If you had the chance to change your country of birth, would you do it?

I think it's because of that very reason

 

The economy is stagnated, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami. Not a place many would choose to live if they thought well about it.

 

Still, that's where my roots are and their culture is in my blood.

 

I'd love to discuss your issues with the culture and what you have heard if you want to.

 

It's not so much that I have actual issues with it, but I disagree with too many things about their cultural attitudes (that I've heard about). Based on who I've grown up to be, I probably wouldn't fit in. From what I hear, they can be traditional and backwards in a lot of areas, which is at odds with the diverse and liberal California that I live in.The Japanese treat strength as one who molds themselves to fit the crowd, whether or not it's a good idea. Their gender roles are more backwards compared to ours. They're unworldly about what's going on outside their own country and don't see a particular problem with it. They place waaaaay too much emphasis on performance and dignity for my liking. They see it as a good thing when when salarymen work so many hours that they barely see their families, and when people are willing to suffer with their problems instead of making a fuss by trying to solve it. I'm all for not making a scene, but hikikomoris are a thing for a reason. They retreat from the world because they know the world might not help them, and both their families and the culture enables it because they think the family should solve it (regardless of if the family is even equipped to solve it). Seeking help is shameful to them. They have less tolerance for differences, because their culture and population is so homogenous. They flip their wig when they see gaijins, but where I live, people of different ethnicity are the order of the day.

 

And yes, there's all the physical issues with the natural disasters and the economy. It's crowded, too. I don't like big crowds. : And since space is so limited there, housing is both tiny and expensive. And... I'm not a big fan of their food. ^^; Eastern food in general, really. Japanese, Korean, Philppino. It tastes good, but something about the ingredients they use don't sit well with my stomach usually.

 

Anyway, if you have roots in Japan I didn't wanna stomp over it. I just noticed how many people claimed they wanted to live in Japan, even though there might be a number of things there that they might not agree with, anime and games be damned. It sounds like it'd be an awesome place to visit, though. If I can put up with how a lot of them treat gaijins, it could offer a whole ton of new, interesting experiences.