You have Questions? I have Answers!

Time to put your shame aside and ask the questions you've always wanted answered about Japan! I'm no expert, but I'm living here right now. If I don't know the answer right off the bat, I could always go and get it! A little background. I've got a BA in International Business/Japanese and have been to Japan once in 2008 and am here now for the next couple of months on tour. I'm pretty well versed in Japanese culture, anime culture, and will be going to a variety of events very soon, including the winter Comiket in December, and the Gunpla Expo this coming weekend! So, feel free to ask me questions! If I need to, I may even go out and snap a picture of the answer!

That's really cool of you! I can think of some to start out: 1. What do Japanese women tend to think of "gaijin" and would consider dating one? 2. Do younger guys ever try to bully or harass you? (for being gaijin) 3. Is it hard to find an apartment willing to rent to a gaijin? How about jobs? 4. Have you spent much time in Tokyo? What's your favorite distict? 5. Do you see many young people wearing unusual or interesting fashion?

Those are fantastic questions! 1. It varies from person to person. One thing to remember is that Japanese women are, first and foremost... women. Think of a woman in your hometown or country. What do they think of foreigners? What's their opinion on Indian guys or Australian guys or even Japanese guys? It's pretty much the same for Japanese women. Some love the 'exotic' or 'mysterious' aura that foreign guys have, and some couldn't care less. Similarly, there are plenty of girls that would date a foreign guy, but one thing to keep in mind: Japanese girls rarely, if ever, make the first move. 2. I've never had anyone harass or bully me for being a foreigner. I've had little kids point and shout 'mama! Mitte! Gaijin da!' (mom, look, foreigner!) but that's as close to being bullied as I've ever been. :P 3. Absolutely not. There are actually foreigner-only apartments, dorms, and share houses! I'm living in a Share House right now, where I have my own bedroom, and share a living space with about 8 other people. Check out the following for more info. They're much less expensive than staying in a hotel, and there are locations all around Tokyo and other places in Japan! http://www.sakura-house.com/en http://www.bamboo-house.com/ -Jobs, however, are anther thing completely. See, most jobs would love to hire a fluent English speaker, but they don't necessarily want to help you get the Work Visa... and you can't get a Work Visa without a job to sponsor you! It's very much a catch-22, which can make it very frustrating for foreigners looking for good employment here. The easiest way would be to go through a program like JET, or see if your home city has a 'sister city' in Japan (for example, St. Petersburg, Florida is the sister city to Takamatsu in Japan) and sometimes they'll have government-funded job exchanges. Do lots of research, there are opportunities, but you have to hunt for them! 4. I've spent most of my time in Tokyo, and my favorite district, by far, is Akihabara. I've explored all the major touristy areas, but I keep coming back to Akihabara for all of the nerd glory that can be found there. Things that are super rare in America (certain Figma, Busou Shinki, and all sorts of other merch) are stupid easy to find in Akihabara or other nerd districts (like Ikebukuro or Nakano). Each area has a different charm and its own set of tourist attractions though, and I'd say my next favorite is Asakusa. It's super touristy, but that makes it a little easier to get around, and it's home to the Tokyo Sky Tree! 5. Honestly no. I mean, on the weekends some of the interesting folks come out, like these guys: https://38.media.tumblr.com/62e8d545b0693580fe3b7d4d8d42b57c/tumblr_neryfv5ATO1ryx4p9o1_1280.jpg but Tokyo is generally a fashionable place, and remember, Japanese people wear uniforms all through school, and wear all the same business suits to their jobs. It's all to encourage being part of a unified group. Someone that goes against the fashion trends probably has their own alternative group they belong to, like the wild fashions you'll see in Harajuku, but those are no different than the alternative fashions of any other country, like punk, goth, emo, etc. I hope that helped!

Thank you, your answers were helpful! I have a hard enough time approaching American women, which I rarely do anyway, I wouldn't know how to get closer to get to know a Japanese woman. I figured the job issue is complicated. I don't have a university degree so it would be difficult for me. I would consider moving there if I won the lottery, lol.

A few things to remember: Living in Japan, after a while, becomes like living in any other place. You end up trading one set of problems for another. Instead of traffic on the road back home, it's traffic on the trains where you're jammed in against twenty other people. On top of that, you've got the language barrier, and Japanese is tough to master. I'd highly recommend visiting for a few weeks, even a few months, but living here? Eh. The summer is hot and unbearably humid and the winter is gray and cold and windy. Visiting though, is awesome. You see a lot of things you wouldn't expect, get to try a lot of different foods, and get to experience the lifestyle before it gets old! As for Japanese women, the best way to meet them are at parties. There are International Meetup parties all over Tokyo where foreign people get together with Japanese people that want to communicate. It's sometimes the best way to meet a Japanese person that knows a good amount of English, so the language barrier isn't so stiff.

I go out for work or food or shopping but otherwise I tend to stay indoors a lot so crowds don't bother me that much. Though I would prefer to live in a less crowded area but with easy access to Tokyo. I'm exploring my interest in photography and saving up for a high end digital camera while collecting once top of the line film SLR's (Minolta, Konica, Cannon, Pentax, etc) since they are easy to find around here. I even picked up a working Rolleiflex TLR. I do plan to visit Japan at some point and take lots of pictures. I used to browse pics of Harajuku alternative fashion and love Visual Kei which is why I asked about that.

Oh awesome! Japan is a really photogenic country, there are so many things to take pictures of and see during all seasons, so definitely bring some of that awesome equipment over here when you come! Harajuku is definitely the heart of all that alternative fashion, at least in Tokyo. Even on weekdays, you're bound to see something interesting. In the greater area of Tokyo? Not so much. Maybe a few in Shinjuku or Shibuya, but again, those are on the weekends. The culture is here, but I think people's jobs and school keeps them from running around in those styles all day every day.

My biggest problem is that I'm really shy about taking pictures of people. Even at conventions where it's expected. I feel invasive so I either don't ask very often or I take pictures stealthily which can come off as creepy, but I feel creepy asking to take pictures of cute girls (even at conventions) so it's kind of self-defeating. I'm working at being more outgoing though and improving my confidence. I need plenty of money before I visit Japan or it will be just a big tease. I will literally be blown away by all the great stuff for sale and want to buy it all! Like my first time I went to an anime convention (ACEN in Chicago, over 20,000 people!)*Mind Blown*!!! Also hard to not stare at all the beautiful girls in cosplay!

Make it happen. Don't let Mother Nature hold you back! Also there's like earthquakes every day here. You'll be standing somewhere and something will just sort of feel off... and then you'll realize it's an earthquake, and then it goes away. I've actually been rocked to sleep by earthquakes here before!