The good things about living in Japan

[Demon Dave]

Bl00dy hell - the thread on the bad things about Japan seems to be growing by the second! Bit of a group therapy thing going on. Trouble is, I don't want to put people off coming...well maybe those arogrant Americans but, to keep things in perspective there are a lot of great things about living in Japan.

So come on then - why do so many foreigners live here? What do we like about it?

1. The lack of Crime.

I love the fact I can (accidently :Oops: ) leave my car unlocked and my windows down in my garage for over a week and no one nicked my stereo, camera or car for that matter.

2. Service stations (for those of us who are lazy!)

The guys (and gals) at the service station will do whatever you want Well, within reason clean your windows, pump the gas, check the tyre pressure, oil etc and even stand out in the middle of the road to hold up traffic and let you out.

3. The Cars

Nuff said on that

4. Japanese women.

Better not let my wife hear that

5. The Environment

sure they're doing a grand job of fcuking it up, but for the most part it's still lovely Unless you happen to be living in one of those dirty great cities...

[Evo_Lee]

Dave we will have a nice time catching over the weekend mate

Can I answer this later, little tired at the moment.

But I will say, contrary to what we have said in the other thread about the people...the Japanese are one of the nicest and kindest people you could ever meet...the children are also adorable. Next door neighbour's 5 year daughter is a pretty intelligent helper when I'm working on my car...handing me the tools I need...but also likes to make tools disappear from time to time and re-appearing weeks later or sitting in her bicycle basket....kids!!!

[DCD]

On top of what Dave has mentioned:

1)Superb customer service

2)Everything that should work does work

3)Honesty of most people

4)Gadget heaven for people into gadgets and also affordable by most. By this I mean that compared to most people in europe people in japan can potentially afford many more things that would be luxury in other countries.

5)Overall sense of safety. I mean not having to worry about stuff like crime, security and such stuff.

But its really the small things that are more evident to me. To this day after 11 years I still get surprised by stuff & attitudes of people. For the moment I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[Rezz]

Yes, I'd have to agree with Dave on everything he posted.

1) The cars, but above all PARTS AVAILABILITY!!! Modding my Skyline has been the most pain-free experience ever. It's just soooo good to go into a store/workshop and the staff know *exactly* what you're after... then proceed to give you advice and random info about it! Just brilliant.

2) The women. Japanese girls just have that genuine femininity about them (for the most part!) thats getting harder to find in western countries these days... of course though there are some exceptions.

3) Low crime. It's just great to be able to leave your car anywhere and come back to it and find it safe and sound... without security either.

4) Being spoilt for choice when shopping. Anywhere. (SuperAutobacs especially).

5) Meeting friends. Some of the BEST people I've ever met are in/were in Japan. I don't know why.

[yukz2daizzo]

its like the whole reason why i wanted to go back and get stationed here... CARS

race queens

high school girls (hehehehe)

riding the trains in the morning and seeing all these people cram up like theres no tomorrow

the bozu's at night

the smell during spring and fall

i think even though we hate a lot of things about japan, i think thats the whole reason why we love to stay here. well i know i do. i love this place, and i dont ever wanna leave.

[yukz2daizzo]

washlets (butt warmer, washer and dryer) in public places, woohoo!

[Rezz]

the smell during spring and fall.

I just went out and got lunch and I got a wonderful Autumn "smell"... even in central Osaka. It's great isn't it?

[Evo_Lee]

Justin, we should go to Arashiyama. I have some photos from last season with very beautiful colours.

Here is one off the net.

This thread needs to balance things out to what we like about Japan else why are we still hanging around...will definitely miss Japan come the day I decide to leave.

Totally agree with everything said above, which basically are the main points...to elaborate.

-The safety here is definitely a big one for me.

-Convenience in terms of I enjoy skiing and Nagoya is only 4 hours drive away to an awesome snowfield. The seaside is only minutes away, the mountains and especially the countryside with ricefield shows a totally different contrast to the concrete structures in the city.

-4 seasons of festivities, what have we got in Aust nothing quite as interesting sure we're only 200+ yo.

-Culture and strong links to tradition, not to mention the interesting sub-cultures.

-The people and the spirit of determination especially when they are underdogs in Sports...who watched the Japan Vs Oman Asian qualifer game 2 nights back...that was a very entertaining game.

[Demon Dave]

Can't agree more.

Autumn in Japan, by far the best season (especially now the typhoons have gone!)

[Ant]

Again based on 1 weeks holiday in Japan....

1) The culture and people....

2) Trains that arrive when they are supposed to.... (huge novelty for us Kiwi's!)

3) The gadgets and gizmo's.

4) The fact that everyone knows which side of the escalator is for those who can't be shagged stepping, and which side is for those enthusiastic types who do.

5) Stupidly cheap and fast ADSL connections.....

6) Security/safety.

[池田 青空]

Hi Justin!!! I'm Ikeri.

I am cold and have already used the kotatsu.

