[forgot_account]

>>>I'm curious to know -- for people who seek residency in Japan, do they typically do it with the plan to stay forever?

I do. It's a "sweet spot" place to live. No threat of violence from law enforcement, significantly reduced threat of violence from the general population, extremely high standard of living, and the country is well-positioned as a base of operations for travel or business across most of Asia. Also, despite some high expenses compared to America, it's a great place to own a sports car if that is a major hobby (and it is for me). Many of the happiest people I know are Western expats in Japan who are small-business owners. It's important to disconnect from the "Japanese corporate wage slave" or "English teacher" life experiences. I'll never back to the US if I can avoid it.

[supernova87a]

Thanks for the reply! Did you bring family with you -- and if so, how do they like it?

Do you feel you've gotten to "neighbor acceptance" level of integration? Or do you seek to achieve that?

[forgot_account]

I didn't bring family with me, I'm building one here. Re: neighbor acceptance, it's hit or miss but mostly hit. In my last apartment, my next-door neighbor was an older guy who spoke no English but always wanted to shoot the shit about my project cars. I think he used to be a bosozoku (young Japanese biker gangs) back in the day. My Japanese is pretty poor but I can express myself on certain subjects, especially cars. There's a guy at one of my favorite junkyards who keeps inviting me to go drifting with him and I barely understand his Japanese; he has a very heavy local accent. There was also a young guy who worked at my local Family Mart convenience store who was a metalhead (he was wearing a band T-shirt one day), so we would occasionally talk about bands. Him: "Do you know....Fleshgod?" "Fleshgod Apocalypse? mochiron sa (Eng: of course!) I saw them live in Osaka!" "Ahh, sugoii (cool) ! They are....very good! I like." \m/ >_< \m/

You'll always be "the gaijin" but most people are friendly. I had some good experiences in Thailand as well, having just the right physical features to kinda blend in as long as I didn't open my mouth. But that's a longer story...

[wst_]

You do but it requires minimum effort from your side. Have to be friendly and speak Japanese, even if just a bit.

[voldacar]

>it's a great place to own a sports car

this is interesting - could you elaborate? I would have assumed the opposite, but I guess you don't live in a heavily dense urban area?

[fomine3]

Maybe great if you want to own JDM cars?