Life has been pretty decent recently. The new year has been full of crisp, clear, cool days and I’ve been having fun capturing various moments on my iPhone; a sunset in Odaiba, visitors at Komazawa Park, and my first time doing hanami (cherry blossom-viewing). But it’s time for a belated update and thank-you from Tokyo.
It’s been exactly 13 months since I arrived at Haneda Airport to begin my year-long working holiday in Japan. Since then, I have experienced a slew of new situations, both the unsurprising and the unexpected. Life here has been interesting, boring, awesome and kind of awful (mostly due to my own faults).
I’d like to say that, despite the various hardships I’ve encountered here, I have stayed absolutely resilient, counting on naught but my own unwavering determination—but that would not be true by any stretch of the word. I could go into a lot of detail about what I’ve dealt with, telling stories and throwing around metaphors, but I’ll cut straight to it.
I am so, so, so fortunate. No words can properly express just how incredibly grateful I am to have so many wonderful people in my life:
Mori, who trekked all the way to Haneda Airport for me, let me crash at his place and played the part of a patient tour guide. His was the first smiling face I saw in this sometimes shy, cold and indifferent city.
Adam and Haruka, who, after knowing me for less than a month, stored my luggage in their tatami room and let me sleep on their office floor during my (luckily very brief) homeless period.
Naomi, one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She helped me get an apartment, medical insurance and most other things needed to survive.
Yukari, who made sure I didn’t freeze to death during the winter, helped me regain all the weight I lost after arriving, and has made the first quarter of 2016 absolutely brilliant.
And of course, my parents. They’ve been so supportive and so giving that it’ll take me a lifetime to even attempt to properly repay them for everything that they’ve done for me. They’re the best parents a guy could ask for and without them, I would be lost.
But my year-long working holiday is over. So why am I still here?
As much love as Japan gets, there seems to be an fair amount of criticism and hate (check the comments on JapanToday and Reddit). Of course there is. No country or society is flawless and Japan has its ups and downs, the same as any other nation.
Sure, I sometimes have problems with the bureaucracy of the government offices and companies here; the seemingly endless rules designed only to make one’s life harder—especially if one is a foreigner. But otherwise, I love life here. While it can be difficult to make friends due to the language barrier and my own social shortcomings, this place is pretty great.
Furthermore, some aspects of life here could only be impossible dreams in other societies. Regardless of some of the bizarre crimes here that make the news (infanticide seems almost a trend), this country is actually quite peaceful.
An example: I once became severely inebriated when seeing some friends for the first time in a while. This jovial mess resulted in my sitting on the street, practically falling asleep and (wait for it) losing my wallet. In almost any other country, that would be that—especially given the type of lively commercial district I was in at the time (Ikebukuro). I’d have lost everything. But I wound up at the nearest ‘koban’ (police box) and found my wallet returned and unemptied—ID, bills, credit cards—all there.
I have walked through the (allegedly) seediest neighbourhoods at 1AM, without any of the fear or discomfort found even in moderate neighbourhoods in the early evening in North America.
Regarding personal possessions and general safety, people here treat each other pretty well. Sure, there’s virtually no space or respect for personal boundaries when commuting or walking through Shibuya. The streets and corridors are too narrow for it. But just look at the places in these photos. The scenery is incredible.
This sense of security and these incredibly surroundings give me reason to endure any other hardships I may face here. They give me a reason to love Japan and its people, despite our cultural differences.
But mostly, I love Japanese electronic toilets with their heated seats and blessed “washlet” functions… paradise.
Oh, and I got another visa. It expires in 2021, so that’s cool. As always, thank you for reading <3