[Rezz]

Hi Justin!!! I'm Ikeri.

I am cold and have already used the kotatsu.

Ikeri san youkoso!!!

How are you? You're already using the kotatsu??? Hahaha... I'm not so cold yet, I'm still wearing t-shirts!

[Sciby]

Smells eh? Well, it'd have to be good to beat what I smell at night.

To set the scene, I live 30m from Fitzroy river, which is one of Australia's wider rivers, so when breeze hits it, the coolness carries with it... which then wafts through my neighbour's yard, through his jasmine bushes and through my yard and house... I get home at night, the moon is out, it's that gentle summer coolness after the heat of the day (Central Queensland, not that girly "Oh no, a bead of sweat!" heat from downsouth.

I've been known to stand out in the driveway for 20 minutes, just smelling and watching the river and the stars.

I could see myself doing that a lot in Japan, just stopping and absorbing the scenery.

Erm.... to get back on topic... I like Japan... because of vendingmachinescarsjapanesegirlsgadgetsandeverythingelse.

[franks]

aside from all of the above...from my brief visit to japan in january i was most impressed with the train ticket vending machines!

you could basically drop a handful of coins (like the pokies!) into the coin slot and it would calculate it correctly with no rejects....

the amount of times i've put a friggin SINGLE coin (cause thats all it accepts) into a train ticket machine here in sydney only to have it fall through rejected pisses me off to no end!!!!

on a negative note, i will say that the amount of nigerian hecklers in Roppongi is a MASSIVE turn off for me...........

[DCD]

The fact that I can wear shorts most of the time until November:D But I guess thats nothing special to you Aussies!

Also love the smells you get in spring/autmun....there is a popular plant around my area (can't remember the name) which makes tiny orange flowers and they smell incredible! Thats all you can smell in the air for 2-3 weeks! But now the farmers have started burnng rice fields so smells are changing....gas mask anyone?

[Demon Dave]

we've got one of those trees, with the little orange flowers, in our garden. Massive it is. Smells so nice this time of year - trouble is it only lasts for about a week or so...

[(B1) MR_fanny]

what i liked about japan is that girls in clubs will actually give you a chance to break the ice even if theyre not interested and then politly brush u off if uve havent impressed them in some way. not like the snobby slags here in aust...hehe:D:D

i like the beer gardens.......team spirit and support for sporting events.......the dance sub-culture......100yen shop haha.....how u can pre buy your meal thru a vending machine and how you can top up your rice if u want for free:D.........hot chicks riding bikes....just the whole bike thing altogether is soo cool but how come i dont see any bmx's?? how everyone has a good time at clubs and before you know it its daylight outside. the "family" chain restaurant thats opened in the early hours of the morning for us to binge on the way home. customer service is top notch...how they walk you to the door when u buy somethlng expensive. the street lined with porn shops at den den town that have that one shelf of normal dvds at the front in the attempt to look respectable but once u step past it turns into the matrix of porn....rows and rows of porn.

[InspectorGadget]

Oh Oh. Me too.

1) Heated carpets on a winters day.

2) Hi Octane actually meaning that.

3) Stupidly cheap high speed ASDL.

4) One word "Nomihodai"

5) One word "Tabihodai"

6) High rates of pay and disposable income.

7) Matsuri's

8) The Snow Festival in Hokkaido.

11) The fact that the average departure time for all the Shink's last year was a grand total of 6 seconds late.

12) Cheap cars

13) The fact that the DVD rental stores think nothing of thae fact that I rent 5 DVD and purchase 5 BLAND DVD-R's at the same time . . . .

14) Akihabara

15) Love Hotels

16) Capsule Hotels

17) Onsen

18) Tonkatsu when you have a hangover

19) CoCo Ichiban curry

20) Sunrise on Mt Fuji

21) The public transport system works.

22) Being the only European foreigner in my town of 8,600 people.

23) The locals actually get EXCITED by the change of seasons.

24) The amazing friends that I have made here. Japanese and foreigner.

25) The first night I got drunk was with the mayor of my town and my supervisor after gatecrashing an Obon factory at a local Factory (Pentel)

26) Beer is sold in 3L cans.

27) Spirits are cheap.

28) The health system usually works. In one afternoon after arriving at a local hospital terribly sick, I got a CT scan, two x-rays, medicine, 3 IVs and an ultra sound in under 3 hours, and it only cost me NZD$200.

[Demon Dave]

ADSL....100mbps for 2,400 yen :drooling:

and not forgetting beer vending machines

[Demon Dave]

the fact that deserted mountain roads are within 15 minutes drive from my place. Went out this morning - drove for an hour and didn't see anyone. Miles from civilization, with only monkeys and the occassional bear to keep you company! Half way up the Minami Alps, you get great views like this:

but the roads are narrow and not maintained, and after heavy rain parts can become like this:

but I have to say despite being lowered, our Accord Wagon had little trouble getting through - 10/10 for tein suspension