10 THINGS WE DISLIKE ABOUT JAPAN 😲 (Living in Japan as foreigners, our honest opinions)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- Today we give our honest opinions on 10 things we don't like about living in Japan as foreigners! We talk about some small annoying things and also some bigger cultural issues. We mention things like road tolls, gender inequality, bugs, and their excessive uses of plastic...
We have also done a Part 1 of this video, 10 Things We LOVE about Japan: • LIVING IN JAPAN AS FOR...
In general, we love living in Japan but of course every country has their issues, and Japan is no exception. We felt that only talking about the wonderful things about living in Japan is not helpful for creating change or preparing people about what moving to japan as foreigners is really like. So please be sure to watch both parts of this video to see our broader opinion on living in Japan.
4K version available!
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Mentioned Statistics/Articles:
Hofstede Cultural Analysis: www.hofstede-insights.com/fi/...
Book mentioned: www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/James-M...
Plastic in Japan & 7-11 Onigiri Wrapper: www.tsunagulocal.com/en/47587/
Japans Animal Welfare: www.esdaw.eu/society-and-anim...
zenbird.media/challenging-ina...
Types of Animal Cafe Headlines: www.japan.travel/en/sg/story/...
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Say hello on Instagram
/ lifewithshaneen
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Contents of the Video:
00:00 - Intro/Disclaimer
00:38 - #1: Cash Cards/ATM's
02:05 - #2: Lack of personal body freedoms
03:48 - #3: Gender Inequality
05:15 - #4: Road Tolls
06:21 - #5: Treatment of Animals
09:41 - #6: Lack of Garbage Cans
11:17 - #7: Societal Pressure
12:43 - #8: Bugs
14:00 - #9: Excessive use of plastic
15:46 - #10: Keigo & Language Complexities
18:00 - #11: Outro
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See you next week!
かんぱい,
Adrian + Shaneen
Canada is not the world standard. I am Japanese and living mainly in Europa since 1970. I own houses
in Munich/Germany, Dundee/Scotland and Kobe/Japan where I stay regularly for several months a year.
We have different customs and rules. You have to learn and study these customs before visiting Japan
or Europe. In Japan as well as Europe it is very common to pay with cash. The small shops like bakeries,
groceries and coffee shops in Europe would not accept credit cards let alone digital payment !
as for Japan, there are over 85.000 convenience stores such as Seven Eleven, family mart and Lawson
with ATMs open 24 hours. The Post Bank / Yu-Cho Bank Japan is open like the Post-Office between
10 to18 or 22. You can easily withdraw the money from any ATM of convenience stores with your Post
bank card. where is the problem ? Road tolls are very common and widespread in Italy and France,
so Japan is no exception, just for your information.
Hi guys,
A very interesting topic. Having raised in Tokyo and lived in the US for the last 39 years, I have come to a realization that what I hate about a society (mostly US or Japan) has another positive side of the same trait manifested in a different way, just like another side of the same coin. Here are my take on a few items from your list of things you don’t like about Japan.
Gender Equality: Both my parents were working full time as I was growing up. My mom was a high school teacher (which is a very respected occupation in Japan) and later became Vice Principal of the school. We had a live-in nanny who took care of my brother, me and most housework. Having grown up this way, I am a strong advocate of the gender equality. However, when people talk about this subject especially at work, they usually mean the equal pay and equal opportunity for career advancement. To this end, a mom of a new born is motivated to go back to work as soon as possible, arranging a babysitter or a daycare facility. But, what about the rights of the baby who needs to be cuddled, pampered, talked to, nursed, etc. daily by his/her own mom for the first several years of the life? Needless to say that these first several years play a huge role in shaping up the baby’s mental, physical, and psychological well-being for the rest of the life. I suspect that more babies in Japan enjoy having their own mothers available for this period compared to their US counterparts. I am not saying one way is better than the other. I am simply pointing out that just like everything else in life, it is a trade-off. I wish every new parent had the resources and knowledge to be able to make the right choice for the family.
Phew, I was going to comment on other topics you guys raised, but this is too long already. I will save them for another time.
Thanks for the video,
Shin from Colorado
This is a great point! Thanks so much for your insight. There are definitely a lot of things to take into consideration when talking about gender equality, and that is definitely one of them!
