The one pattern I've noticed from being in Japan is that the people that live in Japan from other countries eventually treat the day-to-day as just... the day-to-day. Dealing with rush-our train traffic, dealing with separating your trash, dealing with really crappy dryers and having to hang your clothes outside, dealing with different holidays, dealing with language barriers, dealing with different definitions of rude or polite, dealing with bowing appropriately, dealing with every Japanese person they meet expecting them to leave any day because they're a foreigner, and even if they stay for years and years, they're always 'that white guy'.
It's easy to get roped into the anime lifestyle, since everything seems so pretty, so perfect, so bright and colorful and full of action and romance, but there are so many incredible misconceptions. Few Japanese girls in high school confess to guys. It's usually the guy that confesses, just as a simple example. A lot of things in anime are idealized on purpose!
All correct points of course. I'd just say that if you really insist on living to Japan, you're ready to learn Japanese and live in freaking JAPAN, not ANIMELAND!
Culture shock is real. There's always this barrier that even the nicest Japanese put up with foreigners. It takes time and patience to break through that with some people. I'd strongly recommend a multi week vacation where you can interact with a Japanese family. Every personality is different, but my culture shock came in the form of sudden and unexpected depression in the beginning of my trip.
It's easy to get roped into the anime lifestyle, since everything seems so pretty, so perfect, so bright and colorful and full of action and romance, but there are so many incredible misconceptions. Few Japanese girls in high school confess to guys. It's usually the guy that confesses, just as a simple example. A lot of things in anime are idealized on purpose!
Me personally I prefer it here in the U.S .