Living in Japan

Many people visit japan and are in awe of its wonderous culture. There are sights and sounds in Japan that can't be experienced anywhere else in the world. I first came to Japan as a tourist some 22 years ago. I was simply stunned by the natural beauty of its mountains, temples, culture and people. I was at the time teaching Japanese students in the UK who were interns from a company in Tokyo. It was during this time I met my wife. She was from a small city called Shizuoka. Shizuoka is famouse for its green tea, oranges, fish and views of Mt Fuji. We were married in the UK and soon had two children running around keeping us busy.

After almost five years living in the UK together and many trips to Japan we decided to sell up and move to my wifes hometown. There were the usual visa applications interviews and everything else that is involved with immigrating to a foreign country. That was the easy part.

We moved in with my inlaws who didn't speak a word of English. I only spoke a little Japanese so there was instant tension. My wife worked hard at translating which created more tension. The family registration system in Japan was a nightmare to say the least especialy for the fact that were were from the UK with two children to register. I didnt really plan ahead before leaving the UK but finding work was relativley easy. Within a few months I was running around between five part time jobs. I simply picked up the teephone directory and found all the local language schools and rang them.

Within the first year it began to feel lilke I had been there all my life. The people were friendly and helpful. Many a time I was on the wrong bus and had to backtrack the driver would exempt the fare. People really wanted to communicate and most tried to communicate in what little English they knew and with what little Japanese I knew I was able to manage.

As things started to settle down I started to begin to notice the smaller details that everyone takes for granted. I needed new shoes. My shoe size equates to size 29 in Japan. Unfortunatly the vast majority of shoes in Japan stop at size 28. Finding any size 29 was a real challenge.I went to buy a new shirt. Im 180cm tall with long arms and broad shoulders. I was lucky to find that japan had XL size shirts. Unfortunatly the Asian XL is a medium -large in the UK. All asian sizes are a size smaller than european sizes. The same for trousers. Minor frustrations which over time you learn to overcome.

Food. Food in Japan is wonderful behond belief. But then you start to notice the smaller details. Brought up on bread, cheese, bacon, sausages, and pies you suddenly realize that Japan doesn't really do any of these. Yes, Japan has cheese, bacon and sausages but I would call them a poor excuse compared with home produce. Supermarkets are extremely limited although recently I have seen that more international style shops have started to appear but twenty years ago that wasn't the case. Missing your favourite food from home can soon have a detrimentl affect something that I wasnt prepared for. You may think that I should just go with it and make the most of the Japanese cuisine which I do and enjoy but I still crave pies and cheese to name but a few. We eventual overcame this problem by occasionaly making our own pies or fish and chips, beleive me it helps a lot.

I was lucky enough to be offered a full time position as a teacher in a private elementary school. The Principal at the time was pro English and helped in writing the contract to suit both our cultures. I'm lucky I'm not required to attend the countless meetings every week although I occasionaly do. Im not required to work Saturdays other than special events. I have other consessions that were written in especialy for me. I can leave on time! It constantly suprises me when I have on occasion called into the school in the evening to find everyone still at work. The time cards showing leaving 7:30-8:30 and even 10:00pm The teachers are allowed to take ten days holiday in August but they don't. Most will take three days tagged onto a weekend and for the rest of their allowed days the will attend school for half days meaning they only have three full days off for the whole of August.

Theres a lot more to living here than meets the eye and certainly more than I have written about. It helps if you can speak Japanese and helps if you have a friend or partner that is Japanese. Finding work is relativly easy.

I shall retire in a few years time and intend to be a tour guide helping visitors discover the best about Japan. Living here is certainly no holiday.