Such a good video! Thanks for sharing your honest opinions ♥️
Thanks so much 💛
I love that you are both being true to yourself & your views are important. There are always pros & cons no matter where you live 🤗
Great video! Convenience culture definitely is a double-edged sword. When I've visited I really enjoy it, as a tourist, but as someone living in that society -- that is a lot of waste...
It’s true! It definitely comes in handy when you are traveling though!
Definitely learning lots from you two😀
Awesome! Thank you!
1. I think that now the use of credit cards in Japan is increasing, there is a survey that says so according to NHK if I'm not mistaken, and also the use of mobile payments is also increasing with rakuten pay, suica pay, paypay. The government is now stepping up digital payments. There are even banks in Japan that serve online banking.
2. Actually in Japan, we as foreigners are free for personal body freedoms, because nowadays young people are also open minded to foreigners in different appearances, so don't worry too much, because they also maintain private space respectively, when it comes to school rules, they are still strict, actually there are rules to allow hair coloring in Tokyo if I'm not mistaken, but not all schools in Japan have implemented it.
4. Regarding toll roads, don't many countries still use paid toll roads? for example America? and transportation in Japan is expensive when compared to which countries used to be? there are countries that are more expensive for sure
7. Actually social pressure occurs maybe because you live in Tokyo, in other cities it won't necessarily be the same, there are cities where people seem more relaxed. And now, there are many young people who come home on time, they don't have to stay in the office until their boss comes home or something, so yes, what you see is maybe because they live in Tokyo, yesterday during Golden Week many had holidays, a lot of Japanese people were on vacation, that indicates that the Japanese don't work all the time. and also Japanese work time is shorter than America and even Australia according to OECD
Hi, thanks for your comment and insight!
1. In regards to banking and credit cards, yes the overall use of credit cards is increasing but Japan still remains a cash based society. Credit cards are also extremely hard for foreigners to obtain.
2. I don't think Shaneen having to cover her tattoo's everyday at the gym, and at any onsen equates to 'free for personal body freedoms'. We totally agree that a lot of young people are very open minded and accepting but there are still a lot of rules in general regarding appearance and it is an issue we love to advocate for.
4. Regarding road tolls, our personal experience (as stated in the video) is that road tolls are new to us. Of course other countries may use them as well, but growing up in Canada they were new to us upon moving here. In general we find transportation in Japan to be expensive. Just because it might be more expensive somewhere else doesn't mean that Japan is cheap 🤑
7. Lastly, we don't live in Tokyo... We live in the countryside of western Japan. Our personal experience working in Japan has definitely shown there is still a lot of social pressure when it comes to work. The teachers at all 4 of the schools Adrian has worked at, work from around 7am-8pm and do not get payed overtime. So yes there are changes happening, but it is still a very real issue 😬
I'm so glad that someone is talking about the animal rights problems i so rarely see it talked about.
Impressive! Your video was so much more informative and honest, then videos made by other foreigners that have lived there for years!?! We learned in our 2 week visit: Stopped and almost sent home at the airport, because we had less then 10000 yen and just credit cards, squid ink buns at Mcdonalds, saw no strays and only one cat at a temple the whole time, got blessed by the elderly at bus stops, wife got propositioned because of blond hair in front of a love hotel, had a middle school teacher tag along when we were shopping, to practice his english. Keep up the observations. That is shared humanity that we all need.
Thank you so much! and wow sounds like an exciting trip 😅 I've never even heard of squid ink buns at McDonalds, that sounds wild, for the most part we like the Mcdonalds in Japan better then North America!
rubbish ! what are you talking about. Hate does not lead to reasonable opinions.
登録者1000人達成おめでとうございます🎉スゴイ！
ありがとうございました! 🤩🤩
I love Katakana. I had to use that for my Hanko/Inkan because I have a very Foreign last name.
As a fellow foreigner living in Japan, I agree with everything you said. I really like living here for so many reasons (in comparison to my home country Australia). The bugs may not be as deadly, but man, the sheer NUMBER of them is beyond what I'm used to.
What breaks my heart are how animals are treated here. I can never go to a zoo or aquarium voluntarily outside of my work commitments as a teacher (yay, excursions...). Ueno Zoo is the worst. And I would love to adopt a cat, but adopting from shelters as a foreigner is like jumping through numerous fire hoops of proving that you're an outstanding citizen with a secure enough job and home, just to even get a chance to LOOK at a cat.
Keep up the great work with your channel!
Yes the number of them is insane! We were definitely shook by that as well. I had no clue adopting a pet was that difficult here!! I wonder why that would happen, especially seeing as how there is no other options for shelter animals. I wonder why that is!?
Thank you 😊
Thanks for pointing out. You’re brave to make this video as anything negative says on Japan will get backlash from Japanese or pro Japanese.
Yup. It was pretty much the same 30 years ago. Some things have gotten better, but societal change is slow in coming. The only thing I'd take off the list is road tolls*. I dislike them too, but they are very common in some places.
The treatment of animals issue continues to be a problem across all of Asia. I could tell you some heartbreaking stories of things I witnessed in Japan (but I won't). The Ikeda Zoo in Okayama is a good example of how earning money vs. having appropriate accommodations for the animals is out of balance - and it is by far not the worst zoo in Japan. There was a park in Kurashiki (Tsurugatayama Park?) that had animals like foxes in tiny cages where they could barely turn around. I don't know if that's still the case.
More and more Japanese are concerned about these matters, and change is happening, but at a snail's pace.
Aside from that, when in Rome one should do as the Romans do while still maintaining one's integrity. I lived in Okayama for 2 years and still consider it a 2nd "home".
Every society has its challenges but if I had to live the rest of my life in one country, I could do far worse than Japan. (Far better than say, China, or Korea, or the Philippines - though each has their positive aspects.) Putting up with society's challenges is something we all struggle with; we're just somewhat blind to the faults of the one we grew up in.
* Except for the Seto Ohashi. The toll to cross was about $100 US when it first opened. They've since lowered it to ¥3500, which is still a lot.
Yeah we probably should have just called that one 'expensive transportation' rather then just road tolls! and yes we totally agree that in terms of animal protection change is happening, and you are right about the snails pace. I know the Ikeda Zoo is still running, but I'm not sure about the Kurashiki one!
We will also always refer to Okayama as our second home as well. Thank you for your comment and insight. Take care! 😊💕
I remember was possible to use the ATM at every combini to withdraw cash 🤔 so it should be 24/7 (?) But I may be wrong
Yes, convenience store ATMs are open 24/7! There is just also a fee to use them 😟
@@LifewiththeClements that's a nightmare 😭😭😭 I didn't know it
About animals, even WE " human being" are living in very small accomodation in Japan.... We are lacking flat LAND....
These are big things to recognize!
Greetings from korea 🇰🇷
Jeju island 🏝
I gotta say Korea is much more relaxed and less strict than Japan
The Korean alphabet is also super simple 👌 😍
Shaneen has been to Jeju island before and loved it! 🥹 and yes we have heard that before about Korean culture & are very jealous about the alphabet being easier 🤣
You can get cash from ATM's at Konbini's
1:19 yes totally! ATMs at konbini's are open 24/7 but they charge a withdrawal fee! 🤔
Japanese is easy I have a B+ in my class in high school
hi! im a foreigner teaching english in okayama too. i must admit when i first saw the title of your video, i was thinking, oh no are they being negative. but dangggg, i agree with every single point. 😭 the plastic drives me nuts. the toxic work culture… they instill that early into the kids, with the excessive homework during summer vacations… the kids never get a break to just be kids. makes me sad. the treatment of animals, gender inequality. 💔 but despite it all, i also still enjoy living in Japan. like you said, there are good and bad points to living in any country. thank you for sharing and being honest!
Hi! Thanks so much for your comment! Despite it all we still enjoy and love living in Japan as well 😄
#stopwrappingbananas
😂😂 exactly
11. Monthly mansion owner not paying back money owed
i think you don't need to cover your tatoo in gym👍
日本人はアメリカのおかげで良い生活を送っています。
The Japanese are living a good life thanks to America.
Are Japanese people grateful to America?
日本人はアメリカに感謝していますか？
Can you ask Japanese people?
Why are you still living there? It's a bad place to live.
We actually disagree. We love living here. Just because there is some things we don’t like doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to live. Every single place/country has bad things you could say about it.