6 Tips for Living in Japan – be mindful of these things

I have lived in Japan for a few years now and I often get questions from persons looking to move to Japan or seeking advice on things they have heard. I thought I’d put together a post covering tips for living in Japan I find myself repeating or discussing based on my personal experiences, observations and those of my friends and acquaintances of different backgrounds, genders, ages, races etc. living all over Japan. My intention is not to be overly critical of Japan but to have a discussion. My opinion(s) can evolve and change over time but I thought it would be useful to those moving to, new to Japan or living here for a while and wondering how their experiences compare to others. Share your opinion by tweeting me @Jamaipanese on Twitter or send me an email. Thank you for reading – let’s start!

Talking about money

Money is a taboo subject in Japan and when it is talked about it is such a spicy topic that you have to be extra careful. Never overpay or underpay, never flaunt how much you have or complain if you don’t have enough. When repaying people, splitting the bill or contributing to something ensure you do so down to the exact yen. It doesn’t matter your comparable salary or standard of living or hierarchy  – you can thank me afterwards. I also made a whole podcast episode about money manners in Japan.

Calling people nicknames

In the west having a nickname in nothing special – nicknames are common in Japan too – usually used among family members and close longtime friends. Sounds the same right? Not quite! in Japan, your name is a big deal and you never want to make negative modifications to it or assign people names. Jamaicans are legendary for the names we “affectionately” assign to each other – don’t do it to a Japanese friend you have gotten close to – use the name(s) you hear other calling them. Also, you can never go wrong with just adding san(さん) to their family name.

Respecting time

The usual spin on time when it comes to Japan is that you always have to be on time! That is true but I think its more about respecting time itself and the time of others. Jamaica is synonymous with “island time” and Jamaicans are known for almost never respecting time – I’ll for as far as to say its a cultural thing as we selfishly go at our own pace. Time is finite and we don’t know how much of it we have so you have to not only be on time but take extra care to respect the time of others when navigating life in Japan.

Labelling (known for one thing)

In Japan, you are what you are and you will always be that way. It’s like you are a strict mould and there is almost nothing you can do to change how you are perceived. From simple things to if you like a particular food to big things like your job to massive things like if you did something bad, or made a mistake. There is a giant label slapped on to you and it is rare to rewrite it. It’s not unusual for Japanese people to move great distances to reinvent themselves or hide entire parts of their personality and/or interests to avoid being known for nothing more than that one thing.

Expectations of others and not standing out

Japanese people for the most part conform to society’s expectations and try to be mindful of others – at least in a public setting and when they are not drunk. Just existing within Japanese society can be difficult and not many people want to talk about why so many Japanese are socially challenged. Some break under the weight of it all becoming social recluses or having entire lives and positive experiences away from the gaze of the masses.

What it means to be Intelligent

It Japan intelligence is often measured by your ability to remember things, match patterns or to do something over and over and over again. Basically memory, pattern matching and repetition; you see it so clearly in their testing – no matter the subject. This matches up with the things Japan is good at and known for such as manufacturing, science, cuisine etc. However, the ability to think independently is not really encouraged. Divert from the script or fiddle with the pattern and many people literally short circuit before seeking advice from the mother-ship no matter how simple the fix would be.

Got any tips for living in Japan? Was this helpful?

I could list even more things to be mindful of when living in Japan. If you enjoyed this post or disagree let me know (@jamaipanese)! I might do a followup post in the future with more tips for living in Japan. Check out my post about the cost of living in Japan as some of my friends share their monthly utility and rent expenses.