasons of suicide I've heard from news are solvable problems, IMO. The problem is　Japanese mentality.
Japanese are not used to express one's feelings widely. We tend to hide one's feelings traditionally, that's because, for one thing, it has been considered a virtue in Japan to speak few words and be somewhat reserved.
And some people can't express their hard feelings until reach a limit, then they decide to die.
So, you'll feel difficult to communicate with people in here directly, coz Japanese hardly ever say what's really on their minds.

About living in here, I think sweden is the place that far more comfortable to live in. I haven't visited there, but I've heard a lot of good things about North Europe's advanced social welfare policy, and Japan is far from them.
And about the apartments, it's really depends on money and where you live, so this site will show you some examples. (like this). And this site too. (Click the home shaped icon on the map, then some lists will show up in the right side. And click the red button which are written "詳細" at the far right of the list, then the aoartments shows up.)

About the job, I actually don't know about it since I'm still a student myself, but in this economic crisis, it would be not easy to find decent job, I think...
And about the vacation, Japan's vacation is not as good as Europe/America, I think. Salaryman's average summer vacation is almost only one week, I think. Very short.

Also about the politics, Japanese hardly care them right now, especially young people, unfortunately. It's because Jananese prime ministers change frequently, and people starting to feel like it'll not really matter if they are change or not.
But as you can see in TV news in here, there is a high possibility of change of government in the next general election in August, and it'll be the first time in postwar history if it happen. So I hope more young people have interest in politics.

I'm really glad that you could enjoy staying here, and I'm really happy about you love this country enough to consider living in here.
But to be honest, I want you to keep this place for your "fantastic place", not "hard place". Don't get me wrong, I'm REALLY happy about you like this place. But as you may know, Japan has many social problems and far from perfect. And I'm worried about if you would dislike this country...

Sorry, I didn't mean to disappoint you, but I wanted you to know how could be hard to live in here as a foreign person. (Especially you are swedish, who came from the country where far more wounderful than Japan, IMO. I really want to go there!!)

Life is what you make it, so I support you no matter what you decide. But I'm grad if you'd leave this somewhere at the back of your mind.
So, Good luck to you! Also, have fan your last days in here as much as you can~~!!!^o^

Ugh... I couldn't write even half of my thought... And this took me like four hours...
Damn, I wish I could speak English well... (ToT)

Also, what about cubes?? Is there something I can help you with??
Fredrik Olsen

@Maho, thanks, that blog seems great actually. And you really don't have to answer the questions if you don't absolutely want to :P They were more of my expression as to what I want to learn :)

@Dxe, thanks, I will enjoy it to the max!
No luck with the cubes though, I thought I'd google it and try to find a store that sells them but I've forgotten all the time.
Dxe

PS: Any luck with the cubes?
Dxe

All good questions and not something to ignore. I'm sure there are a few negative things that people complain about, but that might be stuff that won't bother us European because it's maybe a lot worse on our side of the planet? Don't start thinking it will be too hard to find a job, if you really want it there is a way!

Your questions are mostly the same I have, it's stuff you don't find easy searching for Japan info. All I find is blogs that are full with amazing stories and tell the world how fantastic Japan is. I would love to just believe that :) I would love to see some Japanese interiors of peoples houses because I have no clue about that and guess I'm having this "Hollywood shaped vision" of it...

Never looked into their politics so you made me curious and I Googled for "politics Japan" which gave me 2 nice links ;P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Japan

http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/pro-po...

Don't be sad (or even depressive) for going back home, it's only temporary and Japan won't go away. It will always be there ready for you to visit it or even move to...

It was a very enjoyable experience to follow you and Emma again. You both looked so amazing happy ^^ I envy you! Now go enjoy those last few days to the maximum and not fall into despair!!
Maho

Oh, sooo many questions~ (*0*)
Sorry, I'll comment later coz I don't have time right now, so I just leave this article for you.
Also, thise article will give you some tips, too.

Have a nice day~~~(^o^)/