Job Discussion Forums

[starteacher]

Whilst there is thread about the positive side of Japan, what about the negatives ? I don't want this to be a Japan-bashing thread, more of understanding (or not) the differences about life and culture for those who have been here, whether for 6 months or 6 years or 16 years. And also hopefully open to how people have dealt, are dealing with these differences, or will have to deal with.

(PS : there are always pros and cons in all societies, so open minded discussions please).

Here's a few :

1) It is easy to make (Japanese) friends for a short time, but sustaining is hard. Japanese women are more outspoken whilst the men are driven too much in their work. Japan has too much　うち and そと。 In other words, you are always a gaijin however much you know Japan even if you were born, speak, raised in Japan.

Sometimes the Japanese women themselves blame themselves for allowing the men to dominate society, but whilst they may wish to rebel or oppose, the "virtue" (if you wish to call it) of remaining silent and obedient is of value oin Japanese society, than to be outspoken and opinionated.

2) Too many problems with the age differences. Don't know if this is a good thing or not, but when old people retire and return to their jobs it does not give much space to lead the younger generation. On the other hand, respect for the elderly is given a high priority.

3) Too many mosquitos at BBQs.

4) The language is too passive and indirect and this affects the interaction between peoples. Worse when it comes to the directness of foreigners.

5) Things work too well, things hardly break down, things are punctual. But does that mean too much control ?

Just some for starters. Over to you. Not trying to find answers here, just observations. One weakness of this forum is that most of those who post, if not all, are gaijins. We don't get much input from the locals here. Anyway, the floor is open.

[seklarwia]

The crazy amount of personal info that we are often made to hand over to every Tom, Dick and Harry.

It's one thing the police asking for your details (although I did get arsey with the one of the 2 guys in Tokyo to ID me last month alone after he asked for my ketai number and even where I was going and what I was doing in Tokyo after copying my entire ARC down on a scrap of a Campus pad that is likely to go in the regular bin or get mislaid for anyone to pick up), but hotels, travel agents, mobile providers, etc most certainly don't need to be making copies of passports or ARCs. Why does your mobile supplier need to know where you work or your passport number?

But one of the teachers at school was horrified the other day when in a joke conversation I was having with the boys of one of the special classes she found out that every foreigner get their prints recorded and photo taken every time they enter the country.
When I told her that it didn't bother me she told me that she thought it was bad and that when she went to the UK a couple of years back she didn't get treated like a criminal.

One of my old JTEs teachers didn't like my ARC either and told me I should try giving my NHI card as ID to anyone other than the police or customs and immigration.

[southofreality]

In before firestorm...

[flyer]

I personally think there is enough negative stuff about Japan on this site now. I think by nature when things don't go smoothly we talk about on a forum like this. And I think most of us know the bad things about Japan.

Btw
I question the mosquitos at BBQs! I haven't seen many at all

[Mr_Monkey]

The negative side of Japan?

The bloody traffic lights!

I do not want to wait 5 fecking minutes while the lights cycle back to playing "Coming through the Rye" (This might just be a Fukuoka thing though).

So annoying.

I really believe that any situation is what you make of it, so I feel I'm neither really qualified nor inclined to comment on the positives or negatives of Japan (which is why I've made no comment on the "positive" thread) - each situation is personal, each reaction is different. I've never really understood what I see to be cynicism regarding living and working in a foreign country. Sure, there are crappy employers in Japan. There are crappy employers in every other country, and a positive/negative attitude doesn't really get anybody anywhere.

It's a false dichotomy. Dialectics abound; most of them exclude the vast majority of experience.

[starteacher]

Thanks for the contributions.

[wayne432]

[Bread]

[southofreality]

[cvmurrieta]

Cleaning ladies who walk into the restroom while I am trying to take care of business do it for me. This gets on my nerves especially when it is unannounced.

[flyer]

[steki47]

[steki47]

[Calico]

No real sense of privacy in changing rooms (onsen, gym, etc.) I mean I'm not shy at all and by American standards not much phases me with nudity, etc, but one time I was changing in an onsen locker room and these four naked aunties came up and started petting my skin and telling me how beautifully white I was. Uh...thanks? Ha.

[ghostrider]