What would I change? Looking Back 20 Years in Japan. #japanlife #japanese #japan #tokyo
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28 Comments
It would be nice if you made a simple video about Earthquake and what it looks like: Evacuation from Air B&B.What is necessary to keep if you are Tourists for 2 or 3 months .By Hotels I assume it's organised? 🙏 👍 Thank you very much
Paul,
Great comments on your regrets!
I think, though, you should look at your regrets in the context of the whole of your experience. If you had accomplished the wish of starting earlier in learning Japanese, etc., perhaps you would not be making this YouTube broadcast! Now that would be a shame for all of us!
I want to emphasize, Paul, that there is a time limit to what we do on earth. It is best to travel NOW and not wait until later. Our bodies are limited to an amount of time that we cannot control.
I am also glad at the end of the video you expressed some pride in having married and bore a child. Not a small accomplishment.
The bridge you have extended from the West to Japan is incalculable and rich!
Clyde
Another great vid Paul👍 I’m with you 500% on the language study. Hit it hard and hit it early. Wish I had! 😭 Don’t feel bad about missing out on Tokyo nightlife (it was bonkers back then I watched it chew up and spit out a great many) nor having not seen much of the country yet. Even Japanese seem to save domestic travel for their golden years. Our generation was scooting around Asia, Thailand, India, Laos, Cambodia. Historically it was much easier and more economical. Korea, Taipei, Cebu etc are easy weekend or weeklong trips with the fam. Malaysia is great, The Maldives incredible. Convenient and cheap compared to Hawaii. I schedule a trip each quarter two domestic and two Intl every year, but always return to Tokyo with a renewed appreciation for what we have here. 🎌
I'm a relative newcomer to your channel, but your videos have been instrumental for me in setting clear expectations. I'm going to be moving to Japan in around a year or so. I've spent a few months "living" there as a tourist already, so I'm not totally unfamiliar with the day-to-day and cultural nuances at least. Your videos have been really important for me to keep my expectations grounded and for understanding what future challenges that might pop up. Thank you, keep it up!
This week's video is a great one. I studied Japanese a bit while in high school, nothing formal just independently, and I really wish I would have dove into it seriously back then. So I definitely identified with your perspective regarding the language learning.
Outside of the things that you would change, there's actually quite a bit of solid advice in here. I've also heard about people finding jobs by going directly to the organization's site and not just relying on places like GaijinPot.
Oh, and before I forget, I hope everything for you and yours were okay during the hurricane. The news that hit the states about it was sparse, but it sounded serious. Stay safe!
Saturday morning I'm looking forward to finding out Paul's videos these days. This time Paul is walking from Yokohama station to the west and he ended this video near Miiyagaya primary school.
I always enjoy Paul's videos because I feel he tries to enjoy the life in Japan and to improve his life. PEACE👍
I think my brain can't Japanese. 🙁 Maybe I have a learning disability that has been hidden all these years. But that's ok, I had more friends in Tokyo (3 years) than I've ever had, Japanese and gaijin. Still, if I could just jack into the Matrix, like Neo, the first thing I would ask for is Japanese.
22 years?! Wow! 6 years for me and still assimilating. I enjoy your comments. Very articulate, insightful, and intelligent. Keep up the excellent job because, "itsumo genkiwo moratte imasu".
also been living in japan for about 20 years…
1. wish i didn't spent so much time as a sort of hikikomori just sitting in my room, and watching anime
2. wish i studied more to get some qualifications like a "tourist guide" (通訳案内士 – you really need to study a lot about history and geography) or bookkeeping (簿記)
3. wish i started my kanken studies earlier when i still had a better brain (which we all do when we are young)
Not to rub it in your face Paul, but in my younger years i was able to spend a few really crazy nights in Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Roppongi. It was quite fun. Lol
I really enjoyed this, very interesting content,my favourite expat channel by far! Thanks for the great insights and advice, hopefully i will be able to put a lot of it into practice soon.We live in the bush in Nz, and are hopeing to move somewhere in the Nagano/Gifu, countryside, early next year to be closer to family ,these Vids are gold ,thank you! 🙂
Huge changes over that time.
I miss the old Japan.
Many people say making long-term friends in Japan is difficult. Is that true?
In a broader sense, these are general life lessons that apply out of Japan also 😎
We (Japanese) also DO need to learn Japanese language as well instead of communicating in silence to each other.
Paul, I find your walking talking series so refreshing. Exactly like you said, no need for flashiness or high production value, just a reflection and honest conversation. Thank you for your thoughts.
I am curious based on your outsider and western outlook into Japanese society, what is their opinion or views towards lgbt communities? Being such a community of fitting in and conservative values I can imagine it would be hard for lgbt Japanese and those moving there.
Thank you!
You 'covered a lot of ground' in this video. Thank you for the reflection of your experience and lessons learnt and shared.
I did a working holiday visa for a few years down under in Australia, and visited Japan but at the time was too inexperienced and immature to really appreciate the country aside from some basic tourist impressions and did not like the country much compared to my time in Australia, which was more laid-back and easy going, in contrast. As you say, preparation, research and one's own developed interests take one much further when travelling, which I only learnt, later on.
Speaking of the big city life: In my 20s I did this (in Europe) but it's a rollercoaster, it only lasts 2-3 years before people move on and things change so, so quickly: Fun but over like the rollercoaster ride, in the blink of an eye.
Looking back, I'd say above all else, it's important to learn what one's own real most inner, interests in life are: Sooner than later, if one can.
What you love doing is the best thing to find out. I spent so much time doing different jobs in different industries not really finding that passion or vocation. If you find that, you're on the right path, no matter what is my best take-home. Looking back it's easy to see all the paths not taken instead of focusing on the quality of choices at each fork in the path one did make and can make and to try to keep improving the decisions in yet more forks in the paths still ahead!
If I was to go back to Japan now, since then I took up the hobby of Go and there's loads of cool Go stuff in Japan I'd be interested in visiting. Back then I had no idea! I'd cuff my former self over the head, and say, angrily to myself: "Hey you! Why did you not go and visit that awesome Go shop that you were a few hundred metres away from?!"
Jokes aside, you're right about reflecting either via video or journal, as it helps break out of as the French usefully say, "Métro, Boulot, Dodo" (Commute, Work, Sleep) where it's easy to fall into a hum-drum slightly sedate, daily routine and not make the most of each day?
On that note, I've got some excellent learning resources for Japanese, so have no excuse to not crack on and take a leaf out of your book to start in ernest on the communication skills necessary so that one can investigate the culture and build a 'conceptual scrap-book' and a practical Japanese vocabulary, simultaneously.
Great video insight. Thank you.
To me, Japan is the "girlfriend I let go, that I should have married:. I will forever regret not moving to Japan in my 20's. Sadly I will die with that regret!
This past January is my 20 year mark/anniversary too and I definitely wish my Japanese was better. My head just doesn’t retain it. I live in Hokkaido 19 years and Kobe one…love Hokkaido, Kobe was too hot and humid with too many people. Couldn’t imagine living in Tokyo.
Thanks for sharing! Great advice.
My wife and I were in Yokohama earlier this week and kept our eyes peeled for you. 😁 We lived in Japan for a few years (we currently live in the UK) and agree with so many of your observations. Keep up the good work!
anyone who was stcuk in japan for covid and didnt travel inside japan is BONKERS.
I ran into you on the day you filmed this. Good to meet you.
Consistently good channel…..
I have been studying japanese seriously for a few years now and I can probably read at aruond N3 level. And I took the N4 test recently. The first exam vocabulary was OK. The second part grammar was very easy for me, kanji and all so I was confident going into the listening exam. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. I don't have much practice with conversation and my listening practice is mainly short stories so I was poorly equipped to deal with the listening exam which consisted of only conversation.
As a lazy procrastinator, learning the language is my biggest challenge! Coming from 40 years living/working in NYC I love large metropolitan city life, so Tokyo is perfect for me (and 1000% better than NYC).
thanks and respect and glad i can comment….no gonna like it much…sorry…