Job Discussion Forums

JL · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 241 Location: Las Vegas, NV USA

There are three types of men we are talking about here:
Western men, Japanese men, and Elkarlo men! (None to be confused with Arnold Schwarzeneggar's "Girly Men." But probably all of us to be easily confused with Cro-Magnon Man. Mad

,

)

Seriously though, Anne, I'm sorry that you have to slog through some of the stereotypes, both from Japanese and fellow foreigners alike. Just keep your chin up. You seem like a pretty upbeat individual.

(Okay, I gotta hide out. Seklarwia has tracked me down over here. So like the wind -I am goooooooone!!!)

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I'm not sure it's a stereotype in either case. Let's look at the stats for marriage; the majority of Japanese men married to foreigners are married to Asian women (Chinese, Korean, Filapino), so that a Japanese man married to a Western women is very rare.

Now some of the foreign women on this forum have said it's not difficult to date Japanese men, but the stats for marriage show that it's more likely to see a Western man with a Japanese woman (dating as well, but I think there are also a lot more Western males than Western females here in Japan).

anne_o posted

Sour Grape · Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 241

Dislike - crap, tasteless food (IMO), utterly spoiled former natural beauty.

Like - general convenience, being able to ignore cultural idiosyncrasis I see no sense in, general feeling of safety relative to UK.

tonyukohi · Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Tokyo

Likes: the non-aggression, being able to walk home tipsy by myself, all the people (i like crowds), the cleanliness, dango, piss alley, the sound of japanese, being a part of and yet apart from the culture.

Dislikes: at first i was like hmm, no major dislikes...cockroaches, the humidity, not-soundproofed apartments, trains stopping early. all easily dealt with.

but anne raised a good point. foreigners in japan are always seen as transient, but the men - most japanese people accept western (or non-japanese) men can choose to live here, get married, procreate, etc.

as a woman, and single, and looking for a professional job, i get a lot of skepticism. hr folk don't seem to believe that i'm going to stick around. and the number of times i've been asked if i moved to japan because of a relationship...ugh. question 2 on the list is: do i like japanese men? my answer: they're men, yeah? so yes, i like them.

do foreign men get the "eehhhh? you live alone? samoshiii ne?" really, i can't imagine sharing my less-than-20 square meters.

sorry for the rant. but, is it so hard to believe i chose to come here and like it? by myself? Evil or Very Mad

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

tonyukohi · Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Tokyo

embrace being shorter than your girl. it puts you on a nice eye level, dunnit? Wink

seklarwia · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:45 pm Post subject:

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject:

One of the best things for me is the cheap tobacco and booze, and low tax generally (meaning, I have a lot more pay left over to buy that nice affordable tobacco). The flip-side however is that that partly translates into expensive and generally quite limited healthcare due to the reduced tax revenues.

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:29 pm Post subject:

I'm from the UK, hence my finding Japan comparatively cheaper (or certainly, not much more expensive) in many respects!

seklarwia · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:39 pm Post subject: