What would you miss about Japan if you returned to your home country?

By the end of this year I will have lived in Tokyo for about 15 years. Several times I have had to make a decision whether to stay in Tokyo or go back to America. Although it has been close sometimes, each time I decided to stay here. When I think about why, three main reasons come to mind: culture, convenience, and friends.

I’ve had a fondness for Japanese culture since I was pretty young. Back when I had a Super Nintendo and Playstation, most of the best and most popular video games came from Japan. Japanese games had a distinctive style that was brighter, cuter, and a bit sillier than the kind of games that were being made in America. That kind of style was appealing to me, so I wanted to experience it more. Now, I just really like a lot of the looks of Japan. I like to be around things that are bright, cute and colorful. I also like a lot of the traditional architecture and enjoy going to visit those kinds of places. I like seeing styles that are different from the ones I grew up with. On top of that, there are still a lot more things I’d like to try. This year I’m hoping to get a cute kimono of my own and try tea ceremony with my friend who studies it.

I also find life in Japan to be a lot more convenient than life in America. To be honest, I really don’t like driving. I have a license, but I haven’t driven a car in many years. I find it very stressful, and in most places in the US you need to drive to do anything. In Tokyo, I can almost always walk or take the train to get where I want to go. For example, I like skiing and snowboarding, and I can easily take the bullet train to Niigata for a day trip. I simply couldn’t do that in the US. I don’t really like going to the gym to work out either, so it really helps that if I want to go somewhere, I can just walk there. I would be much less healthy if I just drove everywhere. Plus, the convenience stores are great. The convenience of Tokyo fits my lifestyle much more than most places I could live in the US.

Finally, I have a lot of friends in Tokyo these days. I’ve lived in Tokyo longer than nearly anywhere else I’ve lived in my life, so this is the place where I know the most people. Of course, I miss my friends in the US, particularly my circle of friends from college, but they’re also very spread out compared to the people I know in Tokyo. If I went back to the US, it would be hard to be near as many friends as in Tokyo. Some of my friends in Tokyo tell me how much they want me to stick around. It’s really touching, and I would miss them a lot if I had to leave.

Life in Tokyo isn’t perfect. Rush hour trains are terrible, there are lots of products I have a hard time finding here, many of the daily systems are slow and antiquated, and having to deal with visas is stressful. However, I think this lifestyle is good for me. Maybe in the future things will change and I will be ready to leave, but for now I think I want to stay here.

Joe

Vocabulary
fondness (noun) - a liking of something
spread out (adjective) - far from each other
stick around (phrasal verb) - to stay in the same place
touching (adjective) - causing someone to feel emotional, in a positive or sympathetic way
antiquated (adjective) - very old, usually in a bad way; outdated